JP2011049918A - Receiving apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve user friendliness when concurrently viewing/video-recording three or more programs by solving the problem in using a plurality of IC cards that, since a receiving apparatus which can view programs more than programs processable with one IC card cannot always access a suitable IC card, if types (terrestrial digital broadcast or BS/CS digital broadcast and pay broadcast or free broadcast) of broadcasts to be concurrently viewed/video-recorded and contract types of the plurality of IC cards are different. <P>SOLUTION: A receiving apparatus includes a means for controlling access to a plurality of IC cards. If contract types of the plurality of IC cards are different, an access destination of the IC card is appropriately changed in accordance with presence/absence of contracts of broadcasts to be viewed and/or video-recorded. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The technical field relates to a receiving apparatus that receives digital information.

  In Japan, digital broadcasting such as terrestrial digital broadcasting, BS (Broadcast Satellite) digital broadcasting, and CS (Communication Satellite) digital broadcasting is currently being performed. Digital broadcasting is scrambled by MULTI2 encryption, and limited reception control and descrambling processing are required for viewing. Regarding the conditional access system, there is an invention shown in Patent Document 1.

  Patent Document 1 has an object of "providing a satellite broadcast receiving system that allows a contractor to view a program if there is a receiving device regardless of the receiving device of itself or others". "A system that enables reception of satellite broadcasting by connecting a portable electronic device owned by a contractor to a receiving device, wherein the portable electronic device stores identification information of the contractor. And an operation control means for controlling the operation of the descrambling means provided in the receiving device based on contract information, the receiving device reading the identification information from the identification information storage means, Control storage of the contract information necessary for descrambling processing in the operation control means based on the comparison between the read identification information and the contract information included in the satellite broadcast It has been described to have a means ".

  In various current digital broadcasts, a removable IC card called a B-CAS (BS Conditional Access System) card is used as a limited reception method. B-CAS cards include terrestrial digital dedicated cards for receiving terrestrial digital broadcasts, and three-wave shared cards that can receive three types of terrestrial digital broadcasts, BS digital broadcasts, and CS digital broadcasts. There are multiple types depending on the form.

  Digital broadcasting includes pay broadcasts that can be viewed after being scrambled by a contract with a specific provider, and free broadcasts that do not require such a contract. At present, BS digital broadcasting and CS digital broadcasting include pay broadcasting programs, and terrestrial digital broadcasting is free broadcasting. In some cases, the contract between the user and the provider regarding viewing of the pay program is made for each IC card (B-CAS card). In this case, the receiving apparatus using the IC card (B-CAS card) is charged. Broadcast descrambling becomes possible.

  As described above, the required IC card and its contract form differ depending on the broadcast form (terrestrial digital broadcast or BS / CS digital broadcast, pay broadcast or free broadcast).

  At present, a receiving apparatus that can view and / or record two programs using one IC card (B-CAS card) has been commercialized.

JP-A-4-138735

  As described above, currently, a receiving device that descrambles up to two programs using one IC card (B-CAS card) has been commercialized, but a receiving device that simultaneously views and / or records three or more programs. When realizing the above, it is necessary to use two or more IC cards (B-CAS cards). In other words, when descrambling more programs than the number of programs descrambled using one IC card (B-CAS card), it is necessary to use two or more IC cards (B-CAS cards). Become.

  For example, it is necessary to use a configuration in which two IC cards (B-CAS cards) can be used when three programs are viewed simultaneously, and when six programs are viewed simultaneously.

  Here, when a plurality of broadcasts that are simultaneously viewed are all free broadcasts such as terrestrial digital broadcasts, the number of IC cards (B-CAS cards) necessary for simultaneous viewing and the like may be used. However, when considering a receiving apparatus capable of viewing a pay broadcast that can be viewed after being scrambled by a contract with a specific provider, the following problems can be considered.

  When viewing a pay program for each IC card (B-CAS card) for viewing a pay program based on a contract with a specific business operator, a receiving apparatus using a plurality of IC cards (B-CAS cards) is assumed. Even when a contract is made with a user who owns it, it is considered that there is only one IC card (B-CAS card) for making a contract for viewing a pay program. This is because when one contract is made for a plurality of IC cards (B-CAS cards), viewing of pay programs contracted with a plurality of receiving devices using a plurality of IC cards (B-CAS cards). This is because, in some cases, it is possible to view a pay program at a plurality of homes with a contract for one case.

  Then, when a user who has a receiving device using a plurality of IC cards (B-CAS cards) makes a subscription contract for one pay program, one card that can descramble the pay program and the pay program Other cards that cannot be descrambled are mixed in one receiving apparatus. In this case, there is a problem that an appropriate IC card (B-CAS card) cannot always be accessed even if a pay broadcast is viewed or recorded.

  Referring to FIG. 1A as an example, of two IC cards (B-CAS card), one IC card (B-CAS card) is a contracted card (paid broadcast viewing is possible, FIG. IC card A)), if the other IC card is a non-contracted card (paid broadcast viewing not possible, IC card B in FIG. 1A), access to the contracted card (IC card A) Even if you wish to watch a new paid program when it is occupied by the descrambling process for a free program, you cannot use a non-contracted card (IC card B) to descramble a paid broadcast. Can not.

  A more specific example is shown below. In a configuration using two IC cards, one contracted card (IC card A) and one non-contracted card (IC card B), the number of programs that can be processed with one card is two, and free broadcasting If three or more programs are simultaneously viewed or recorded, free broadcast descrambling is performed using both the contracted card (IC card A) and the non-contracted card (IC card B) (FIG. 1). Example of descrambling three programs simultaneously).

  After that, if the viewing of the free broadcast descrambled using the non-contract card (IC card B) is stopped and the descramble processing of the free broadcast using the contracted card (IC card A) is continued, the contracted card The descramble process of the free broadcast is continued using the (IC card A). Under such circumstances, if a new pay broadcast is to be viewed, the contracted card (IC card A) is occupied by the free broadcast descramble, and therefore the new pay broadcast cannot be viewed. This is extremely inconvenient for the user.

  Such a problem may occur not only when there is a difference in the presence / absence of contracts such as pay broadcasting / free broadcasting, but also when a plurality of types of IC cards (B-CAS cards) having different descrambling programs are used.

  For example, there is a difference in broadcast types (BS broadcast / CS broadcast / terrestrial digital broadcast) that can be processed by the IC card. As shown in FIG. 1 (b), out of two IC cards (B-CAS card), one IC card (B-CAS card) can watch BS broadcast, CS broadcast, and terrestrial digital broadcast. When the wave sharing card (IC card A in FIG. 1 (b)) and the other IC card are terrestrial digital dedicated cards (IC card B in FIG. 1 (b)) that can only be viewed by digital terrestrial broadcasting, If access to the 3-wave shared card (IC card A) is occupied by descrambling processing of digital terrestrial broadcasting, even if you wish to watch BS broadcasting newly, Since the BS broadcast cannot be descrambled, the BS broadcast cannot be viewed.

  In order to solve the above problems, an embodiment of the present invention includes a receiving unit that receives a digital broadcast that has been scrambled, a descrambling unit that unscrambles the received digital broadcast, and a descrambling process. A plurality of conditional access control units used and a control unit that controls the conditional access control unit used for descrambling processing, and the control unit is configured to switch the conditional access control unit used for descrambling in the descrambling unit To do.

  According to the above means, it is possible to improve the usability of a receiving apparatus using a plurality of limited reception control units (IC card, B-CAS card, etc.). For example, it is possible to improve the usability of a receiving apparatus in which a plurality of conditional access control units having different broadcasts that can be descrambled are mixed.

The figure which shows the example of the problem in the case of performing simultaneous viewing of three or more programs using a plurality of IC cards The figure which shows an example of the concept of the conditional access system The figure which shows an example of a structure of a transmission / reception system The figure which shows an example of a structure of a transmitter The figure which shows an example of a structure of a scramble control part. The figure which shows an example of a structure of a receiver The figure which shows an example of a structure of the receiver in Example 1 thru | or 3. The figure which shows an example of the process of the conditional access control in Example 1-2 The figure which shows an example of the access method to the conditional access control part in Example 1. The figure which shows an example of another structure of the receiver in Examples 1-3 The figure which shows an example of the access method to the conditional access control part in Example 2. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the control part in Example 1 thru | or 3. The figure which shows an example of the method of switching the access to the conditional access control part in Example 1. The figure which shows an example of the method of switching the access to the conditional access control part in Example 2. The figure which shows an example of the method of switching the access to the conditional access control part in Example 3. The figure which shows an example of the method of switching the access to the conditional access control part in Example 1.

  Hereinafter, examples (examples) of the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. The present embodiment mainly relates to a broadcasting system and a limited reception system in Japan.

  When there is a classification of the IC card type according to the broadcasting form, for example, when there is a classification such as a terrestrial digital broadcasting dedicated card and a three-wave shared card, the broadcasting form that can be viewed according to the standard may be limited. In the above example, there may be restrictions such as that the BS / CS digital broadcast cannot be viewed with the terrestrial digital broadcast dedicated card.

  In addition, the number of programs that can be descrambled with one IC card may be limited by a standard or the like.

  In the embodiment, a broadcast signal will be described as an example of a signal that is encoded by an MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) system as an image compression technique and multiplexed by an MPEG2-TS (Transport Stream) system.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a conceptual diagram of the conditional access system.

  On the transmission side, the scramble key is used to scramble the stream including the video and the like. The scramble key Ks is encrypted with the work key Kw and multiplexed into a scrambled stream. The work key Kw is encrypted with the master key Km and multiplexed into a scrambled stream. As described above, a stream using the conditional access method is generated and transmitted. Information necessary for conditional access is classified into information common to all viewers (ECM: Entitlement Control Message) and information different for each viewer (EMM: Entitlement Management Message), and the scramble key Ks is ECM. The work key Kw is multiplexed into the stream as EMM.

On the receiving side, information necessary for limited reception such as ECM and EMM is separated from the received stream. In the case of broadcasting that requires a specific contract, the work key Kw and contract information are obtained by decrypting the EMM with the master key Km. If the broadcast does not require a specific contract, the Kw possessed by the device that performs limited reception control is obtained. A scramble key Ks is obtained by decrypting the ECM with the work key Kw. Viewing determination based on the contract information is performed, and if viewing is possible, the received stream is descrambled with the scramble key Ks.
<System>
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the system according to the present embodiment. This figure exemplifies a case where information is transmitted / received by broadcasting and displayed / recorded / reproduced.

  Reference numeral 301 denotes a transmission device installed in an information providing station such as a broadcast station, 302 denotes a relay device installed in a relay station or a broadcasting satellite, 303 denotes a reception device installed in the user's house, and 304 denotes a reception device 303. It is a conditional access system built in. The conditional access system 304 has a mechanism that enables descrambling (descrambling processing) applied to digital broadcasting to allow viewing and / or recording. The recording / reproducing unit 305 can record and reproduce information descrambled by the conditional access system. The output unit 306 can output an information signal from the device when the receiving device 303 includes an output device such as a display, or to another device when the receiving device 303 does not include the output device.

  The transmission device 301 transmits the modulated signal radio wave via the relay device 302. For example, transmission by cable, transmission by telephone line, transmission by terrestrial broadcasting, etc. can be used. As will be described later, this signal radio wave received by the receiving device 303 is descrambled based on a limited reception control method, and is converted into a signal suitable for display output or recording as necessary. Further, the user can view the video / audio output from the output unit 306.

<Transmitter>
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the transmission device 301 in the system of FIG. Reference numeral 401 denotes a source generation unit, 402 denotes an encoding unit that performs compression by the MPEG method, 403 denotes a scramble unit, 404 denotes a modulation unit, 405 denotes a transmission antenna, and 406 denotes a scramble control unit. Information such as video and audio generated by the source generation unit 401 including a camera and a recording / playback apparatus is compressed by the encoding unit 402 so that it can be transmitted in a smaller occupied band. In accordance with the operation of the broadcaster, the scramble unit 403 performs scramble processing so that it can be viewed by a specific viewer as necessary. After being modulated by the modulation unit 404 to be a signal suitable for transmission, the signal is transmitted from the transmission antenna 405 to the relay device 302 as a radio wave. At this time, the scramble control unit 406 multiplexes information necessary for the scramble process.

FIG. 5 shows an operation example of the scramble control unit 406.
In the scramble control unit 406, ECM and EMM, which are information necessary for limited reception control, are defined by the MPEG2 standard, in addition to the video signal and audio signal generated by the encoding unit, and a data signal separately input as necessary. Multiplexed as a Transport Stream (TS). This multiplexed signal is scrambled by a scrambler 403. The scramble is mainly applied to the payload portion of the TS packet defined by the MPEG2 standard. In many cases, a plurality of pieces of information are multiplexed on a single radio wave by a method such as time division or spread spectrum, but the description thereof is omitted.
<Receiving device>
FIG. 6 shows a configuration example of the digital receiver, and the operation of each unit will be described. In the receiving apparatus 601 of FIG. 6, 602 is an antenna that receives broadcast waves, 603 is a tuner that selects and demodulates, 604 is a descrambler that de-scrambles the broadcast signal, and 604 is a desired signal from the multiplexed signal. 606 is a decoding unit that decodes video / audio signals, 607 is an output unit that outputs decoded video / audio signals, 608 is a control unit that performs reception control, and 609 is for limited reception Is a conditional access control unit that manages and controls contract information and keys.

  The broadcast signal received by the antenna 602 is sent to the tuner unit 603, which demodulates the baseband signal, performs error correction, and outputs it to the descrambler 604. The descrambler 604 performs descrambling using the descrambling key obtained from the conditional access control unit 609.

  For example, in Japanese digital broadcasting, content such as video, audio, and data is scrambled, program additional information such as a program name is not scrambled, and a conditional access control signal for conditional access is used. Is encrypted, and the scrambled content is descrambled.

  From the descrambled signal, a desired signal is separated in the separation unit 605, the video / audio signal is transmitted to the decoding unit 606, and the program additional information and the limited reception control signal are transmitted to the limited reception control unit 609 through the control unit 608. The video / audio signal decoding unit 606 decodes the data, and the output unit 607 displays it on a display, a speaker, or the like.

  The control unit 608 performs reception control as described above, passes the limited reception control signal obtained from the separation unit 605 to the limited reception control unit 609, obtains the scramble release key from the limited reception control unit 609, and sends it to the descrambler 605. By setting, the scrambled broadcast is descrambled so that it can be viewed and / or recorded.

  In the case of digital broadcasting in Japan in this example, the limited reception control unit 609 is a detachable IC card, and EMM and ECM are used for the limited reception control signal. Therefore, the receiving apparatus 601 includes a slot (also referred to as a connection unit) for connecting the limited reception control unit 609. In the following embodiments, a configuration using a plurality of conditional access control units will be described. However, when multiple conditional access control is used, a plurality of slots are provided.

  When the EMM, which is information related to the contract, is acquired and notified to the limited reception control unit 609, it is decrypted with the master key Km possessed by the limited reception control unit 609, and the work key Kw is set. When the ECM, which is information for releasing the scramble broadcast together with the scrambled program, is acquired and passed to the limited reception control unit 609, it is decrypted with the work key Kw set in the limited reception control unit 609 to obtain the scramble key Ks. It is done.

  The control unit 608 obtains the scramble key Ks from the conditional access control unit 609 and sets it in the descrambler 605. As described above, the contract information is in the limited reception control unit 609, and the key for releasing the scrambled broadcast contracted by the contract information is obtained.

  Hereinafter, an IC card provided by digital terrestrial broadcasting or the like that can be viewed without a special viewing contract is referred to as a non-contract card, and a program that can be descrambled by the non-contract card is referred to as a free program. Also, a special scramble process is performed on broadcast waves provided by some BS digital broadcasts and CS digital broadcasts, and IC cards that can be viewed after being scrambled by contract with a specific provider are called contract cards. A program that can be descrambled only by a contract card is called a pay program.

  In each embodiment, the number of IC cards is two, of which the number of contract cards is one and the number of non-contract cards is one, and a program that can be descrambled simultaneously with one IC card. It is assumed that the number of programs is up to 2 and the number of programs that can be simultaneously viewed and / or recorded is 3 programs. However, the present invention is not limited to the number of these IC cards, etc. The number of programs that can be scrambled and the number of programs that can be simultaneously viewed and / or recorded simultaneously are not limited.

Hereinafter, more specific processing of this embodiment will be described.
FIG. 7 shows a configuration example of a receiving apparatus that includes two systems of limited reception control units and can simultaneously view and / or record three programs. 7, 602 is an antenna, 603 and 613 are tuner parts A and B, 604 and 614 are descramblers A and B, and 605 and 615 separate desired signals from the multiplexed signals. Separating sections A and B (for example, a demultiplexer), 606 is a decoding section (for example, an MPEG decoder), 607 is an output section (for example, CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) for outputting decoded video / audio signals, etc. HDMI that outputs analog or digital video data / audio data to a display unit using LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), PDP (Plasma DISPLAY Panel), an audio output unit such as a speaker, or other display devices High Definition Multimedia Interface (output terminal, etc.), 608 is a control unit that performs reception control, 609 and 610 are limited reception control units A and B (for example, IC cards) that manage and control contract information and keys for limited reception -A card or a semiconductor chip (IC, system LSI, ASIC, FPGA, etc.) having an arithmetic processing function called a smart card or the like, a program that operates as software by an arithmetic device such as a CPU, etc.) is used. 612 is a recording medium for recording programs (for example, a medium capable of random access such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, and a magneto-optical disk) for recording a program. , 6 6 is a path selection unit for selecting whether to output the respective broadcast data to either of the decoding portion 606 and / or the recording control unit 611.

  The operation of each unit is the same as that of the above-described receiving apparatus 601, but is different in that the tuner, the descrambler, the separation unit, and the limited reception control unit are two systems. In this example, tuner A 603, descrambler A 604, separation unit A 605, and conditional access control unit A 609 handle one channel (program), and tuner B 613, descrambler B 614, separation unit B 115, and conditional access control unit B 610 are two. Handles two channels (programs) simultaneously. Further, the limited reception control unit A609 holds contract information that enables viewing of pay programs of terrestrial digital broadcasting, BS digital broadcasting, and CS digital broadcasting (hereinafter referred to as contract information x). The reception control unit B 610 holds contract information that enables viewing of only terrestrial digital broadcasting (hereinafter referred to as contract information y). The control unit 608 has a function of switching which of the conditional access control unit A609 and the conditional access control unit B610 performs descrambling processing of a plurality of programs (which access destination is used). Further, the control unit 608 can determine which of the limited reception control unit A609 and the limited reception control unit B610 holds the contract information (contract information x) that allows the pay program to be viewed (control unit). Details of the method for determining functional blocks, contract information, and the like included in 608 will be described later.

  An example of the descrambling operation in the case of including viewing and / or recording of a pay program is shown in FIG. In this example, it is assumed that the programs a, b, and c are free programs, and the program d is a pay program. After the start of processing, the descrambling process of program a is performed based on the contract information y obtained from the limited reception control unit B in S801, and the descrambling process of program b is performed based on the contract information x obtained from the limited reception control unit A in S802. In step S803, similarly, the descrambling process of the program c is performed based on the contract information x obtained from the limited reception control unit A. These processes are assumed to be repeated simultaneously and in parallel.

  The access status of the conditional access control unit at this time is shown in FIG. The limited reception control unit A (holding contract information x) capable of viewing paid programs and free programs provides two systems of descrambling information, and the limited reception control unit B (contract information) capable of viewing only free programs (holding y) assumes that one system of descrambling information is provided.

  In such a viewing state, when the program a is switched and the program d is viewed in S804, the limited reception control unit B, which is currently accessible due to the limitation of access to the B-CAS card, limits the pay program. Since the contract information x that can be viewed is not held, the program d cannot be descrambled ((2) in FIG. 9). Therefore, in this embodiment, when the program a is switched and the program d is viewed in S804, the process proceeds to S805, and the contract information acquisition destination of the program c is switched to the limited reception control unit B. This is because the program c is a free program and can be descrambled not only by the limited reception control unit A but also by the limited reception control unit B. Details of the switching process in S805 will be described later. After S805, the process proceeds to S806, and descrambling of the program b is started again based on the contract information y obtained from the limited reception control unit B. Through this process, it becomes possible to access the limited reception control unit A that holds the contract information x that allows viewing of the pay program. Therefore, the process proceeds from S806 to S807, and the contract information obtained from the limited reception control unit A The descrambling of the program d is started based on x (FIG. 9 (3)). The process ends here.

  An example of the switching process in S805 will be described. An example of a functional block diagram of the control unit 608 in the switching process is shown in FIG. 12 (FIG. 12 is the same as the functional block with the same sign in FIG. 7). The control unit 608 includes a conditional access control information acquisition unit 1301, a program contract information acquisition unit 1302, an access unit A 1303, an access unit B 1304, an access switching unit 1305, an access status monitoring unit 1306, and a key information setting unit 1307.

  Separators A605 and B615 are connected to conditional access control information acquisition unit 1301, and four inputs and outputs from access switching unit 1305 are connected to two conditional access controllers A609 and B610, and key information setting unit 1307 is descrambler. Connected to A604 and B614.

  The limited reception control information acquisition unit 1301 acquires the limited reception control information (for example, ECM) of the program being received acquired by the separation unit A605 and / or B615. The program contract information acquisition unit 1302 determines whether or not the program being received is a pay program from the limited reception control information acquired by the limited reception control information acquisition unit 1301. Alternatively, channel selection information such as a tuner may be acquired from another location to determine whether the program being received is a pay program.

  The access unit A 1303 accesses the conditional access control unit based on the program received by the tuner A / descrambler A / separator A system, and the access unit B 1304 is used by the tuner B / descrambler B / separator B system. Assume that the conditional access control unit is accessed by the received program. Access here refers to a process of transmitting conditional access control information (ECM or the like) and receiving key information, for example.

  The access switching unit 1305 performs an operation of switching the limited reception control units A609 and B610 accessed by the access units A1303 and B1304. The access status monitoring unit 1306 monitors which access unit A1303 and B1304 is accessing, and holds information on which contract information is included in the conditional access control units A609 and B610. The contract information of the program acquired by the contract information acquisition unit 1302 is compared with the access status of the access units A 1303 and B 1304. Based on the comparison result, the access switching unit 1305 operates. The key information setting unit 1307 sets the key information acquired by the access units A 1303 and B 1304 for an appropriate block in the descrambler A 604 and / or B 614.

  In order for the access status monitoring unit 1306 to hold information on which contract information the limited reception control units A609 and B610 have, for example, the card type inserted into each card slot corresponding to each limited reception control unit, There is a method in which a contract form is determined in advance and the setting is followed.

  That is, it is determined that a three-wave shared card (paid program contract is possible) is inserted into one card slot and a digital terrestrial broadcasting dedicated card (no contract) is inserted into the other card slot. Can hold contract information. In addition, information on which contract information is provided (that channel can be descrambled) by scanning all channels at the time of startup or the like and confirming access to and responses to the conditional access control units A609 and B610. And the information is recorded in advance in a storage table 612 or the like in a management table or the like. There is also a method of creating and updating the management table each time by checking the access and response to the limited reception control units A609 and B610 for each channel selection. These may be performed simultaneously.

  An example of the switching process is shown in FIG. Details of the processing in S804 of FIG. 8 described above will be described. In this example, it is assumed that the program d to be newly selected accesses the conditional access control unit by the access unit A1303, and the programs c and d (both free programs) selected up to this point are accessed by the access unit B1304. Assume that the conditional access control unit is accessed.

  If a new channel selection operation for the program d is performed in S1401, the process proceeds to S1402. If there is no channel selection operation, the process ends. In S1402, the limited reception control information acquisition unit 1301 acquires contract information, and the program contract information acquisition unit 1302 determines whether or not the program d is a program that requires a contract (paid program). If the program d is a pay program (contract required), the process proceeds to S1403. Since this process is an example of viewing a pay program, the case of a free program is not mentioned here (because it can be descrambled regardless of contract card or non-contract card, access switching process is not required) is there.

  In the sequence shown in FIG. 13, the processing ends as it is.) In step S1403, the access status monitoring unit 1306 determines whether access to the limited reception control unit A609 (contract card) that can descramble a pay program is possible. In S1403, when access to the conditional access control unit A609 is possible (not occupied by other descrambling processes), the process proceeds to S1404, and the access switching unit 1305 causes the access unit A1303 to descramble the program d. Is set in the limited reception control unit A609, and the process proceeds to S1409.

  In S1403, when access to the limited reception control unit A609 is not possible (occupied by another descrambling process), the process proceeds to S1405. In S1405, descrambling of the program c (free program) by the access unit B1304 is stopped, and the process proceeds to S1406. In S1406, the access switching unit 1305 changes the descrambling of the program c to the limited reception control unit B610, and the process proceeds to S1407. In S1407, descrambling of the program c by the access unit B1304 is resumed, and the process proceeds to S1408.

  By doing in this way, the situation where the limited reception control part A609 by a free program is occupied is avoided. Since the access to the conditional access control unit A609 capable of descrambling the pay program has been made so far, the access switching unit 1305 determines the descrambling destination of the program d by the access unit A1303 in step S1408. A609 is set, and the flow proceeds to S1409.

  In step S1409, descrambling of the program d by the access unit A1303 is started, and the process ends. These processes are repeatedly executed when it is necessary to perform limited reception control. Through the above processing, the control unit 608 switches access to the conditional access control unit A609 and / or B610.

  The access start / stop associated with the access switching may be generated for all the accesses simultaneously, or only one of the accesses may be generated and repeated sequentially.

  FIG. 10 shows another configuration of the receiving apparatus. The receiving apparatus 1001 includes an input unit 1002 and an output unit 1003, and other reference numerals are the same as those of the receiving apparatus 701 in FIG. The input unit 1002 is an interface that can handle broadcast waves from the tuner or signals received from other devices via a network as input signals. The output unit 1003 is descrambled to other devices via the network. It is an interface that can send out the signal. The input / output signals are mainly assumed to be MPEG2-TS streams, but may be in other formats as long as limited reception control is required. This receiving apparatus 1001 can also perform the processes as shown in FIGS.

  In this embodiment, by providing means for switching access to the conditional access control unit, even when the conditional access control unit that holds the contract information of the pay program when the pay program is descrambled is occupied by access by the free program By changing the access destination of the free program to the limited reception control unit that holds contract information that allows viewing of only the free program, there is an effect that the pay program can be descrambled.

  In the above explanation, the number of IC cards is two, of which the number of contract cards is one, the number of non-contract cards is one, and can be descrambled simultaneously with one IC card. In the above description, it is assumed that the number of programs is up to 2 and the number of programs that can be simultaneously viewed and / or recorded is 3 programs. However, these numbers are generalized and the number of IC cards is set to N (N ≧ 2) Among them, the number of non-contracted cards is M (0 <M <N), the number of contracted cards is NM, and the number of programs that can be descrambled simultaneously with one IC card is up to L programs Even if the number of programs that can be simultaneously viewed and / or recorded simultaneously is up to N × L programs, the same effect can be obtained. In this case, it is assumed that the access units shown in FIG.

  In the above description, the case where the conditional access control unit is a detachable IC card has been described. However, the conditional access control unit may be included in the receiving apparatus. Alternatively, the contract information or the like may be recorded in a memory inside the receiving device, and the processing in the limited reception control unit may be performed by the control unit of the receiving device. Further, in the configuration having a plurality of conditional access control units, a part is included in the reception device (including processing in the conditional access control unit by the control unit of the reception device), and a part is included in the reception device. It may be configured to be detachable (for example, a slot for connecting a limited reception control unit is provided).

  In the above description, paid programs / free programs have been taken as an example, but broadcasts that require a contract regardless of paid charges (for example, programs that are free but require a contract with a specific company) Etc.) has the same effect as described above when it is necessary to switch the access destination depending on the presence or absence of a contract.

  Further, even when there is a difference in broadcast types (BS / CS / terrestrial digital, etc.) that can be processed by the conditional access control unit, the access destination can be switched by the same sequence as the example described in FIG. As an example, the conditional access control unit A609 is a three-wave shared card capable of viewing digital terrestrial broadcasting, BS digital broadcasting, and CS digital broadcasting, while the conditional access control unit B610 can only view digital terrestrial broadcasting. Consider the case of using a dedicated card for digital terrestrial broadcasting. The control unit 608 can determine information on which of the limited reception control unit A609 and the limited reception control unit B610 is an IC card capable of viewing BS / CS broadcasts.

  An example of the switching process is shown in FIG. In this example, a newly selected program d (BS broadcast) is accessed by the access unit A1303 to the conditional access control unit, and the programs c and d (both terrestrial digital broadcasts) selected up to this point are used. Assume that the limited reception control unit is accessed by the access unit B1304.

  If a new channel selection operation for the program d is performed in S1401, the process proceeds to S1701. If there is no channel selection operation, the process ends. In S1701, the limited reception control information acquisition unit 1301 acquires contract information, and the program contract information acquisition unit 1302 determines whether the program d is a BS broadcast. If the program d is a BS broadcast program (a 3-wave shared card is required), the process proceeds to S1702.

  Note that this processing is given by way of example when selecting a program that requires a three-wave shared card, such as BS broadcasting or CS broadcasting, so the case where the selected channel is terrestrial digital broadcasting is not mentioned here (terrestrial digital broadcasting). Can be descrambled regardless of whether the card is a 3-wave shared card or a terrestrial digital card, the access switching process is not necessary (the process is terminated in the sequence of FIG. 16).

  In S1702, the access status monitoring unit 1306 determines whether access to the limited reception control unit A609 (three-wave shared card) capable of descrambling the BS broadcast is possible. If access to the conditional access control unit A609 is possible (not occupied by other descrambling processes) in S1702, the process proceeds to S1404, and the access switching unit 1305 causes the access unit A1303 to descramble the program d. Is set in the limited reception control unit A609, and the process proceeds to S1409.

  In S1702, when access to the limited reception control unit A609 is not possible (occupied by other descrambling processes), the process proceeds to S1405. In S1405, descrambling of the program c (digital terrestrial broadcast) by the access unit B1304 is stopped, and the process proceeds to S1406.

  In S1406, the access switching unit 1305 changes the descrambling of the program c to the limited reception control unit B610, and the process proceeds to S1407. In S1407, descrambling of the program c by the access unit B1304 is resumed, and the process proceeds to S1408. This avoids a situation where the limited reception control unit A609 is occupied by descrambling of the terrestrial digital broadcast program.

  Since the access to the conditional access control unit A609 capable of descrambling the BS broadcast program is now possible, in step S1408, the access switching unit 1305 controls the descrambling destination of the program d by the access unit A1303. Set to part A609, and the process proceeds to S1409. In step S1409, descrambling of the program d by the access unit A1303 is started, and the process ends. These processes are repeatedly executed when it is necessary to perform limited reception control. Through the above processing, the control unit 608 switches access to the conditional access control unit A609 and / or B610.

  In this embodiment, by providing means for switching access to the conditional access control unit, the conditional access control unit that enables descrambling of the BS / CS broadcast when the BS / CS broadcast is descrambled can be accessed by digital terrestrial broadcast access. Even if it is occupied, the BS / CS broadcast can be descrambled by changing the access destination of the terrestrial digital broadcast to the conditional access control unit that holds the contract information that can be viewed only by the terrestrial digital broadcast. is there.

  Note that in order for the access status monitoring unit 1306 to hold information on which contract information the conditional access control units A609 and B610 have, the card type or contract inserted into each card slot corresponding to the conditional access control unit If the form is determined in advance, the access switching unit is controlled so that broadcast programs that can be descrambled with any contract information, such as free programs, are descrambled with a non-contract card as much as possible. It is also possible to reduce the frequency of switching. In the case of a digital terrestrial broadcast program, the same effect can be obtained by assigning the digital terrestrial broadcast dedicated card as much as possible.

  In the first embodiment, even when the limited reception control unit that holds the contract information of the pay program is occupied by the descramble process access by the free program, only the free program can be viewed as the access destination of the descramble process by the free program By changing to the limited reception control unit that holds the contract information, the pay program can be descrambled. However, in this embodiment, when the access destination of the free program is changed, there are a plurality of programs for a certain period. A method of making the change effective after accessing the conditional access control unit and obtaining a normal response from the access destination to be changed will be described.

  An example of the descrambling operation during viewing in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, when descrambling the program c in S805, access to the limited reception control unit B in addition to the limited reception control unit A that has been conventionally accessed is started simultaneously (FIG. 11 (2) ′). . Thereafter, the process proceeds to S806, and as soon as a normal response is obtained from the conditional access control unit B, the access to the conditional access control unit A is stopped (FIG. 11 (3) '). Thereafter, the process proceeds to S807, where access to the limited reception control unit A is started for descrambling the program d ((4) in FIG. 11).

  An example of the operation of the control unit 608 at this time is shown in FIG. Since S1401 to S1404 and S1409 are the same processing as in FIG. 13 (Example 1), description thereof is omitted. In S1501, the access switching unit 1305 changes the access destination of the program c by the access unit B1304 to access the limited reception control unit B610 in addition to the limited reception control unit A609 accessed so far, and the process proceeds to S1502. .

  In S1502, a normal response from the conditional access control unit B610 that is newly accessed is waited for. If there is a normal response, the process proceeds to S1503, and if not, the standby is repeated in S1502. In the present embodiment, no consideration is given to a case where a normal response cannot be obtained due to a failure of the IC card or the like. The descrambling during this waiting period is performed by the limited reception control unit A609 that has been accessed so far.

  In S1503, since a normal response is obtained from the conditional access control unit B610 (that is, descrambling is possible in the conditional access control unit B610 thereafter), the access unit B1304 accesses the conditional access control unit A609 of the program c. Stop and make a transition to S1504.

  In S1504, since access to the limited reception control unit A609 is possible, the access switching unit 1305 sets the descrambling destination of the program d by the access unit A1303 in the limited reception control unit A609, and the process proceeds to S1505.

  In S1505, descrambling of the program c by the access unit B1304 is resumed, and the process proceeds to S1409. Note that either S1504 or S1505 may be performed first or simultaneously. These processes are repeatedly executed when it is necessary to perform limited reception control. With the above processing, the operation of switching the access of the program that is the target of access switching to the conditional access control unit in the middle of switching and switching after the descrambling becomes possible at the switching destination is realized.

  In this embodiment, descrambling using the conditional access control unit after switching is enabled and descrambling using the conditional access control unit before switching is terminated. It is possible to shorten the non-descrambling period that can occur at the time of switching between them as much as possible. In other words, since it is possible to reduce discontinuity, blanking, and the like caused by descrambling being disabled, it is possible to continue viewing and / or recording more stably and provide a receiving device that is easy for the user to use.

  Also in the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, not only the difference depending on the presence / absence of a contract (pay / free) but also the broadcast type (BS / CS / terrestrial digital, etc.) that can be processed by the limited reception control unit is different. In this case, the access destination can be switched (the same sequence is obtained by replacing S1402 and S1403 in FIG. 14 with S1701 and S1702 in FIG. 16).

  In the first and second embodiments, when the selected program is switched, the access destination of the descrambling process is changed as necessary, but the contract information of the currently selected broadcast is monitored. There is a method of automatically changing the access destination when the contract information differs between two consecutive programs or when the contract information partially changes in one program.

  The control unit 608 in FIG. 7 switches between the limited reception control unit A609 and the limited reception control unit B610 to perform the descrambling process according to the necessity of the contract information of the program to be viewed and / or recorded. Whether or not the contract information is necessary is determined by the conditional access control information acquisition unit and the program contract information acquisition unit in FIG.

  An example of the switching process in the present embodiment is shown in FIG. When the process is started, the process proceeds to S1601, and contract information is acquired. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S1602, and it is determined whether or not the contract information has changed. If there is no change in the contract information, the process ends (that is, the same process as that performed up to this point is repeated).

  If there is a change in the contract information, the process proceeds to S1603, and whether or not a contract is required for performing the descrambling process is performed. As a result, if the program requires a contract (paid program), the process proceeds to S1403. In addition, since this process gives an example of viewing a pay program, the case where no contract is required (free program) is not mentioned here (because it can be descrambled regardless of contract card or non-contract card) The access switching process is not necessary, and the process ends as it is in the sequence of FIG.

  After S1403, the access destination is switched by the same process as in FIG. 13 (Example 1), and the process ends. These processes are repeatedly executed when it is necessary to perform limited reception control. With the above processing, the control unit 608 switches access to the conditional access control unit A609 and / or B610 in response to a change in the contract information of the program.

  In the present embodiment, even when the contract information is different between two consecutive programs in the same broadcast, or even when the contract information partially changes within one program, it is automatically performed regardless of the user operation. There is an effect that it is possible to switch the access destination and provide a receiving device that is convenient for the user. The method of the second embodiment may be used as the access destination changing method.

  Also in the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, not only the difference depending on the presence / absence of the contract (pay / free) but also the broadcast type (BS / CS / terrestrial digital, etc.) that can be processed by the limited reception control unit In this case, the access destination can be switched (the same sequence is obtained by replacing S1603 and S1403 in FIG. 15 with S1701 and S1702 in FIG. 16).

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 301 broadcast device 302 relay device 303 reception device 304 conditional access system 305 recording / playback unit 306 output unit 401 source generation unit 402 encoding unit 403 scramble unit 404 modulation unit 405 transmission antenna unit 406 scramble control unit 601 reception device 602 antenna 603 tuner 604 Rambler 605 Separation unit 606 Decoding unit 607 Output unit 608 Control unit 609 Limited reception control unit 610 Limited reception control unit B
611 Recording control unit 612 Recording medium 613 Tuner B
614 Descrambler B
615 Separation part B
701 Receiver 1001 Receiver 1002 Input Unit 1003 Output Unit 1301 Limited Reception Control Information Acquisition Unit 1302 Program Contract Information Acquisition Unit 1303 Access Unit A
1304 Access unit B
1305 Access switching unit 1306 Access status monitoring unit

Claims (7)

A receiving unit for receiving a scrambled digital broadcast;
A descrambling unit for canceling scrambling of the digital broadcast received by the receiving unit;
A plurality of conditional access control units used for descrambling processing;
A control unit that controls a conditional access control unit used for descrambling processing,
The reception device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit switches a limited reception control unit used for descrambling in the descrambling unit. A receiving unit for receiving a scrambled digital broadcast;
A descrambling unit for canceling scrambling of the digital broadcast received by the receiving unit;
A plurality of conditional access control units used for descrambling processing;
A control unit that controls a conditional access control unit used for descrambling processing,
The digital broadcast received by the receiving unit includes a contract program that requires contract information and a non-contract program that does not require contract information,
The plurality of conditional access control units are a first conditional access control unit capable of descrambling a predetermined number of contracted programs and non-contracted programs, and a second conditional access control capable of descrambling a predetermined number of noncontracted programs. Including
The control unit switches descrambling in the descrambling unit from descrambling using the first limited reception control unit to descrambling using the second limited reception control unit. . The receiving device according to claim 2,
When the first conditional access control unit is used for descrambling the predetermined number of programs, the first conditional access control unit is used when an instruction to newly descramble a contracted program is received A receiving apparatus that switches from descrambling to descrambling using the second limited reception control unit. The receiving device according to claim 3,
When switching from descrambling using the first conditional access control unit to descrambling using the second conditional access control unit, the first conditional access control unit and the second conditional access control; A receiving apparatus characterized by having a state of accessing both. The receiving device according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
The control unit includes a program contract information acquisition unit that acquires contract information of a program received by the reception unit,
When the contract information acquired by the contract information acquisition unit changes, the descrambling using the first conditional access control unit is switched to descrambling using the second conditional access control unit. Receiver device. A receiving unit for receiving a scrambled digital broadcast;
A descrambling unit for canceling scrambling of the digital broadcast received by the receiving unit;
A plurality of conditional access control units used for descrambling processing;
A control unit that controls access to the plurality of conditional access control units,
The digital broadcast received by the receiving unit includes a first broadcast that requires a predetermined descrambling process and a second broadcast that does not require a predetermined descrambling process,
The plurality of limited reception control units can descramble a first limited reception control unit capable of descrambling a predetermined number of the first broadcasts and the second broadcasts and a predetermined number of the second broadcasts. A second limited reception control unit,
A receiving device, wherein the control unit switches descrambling in the descrambling unit from descrambling using the first conditional access control unit to descrambling using the second conditional access control unit. . The receiving device according to claim 6,
The receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first broadcast is a BS / CS broadcast and the second broadcast is a terrestrial digital broadcast.

Images