JP2774558B2 - Contract information receiving device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a pay broadcast receiving apparatus capable of receiving a broadcast based on contract information with a broadcast supplier such as a broadcast station. The present invention relates to a contract information receiving device that can be used for such purposes.

(Prior Art) In a pay broadcast, a video signal and an audio signal are scrambled and transmitted so that a person who does not subscribe to a broadcast supplier (broadcasting station) cannot illegally view the broadcast. In such a pay-broadcast system, a person who wants to receive a pay-broadcast makes a contract with a broadcast supplier every predetermined contract period, and can view a program contracted according to the contract.

The pay broadcast receiving apparatus of such a system determines whether or not the program to be received is viewable in light of the contract contents, and descrambles the video signal and the audio signal only when the program to be received is viewable, In other words, the descrambling control is performed to descramble and restore the scrambled video signal and audio signal that have been transmitted after being scrambled,
As a result, images and sounds can be normally viewed.

The descrambling control is performed based on the contract information. The contract information is provided from the broadcast provider to the pay broadcast receiving apparatus at predetermined contract periods.

As a method of giving the contract information from the broadcast provider to the pay broadcast receiving apparatus, for example, a method of using broadcast radio waves, telephone, mail, an IC card, or the like has been considered.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the method of providing contract information from a broadcast supplier to a pay broadcast receiving apparatus using a telephone, a call is made from the broadcast supplier to the pay broadcast receiver, and the pay broadcast receiver is called every predetermined contract period. There is a method of giving contract information, but in this case, there is a problem that it is difficult to know whether the incoming call is a telephone that gives contract information or a normal telephone until you pick up the handset. When it comes to mind, there is a problem that the phone gives contract information, which is very troublesome.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a contract information receiving apparatus that can easily receive contract information while using a telephone while eliminating conventional troublesomeness. To provide.

[Configuration of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, a contract information receiving device of the present invention is a contract information receiving device for receiving contract information from a central device via a telephone, Calling means for calling and calling the central unit every arbitrary period not determined, a reception signal for receiving contract information transmitted from the central unit in response to the call, and storing the contract information received by the receiving means. And a storage means for performing the operation.

(Operation) In the contract information receiving apparatus of the present invention, a telephone call is made to the central device every arbitrary period that is not determined, and contract information transmitted from the central device in response to this call is received and stored.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a contract information receiving apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. The contract information receiving apparatus shown in the figure constitutes, for example, a pay broadcast receiving apparatus in a pay broadcast system, and a broadcast supplier (broadcast station) not shown.
Is connected via a public telephone network. Therefore, the pay broadcast receiving apparatus has telephone terminals 1, 1 connected to a public telephone network, and the telephone terminals 1, 1 are connected to a telephone 7 via a changeover switch 3 and a call detection circuit 5. When the switch 3 is switched to the dotted line side, the telephone terminals 1 and 1 are connected to the call control unit 9 and the transmission / reception control unit 11. The call control unit 9 controls switching of the changeover switch 3 and has functions of switching control between the telephone side and descrambling side, on / off control of a hook switch in a telephone, dialing, polarity reversal detection, and the like. .

The transmission / reception control unit 11 includes an ID memory 13 for storing identification information ID, a contract information memory 15 for storing contract information, a contract information expiration date memory 17 for storing contract information expiration date, and a random number generator for generating random numbers. 21 is connected. The contract information and the contract information expiration date information from the contract information memory 15 and the contract information expiration date memory 17 are supplied to the video / audio descrambler 19, and the video / audio descrambler 19 performs descrambling control. The random number generator 21 is set to a predetermined value, and generates a random number from the predetermined value.The generated random number is supplied to the comparator 23 and compared with an output signal from the ID memory 13, and the random number is output from the ID memory 13. , The comparator 23 supplies a coincidence pulse to the call control unit 9. Upon receiving the coincidence pulse, the calling control section 9 calls the broadcast supplier via a public telephone network as described later to call the broadcast provider.

 Next, the operation will be described.

First, when a predetermined value is set in the random number generator 21 and the random number generator 21 operates, the random number from the random number generator 21 is
And compared with the output signal from the ID memory 13.
When the random number matches the output signal of the ID memory 13, the comparator 23
Is supplied to the call control unit 9 from the control unit. As a result, the call control unit 9 confirms that the telephone 7 is not in a call by the output from the call detection circuit 5, switches the changeover switch 3 from the telephone 7 side, and then sets a hook (not shown) in the call control unit 9. The switch is off-hook, and the telephone is dialed from the telephone terminals 1 and 1 to the broadcast supplier via the public telephone network to call the broadcast supplier.

When the broadcast supplier responds to the call and the inversion of the polarity is detected by the call control unit 9 and the call enters a call state, the call control unit 9 outputs a transmission / reception start pulse to the transmission / reception control unit 11. The transmission / reception control unit 11 that has received the transmission / reception start pulse
Is the ID stored in the ID memory 13 for the broadcast provider.
To send a contract information transmission request. Broadcasting providers
In response to the transmission request of the ID and the contract information, the server returns the contract information and the expiration date information of the contract information based on the contract contents with the pay broadcast receiving subscriber having the pay broadcast receiving apparatus of the ID. The contract information and the expiration date information of the contract information are received by the transmission / reception control unit 11 via the telephone terminals 1 and 1 and the changeover switch 3, the contract information is stored in the contract information memory 15, and the expiration date information of the contract information is Contract information expiration date memory
Stored in 17. The contract information stored in the contract information memory 15 and the contract information expiration date memory 17 and the expiration date information of the contract information are supplied to the video / audio descrambler 19,
The video / audio descrambler 19 performs descrambling control based on these pieces of information. Further, upon receiving the contract information and the expiration date information of the contract information, a predetermined initial value is set in the random number generator 21, the random number generator 21 operates from the beginning, and the same processing is repeated thereafter.

Although the dialing is performed to the broadcast supplier, if the broadcast supplier is busy, the calling control unit 9 temporarily goes on-hook, then goes on-hook again, and repeats the dialing until the other party is called. When the call detection circuit 5 detects that the telephone 7 is in a call, dialing to the broadcast provider is performed after the call ends.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment shown in the figure, the ID information from the ID memory 13 is set as the initial value of the random number generator 21 in the embodiment shown in FIG.
The other configuration and operation are the same except that the random number from is compared with a predetermined value.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of still another embodiment of the present invention. The embodiment shown in the figure is different from the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 only in that a timer 25 is used instead of the random number generator 21, and other configurations and operations are the same. That is, when the timer 25 operates, the output value of the timer 25 is supplied to the comparator 23 and compared with the output signal from the ID memory 13, but the output value of the timer 25 matches the output signal of the ID memory 13. Then, a coincidence pulse is supplied from the comparator 23 to the call control unit 9, thereby calling the broadcast supplier in the same manner as described above, receiving the contract information and the expiration date information, and descrambling control based on these information. It is carried out. Then, when the broadcast supplier receives the contract information and the like,
A predetermined initial value is set in the timer 25, whereby the timer 25 operates from the beginning, and the same processing is repeated thereafter.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a telephone call is made to a central unit every arbitrary period not determined, and contract information transmitted from the central unit in response to this call is received. Because it is memorized, it is possible to receive contract information without having to worry about whether it is a telephone that gives contract information as in the past or a normal phone, and also to prevent telephone calls from being concentrated on the central unit at the same time. Has become.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a contract information receiving apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is still another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example. 1, 1 telephone terminal, 7 telephone 9 calling controller 11, transmission / reception controller 15 contract information memory 17 contract expiration date memory 19 video / audio descrambler 21 ... random number generator, 23 ... comparator 25 ... timer

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-55-102964 (JP, A) JP-A-50-24001 (JP, A) JP-A-1-245727 (JP, A) JP-A-2- 14325 (JP, A) JP-A-61-61582 (JP, A) JP-A-64-37154 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H04M 11/00-11 / 10 H04H 1/00 H04N 7/16

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A contract information receiving apparatus for receiving contract information from a central device via a telephone, comprising: calling means for calling the central device by telephone every arbitrary period not determined; A contract information receiving apparatus comprising: receiving means for receiving contract information transmitted from the apparatus; and storage means for storing the contract information received by the receiving means.