JP2007312110A - Broadcast receiving apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To select a broadcasting station for maintaining a preferable receiving state and obtaining an optimum receiving level. <P>SOLUTION: An electronic map information storage part 16 stores selectable broadcasting stations, the frequencies of the broadcasting stations, group station numbers for identifying broadcasting stations which may broadcast the same program, and the priority of the selectable broadcasting stations as broadcasting station information in each road of a prescribed section. A position information control part 15 specifies a road stored in the electronic map information storage part 16 by given present position information and acquires the broadcasting station information of the specified road. When a receiving level detected by a receiving level detection part 12 is lowered, a channel selection determination part 18 determines a broadcasting station to be selected on the basis of the broadcasting station information acquired by the position information control part 15. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a broadcast receiving apparatus for receiving digital broadcasts and analog broadcasts in a mobile body such as an automobile, and more particularly to a broadcast receiving unit for digital broadcasts or analog broadcasts, and a car navigation apparatus. The present invention relates to a GPS (Global Positioning System) position detection unit and a broadcast receiving apparatus capable of acquiring road information currently being traveled by electronic map information.

  In terrestrial broadcasting such as digital and analog televisions and radios, many broadcasting stations arranged in each region broadcast. The frequency arrangement of broadcast radio waves transmitted by broadcast stations in each region and the programs to be broadcast are different. For this reason, when a mobile object such as an automobile is receiving a broadcast while moving, the receivable broadcast stations change one after another depending on the place where they are traveling, and even if they are watching a program from a certain broadcast station, they can be received. If the region changes, the program cannot be received.

  For this reason, when the received radio wave gradually weakens, such as when straddling a broadcasting area, the user either receives another receivable broadcast station by himself or the receiver uses another means to change to another broadcast station. You will be automatically selected. When selecting a channel automatically, when the received signal strength is detected and the signal becomes weak, it is necessary to identify the broadcasting station to be selected next by some means and re-select to that station. become.

  As a conventional example for this problem, for example, a navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a receiving unit that receives radio waves emitted from a station, a reception level detecting unit that detects a reception level of radio waves received by the receiving unit, and a vehicle position. A position positioning unit that measures the position of the vehicle, an area information storage unit that stores area information indicating an area where radio waves from the station can be received, and an area information storage unit that stores vehicle position information obtained from the position measurement unit When there are a plurality of stations that can be received by the reception unit and an area selection unit that selects a station based on the vehicle position information by comparing with the information, the reception level and area of the radio wave from each station obtained from the reception level detection unit A channel selection determination unit that determines a station to receive based on a station based on vehicle position information obtained from the selection unit and causes the reception unit to select a channel.

  Further, for example, the receiving apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2 includes a multiplexed signal separating unit that separates a desired signal from multiplexed transmission signals, a signal demodulating unit that demodulates a signal separated by the multiplexed signal separating unit, and the signal demodulation Data separation means for separating arbitrary data from the data output as the demodulation result of the means, position information detection means for detecting the position of the receiving apparatus, control means for controlling each means, and the position of the receiving apparatus Channel selection information storage means for storing channel selection information indicating the correspondence of the channel of the signal to be separated, and the control means acquires the channel selection information from the data separation means and stores it in the channel selection information storage means. On the other hand, the control means determines channels to be separated by the multiplexed signal separation means based on the position information output from the position information detection means and the tuning information stored in the tuning information storage means.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a case where the vehicle travels on the boundary of the broadcast area of the broadcast station. Since all the conventional broadcast receiving apparatuses use information on broadcast stations that can be received in the area range called area information (channel selection information), as shown in FIG. When traveling on a road that leaves the broadcasting area of A and enters the broadcasting area of broadcasting station B and returns to the original broadcasting area A, the station is re-selected when leaving a certain area, When you return, you often re-select to the original broadcast station, and even if you do not actually need to re-select, the re-selection operation interrupts reception and maintains a comfortable reception state. A situation occurs that disappears.

  Also, the radio wave condition is poor in the mountainous area near the area boundary, and the area information is included in the broadcasting station A, but there is actually a situation where only another broadcasting station B can be received. However, there may be scenes where the broadcasting station with the optimum reception level cannot be determined.

JP-A-9-270720 (paragraph 0010) JP 2001-53635 A (paragraph 0009)

  Since the conventional broadcast receiving apparatus is configured as described above, when traveling on the boundary of the broadcast area, the reception is interrupted by frequently performing a re-tuning operation, and it becomes impossible to maintain a comfortable reception state. There was a problem that it was impossible to select a broadcasting station with a high reception level.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a broadcast receiving apparatus that can prevent frequent re-selection operation and maintain a comfortable reception state, and can select a broadcast station with an optimal reception level. For the purpose.

  A broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention includes a broadcast receiving unit that receives broadcast radio waves, a reception level detection unit that detects a reception level of broadcast radio waves received by the broadcast receiving unit, and a channel selection unit for each road in a predetermined section. Broadcast station information stores possible broadcast stations, broadcast station frequencies, affiliate station numbers for identifying broadcast stations that may be broadcasting the same program, and priority of selectable broadcast stations. An electronic map information storage unit, a position information control unit for identifying a road stored in the electronic map information storage unit according to the given current position information, and acquiring broadcast station information of the identified road; and the reception level When the reception level detected by the detection unit decreases, the broadcast station to be selected is determined based on the broadcast station information acquired by the position information control unit, and the frequency of the broadcast station is designated in the broadcast reception unit. To select the channel Is obtained by a that tuning judgment unit.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent frequent re-selection operation and maintain a comfortable reception state and to select a broadcast station with an optimal reception level.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a broadcast receiving apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The broadcast receiving apparatus includes a broadcast receiving unit 11, a reception level detecting unit 12, a GPS receiving unit 13, an auxiliary positioning unit 14, a position information control unit 15, an electronic map information storage unit 16, a map information control unit 17, and a channel selection determination unit. 18 is provided.

In FIG. 1, a broadcast receiving unit 11 receives a broadcast radio wave from a broadcast station and selects a designated broadcast station based on an instruction from the tuning determination unit 18.
The reception level detection unit 12 detects the reception level of the broadcast radio wave received by the broadcast reception unit 11.

  The GPS receiving unit 13 receives a GPS signal, measures the current position, outputs position information based on latitude and longitude, and the auxiliary positioning unit 14 is various position positioning sensors for assisting the positioning by the GPS receiving unit 13. is there.

  When the reception level detected by the reception level detection unit 12 decreases, the position information control unit 15 controls the map information control unit 17 based on the latest position information given from the GPS reception unit 13 and the auxiliary positioning unit 14. Via, the road memorize | stored in the electronic map information storage part 16 is specified, and the broadcast station information memorize | stored in the electronic map information storage part 16 of the identified road is acquired.

  The electronic map information storage unit 16 is configured to select a broadcasting station that can be selected for each road of the electronic map, a frequency of the broadcasting station, an affiliated station number and a selection for a broadcasting station that may be broadcasting the same program. It stores electronic map information in which the priority of broadcastable stations is added as broadcast station information.

  The map information control unit 17 acquires broadcast station information included in the electronic map information stored in the electronic map information storage unit 16 based on the position information from the position information control unit 15 and notifies the position information control unit 15 of the broadcast station information.

  The channel selection determination unit 18 determines a broadcast station to be selected based on the broadcast station information acquired by the position information control unit 15 when the reception level detected by the reception level detection unit 12 decreases, and receives the broadcast. The unit 11 is instructed to select a station by designating the frequency of the broadcasting station.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining roads included in the electronic map information stored in the electronic map information storage unit 16. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, roads 1 to 7 are designated between intersections, and broadcast station information is added to the designated road units.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a selectable broadcast station added to each road unit included in the broadcast station information stored in the electronic map information storage unit 16. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, it is stored that a broadcast radio wave from a broadcasting station such as station A or station B can be received at each intersection.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of broadcast station information stored in the electronic map information storage unit 16. As shown in FIG. 4, for each road, the receivable broadcasting station, the frequency of the broadcasting station, the affiliated station number for identifying the broadcasting station that may be broadcasting the same program, the selectable broadcasting station Contains information on sequence priority.

  In FIG. 4, the English characters in the receivable broadcasting station indicate the location of the broadcasting facility of the broadcasting station, for example, the prefecture where the broadcasting facility exists. The number following the letter indicates the affiliated station number. The affiliated station number is a number assigned to the affiliated station in the prefecture corresponding to the key station, and the affiliated station number for the same key station is given the same affiliated station number. For example, the receivable broadcasting station A_1 and the receivable broadcasting station B_1 indicate that the prefectures where the broadcasting facilities of the broadcasting stations are different are affiliated stations of the respective prefectures for the same key station. That is, the affiliated station is specified by a combination of English letters and numbers described in the receivable broadcasting station.

  Normally, affiliated stations for the same key station are likely to be broadcasting the same program, so if you want to select a station that automatically switches between stations while traveling across regions, select this affiliated station number. Can be used to switch to the same affiliated station as the affiliated station currently being received.

  In FIG. 4, when the sequence priority can receive a plurality of broadcast radio waves from the affiliated station of a plurality of prefectures for the same key station at the same point (road), from which affiliated station at that point (road) This is a value representing which affiliated station should receive the broadcast radio wave preferentially for reasons such as whether the reception sensitivity of the broadcast radio wave is good. For example, when broadcast waves from both affiliated stations A_x and B_x corresponding to the same key station can be received at a certain point (road), affiliated station A_x is more affiliated with affiliated station B_x at that point (road). If the receiving sensitivity is better and stable reception is possible, the affiliated station A_x is 1, the affiliated station B_x is 2, and the affiliated station A_x has a higher priority when selecting a channel. It is shown that.

Next, the operation will be described.
While moving, the broadcast receiving unit 11 receives broadcast radio waves from a certain broadcast station, and the reception level detecting unit 12 detects the reception level of the broadcast radio waves received by the broadcast receiving unit 11 to detect the position information control unit 15 and the channel selection. The determination unit 18 is notified. When the broadcast radio wave received near the broadcast area boundary is weakened and the reception level detected by the reception level detection unit 12 is lowered, the position information control unit 15 receives the GPS information from the GPS reception unit 13 and the auxiliary positioning unit 14. The road stored in the electronic map information storage unit 16 is identified via the map information control unit 17 based on the latest position information of FIG. 4 and stored in the electronic map information storage unit 16 of the identified road. Broadcast station information such as shown in FIG.

  When the reception level detected by the reception level detection unit 12 decreases, the channel selection determination unit 18 broadcasts the currently receiving broadcast station (affiliated station) to the broadcast station information acquired by the position information control unit 15. Check if it is in the station information, if there is, continue receiving the broadcast radio wave from the current broadcasting station (affiliated station) as it is, and the currently receiving broadcasting station (affiliated station) is included in the broadcasting station information If there is a broadcast station (affiliation station) with the same sequence number as that of the currently receiving broadcast station (affiliation station), the broadcast station (affiliation station) with the highest sequence priority among them Is determined to be the next broadcasting station to be selected, the frequency of the broadcasting station is notified to the broadcast receiving unit 11 as channel selection information, and the reception of the broadcast radio wave at the designated frequency is instructed.

  The broadcast receiving unit 11 selects a designated broadcast station based on an instruction from the channel selection determination unit 18 and receives broadcast radio waves.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a selectable broadcast station added to each road unit included in the broadcast station information stored in the electronic map information storage unit 16. In FIG. 3, it is stored that broadcast radio waves from a broadcasting station such as station A or station B can be received for each intersection, but in the case of a long road between intersections, Since there is a possibility that the optimum broadcast station with a high reception level may change, as shown in FIG. 5, the intersections are divided into a plurality of roads, and the broadcast stations that can be selected for each divided road unit are stored. By doing so, finer settings can be made.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a selectable broadcast station added to each road unit included in the broadcast station information stored in the electronic map information storage unit 16. In FIG. 6, since there is a possibility that an optimum broadcasting station having a high reception level is changed depending on the traveling direction even on one road, a broadcasting station that can be selected for each traveling direction of each road is stored. In this case, the position information control unit 15 detects which direction the road is traveling based on the position information from the GPS receiving unit 13 and the auxiliary positioning unit 14, and broadcasts based on the position information and the traveling direction information. Get station information.

  As described above, if the broadcast station information is stored for every road in the electronic map information, the amount of data stored in the electronic map information storage unit 16 becomes very large. Therefore, broadcast station area information of the broadcast station is provided as separate data, for example, the map is divided into meshes, each mesh is defined as one area, or each area within a radius XXKm from the broadcast station Defined as a predetermined area in a range wider than the road unit, such as defining a certain prefecture unit as one area, and holding position information for specifying the area, and FIG. Broadcast station information as shown in FIG.

  In this case, when the re-tuning operation is performed, if there is no broadcast station information for each road, the broadcast station information is acquired from the current position and the broadcast area information of the broadcast station, and the channel selection is performed. Thereby, it is only necessary to put broadcast station information only on roads where it is difficult to select a broadcast station, and the amount of data stored in the electronic map information storage unit 16 can be reduced.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the electronic map information storage unit 16 may broadcast a selectable broadcast station, the frequency of the broadcast station, and the same program for each road in a predetermined section. The affiliated station number for identifying a certain broadcasting station and the priority of a selectable broadcasting station are stored as broadcasting station information, and the position information control unit 15 stores the given position information in the electronic map information storage unit 16. The stored road is identified, broadcast station information of the identified road is acquired, and when the reception level detected by the reception level detection unit 12 is decreased, the position information control unit 15 Based on the acquired broadcast station information, the broadcast station to be selected is determined, and the broadcast reception unit 11 is instructed to select a station by specifying the frequency of the broadcast station, thereby preventing frequent re-selection operation and a comfortable reception state. As well as optimal reception The effect is obtained that the broadcasting stations of the bell can be tuning.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the broadcast receiving apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the road contained in the electronic map information memorize | stored in the electronic map information storage part of the broadcast receiver by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the selectable broadcast station added to the road unit contained in the broadcast station information memorize | stored in the electronic map information storage part of the broadcast receiver by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the broadcast station information memorize | stored in the electronic map information storage part of the broadcast receiver by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the selectable broadcast station added to the road unit contained in the broadcast station information memorize | stored in the electronic map information storage part of the broadcast receiver by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the selectable broadcast station added to the road unit contained in the broadcast station information memorize | stored in the electronic map information storage part of the broadcast receiver by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the case where it drive | works the boundary of the broadcast area of a broadcasting station.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Broadcast receiving part, 12 Reception level detection part, 13 GPS receiving part, 14 Auxiliary positioning part, 15 Location information control part, 16 Electronic map information storage part, 17 Map information control part, 18 Channel selection judgment part

Claims (7)

A broadcast receiver for receiving broadcast radio waves;
A reception level detection unit for detecting a reception level of a broadcast radio wave received by the broadcast reception unit;
Broadcasting stations that can be selected, frequency of broadcasting stations, affiliated station numbers for identifying broadcasting stations that may be broadcasting the same program, and priority of broadcasting stations that can be selected An electronic map information storage unit that stores information as broadcast station information,
A location information control unit that identifies a road stored in the electronic map information storage unit according to the given current location information, and acquires broadcast station information of the identified road;
When the reception level detected by the reception level detection unit decreases, the broadcast station to be selected is determined based on the broadcast station information acquired by the position information control unit, and the frequency of the broadcast station is determined by the broadcast reception unit. And a channel selection determination unit that designates channel selection and designates channel selection.   2. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic map information storage unit stores broadcast station information in units of roads between intersections.   2. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic map information storage unit stores broadcast station information in units of roads obtained by dividing an intersection into a plurality of sections. The electronic map information storage unit stores broadcast station information for each road unit of a predetermined section and the traveling direction of the road,
The position information control unit identifies a road stored in the electronic map information storage unit based on the given current position information, and acquires broadcast station information in a given traveling direction of the identified road. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1.   When the broadcast station information acquired by the position information control unit includes the currently receiving broadcast station as a selectable broadcast station, the channel selection determination unit includes 2. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein reception from the broadcast station is continued.   If the broadcast station information acquired by the position information control unit is not included as a selectable broadcast station in the broadcast station information acquired by the position information control unit, the channel selection determination unit 2. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a broadcast station having the same affiliated station number and having the highest priority is determined as a broadcast station to be selected. The electronic map information storage unit stores broadcast station information in a predetermined area unit in a wider range than a road unit,
2. The position information control unit specifies an area stored in the electronic map information storage unit based on given current position information, and acquires broadcast station information of the specified area. Broadcast receiver.

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