JP3439141B2 - Program rewriting system for digital television receiver - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a program rewriting system for a digital television receiver. 2. Description of the Related Art In a multi-channel digital satellite broadcasting (CS broadcasting) system using CS which has recently been started, for example, a large number of channels of 100 or more are prepared.
Numerous programs are provided. [0003] In such a broadcast, an unprecedented function,
For example, guide information of a currently broadcasted program and a program to be broadcasted in the future is transmitted at predetermined time intervals together with original program data, and a viewer can use this program guide (electronic program guide [EPG]) information or the like. You can select a program to watch. [0004] In CS broadcasting, the purchase history of a pay program is stored in an IC card on the receiver side. The purchase history of the pay program stored in the IC card is transmitted to the management company via a telephone line. The management company calculates the viewing amount of the pay program based on the purchase history of the pay program transmitted from the receiver side, and collects the viewing amount for the owner of the receiver. By the way, in such a digital television receiver, a non-rewritable ROM is generally used as a program ROM. At present, a ROM that can be rewritten as a standard is used as a program RO in order to change specifications and improve functions due to the CS broadcasting format.
M (hereinafter, referred to as a program memory) is specified. When a rewritable program memory is mounted on a digital television receiver, it becomes possible to rewrite the contents of the program memory. According to the present invention, the contents of a program memory in a digital television receiver can be rewritten by connecting a program writing device to an IC card connector. A program rewriting system for digital television receivers that does not require a special card connector
The purpose is to provide a system. A program rewriting system for a digital television receiver according to the present invention comprises:
Receiver control unit for controlling the entire receiver, receiver
Electrically rewritable to store the execution program of the control unit
Program memory consisting of various nonvolatile memories and pay
Connect an IC card for storing program purchase history, etc.
TV with IC card connector for connecting
In the program rewriting system of the
Digital television receiver and program writing by itself
And a program writing device having a replacement function.
And the program writing device is a digital television
Record the update program for the receiver
Storage means, program memos for digital television receivers
The program stored in the
Program for updating to an update program
Writer control unit and data
Write to the IC card connector of the digital television receiver
Card interface for connecting embedded device side control unit
Digital television receiver,
When a program rewrite command is input, the above IC
Check if the IC card is connected to the card connector.
Check whether the RAM writing device is connected or not
Command to the IC card
Status returned from the device connected to the connector
And IC card connector for determining based on ID
Is determined to have a program writer connected to
The program writing device
It is characterized by comprising means for enabling the replacement process . Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. [1] Description of Configuration of Digital Television Receiver Having Function of Receiving CS Digital Broadcast FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a digital television receiver having a function of receiving CS digital broadcast. I have. In this digital television receiver, a rewritable flash memory is used as the program memory 21. The digital television receiver has the following functions. (1) A function of downloading the update program sent by broadcasting and rewriting the contents of the program memory. (2) A function of rewriting the contents of the program memory 21 by the program writing device. A CS broadcast wave using CS) is sent to a CS tuner 2 via a CS antenna 1,
High frequency processing and demodulation are performed. The output from the CS tuner 2 is sent to the DEMUX circuit 3, where the packet is decoded. In the DEMUX circuit 3, the packet is
It is separated into MPEG data and additional information such as program guide information. The MPEG data separated by the DEMUX circuit 3 is sent to the AV decoder 4. DEMUX circuit 3
The auxiliary information such as the program guide information separated by the above is sent to the system controller 20. In this example, the system controller 20 includes a program memory 21 composed of a flash memory,
Nonvolatile memory 22 composed of EEPROM and RAM
Is provided. Further, the system controller 20 is connected to an IC card connector 24 to which an IC card (not shown) that stores a purchase history of a pay program and the like is connected. The program of the system controller 20 is stored in the program memory 21. Various data are stored in the nonvolatile memory 22. Volatile memory 2
3 stores download data to be described later and other necessary data. The system controller 20 has a DEMUX
The auxiliary information sent from the circuit 3 is stored in the volatile memory 23. A remote controller signal from the remote controller transmitter 12 is input to the system controller 20 via the remote controller light receiver 13. The system controller 20 sends information for channel selection to the CS tuner 2 and the DEMUX circuit 3. In addition, the system controller 20 sends an OSD control signal to the OSD display circuit 14 to cause the CRT 8 to display a program guide for the CS broadcast, various setting screens for the CS broadcast, and the like on the screen. OSD display circuit 1
4 generates display data such as a program guide and sends it to a multiplexer (synthesis circuit) 6. The AV decoder 4 demodulates the MPEG data sent from the DEMUX circuit 3. AV decoder 4
The video signal obtained by the above is sent to the multiplexer 6 via the video processing circuit 5. The multiplexer 6 superimposes the display data sent from the OSD display circuit 14 on the video data output from the video processing circuit 5 and sends it to the video output circuit 7. The video signal output from the video output circuit 7 is sent to the CRT 8. The audio signal obtained by the AV decoder 4 is sent to a speaker 11 via an audio processing circuit 9 and an audio output circuit 10. [2] Description of Function of Downloading Update Program Sent by Broadcast and Rewriting Contents of Program Memory 21 When the update program is sent by broadcast, the system controller 20
Download control table (DC
Get T: Download Control Table). This download control table includes a maker ID, a model ID, and a version ID. The system controller 20 has a maker ID
And whether the model ID is compatible with the digital television receiver or not, and if so,
It is determined whether the version ID is newer than that of the currently installed program. If the version ID is newer than that of the currently installed program, the download can be started. To start downloading, the user operates a remote controller (hereinafter, referred to as a remote controller) to call a menu screen and select a download menu. When the download menu is selected, the system controller 20 displays a download screen after confirming that the IC card is connected to the IC card connector 24. Then, when a download start command is input by the user on the download screen, the download is started. A method for confirming that the IC card is connected to the IC card connector 24 will be described later. FIG. 2 shows a processing procedure executed by the system controller 20 when the download is started. When the download of the rewriting program is started, data (binary data) of the rewriting program to be stored in the program memory 21 is stored in the volatile memory 23 (step 1). Usually, the time required for this download is about 10 minutes. When the download is completed, the contents of the program memory 21 are erased (step 2). After this,
A program rewriting process is executed (step 3). That is, in the above step 1, the volatile memory 2
3 is sequentially written into the program memory 21. Thereafter, a restart is performed. [3] By the program writing device,
Description of Function for Rewriting Contents of Program Memory 21 FIG. 3 shows the configuration of a program writing device. The program writing device 30 includes a ROM writer 31 and the ROM writer 31 connected to the IC card connector 2.
4 and an IC card interface 32 for connection to the IC card 4. IC connected to IC card connector 24
Since the card has eight terminals, IC
The card connector 24 has a configuration in which eight terminals are connected. Therefore, as the IC card interface 32, one having ordinary eight terminals is used. The ROM writer 31 has a CPU 41. The CPU 41 includes a program ROM 42 storing the control program and the like, a ROM 43 storing an update program for the receiver, and a RAM 44 storing necessary data. The CPU 41 has I
In addition to the C card interface 32, three status indicators 45, 46, and 47 made up of LEDs are connected. When rewriting the contents of the program memory 21 by the program writing device 30,
After pulling out the IC card from the IC card connector 24, the serviceman, as shown in FIG.
In the state where the power supply of the program writing device 30 is turned off, the IC card interface 32 of the program writing device 30 is inserted into the IC card connector 24. Then, with the power of the ROM writer 31 turned off, the mode switch 48 is set to the program transmission mode, and then the power of the ROM writer 31 is turned on. At this time, the status display lamp 45 is turned on. Further, the serviceman operates the remote control of the receiver to call the menu screen and select the download menu. As a result, a program rewrite command is input. On the other hand, the system controller 2 in the receiver
0 indicates whether the IC card is connected to the IC card connector 24 when the download menu is selected (when the program rewrite command is input).
It is determined whether the IC card interface 32 is connected to the card connector 24, and whether the IC card or the IC card interface 32 is not connected to the IC card connector 24. This determination is performed as follows. That is, I
A predetermined command is transmitted to the C card connector 24. The command is sent to the IC card when the IC card is connected to the IC card connector 24.
Upon receiving the command, the IC card displays a status indicating that the IC card is an IC card in the system controller 2.
Send to 0. When receiving the status sent from the IC card, the system controller 20
It is determined that the IC card is connected to the card connector 24. In this case, the screen shifts to the download screen, and when the download start command is input, the download of the update program transmitted by the broadcast described in the above [2] is started. When the IC card interface 32 is connected to the IC card connector 24, the command sent from the system controller 20 to the IC card connector 24 is sent to the ROM writer 31. Upon receiving the above command, the ROM writer 31 sends a status indicating the ROM writer 31 to the system controller 20. When receiving the status sent from the ROM writer 31, the system controller 20 determines that the IC card interface 32 is connected to the IC card connector 24. The system controller 20 includes an IC
If there is no status response even if a predetermined command is sent to the card connector 24, it is determined that neither the IC card nor the IC card interface 32 is connected to the IC card connector 24. In this case, the screen does not shift to the download screen. When the system controller 20 determines that the IC card interface 32 is connected to the IC card connector 24, the system controller 2
The operation mode of 0 is set to the program rewrite mode by the ROM writer, and the download screen is displayed. Then, when a download start command is input by a service person based on the download screen, the system controller 20 starts supplying a clock to the IC card connector 24. FIG. 4 shows the CPU of the ROM writer 31 when a clock is input from the system controller 20.
41 shows the operation of the present embodiment. When a clock is input from the system controller 20 (step 11), the data transfer speed from the ROM writer 31 is reset and a data link is established (step 12). Then, the update program stored in the ROM 43 is sequentially transmitted to the system controller 20 in sector units (step 13). The system controller 20 temporarily stores the transmitted sector-by-sector data in the volatile memory 23. When the transmission of all the sectors is completed (step 14), an erase command is transmitted to the system controller 20 (step 15). Upon receiving this erase command, the system controller 20 erases (erases) the contents of the program memory 21. Thereafter, a write command is sent to the system controller 20 (step 16). Upon receiving this write command, the system controller 20 updates the update program stored in the volatile memory 23 with
Writing to the program memory 21 (step 16). When the system controller 20 notifies the CPU 41 of the ROM writer 31 that the writing has been completed, the status indicator lamp 4 indicating that the writing has been completed.
7 is turned on (step 17), and the current process ends. When the writing of the update program to the program memory 21 is completed, the system controller 20 restarts. In the above digital television receiver, the contents of the program memory can be rewritten based on the update program sent by broadcasting, and the contents of the program memory can be rewritten by the program writing device 30. . For this reason, if the program writing in the manufacturing process in the factory fails or the download of the update program sent by broadcasting fails, the stand-alone rewriting by the service person can be easily performed. The system controller 20 sends a command to the IC card connector 24 to determine whether an IC card or a program writing device is connected to the IC card connector 24, and determines whether the device connected to the IC card connector 24 is connected to the IC card connector 24. Since it is performed based on the status returned from the IC card connector, there is no need to use a special IC card connector 24. According to the present invention, the rewriting of the contents of the program memory in the digital television receiver is performed by the I
This can be easily performed by connecting a program writing device to the C card connector. Also, there is no need to use a special IC card connector.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital television receiver. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed by a system controller 20 when download of an update program transmitted by broadcasting is started. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a program writing device. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the CPU 41 of the ROM writer 31 when a clock is input from the system controller 20. [Description of Signs] 2 CS tuner 3 DEMUX circuit 20 System controller 21 Program memory 22 Non-volatile memory 23 Volatile memory 24 IC card connector 30 Program writer 31 ROM writer 32 IC card interface 41 CPU 42 Program ROM 43 ROM 44 RAM

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] (1) A receiver-side control for controlling the entire receiver.
Control unit, an electric storage unit for storing an execution program of the receiver side control unit.
Program memory consisting of dynamically rewritable nonvolatile memory
IC for storing the history of purchases of memory and paid programs
A device with an IC card connector for connecting a card
Program rewriting system for digital television receiver
The digital television receiver and the program
Program writing device having a rewriting function
The program writing device is a digital television receiver
Memory that stores the update program for the machine
In the program memory of the digital television receiver
The program that stores the stored program in the storage means
Program for rewriting to update program
Writer-side control unit and digital unit for performing rewrite processing
Write to the IC card connector of the TV receiver
IC card interface for connecting the device side control unit
Equipped with a scan, digital television receivers, program rewriting finger
Command is input to the IC card connector.
Card is connected or program writer is connected
Is connected to the IC card connector.
Command and connected to the above IC card connector.
To determine based on the status returned by the device
Write a program to the step and the above IC card connector
If it is determined that a device is connected,
Program rewriting process by writing device
Digital television having means for causing
A program rewriting system for John receivers.