JP4614911B2 - booster - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a booster that amplifies a signal for television broadcasting or the like.

  Generally, the required input level is about 60 to 80 dBμV for the input level of a TV signal required for viewing on a television receiver. A television broadcast signal is generally transmitted by a coaxial cable after being received by a receiving antenna, and further propagated indoors by a coaxial cable through a mixer, a distributor, etc., but is 90 to 222 MHz (VHF broadcast), 470 to Since a 770 MHz (UHF broadcast) television signal has a high frequency, the television signal attenuates every time it passes through these devices. In this way, if attenuation is accumulated by a mixer or a distributor, a television signal is input to the television receiver without obtaining a required input level. Then, a television signal having a deteriorated C / N ratio (signal carrier-to-noise ratio) is input, so that reception failure such as snow noise occurs in the received image. In order to solve this, generally, a booster is inserted in the middle of the transmission line to amplify the attenuated television signal so as to reach a required level. As a result, the C / N ratio is increased and the reception failure can be eliminated.

  By the way, in recent years, many personal computers (personal computers) with a built-in TV tuner (or connected externally) have been put on the market. In this personal computer, instead of recording image data such as moving images on a conventional video tape, a writable recording such as a hard disk, a CD-R / RW, or a DVD, which is a large-capacity storage device built in the personal computer. Image data is saved on media, and the image data can be played back and enjoyed on a personal computer. In this case, it is necessary to supply the TV signal output from the TV terminal to the personal computer. However, in general, there is only one television terminal in the room, and a television receiver or a video tape recorder (VTR) is generally connected to this television terminal. It is said that. Then, even if an attempt was made to input a television signal to a personal computer with a built-in television receiving function, the television terminal was already used, so it was necessary to connect a distributor to increase the number of television terminals. As described above, when a distributor is used, a distribution loss occurs, so that the television signal is attenuated, and when the required input level is not reached, reception failure such as snow noise occurs in the received image. become.

In order to eliminate such reception obstacles, it is only necessary to add a booster that compensates for the attenuation of the TV signal, but it is not easy to add a booster to the wiring inside the wall where the TV terminal is provided. Therefore, a booster is installed between the TV terminal and a device having a TV reception function. An example of the configuration in this case is shown in FIG.
In the configuration illustrated in FIG. 4, a television signal is supplied from the wall surface terminal 100 to the distributor 102 by connecting the wall surface terminal 100 provided on the indoor wall surface and the distributor 102 by the coaxial cable 101. The distributor 102 distributes the supplied television signal and supplies it to the VTR booster 104 and the booster 108. In this case, coaxial cables 103 and 107 are connected between distributor 102 and VTR booster 104, and between distributor 102 and booster 108, respectively. The VTR booster 104 amplifies the supplied television signal and supplies it to the television receiver (TV) 105 and the VTR 106. The booster 108 amplifies the supplied television signal and supplies it to the personal computer 110 via the coaxial cable 109. The VTR booster 104 that amplifies the TV signal is provided with a power plug 104a, and is supplied with commercial AC 100V as a power source by inserting the power plug 104a into an outlet. Further, the booster 108 is provided with a power plug 108a, and a commercial AC 100V is supplied as a power source by inserting the power plug 108a into an outlet. Alternatively, power may be supplied to the booster 108 from an AC adapter that converts AC 100V into a DC voltage and supplies it instead. As described above, when the booster 108 becomes necessary, a new power source for the operation must be secured, a new outlet for the booster 108 is required, and wiring around the power source becomes complicated. It comes to become.

  In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to use a USB terminal provided in the personal computer. USB (Universal Serial Bus) is one of the serial bus standards for connecting peripheral devices to a computer, and is used for connecting various peripheral devices such as a keyboard and a mouse. This USB is compatible with bus power that supplies power to connected peripheral devices via a USB cable. The supplied voltage is 5 VDC, the maximum current is 100 mA for low-power devices, and 500 mA for high-power devices. It has become. It is conceivable to operate the booster using this path power. Such a configuration is shown in FIG.

  In the configuration shown in FIG. 5, a television signal is supplied from the wall surface terminal 100 to the distributor 102 by connecting the wall surface terminal 100 provided on the indoor wall surface and the distributor 102 with the coaxial cable 101. The distributor 102 distributes the supplied television signal and supplies it to a VTR booster (not shown) and a USB booster 111. In this case, the distributor 102 and the USB booster 111 are connected by the coaxial cable 107, respectively. The USB booster 111 amplifies the supplied television signal and supplies it to the personal computer 110 via the coaxial cable 109. The USB booster 111 includes a USB terminal, and a USB hub 113 is connected to the USB terminal via a USB cable 115. The USB hub 113 is connected to the USB terminal of the personal computer 110 via the USB cable 112, and power for bus power is supplied from the USB terminal of the personal computer 110. The power for bus power supplied to the USB hub 113 is supplied to the USB booster 111 via the USB cable 115 so that the USB booster 111 operates. The USB hub 113 has a plurality of USB terminals, and a mouse 114 having a USB terminal is connected to one of the USB terminals.

The USB hub 113 is used for the following reason. Since the USB booster 111 uses one USB terminal of the personal computer 110 to obtain a power source for operation, when the personal computer 110 does not have a spare USB terminal, other USB devices such as a mouse and a drive for various recording media are used. At the same time, you will not be able to use it and you will be inconvenienced. In order to avoid this, a plurality of USB terminals are added using the USB hub 113.
Thus, conventionally, there has been a problem that a USB hub is required when using a booster that operates on USB bus power. In addition, when a USB hub is used, a plurality of USB cables are required, and wiring is complicated.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a booster that operates with USB bus power that does not require a USB hub.

In order to achieve the above object, a booster according to the present invention includes a first USB terminal and a second USB terminal that are through-connected, and a USB power source that is supplied via the first USB terminal is supplied with a voltage. The main feature is that it is stabilized by a regulator and supplied to an amplifying means for amplifying a high-frequency signal.

According to the present invention, the first USB terminal and the second USB terminal that are through-connected are provided, the USB power supplied through the first USB terminal is stabilized by the voltage regulator, and the high frequency signal is output. As a result, the USB device can be used without adding a USB hub, and the number of USB cables can be reduced. become.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of a system including a USB booster that is an embodiment of a booster operating with USB bus power according to the present invention.
In the system shown in FIG. 1, a TV signal is supplied from the wall surface terminal 10 to the USB booster 11 by connecting the wall surface terminal 10 provided on the indoor wall surface and the USB booster 11 with the coaxial cable 12. The USB booster 11 amplifies the supplied TV signal and supplies it to the personal computer 15 via the coaxial cable 13. The USB booster 11 includes an upstream type first USB connector and a downstream type at least one second USB connector, and the first USB connector and the second USB connector are internally through-connected. Has been. A USB cable 14 is connected between the upstream first USB connector and the USB terminal of the personal computer 15, and the USB booster 11 is connected to the personal computer 15. A mouse 16 having a USB interface is connected to the second USB connector. Bus power for bus power is supplied to the USB booster 11 from the USB terminal of the personal computer 15 via the USB cable 14. The USB booster 11 operates by using the bus power for bus power. The bus power supply is a DC power supply of about 5 V, and can output an output current of about 100 to 500 mA. The USB booster 11 is sufficient if it has sufficient amplification to compensate for the loss of the distributor, etc. Therefore, an amplifier that operates when a current of several hundred mA is supplied from a DC power source of 5 to 3 V may be incorporated. It will be good. As described above, the USB booster 11 operates sufficiently without requiring a power source other than the bus power source.

A circuit block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the USB booster 11 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the USB booster 11 includes an upstream first USB connector 11a and a downstream second USB connector 11b. The first USB connector 11a and the second USB connector 11b each have four terminals: a D + terminal, a D− terminal, a ground terminal, and a bus power supply terminal that transmit data as differential signals. Between the four terminals of the coaxial connector 11c and the output coaxial connector 11d, there are a data line (D +) 21, a data line (D-) 22, a bus power line (Vbus) 23, and a ground line (GND). ) 24 through lines are connected through. In addition, an input coaxial connector 11c and an output coaxial connector 11d are provided, and a television signal input from the coaxial connector 11c is amplified by the built-in amplifier (AMP) 27 and output from the coaxial connector 11d. Yes. The AMP 27 is configured to amplify at least a band of 90 to 770 MHz, which is a frequency band of terrestrial television broadcasting. As the amplifying element of the AMP 27, a transistor, an FET, or an integrated circuit (IC) for high frequency is used.

  Further, the fixed contact b of the switch SW is connected to the Vbus 23, and the movable contact a of the switch SW is normally connected to the fixed contact b. In this case, the power for bus power supplied from the Vbus 23 is supplied to the voltage regulator (AVR) 26 via the switch SW, and is supplied as the operating power to the built-in AMP 27 as a stabilized DC voltage. The The USB booster 11 includes an external power supply terminal 11e for supplying an external power supply. When the external power supply is supplied to the external power supply terminal 11e, the voltage detection means 25 connected to the external power supply terminal 11e supplies the external power supply. When this is detected, the movable contact a of the switch SW is switched and connected to the fixed contact c. As a result, the external power supplied to the external power supply terminal 11e is supplied to the AVR 26, and the stabilized DC voltage is supplied as the operating power to the built-in AMP 27. Thus, by providing the external power supply terminal 11e, the USB booster 11 can be used from a personal computer 15 having a USB, but can also be used from a personal computer not equipped with a USB. Further, in the case where the personal computer 15 is a personal computer operated by a battery such as a notebook personal computer, it is possible to reduce battery consumption by supplying external power from the external power terminal 11e. Further, the bypass capacitors C1 and C2 connected to the input side and the output side of the AVR 26 suppress the covering from the data line in the USB and the noise from the personal computer 15 side.

  In the configuration shown in FIG. 2, a distributor can be provided between the wall terminal 10 and the USB booster 11 so that distribution loss in the distributor can be compensated by the USB booster 11 when the distributor is provided. Become. As described above, by providing the USB booster 11, it is possible to compensate for the loss of the distributor and the like, and it is not necessary to prepare a special power source for operating the USB booster 11, and an additional USB hub is added. Thus, the USB device can be used in the personal computer 15.

Next, FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of another system including a USB booster which is an embodiment of a booster operating with USB bus power according to the present invention.
In the system shown in FIG. 3, a television signal is supplied from the wall surface terminal 30 to the distributor 32 by connecting the wall surface terminal 30 provided on the indoor wall surface and the distributor 32 by the coaxial cable 31. The distributor 32 distributes the supplied television signal and supplies it to the VTR booster 34 and the USB booster 11. In this case, the distributor 32 and the VTR booster 34 and the distributor 32 and the USB booster 11 are connected by coaxial cables 33 and 37, respectively. The VTR booster 34 amplifies the supplied TV signal and supplies it to a TV receiver (TV) 35 and a VTR 36. The USB booster 11 amplifies the supplied TV signal and supplies it to the personal computer 40 via the coaxial cable 38. The USB booster 11 is configured as shown in FIG. 2, and the upstream first USB connector of the USB booster 11 is connected to the USB terminal of the personal computer 40 by the USB cable 39, whereby the personal computer 40 is connected via the USB cable 39. Bus power for bus power is supplied from the USB terminal. The USB booster 11 is operating using this bus power source. Further, the VTR booster 34 that amplifies the TV signal is provided with a power plug 34a, and the power plug 34a is attached to an outlet so that commercial AC 100V is supplied as a power source.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 3, when the personal computer 40 uses a USB mouse, the USB mouse may be connected to the downstream second USB connector of the USB booster 11. As described above, by providing the USB booster 11, it is possible to compensate for the loss of the distributor 32 and the like, and it is not necessary to prepare a special power source for operating the USB booster 11, and further, an additional USB hub is added. The USB device can be used in the personal computer 40 without any problem.
The switch SW in the USB booster 11 is not limited to a mechanical switch, and may be an electronic switch. Moreover, you may make it replace the voltage detection means 25 and switch SW with a relay (relay).

As described above, the booster according to the present invention is not limited to use for a notebook personal computer, and can be used for a desktop personal computer. That is, the booster can be used with any personal computer provided with a television receiving function.
Further, the booster according to the present invention is not limited to the amplification of the television signal, and may be a general amplification of a video signal or an audio signal.

It is a figure which shows the example of a structure of the system provided with the USB booster which is an Example of the booster which operate | moves with the USB bus power of this invention. It is a circuit block diagram which shows the circuit structure of the USB booster which is an Example of the booster which operate | moves with the USB bus power of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a structure of the other system provided with the USB booster which is an Example of the booster which operate | moves with the USB bus power of this invention. It is a figure which shows the conventional structure which installed the booster between the television terminal and TV receiver. It is a figure which shows the structure of the conventional system provided with the USB booster which operate | moves by USB bus power.

Explanation of symbols

10 wall terminal, 11 USB booster, 11a first USB connector, 11b second USB connector, 11c coaxial connector, 11d coaxial connector, 11e external power supply terminal, 12 coaxial cable, 13 coaxial cable, 14 USB cable, 15 personal computer, 16 mouse, 21 data line (D +), 22 data line (D-), 23 bus power line, 24 ground line, 25 voltage detection means, 26 voltage regulator, 27 AMP, 30 wall terminal, 31 coaxial cable, 32 distributor , 33 Coaxial cable, 34 VTR booster, 34a Power plug, 35 TV receiver, 36 Video tape recorder, 37 Coaxial cable, 38 Coaxial cable, 39 USB cable, 40 PC, 100 Wall terminal, 101 Coaxial cable, 102 Distribution , 103 Coaxial cable, 104 VTR booster, 104a Power plug, 105 TV receiver, 106 Video tape recorder, 107 Coaxial cable, 108 Booster, 108a Power plug, 109 Coaxial cable, 110 PC, 111 USB booster, 112 USB cable, 113 USB hub, 114 mouse, 115 USB cable

Claims (2)

An input terminal for receiving a high-frequency signal;
Amplifying means for amplifying a high-frequency signal input from the input terminal;
An output terminal for outputting an output signal output from the amplification means;
A first USB terminal connectable to the computer side;
A second USB terminal connectable to the USB device side through-connected to the first USB terminal ;
Power supply means for stabilizing the USB power supplied via the first USB terminal with a voltage regulator and supplying the power to the amplification means ;
Booster, characterized in that it comprises a. Equipped with an external power supply terminal that can supply external power,
2. The booster according to claim 1, wherein , when the external power is supplied from the external power supply terminal, the power supply means supplies the external power supply to the amplification means instead of the USB power supply. .

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