JP3521015B2 - Data transmission equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

The present invention relates to a central control unit and a plurality of terminal units connected by a transmission line, and the central control unit can transmit information data including image information and / or audio information to the terminal units. Data transmission device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a cable television (CA
Like a karaoke system using a TV system, a center (central control device) and a plurality of terminal devices are connected by a transmission line, and various information (from the center to the terminal devices) is transmitted to the terminal devices in response to a request from the terminal device side. For example, a data transmission device for transmitting information data including karaoke, movies, text drawing services, etc. is known. In such a data transmission device system, each terminal device does not need to have a storage device for preliminarily storing information data such as karaoke software and movie software, so that the configuration of the terminal device is very simple. There are advantages such as.

As a general usage pattern of the CATV system, for example, a plurality of predetermined channels transmitted from the center can be comprehensively used, and those are within the basic charge. In addition, regarding a specific channel, a usage contract is individually signed, and for example, a usage contract is signed in units of January, week, or day. These individual contracts are often movies, and there is a fixed fee regardless of how many works you watch during the contract period. The difference between these usage patterns is mainly related to the usage fee, and if the contract is not made, the tuner on the terminal device side does not work or it is so-called scrambled and it is virtually invisible. There is.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned conventional data transmission device has the following problems. As described above, the plurality of predetermined channels can be used comprehensively, but there are various ways of use within the range of the plurality of channels.
That is, there are various tastes of viewers, and a program of a certain specific genre is often auditioned, but a program of another specific genre is hardly watched or not watched at all.

Further, even considering a karaoke distribution system, some genres are often used depending on the content of karaoke songs, and some genres are not used at all. For example, you rarely use the Enka genre,
It is possible that rock genres are rarely used.

As described above, the taste of the user is often biased, but if it is possible to use it comprehensively, especially if the charge is uniformly charged, it is rarely used or not used at all. I feel a sense of breakage for programs of genres that I do not, or karaoke songs,
For example, there are people who wish to be cheaper for some uses.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and makes it possible to make a contract for the use of information data by genre, so that only the information data more specific to the user's taste can be accessed on the terminal device side. It is an object of the present invention to provide a data transmission device as described above.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the data transmission apparatus according to claim 1 is such that a central control unit and a plurality of terminal units are connected by a transmission line, and the central control unit is connected. In a data transmission device capable of transmitting information data including image information and / or audio information corresponding to the request in response to a request from each of the terminal devices, the central controller controls the information data by genre. The terminal device is provided with a data storage unit for storing as a plurality of classified genre-specific information data groups. A table memory that stores a table indicating whether or not a request data is requested to request desired information data for each data unit from the above information data. A request means for generating the information data requested by the request means,
A determination means for determining whether or not the user belongs to a genre for which a usage contract is made, based on the above table, and a request means generated when it is determined that the requested information data belongs to a genre for which a usage contract is made. Request holding memory that holds the requested request data,
Reproduction control for requesting the central control unit to transmit the desired information data based on the request data stored in the request storage memory and reproducing the information data transmitted from the central control unit in response to the request. And means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the data transmission device, the central control device transmits a mode sense polling signal for confirming a current operation mode among a plurality of operation modes of the terminal devices. Together with means for receiving a mode response signal from each of the terminal devices in response to the mode sense polling signal, and a mode response signal indicating that the current operation mode of each of the terminal devices is a specific mode The data transmission apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a unit that reads out the information data from the data storage unit in response to a request for transmitting the information data from each of the terminal devices.

[0010]

[0011]

[0012]

According to the data transmission apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, the data storage means of the central control unit stores the information data as a plurality of genre-specific information data groups classified by genre. There is. Then, in the terminal device, the table memory stores a table indicating whether or not the genres of the plurality of genre-specific information data groups are genres to which each terminal device subscribes,
The request means can generate request data for requesting desired information data for each data unit from the information data. Then, the judging means judges whether or not the information data requested by the requesting means belongs to the genre for which the usage contract is made, and it is judged that the requested information data belongs to the genre for which the usage contract is made. At this time, the request data generated from the request means is held in the request holding memory. Then, the reproduction control means requests the central control device to transmit desired information data based on the request data held in the request holding memory, and in response to the request, sends the information data transmitted from the central control device. To play. In other words, for information data for which no usage contract has been made, no data transmission is requested to the central controller. Therefore, the central control unit cannot transmit the corresponding information data to those not requested, and therefore the reproduction data is not reproduced by the reproduction control means.

Further, in the case of the data transmission device according to the second aspect, the central control device transmits a mode sense polling signal for confirming a current operation mode among a plurality of operation modes of each terminal device. In addition, when receiving a mode response signal from each of the terminal devices according to the mode sense polling signal, and further receiving a mode response signal indicating that the current operation mode of each terminal device is a specific mode. The information data is read from the data storage means in response to the information data transmission request from each terminal device.

[0014]

[0015]

Accordingly, the user can select only a specific genre-specific information data group in consideration of his or her taste and make a contract. For example, in the case of a karaoke distribution system, there are genres that are often used, and there are genres that are not used at all. May not be contracted, and lock genres may be determined from excluded genres such as not contracted.
Of course, it is also possible to make a contract to use all genre-specific information data groups.

Assuming that the data can be used only comprehensively as in the conventional case, especially if the charge is uniformly charged, the charge is used instead of not using the information data group of the genre that is rarely used or not used at all. Needless to say, there is a demand for lowering. According to the present invention, such a request can be suitably dealt with, and only the information data more limited to the user's taste can be accessed on the terminal device side.

Further, if the fee is charged in units of genre-specific information data group, it is easy for the user to make the charge cheaper for some uses. And, by providing such convenience, it also contributes to the promotion of the increase of users as a whole.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An example of a karaoke system in which a center (central control unit) and a large number of karaoke terminal devices are connected by a transmission line will be described below as a first embodiment embodying the data transmission device of the present invention. . 2 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the entire system and the configuration of the center, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a karaoke terminal device side.
The first embodiment is an example of a one-way data transmission type karaoke system in which the karaoke data is transmitted from the center to the terminal device side in a drift mode.

As shown in FIG. 2, this karaoke system 1
Is configured by connecting the center 3 and a plurality of karaoke terminal devices 5 (hereinafter referred to as terminal devices 5) by a coaxial cable 7 which is a transmission line. Here, the terminal device 5
May be provided separately in separate buildings, or may be provided for each individual store or box in one building.

Next, the structure of the center 3 will be described with reference to FIG. The center 3 includes a server (control unit) 11 that controls the whole and a storage device 1 that stores karaoke data.
3, center modem 15, background video output device 17a, 1
7b, a BS (satellite broadcast) receiving system 19, a head end 21, and the like.

The server 11 is a well-known CPU 23, RO
The storage device 13 and the input / output interface (I / O) are provided with the M25, the RAM 27, etc. via the bus line 29.
31 and background video output devices (VDP) 17a, 17b and the like. On the other hand, as the storage device 13, a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk or a magneto-optical disk is used, and karaoke data of about several thousand songs is stored.

Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the karaoke data D1 for one song includes a sync signal D3, song number data D5 indicating a song number, performance data D7, and the end (break) of the data for one song. The data D9 shown in FIG.
The performance data D7 is MID which is data of accompaniment music.
It includes data of the I (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) standard, lyrics data displayed on the monitor television 53 of the terminal device 5, and the like.

The center modem 15 divides and modulates a plurality of karaoke data read from the storage device 13 into a plurality of different channels (that is, AC signals having different frequency bands), and outputs this karaoke data signal to the head end 21. To the karaoke terminal device 5. The method of transmitting this karaoke data signal will be described in detail later.

The background image output devices (video disc players) 17a and 17b output background image information displayed on a monitor television of the karaoke terminal device 5 described later, and are referred to as enka, pops, folk songs, rock and roll, and others. As such, they are classified according to the genre of the requested song. And this background image output device 1
7a and 17b are respectively connected to a modulator 33, and image data (standard NTSC system video signal) is converted by the modulator 33 into frequency bands of different channels, and an AC signal is output to the head end 21. To be done.
The BS receiving system 19 includes a receiving antenna 35 and a BS.
The tuner 39 and the modulator 39 are provided, and the modulator 39 is connected to the head end 21.

The head end 21 is equipped with various devices (not shown) such as a mixer for sending a signal to the coaxial cable. The head end 21 has a modulation signal of karaoke data sent from the center modem 15 described above,
The mode sense polling signal and the request polling signal, the background video signals from the background video output devices 17a and 17b, and the BS broadcast signal from the BS reception system 19 are input, and a plurality of signals of different channels are multiplexed and coaxial. It is output to the cable 7 and transmitted to each terminal device 5.

Next, the configuration of the terminal device 5 will be described with reference to FIG. The terminal device 5 includes a control unit 4 that controls the entire device.
1, input device 43, sound source 45, amplifier 47, speaker 4
9, video composition circuit 51, monitor TV 53, center 3
A terminal modem 57 and a video tuner 59 for receiving and processing signals from

The control unit 41 includes a CPU 61, a ROM 63,
The RAM 65 and the like are provided, and are connected to the input device 43, the sound source 45, the input / output interface 69, the video synthesizing circuit 51, and the like via the bus line 67. The input device 43 is
It is provided with various key switches for the user to operate the terminal, a ten key 43a for inputting the song number of the requested song, and a mode key 4 for selecting various operation modes.
3b, a power switch 43c for turning on / off the power, and the like. Here, in the operation mode of the terminal device 5,
There are a plurality of modes such as a "Karaoke mode" in which karaoke data transmitted from the center 3 is received to perform a karaoke performance, and a "BS mode" in which a BS broadcast signal from the center 3 is received to watch a BS broadcast.

The sound source (synthesizer sound source) 45 converts the MIDI data included in the karaoke data into an analog karaoke accompaniment voice signal, and this voice signal is input to the amplifier 47. The amplifier 47 mixes and amplifies this karaoke accompaniment voice signal and the singing voice signal from the microphone 71 by the singer, and outputs it to the speaker 49.

The video synthesizing circuit 51 converts the lyrics data included in the karaoke data into a lyrics video signal, and
This is combined (superimposed) with the background video signal input from the video tuner 59, and the monitor television 53
Output to. The terminal modem 57 receives and demodulates the karaoke data signal transmitted from the center 3 via the coaxial cable 7. The demodulated karaoke data is processed by the control unit 41, and the data of the requested music piece is once stored in the RAM 65 and then read again for the karaoke performance processing. This karaoke performance process will be described later.

The video tuner 59 is a background video signal (background video output device 17) that is also transmitted from the center.
a, 17b) and a BS broadcast signal from the BS reception system, and channel selection is performed to obtain a desired video signal. That is, if the "karaoke mode" is specified as the operation mode by the mode key 43b of the input device 43, the background video signal channel is selected, and if the "BS mode" is specified, the BS broadcast signal channel is selected. Is selected.

Next, the operation of the karaoke system 1 having the above configuration will be described. First, the operation of transmitting karaoke data from the center side will be described. The center 3 stores the storage device within a certain fixed time (allowable time until the user requests a song and starts playing) regardless of whether or not the karaoke terminal device 5 requests a song. The entire amount of karaoke data stored in 13 is divided into a plurality of channels and sequentially transmitted to the karaoke terminal device 5 via the coaxial cable 7.

That is, a plurality of karaoke data stored in the storage device 13 is sent to the center modem 15 through the input / output interface 31, divided into a plurality of channels and modulated. More specifically, for example, in FIG.
As shown in, C30 (C indicates a channel) is 0
~ Karaoke data of 999 songs, 1000 for C31
All songs (6000 songs) have 6 channels (C30 to C3) such as data of songs up to 1999.
It is divided into 5). Then, the karaoke data assigned to each channel is sequentially transmitted to the karaoke terminal device 5 via the head end 21 and the coaxial cable 7. Then, when the transmission of all the songs is completed, the transmission is repeated from the first song on each channel again.

Next, the operation of the karaoke terminal device 5 when requesting a desired song and performing karaoke will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, it is determined whether or not the song number of the requested song is input from the input device 43 of the karaoke terminal device 5 (step 100:
Hereinafter, the step is abbreviated as S). If there is no request, S100 is repeated again, but if a song number is input, then it is determined whether the requested song with that song number is a lock target (S110).

The "lock" will be described. In this karaoke system 1, as the genre of the song,
It is categorized into 5 genres: pop, folk song, rock and roll, and others. Of course, you can subscribe to use songs of all genres, but you can subscribe to genres individually.

The background to this is that the usage frequency for each genre varies depending on the situation where the terminal device 5 is arranged. For example, it may be a karaoke box dedicated to karaoke, a snack or coffee shop that uses karaoke as an accessory service, or a person who wants to use it personally may bring it into the home. Depending on the case, there are genres that are often used, and there are genres that are not used at all. For example, it may be considered that only the enka genre is contracted to be used for enka specialization, or conversely, the genre to be excluded is determined, such as not entrusting the enka genre and not locking the rock genre.

In this case, genres other than the contracted genre are not available on the terminal device 5 side. That is rock. Specifically, a lock table is stored in the RAM 65 in the terminal device 5, and a determination flag as to whether or not to lock according to the contract already made for the five genres is set.

Therefore, in S110, based on the genre to which the requested song having the song number input in S100 belongs, the lock table is referred to and it is determined whether or not it is a lock target. If not locked (S110: N
O), that is, in the case of a genre for which a user contract
The terminal modem 57 is controlled by referring to channel information (data indicating from which channel individual karaoke data is transmitted) stored in the RAM 65 in advance, and the corresponding channel from which the requested song is transmitted is received. Yes (S120). Also, the song name-tune information (data indicating whether the requested song corresponds to a song tone such as enka or pops) also stored in the RAM 65.
Referring to, the channel of the video tuner 59 is switched to select the background video signal corresponding to the tone of the requested song (S130).

Next, the control section 41 refers to the song number data of the karaoke data sequentially transmitted from the channel selected in S120, and determines whether the transmitted karaoke data is for the requested song. (S
140). If it is not the desired song, repeat S140,
If it is the data of the requested song, this karaoke data is temporarily stored in the RAM 65, and then the following karaoke performance processing is performed (S150).

That is, the karaoke data once stored in the RAM 65 is read out, and the lyrics data is input to the video synthesizing circuit 51 to be converted into a lyrics video signal. In addition, the background image signal channel-selected by the video tuner 59 is also input to the image synthesis circuit 51. Then, the background image information and the lyrics image signal are combined (superimposed) by the image combining circuit 51, and the character string of the lyrics is superimposed and displayed on the background image on the monitor television 53.

On the other hand, the MIDI data included in the read karaoke data is converted into an accompaniment voice signal by the sound source 45 and input to the amplifier 47. The accompaniment voice signal is mixed with the singing voice signal from the microphone 71 by the singer, amplified as appropriate, and output from the speaker 49.

When the karaoke performance process (S150) as described above is completed, the process proceeds to S160, in which it is determined whether or not the karaoke is completed.
Returning to step S100-S150, the process is repeated, but if karaoke is to be stopped, this process ends.

On the other hand, if it is a lock target (S110:
YES), that is, if there is no subscription, a message indicating that the subscription cannot be used is displayed (S).
170) and shifts to S160. Therefore, the user will input the song number of the requested song again from the input device 43.

As described above, in the karaoke system 1 of the present embodiment, the center 3 divides the karaoke data including the information such as accompaniment music and lyrics via the transmission line 7 for each song. The data is sequentially transmitted to the terminal device 5.
Then, the karaoke terminal device 5 selects and reproduces the karaoke data of the requested song from the karaoke data that are sequentially transmitted, and outputs the accompaniment music and lyrics to the speaker 49 and the monitor TV 53. In the case of a requested song of a genre that is not included, the karaoke data is not taken in, so that song is not reproduced. On the other hand, in the case of the requested song of the genre for which the usage contract is made, the karaoke data is fetched and reproduced as usual.

Therefore, the user only needs to select a specific genre in consideration of his / her taste and make a contract for use. In other words, even if it is called a karaoke song, there are genres that are often used, and there are genres that are not used at all. The usage contract may be determined from the excluded genres, such as not enrolling in the Enka genre and not contracting in the Rock genre. Of course, you can also subscribe to all genres.

Assuming that it can only be used comprehensively as in the past, especially if the fee is uniformly charged in one form in which all genres can be used, the user will not be allowed to use genres that are not used at all. I feel a sense of breakage. Therefore, of course, there is a demand for lowering the charge for the genres that are not used at all, instead of not using it. The karaoke system 1 can suitably respond to such a request.

Further, if the karaoke music is charged in units of genres, it is easy for the user to make the charge cheaper for a part of the use. Therefore, by making such a convenience, It also contributes to the increase in the number of users, which is preferable for the karaoke data distribution side. As for the charging method, charging may be performed on a request basis, or for example, on a monthly basis, not limited to the number of times of use.

In the first embodiment, since the so-called central control unit 3 is used as a trickle system, karaoke data is not taken if it is a lock target (S110: YES), that is, if there is no usage contract. By doing so, it is not possible to play (do not perform) reproduction of things outside the usage contract, but in the case of the so-called request method, referring to the lock table above, the genre that is not locked, that is, the usage contract is made. The central control unit 3 may be requested only for the genres in which it is present.

The second embodiment, which is a karaoke system of the request system (that is, the center 3 transmits the karaoke data in response to the request from the terminal device 5 in the two-way data transmission type), will be described below. In this two-way data transmission type karaoke system,
The center modem 15 in the center 3 is the storage device 1
The karaoke data read from No. 3, the mode sense polling signal and the request polling signal output from the server 11 are modulated into an AC signal of a predetermined same channel (that is, a predetermined frequency band) and output to the headend 21. Is configured. Here, the mode sense polling signal is a signal for confirming the operation mode of the terminal device 5 described later. Further, the request polling signal is a signal for confirming whether or not there is a request for transmitting karaoke data to the terminal device 5.

Further, the terminal modem 57 of the terminal device 5 receives and demodulates the karaoke data signal, the mode sense polling signal, the request polling signal and the like transmitted from the center 3 via the coaxial cable 7, and at the same time, the control section 41. A mode response signal, a request response signal, and the like output from the modulated signal are modulated and transmitted to the center 3. Here, the mode response signal is a signal for replying to the center 3 the current operation mode of its own in response to the mode sense polling signal from the center 3. Further, the request response signal is a signal for responding to the center whether or not there is a request for a tune (that is, a request for transmitting karaoke data) in response to a request polling signal from the center 3 as well.

Except for the above points, the configuration of the karaoke system of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment described above. Next, the operation of the karaoke system 1 of the second embodiment having the above-mentioned configuration will be described.

First, the operation on the side of the center 3 will be described. In the center 3, the server 11 performs mode sense processing and request processing. The mode sense process is repeatedly executed by the timer interrupt for every predetermined time (for example, every 30 seconds) with respect to the request process, and the mode sense process is performed on all the karaoke terminal devices 5 connected to the center 3. The polling signals are sequentially transmitted, and it is determined whether or not each terminal device 5 is in the "Karaoke mode" based on the mode response signal transmitted from each terminal device 5 in response to the polling signal.

That is, when the mode response signal indicating the "Karaoke mode" is received, the flag is determined to be the "Karaoke mode", the flag of the mode management table in the RAM 27 is set to 1, and the signal is not transmitted within a predetermined time. In the case and when a mode response signal indicating a mode other than the "Karaoke mode" is received, it is determined that the mode is not the "Karaoke mode" and the flag is set to 0.

Next, the request processing will be described.
In this request processing, the flag of each terminal device 5 is confirmed by referring to the mode management table of the RAM 27. If the flag is determined to be 1 (that is, in the "karaoke mode"), the request polling signal is transmitted to the terminal device 5, and the request response signal transmitted from the terminal device 5 in response to this signal is received. Then, this request response signal is processed, and if there is a request, the karaoke data of the requested song is read from the storage device 13 and transmitted to the terminal device 5 based on the song number data included in this signal.

Next, the request process (FIG. 7) will be described in detail. In this request processing, first, initialization such as clearing the RAM 27 is performed (S3
1), the terminal number n is set to 1 (S33). Then R
The flag of the nth terminal device 5 is confirmed by referring to the mode management table of the AM 27 (S35). If the flag is determined to be 1 (that is, in the "Karaoke mode"), a request polling signal is transmitted to this nth terminal (S37), and the request response transmitted from the terminal in response to this signal. A signal is received (S39). Here, the request response signal is a signal indicating whether or not there is a song request, and if there is a request, song number data of the requested song is added.

Next, the request response signal is processed to determine whether or not there is a music request (S41),
When it is determined that there is a request, the karaoke data of the requested song is read from the storage device 13 and transmitted to the nth terminal device 5 based on the song number data included in this signal (S43), and the next step Proceed to (S45). If it is determined in S41 that there is no request, the process directly proceeds to the next step (S45).

On the other hand, if it is determined in S35 that the flag is 0 (that is, if it is not the "Karaoke mode"), the above-described S37 to S43 are not executed, and the process directly proceeds to S45. That is, the request polling signal is not transmitted to the terminal device 5 that is not in the "karaoke mode".

Then, in S45, 1 is added to the terminal number n.
Is added (n = n + 1), the process proceeds to S47 and the terminal number n
Is greater than the maximum terminal number N (that is, the total number of karaoke terminal devices connected to the center 3).
If a negative determination is made here, the process returns to S35 again, and n + 1
The processes of S35 to S45 described above are repeated for the th terminal device 5. If n> N is determined in S47, the process returns to S33, the terminal number n is set to 1, and the processes of S35 to S45 are performed again for the first terminal device 5.

Thus, in request processing,
By referring to the flag of the mode management table, the request polling signal is transmitted only to the terminal device 5 in the "Karaoke mode". Next, the operation on the side of each terminal device 5 will be described. In the terminal device 5, the key input process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8 and the communication interrupt process shown in FIG. 9 are executed.

Here, the key input process (FIG. 8) is to detect the key input from the input device 43 and accept the setting of the operation mode of the terminal device 5 and the input of the request number of the music. On the other hand, the communication interrupt process (FIG. 9) is executed when the above-mentioned mode sense polling signal or request polling signal is transmitted from the center 3, and the current operation mode is changed according to the mode sense polling signal. A mode response signal shown is transmitted to the center 3, and a request response signal for responding whether or not there is a music request is transmitted according to the request polling signal. When karaoke data is received from the center 3, it is processed and karaoke performance is performed.

First, the key input process (FIG. 8) will be described in detail. In this key input processing, first, initialization such as clearing the RAM 65 (see FIG. 3) is performed (S51), and whether there is any key input from the input device 43 (that is, whether the numeric keypad 43a, the mode key 43b, etc. have been pressed). ) Or not (S53). If there is no key input here, the process returns to S53 and waits for key input.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S53 that there is a key input, it is determined whether or not it is the operation mode input setting by the operation of the mode key 43b (S55), and if the operation mode is input. , The flag of the corresponding operation mode in the operation mode table (table storing the current operation mode) of the RAM 65 is set to 1. That is, for example, if the "karaoke mode" is designated by key input, the karaoke mode flag in the table is set to 1 (S
57).

Then, the music number holding memory (memory storing the music number of the requested music) of the RAM 65 is cleared (S59), and the current operation mode is "BS mode" by referring to the flag of the operation mode table. It is determined whether there is any (S61). If it is in the "BS mode", the video tuner 59 is controlled to select the BS broadcast channel, and the BS broadcast video and audio are output from the monitor television 53 and the speaker 49 (S63). On the other hand, if it is determined in S61 that the "BS mode" is not set, the process returns to S53 again.

On the other hand, in S53 described above, the mode key 43b
When it is determined that the input is not input, it is determined whether or not the current operation mode is the "karaoke mode" by referring to the operation mode table (S65), and if a negative determination is made, the process returns to S53 again, If it is the "karaoke mode", it is determined whether or not the key input is input of the song number of the requested song by the ten keys 43a (S66). If a negative determination is made here, the process returns to S53 again, but if the song number is input, it is determined whether the song number is a lock target (S67). If it is a lock target (S67: YES), a message indicating that it cannot be used because there is no usage contract is displayed (S68), and S is displayed.
Move to 66. Therefore, the user again inputs the input device 4
From 3, the song number of the requested song will be entered again.
On the other hand, if it is not the lock target (S67: NO), the song number data is set in the above song number holding memory (S6).
9) and returns to S53 again.

Next, the communication interrupt process (FIG. 9) will be described in detail. In this process, first, the center 3
It is determined whether or not the polling signal input from is a mode sense polling signal (S71), and if a positive determination is made,
A mode response signal is transmitted to the center 3 (S7
3). Data indicating the current operation mode is added to the mode response signal based on the state of the flag of the operation mode table described above.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S71 that the request polling signal is received, it is determined whether or not there is a song request by referring to the data in the song number holding memory (S75), and if there is no request. , And sends a request response signal to that effect to the center 3 (S7
7) and returns to the above key input processing (FIG. 8).

If it is determined in S75 that there is a request, a request response signal requesting transmission of karaoke data of the requested song is transmitted to the center 3 (S79). Music number data of the requested music is added to this signal. Here, since the song to be locked is not recorded in the song number holding memory,
The terminal device 5 will request only the requested music piece that is not the lock target from the center 3. Then, the karaoke data transmitted from the center 3 in response to the request response signal is received and once stored in the RAM 65 (S81), the channel of the video tuner 59 is switched (S82), and the karaoke performance process is performed ( S8
3).

When the karaoke performance process (S83) is completed, the process returns to the above-mentioned key input process (FIG. 8). As described above, according to the second embodiment, the terminal device 5 controls the center 3 for the music of the genre to be locked.
Since the terminal device 5 does not request the transmission, the terminal device 5 does not reproduce such a song. For example, in the second embodiment, the terminal device 5 refers to the lock table to determine whether or not the requested song is a genre for which a usage contract has been made. Make a request. However, the terminal device 5 does not have to make such a determination. That is, the terminal device 5 may always make a request regardless of whether or not the requested music is a genre for which a usage contract is made. More specifically, in the key input processing (see FIG. 8) in the terminal device 5, S67 and S68 may be omitted, and all requested music pieces may be set in the music number holding memory regardless of their genres. Good.

In this case, the lock table for each terminal device 5 is provided in the RAM 27 of the center 3. Then, the center 3 executes the request processing shown in FIG.
Request processing of 0 is performed. The flowchart of FIG. 10 is the same as the flowchart of FIG. 7 except that S42 is added.

That is, as shown in FIG. 10, when it is determined in S39 that there is a request from the request response signal received from a certain terminal device 5 (S41: YES), the center 3 determines that the terminal device 5 is operating. By referring to the corresponding lock table, it is determined whether or not the music is contracted for use in the terminal device 5 (S42). If there is a usage contract (S42: N
O), the center 3 transmits karaoke data to the terminal device 5. On the other hand, if no usage contract is made (S4
2: YES), the center 3 does not transmit the karaoke data to the terminal device 5.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments as described above, and can be carried out in various modes without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, even if the song is a locked song, the karaoke data itself will be acquired and played, but the song will be played in such a way that the sound will be interrupted many times in the middle of the song, or the lyrics will be displayed. It is also possible to play it in a state where it is practically unusable, such as not to play.

As for the information provider side, for example, a service hour may be provided to unlock the lock only during that time to enhance the degree of interest to the user and the advertising effect. The present invention is not limited to the karaoke system described above, but can be applied to a so-called CATV program distribution system and a system for providing various information such as weather forecasts and traffic information. As for the genre classification, for example, in the case of CATV, it is classified by program content,
In addition, if it is weather forecast or traffic information, it can be considered to be divided for each area. This is effective, for example, when it is not necessary to know all the weather forecasts nationwide, but it is necessary to know in detail only the data of the areas necessary for work.

[0073]

As described above in detail, according to the data transmission apparatus of the present invention, the user can select only a specific genre-specific information data group in consideration of his / her own taste and make a contract. it can. If you can only use it comprehensively as in the past, especially if the charge is uniformly charged, lower the charge instead of not using it for the information data group of the genre that is rarely used or not used at all. Needless to say, there is a need to make such a request. Therefore, according to the present invention, such a request can be appropriately dealt with, and the terminal device side can access only the information data more limited to the taste of the user. Become.

If the fee is charged in units of the genre-specific information data group, it is easy for the user to make the charge cheaper for some uses. And, by providing such convenience, it also contributes to the promotion of the increase of users as a whole.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a basic configuration.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the entire karaoke system of the first and second embodiments and a configuration of a center.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a karaoke terminal device according to the first and second embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the karaoke terminal device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure of karaoke data according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a channel configuration of karaoke data according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing request processing in the center of the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a key input process in the karaoke terminal device of the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing communication interrupt processing in the karaoke terminal device of the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing request processing in the center of the modification.

[Explanation of symbols]

M1 ... Central control device M2 ... Terminal device M3 ... Data storage means M4 ... Data selection means M5 ... Playback control means 1 ... Karaoke system 3 ... Center (central control device) 5 ... Karaoke terminal device 7 ... Coaxial cable 11 ... Server 13 ... Storage device 41 ... Control unit 43 ... Input device 45 ... Sound source 47 ... Amplifier 49 ... Speaker 51 ... Video synthesis circuit 53 ... Monitor TV

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kazunori Igami               15-1 Naeshiro-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture               Brother Industries, Ltd. (72) Inventor Yukie Hasegawa               6 104 Sakurayama-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi               Bunch in XING Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A central control device and a plurality of terminal devices are connected by a transmission line, and the central control device responds to a request from each of the terminal devices and outputs image information and / or audio information corresponding to the request. In the data transmission device capable of transmitting the included information data, the central control device comprises a data storage means for storing the information data as a plurality of genre-specific information data groups classified by genre, and each terminal device is , A table memory for storing a table indicating whether or not each of the plurality of genre-specific information data groups is a genre contracted for use by each terminal device, and desired information for each data unit from the information data Request means for generating request data for requesting data, and information data requested by the request means Is based on the above table, and when it is determined that the requested information data belongs to a genre for which a usage contract is made, A request holding memory that holds the generated request data, and requests the central controller to transmit the desired information data based on the request data held in the request holding memory, and in response to the request, the central controller A data transmission device comprising a reproduction control means for reproducing the information data transmitted from the control device. 2. The central control device transmits a mode sense polling signal for confirming a current operation mode among a plurality of operation modes of each of the terminal devices, and the central control device responds to the mode sense polling signal according to the mode sense polling signal. Means for receiving a mode response signal from each terminal device, and transmission of information data from each terminal device when a mode response signal indicating that the current operation mode of each terminal device is a specific mode is received The data transmission device according to claim 1, further comprising: a unit that reads out information data from the data storage unit in response to a request.