JP5001764B2 - Video receiving apparatus, video data receiving system, and authentication control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a video receiving device, a video data receiving system, and an authentication control method thereof. For example, the present invention relates to a plurality of video receiving apparatuses, video data receiving systems, authentication control methods thereof, and the like that are contracted with a provider such as a CATV station.

  In order for a user to contract with a cable television company to view cable television, etc., and to use a home receiving device (STB) for rental or the like, it costs each unit. Accordingly, since it is a heavy burden on the user to conclude a rental contract for a plurality of in-house receivers in one household, it becomes a problem for the cable television operator to increase the number of subscribers.

  Therefore, as one of the services of cable television operators, when contracting a plurality of home receiving devices in one home, the contract fee of the second home receiving device (hereinafter referred to as a sub contract home receiving device) is charged. In many cases, it is set cheaper than the first home receiver (hereinafter referred to as the main contract home receiver).

  FIG. 8A shows a configuration diagram showing a connection with a CATV station in a case where two home receiving apparatuses are contracted in a certain home.

  The contracted home 87 has a rental contract for two units of the main contract home receiving device 81 and the sub contract home receiving device 82, and the broadcast program data distributed from the CATV station 84 is distributed by the distributor 85. A main contract home receiving device 81 and a sub contract home receiving device 82 are connected to television outlets 83 and 86 connected to 85, respectively.

  By connecting a video output device such as a TV to each of the main contract home receiving device 81 and the sub contract home receiving device 82, a CATV can be simultaneously connected to the TV connected to the main contract home receiving device 81 and the sub contract home receiving device 82. Broadcast programs from the station 84 can be viewed.

  Here, since the contracted home 87 has contracted with two home receiving devices, the contract fee for the second sub contract home receiving device 82 is lower than that of the first main contract home receiving device 81. Available at.

  However, taking advantage of the fact that the sub-contract home receiving device is the same device as the first main contract home receiving device, the sub-contract home receiving device is not yet available in an area where it is possible to receive the distribution of the same carrier. Taking it to another home of the contract and connecting the home receiver of the sub-contract to the TV outlet of the home makes it possible to view the TV in the uncontracted home.

  FIG. 8B shows a configuration diagram showing the connection with the CATV station in such an illegal usage pattern. In addition, the same code | symbol is used for the same component as Fig.8 (a).

  The non-contracted home 88 is a home that has not made a contract with the CATV station 84, but is in the same area as the contracted home 87 that can receive broadcast program data distributed from the CATV station 84. The broadcast program data can be received.

However, since the non-contracted household 88 does not have an in-home receiving device, the television outlet 89 is normally connected directly to a TV outlet 89 to view only programs that can be viewed even without a contract. . Broadcast program data of programs that require a contract are also output from the TV outlet 89, but the broadcast program data is scrambled and cannot be viewed unless a home receiver is used.

  However, as shown in FIG. 8B, if the sub-contracted home receiving device 82 used in the contracted home 87 is brought to the non-contracted home 88 and connected to the TV outlet 89, it cannot be viewed without a contract. The program can also be viewed at the unsigned household 88. In this case, the contract home 87 can watch programs that cannot be viewed without a contract using the main contract home receiver 81 even if the sub-contract home receiver 82 is not connected.

  In other words, in this case, the uncontracted home 88 can be used to watch a TV program that requires a contract with an unfairly discounted contract fee set for the second and subsequent sub-contract home receivers. become.

  As a method for eliminating such unauthorized use, an authentication technique is provided that restricts TV viewing by performing authentication when using a TV distribution function between home receivers of a primary contract and a secondary contract (for example, Patent Documents). 1).

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the connection of two in-house receivers using the authentication technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 with a CATV station. In addition, the same code | symbol is used for the same component as FIG.

  Only the main contract home receiving device 90 is connected to the TV outlet 83, and the sub contract home receiving device 91 is connected to the main contract home receiving device 90 via the communication cable 92 without being connected to the TV outlet.

  Broadcast program data distributed from the CATV station 84 is transferred from the main contract home receiver 90 to the sub contract home receiver 91 via the communication cable 92 using the program broadcast communication path 93 of a high frequency band.

  Further, inter-terminal communication between the main contract home receiver 90 and the sub contract home receiver 91 is performed by the communication cable 92 using the inter-terminal communication path 94 assigned to a frequency band lower than the program broadcast communication path 93. Is called.

  The main contract home receiving device 90 transfers the broadcast program data from the CATV station 84 to the sub contract home receiving device 91, creates a viewing key as authentication data, and uses the inter-terminal communication path 94 to receive the sub contract home reception. Transmit to device 91.

  The viewing key includes a master terminal ID, a slave terminal permission ID, and a program ID. The sub-contract subscriber receiving device 91 that has received the viewing key compares its own ID with the slave terminal permission ID included in the viewing key, and determines that the broadcast program data is viewable if these are in a predetermined relationship. Then, the scramble of the broadcast program data from the CATV station 84 is released so that it can be viewed.

  In this way, the sub-contract home receiving device 91 cannot view the broadcast program data distributed from the CATV station 84 unless authenticated by the corresponding main contract home receiving device 90, as shown in FIG. Even if the sub-contract home receiving device 91 is connected to the TV outlet 89 of the non-contracted home 88, the non-contracted home 88 cannot view a program that requires a contract.

In this way, illegal use of watching TV programs that require a contract with an unreasonably cheap contract fee was prevented.
JP-A-10-322676

  However, in the configuration using the above-described conventional authentication technology, the home receiving device of the main contract is required for authentication between the home receiving device of the main contract and the sub contract. Even when only the device is used, there is a problem in that the home receiving device of the main contract must be turned on.

  This problem will be described below.

  Authentication between the main contract and sub contract home receivers can be viewed when a link is established with the main contract home receiver, such as when the sub contract home receiver is turned on, or when the sub contract home receiver is viewed. It is performed regularly when the channel to be changed is changed or every predetermined time. When using only the sub-contract home receiver, it is only necessary to turn on the main contract home receiver only when authentication is performed.However, since authentication is frequently performed as described above, On the other hand, if the power of the home receiving device of the main contract is not turned on, viewing on the home receiving device of the sub contract cannot be performed.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems. A video receiving apparatus and a video which can be viewed on a television by the video receiving apparatus on the authentication side even if the video receiving apparatus on the authentication side is turned off. An object of the present invention is to provide a data receiving system, an authentication control method thereof, and the like.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the first aspect of the present invention provides:
A power control unit that detects instructions to turn off and on the power; and
A video data receiving unit for receiving at least video data from outside;
A network interface unit connected to the network for authentication;
An authentication unit with an authentication function;
An authentication authority management unit that manages an authentication authority that enables the authentication function of the authentication unit; and a plurality of image receiving apparatuses connected to each other by the network,
The authentication unit can permit other video reception devices to receive the video data from the outside by the authentication function,
When the power of the predetermined video receiving apparatus having the authentication authority is turned off, the authentication authority management unit of the predetermined video receiving apparatus is connected to the network to establish a link. In the video data receiving system, the power of the predetermined video receiving device is turned off after the authentication authority is transferred to any of the other video receiving devices.

The second aspect of the present invention
The plurality of video receiving devices are one main video receiving device and a slave video receiving device other than the main video receiving device,
When the main video receiving device is turned on in a state that does not have the authentication authority, when a link is established with the slave video receiving apparatus that has the authentication authority in the network, In the video data receiving system according to the first aspect of the present invention, the authentication authority is transferred from the slave video receiving device to the main video receiving device.

The third aspect of the present invention
The main video receiving device is a video data receiving system according to a second aspect of the present invention, comprising a recording unit for recording the video data received by the video data receiving unit.

The fourth aspect of the present invention is
The video receiving apparatus having the authentication authority is the video data receiving system according to the first aspect of the present invention in which the authentication authority is held until the power of the video receiving apparatus is turned off.

The fifth aspect of the present invention provides
When the video receiving apparatus having the authentication authority is turned off, the authentication authority management unit of the video receiving apparatus determines which video receiving apparatus to which the authentication authority is delegated is the video receiving apparatus. Is a video data receiving system according to the first aspect of the present invention.

The sixth aspect of the present invention provides
When the power of the video receiving apparatus having the authentication authority is turned on again, the authentication authority management unit of the video receiving apparatus notifies information about the video receiving apparatus to which the authentication authority has been delegated. It is a video data receiving system according to a fifth aspect of the present invention.

The seventh aspect of the present invention
When the power of the video receiving apparatus having the authentication authority is turned off, a warning is notified if there is no other video receiving apparatus with which a link is established in the network. This is a video data receiving system.

In addition, the eighth aspect of the present invention
The power control unit has a function of turning off the power for operating other functions while the power for operating at least the network interface unit, the authentication unit, and the authentication authority management unit is on. And
When there is no other video receiving device with which the link is established in the network when the video receiving device having the authentication authority is turned off, the network interface unit, the authentication unit, The video data receiving system according to the first aspect of the present invention is configured such that the power for operating other functions is turned off while the power for operating the authentication authority management unit is turned on.

The ninth aspect of the present invention provides
The other video receiving device to which the authentication authority management unit of the predetermined one video receiving device delegates the authentication authority is determined based on statistical information on the usage frequency of each of the plurality of video receiving devices. This is a video data receiving system of the present invention.

The tenth aspect of the present invention is
The external video data is broadcast program data from a cable TV station,
Each of the video receiving devices is the video data receiving system according to the first aspect of the present invention, which is an STB for cable television.

The eleventh aspect of the present invention is
The network is a video data receiving system according to a tenth aspect of the present invention, which is a cable network using a cable used for transmission of the broadcast program data.

The twelfth aspect of the present invention is
A power control unit that detects instructions to turn off and on the power; and
A video data receiving unit for receiving at least video data from outside;
A network interface unit connected to the network for authentication;
An authentication unit with an authentication function;
A video receiving device comprising: an authentication authority management unit that manages an authentication authority that enables the authentication function of the authentication unit;
The authentication unit allows the other video receiving device to receive the video data from the outside by using the authentication function to the other video receiving device;
When the power is turned off while having the authentication authority, the authentication authority management unit sends the authentication authority to any of the other video receiving apparatuses connected to the network and establishing a link. This is a video receiving device in which the power is turned off after delegation.

The thirteenth aspect of the present invention is
A power control unit for detecting an instruction to turn off and on the power, a video data receiving unit for receiving at least video data from the outside, a network interface unit connected to a network for authentication, and an authentication unit having an authentication function; An authentication control method for a video data receiving system in which a plurality of video receiving devices having an authentication authority management unit for managing an authentication authority for enabling the authentication function of the authentication unit are connected to each other by the network,
An authentication step in which the authentication unit permits the other video receiving device to receive the video data from the outside to the other video receiving device by the authentication function;
When the predetermined one video receiving apparatus having the authentication authority is turned off, the authentication authority management unit of the predetermined one video receiving apparatus is connected to the network before the power is turned off. And an authentication authority delegation step of delegating the authentication authority to any of the other video reception apparatuses that are connected to and established a link.

The fourteenth aspect of the present invention is
In the authentication control method for a video data reception system according to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, the authentication unit allows the other video reception device to receive the external video data, and the predetermined one. The authentication authority management unit of the video receiving apparatus of the first apparatus executes the authentication authority delegation step of delegating the authentication authority to any of the other video receiving apparatuses connected to the network and establishing a link. It is a program to make it.

The fifteenth aspect of the present invention provides
A recording medium on which a program of the fourteenth aspect of the present invention is recorded, and is a recording medium that can be used by a computer.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a video receiving apparatus, a video data receiving system, an authentication control method thereof, and the like that can be viewed on a television by the video receiving apparatus to be authenticated even when the power of the video receiving apparatus to be authenticated is turned off. .

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a home receiver (STB) according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The in-home receiving device of the main contract contracted as the first unit and the in-home receiving device of the sub contract contracted as the second and subsequent units have the same configuration shown in FIG.

  The in-home receiving apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment includes a broadcast receiving unit 21 that receives broadcast program data distributed from a CATV station 14 and outputs video output data for a video output apparatus 20 such as a television. .

  In addition, an authentication function for permitting other home receiving devices 10 connected by the home LAN 16 to receive broadcast program data from the CATV station 14 and permission for receiving broadcast program data from the CATV station 14 are provided. The authentication unit 22 having the function to be authenticated received from the in-house receiving device 10 is provided. In addition, an authentication authority management unit 24 that manages whether to enable the authentication function of the authentication unit 22 is provided.

  In addition, using the network I / F unit 23, inter-terminal communication is performed with another in-home receiving device 10 connected by the in-home LAN 16.

  Moreover, the power supply control unit 26 which detects ON / OFF of the power supply SW25 and controls the power supply state of the home receiver 10 according to the ON / OFF of the power supply SW25 is provided. The power supply control unit 26 supplies power to be supplied to at least the components related to authentication with the other in-home receiving apparatuses 10, that is, the authentication unit 22, the authentication authority management unit 24, and the network I / F unit 23. It has a function of turning off the power supplied to other parts such as the broadcast receiving unit 21 while being turned on. Of course, it can also be controlled to turn off the power of all units in the home receiver 10.

  The broadcast program data received from the CATV station 14 is scrambled, and the home receiving apparatus 10 permits the reception of the reception from the authentication unit 22 only when it is authenticated that the program data can be received. The broadcast program data is unscrambled upon receiving the notification, and the video output device 20 can view the program.

  FIG. 2 shows a connection configuration diagram of a CATV system in a home where a plurality of home receiving apparatuses according to the first embodiment are contracted. A contract home 17 having a total of three main contract home receivers 11 and two sub contract home receivers 12 and 13 is shown.

  Each of the main contract home receiver 11 and the sub contract home receivers 12 and 13 shown in FIG. 2 has the same configuration as the home receiver 10 shown in FIG. In addition, the same code | symbol is used for the same component as FIG.

  Broadcast program data distributed from the CATV station 14 is distributed by the distributor 15, and the distributed broadcast program data is input to each of the main contract home receiver 11 and the sub contract home receivers 12 and 13.

  The main contract home receiving device 11 and the sub contract home receiving devices 12 and 13 are connected to each other via a home LAN 16, and connection authentication of other home receiving devices is performed using the home LAN 16.

  Note that each of the home receiving device 10, the main contract home receiving device 11, and the sub contract home receiving devices 12 and 13 corresponds to an example of the video receiving device of the present invention. The main contract home receiver 11 corresponds to an example of the main video receiver of the present invention, and the sub contract home receivers 12 and 13 correspond to an example of the sub video receiver of the present invention.

  The broadcast program data distributed from the CATV station 14 is an example of video data from the outside of the present invention, and the configuration of the CATV system shown in FIG. 2 corresponds to an example of the video data receiving system of the present invention. The broadcast receiving unit 21 corresponds to an example of the video data receiving unit of the present invention, and the home LAN 16 corresponds to an example of a network for authentication according to the present invention.

  Each of the in-home receiving devices 11 to 13 includes an authentication unit 22 having an authentication function, but a plurality of in-home receiving devices contracted in one home by the authentication authority management unit 24 of each of the in-home receiving devices 11 to 13. Management is performed so that only the authentication function of the authentication unit 22 of one of the home receiving apparatuses 11 to 13 is valid. In the authentication unit 22 other than the home receiving apparatus in which the authentication function is valid, only the function to be authenticated is valid.

  Here, an in-home receiving device with an effective authentication function is referred to as “having a representative right”. That is, in the first embodiment, control is performed so that only one of the in-home receiving apparatuses 11 to 13 has the representation right at a temporary point. Depending on the communication method, the representative right may include a master function for performing transmission opportunity allocation of TDMA communication.

  In the CATV system of the first embodiment, when the main contract home receiving device 11 is turned on, the main contract home receiving device 11 is controlled to have this representative right. The authentication unit 22 of each of the in-home receiving apparatuses 11 to 13 in FIG. 2 indicates that the light background has a representative right, and the dark background has no representative right. Is shown. FIG. 2 shows a state in which all of the in-home receiving apparatuses 11 to 13 are turned on and a link in the in-home LAN 16 is established, and the authentication unit 22 of the main contract in-home receiving apparatus 11 has a representative right. .

  In a home receiving device that does not have a representation right and is not authenticated, TV viewing is restricted and viewing is not possible. The sub-contract residential receivers 12 and 13 usually do not have representation rights and cannot view television alone. In the case of FIG. 2, when the home LAN 16 establishes a link with the main contract home receiver 11 and is authenticated, the TV viewing is permitted.

  Next, an authentication control method between home receiving apparatuses in the CATV system according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the main contract home receiving apparatus 11 when the main power of the main contract home receiving apparatus 11 is turned off and then on again in the contract home 17 of FIG.

  When an operation for turning off the power SW 25 of the main contract home receiver 11 is performed, the power control unit 26 detects this, and the authentication authority management unit 24 establishes a link with the other sub contract home receivers 12 and 13. It is determined whether or not (S301). At this time, if the link has been established, the representative right is delegated to one of the other sub-contract home receivers 12 and 13, and the main power supply of the main contract home receiver 11 is turned off (S302). Here, it is assumed that the representation right is delegated to the sub-contract home receiver 13. At this time, the main contract home receiving device 11 may store to which sub contract home receiving device the delegated right is delegated as an operation history. In the case of the present embodiment, it is assumed that the delegated representation right to the sub-contract home receiver 13 is stored.

  If there is no other in-home receiving device with a link established in step S301, the user is inquired whether to turn off the power to the network I / F unit 23 connected to the in-home LAN 16 with the representative right. (S303). At this time, the user turns off the main power supply including the power supply of the network I / F unit 23 (S304), or keeps the power supply of the network I / F unit 23 and the like for performing authentication control turned on. Only whether the power is turned off (S305) can be selected.

  The inquiry to the user in step S303 corresponds to an example of a warning notification according to the present invention.

  Here, if the authentication unit 22, the authentication authority management unit 24, and the network I / F unit 23 for performing the authentication control are turned on, a link with the other sub-contract home receivers 12 and 13 can be established. Authentication can also be performed. Therefore, even if the main power supply of the main contract home receiver 11 is turned off, if the power of the network I / F unit 23 and the like for performing the authentication control is turned on (S305), all other home receptions are performed. Even if the secondary subscriber home receiving device 12 or 13 is first turned on when the devices 12 and 13 are turned off, the home subscriber can be connected to the primary subscriber home receiving device 11 via the home LAN 16 and authentication and TV viewing are possible. Take.

  Whether or not to turn off the power of the network I / F unit 23 and the like for performing authentication control may be set as a default instead of allowing the user to select.

  Next, when the power SW 25 of the main contract home receiver 11 whose main power is turned off is turned on (S306), the power control unit 26 detects this, and the network I / F unit 23 uses the power on the home LAN 16. Link establishment is started (S307).

  At this time, the authentication authority management unit 24 determines whether or not the main contract home receiving device 11 holds the representative right (S308). At the same time as viewing is started, the authentication unit 22 authenticates the other sub-contract residential receiving devices 12 and 13 (S309).

  If the main contract home receiver 11 does not hold the representation right in the step of S308, the authentication authority management unit 24 determines whether or not the link is established with the sub contract home receiver 13 having the representative right (S310). When the link is established, control is performed so that the representation right is returned to the main contract home receiver 11 (S311). If the link with the sub contract home receiving device 13 having the representative right is not established, the user is notified of the screen that "the main power of the sub contract home receiving device having the representative right needs to be turned on". TV viewing on the device 11 is not possible (S312). At this time, in the contents of the screen notification, the home receiving device having the representative right may be identified as the “sub-contract home receiving device 13” by using the operation history stored in S301 to S302.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the sub-contract home receiver 13 to which the representative right is delegated when the main power supply of the main contract home receiver 11 is turned off in the contract home 17 of FIG.

  First, when the power SW 25 of the sub-contract home receiver 13 is turned on (S401), the power control unit 26 detects this, and the network I / F unit 23 starts establishing a link in the home LAN 16 (S402). Then, the authentication authority management unit 24 determines the establishment of a link with the main contract home receiver 11 (S403).

  If the link with the main contract home receiving device 11 is established, authentication is performed, and when the authentication unit 22 is authenticated by the authentication unit 22 of the main contract home receiving device 11, the TV at the sub contract home receiving device 13. Viewing can be started (S404). Here, if the link with the main contract home receiving device 11 is not established, the user is notified of the screen that “the main power of the main contract home receiving device 11 needs to be turned on”, and at this time, the sub contract home receiving device 13 Cannot be watched (S405).

  Then, when an operation to turn off the power SW 25 of the main contract home receiver 11 is performed (S406), the power control unit 26 detects this, and an authentication authority management unit between the main contract home receiver 11 and the sub contract home receiver 13 After the representative right transfer control is performed between 24 and the representative right is transferred from the main contract home receiver 11 to the sub contract home receiver 13 (S407), the power of the main contract home receiver 11 is turned off. .

  Thereafter, the sub-contract home receiver 13 to which the representative right has been delegated establishes a link with the sub-contract home receiver 12 via the home LAN 16 and the authentication unit 22 of the sub-contract home receiver 13 performs authentication. Both the receiving device 12 and the sub contract home receiving device 13 can watch TV even when the main power of the main contract home receiving device 11 is off.

  Then, when an operation to turn off the power SW 25 of the sub-contract home receiver 13 having the representative right is performed (S408), the power control unit 26 detects this and is connected to the home LAN 16 with the representative right. The user is inquired whether to turn off the main power supply including the power supply of the network I / F unit 23 (S409).

  Here, if the user selects “Do not turn off the power supply of the network I / F unit 23”, only the main power supply is turned off while the power supply of the network I / F unit 23 and the like for performing the authentication control is turned on. (S410).

  Here, when the user selects “Turn the network I / F unit 23 off”, the authentication authority management unit 24 determines whether a link has been established with another in-home receiving device (S411). In the case of this example, it is determined whether or not a link is established with the sub-contract home receiver 12. If a link with another in-house receiving device is established, the sub-contract in-home receiving device 13 having the representative right cannot turn off the network I / F unit 23 (S412). Control is performed such that only the main power supply is turned off while the power supply of the network I / F unit 23 and the like for performing control is kept on.

  On the other hand, as a result of the determination, if the link is not established with another in-home receiving device, the main power source including the power source of the network I / F unit 23 is turned off while retaining the representative right (S413). Here, whether or not to turn off the power of the network I / F unit 23 may be a default setting instead of making the user select.

  However, when the main power supply including the power supply of the network I / F unit 23 and the like is turned off (S413), the other subscriber reception with the sub contract home receiver 13 holding the representative right turned off is received. Since the TV cannot be watched even when the apparatus is turned on, when the main contract home receiver 11 is turned on, it is necessary to turn on the main power of the sub contract home receiver with the representative right. When the screen notification is made and the power of the secondary subscriber home receiving device 12 is turned on, it is unclear which home receiving device holds the representative right, so “the main power of the main subscriber home receiving device 11 needs to be turned on. To the user.

  When the sub contract home receiver 13 holds the representative right and the main power source is turned off, but the network I / F unit 23 and the like for performing the authentication control are turned on (S410). In step S412), when the power SW25 of the main contract home receiver 11 is turned on (S414), the link is established with the sub contract home receiver 13 having the representative right. It is returned to the receiving device 11 (S415).

  Since the delegated right transfer control is performed as described above, even when the main contract home receiver 11 is turned off, it is possible to view the television only with the regular sub contract home receiver 12 or 13.

  As described above, in the CATV system of the first embodiment, the main contract home receiving device 11 normally has the representative right, and after the transfer of the representative right from the main contract home receiving device 11 to the sub contract home receiving device 13. When the main contract home receiver 11 is turned on and connected to the sub contract home receiver 13 having the representative right through the home LAN 16, the representative right is returned to the main contract home receiver 11.

  FIGS. 5A and 5B are configuration diagrams of connection examples when an unauthorized television viewing is attempted in the CATV system of the first embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 5A shows an example in which the sub-contract home receiving device 13 having no representation right is brought into the non-contracted home 18, and FIG. 5B shows the sub-contract home receiving device 13 having the representation right. The examples brought into the unsigned household 18 are shown.

  In the case of FIG. 5 (a), even if the sub-contract home receiving device 13 contracted in the contracted home 17 is brought to the non-contracted home 18 and the broadcast program data distributed by the distributor 19 is received and the television is viewed, The sub contract home receiver 13 does not have a representation right, and a link cannot be established with the main contract home receiver 11 having the representative right and authentication is not performed. Therefore, TV viewing is restricted.

  In the case of FIG. 5B, when the sub-contract home receiving device 13 contracted in the contract home 17 is brought to the non-contract home 18, the representative right remains delegated to the sub-contract home receiver 13. The contracted household 18 can watch TV. However, in this case, the main contract home receiving device 11 and the sub contract home receiving device 12 of the contract home 17 cannot establish a link between the sub contract home receiving device 13 having the representative right and the home LAN 16 and are not authenticated. These home receiving apparatuses 11 and 12 limit TV viewing.

  Therefore, only the fee contracted by the contracted home 17 cannot be viewed simultaneously on both the contracted home 17 and the non-contracted home 18 without restriction, and illegal use of watching the television at an unreasonably low fee can be prevented.

The same applies to the case where the main contract home receiving device 11 is brought into the non-contracted home 18. When the primary subscriber home receiving device 11 that retains the representative right is brought into the non-contracted home 18, the television viewing on the secondary subscriber home receiving devices 12 and 13 of the contract home 17 is restricted, and the representative right is transferred. When the main contract home receiving device 11 is brought into the non-contracted home 18, viewing of the television at the non-contracted home 18 is restricted.

  In this way, using the CATV system in-house receiver of the first embodiment can reliably prevent unfair use of watching TV at an unreasonably low price, and the main contract in-home receiver 11 having representative rights can be prevented. Even when the power is turned off, it is possible to view the television only with the other sub-contract home receivers 12 and 13.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, an authentication control method between home receiving apparatuses in the CATV system according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  The CATV system of the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the authentication control method between in-home receiving apparatuses, and the system configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. is there.

  In the first embodiment, the transfer of the representation right is performed only between the home receiving device of the main contract and the home receiving device of the sub contract. However, in the second embodiment, the representation of the sub contract to which the representation right has been transferred. The delegated right is transferred from the home receiving device to the home receiving device of another sub-contract.

  Since the method of delegating the representation right between the home receiving device of the main contract and the home receiving device of the sub contract is the same as in the first embodiment, the sub contract in which the representation right is delegated is different from the first embodiment. Only the method of delegating the representation right from the home receiver of the other sub-contract to the home receiver of another sub-contract will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of each sub-contract home receiving device when the main power of the sub-contract home receiving device holding the representative right is turned off in the contract home 17 of FIG. is there.

  Here, description will be made with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 6, assuming that the power supply of the main contract home receiver 11 is turned off and the sub contract home receiver 13 holds the representative right. The delegation operation of the representative right from the main contract home receiving device 11 to the sub contract home receiving device 13 is the same as the delegation operation of the first embodiment described in FIG.

  When the power SW 25 of the sub-contract home receiver 12 is turned on (S501), the power control unit 26 detects this, and the network I / F unit 23 starts establishing a link in the home LAN 16 (S502). Then, the authentication authority management unit 24 determines link establishment with the home receiving apparatus having the representative right (S503).

  If a link is established with a home receiver having a representative right (in this example, the sub-contract home receiver 13), authentication is performed, and the authentication unit 22 is authenticated by the authentication unit 22 of the sub-contract home receiver 13. Then, the TV viewing on the sub-contract home receiver 12 can be started (S504).

  On the other hand, if the link with the sub contract home receiver 13 having the representative right is not established, the sub contract home receiver 12 cannot view the television. Here, as a state where the link is not established, for example, there is a case where the power supply of the sub-contract residential reception device 13 is also turned off.

  At this time, the sub-contract home receiving device 12 notifies the user that “the main power source of the main receiving home receiving device 11 needs to be turned on” (S505). Here, the content of the screen notification is intended for the main contract home receiving device 11 for the following reason. That is, the sub contract home receiving device 13 is not notified that the representation right has been transferred from the main contract home receiving device 11 to the sub contract home receiving device 13, and each of the sub contract home receiving devices 12 and 13 In the sub-contract home receiving device, the main contract home receiving device 11 is determined in advance as a device having representative rights at the time of introduction of the device or contract with the CATV operator.

  The user who confirmed the screen notification turns on the main contract home receiver 11 according to the contents. Here, the main contract home receiving device 11 stores which home receiving device is the sub contract home receiving device to which the representative right has been delegated, and “((representative right delegating destination home receiving device)” The user is notified that the main power needs to be turned on. In addition, a name, a device number, and the like that can identify the home receiving device are displayed in the portion of the screen notification (the home receiving device to which the representative right is transferred). In this case, since the main contract home receiving device 11 has delegated the representation right to the sub contract home receiving device 13, a message is displayed to the user that “the main power of the sub contract home receiving device 13 needs to be turned on”. Notification is made (S505a).

  The user who has confirmed the notification of the screen turns on the power of the sub-contract home receiver 13 according to the contents (S505b). By turning on the power of the sub-contract home receiver 13, the link establishment between the sub-contract home receiver 12 and the sub-contract home receiver 13 is started on the home LAN 16 (S502). In addition, it is desirable to turn off the power supply of the main contract home receiver 11 that is not used for the current authentication again.

  In the above description, it is assumed that the link is established because the sub-contract home receiver 13 has the representative right, but other sub-contract home receivers are connected to the home LAN 16 and the screen notification If the home right receiving device (in this case, the sub-contract home receiving device 13) to which the delegated representative right has been transferred has also not held the representative right because it has transferred the representative right to another home receiving device, Even when the receiving device is turned on, a setting is made so that the user is notified of the screen that “the main power source of the (representative right transfer destination home receiving device) needs to be turned on”.

  That is, the in-home receiving device that has delegated the representative right to another in-home receiving device stores the operation of the delegation as an operation history, and if the link is not established, notifies the screen of information related to the in-house receiving device to which the representative right is transferred. Set as follows. With this setting, when the power of the home receiving device notified on the screen is turned on in order, a link is established and authentication is performed when the power of the home receiving device holding the representative right is turned on. become.

  By processing in this way, even if all other in-home receiving devices are not turned on, authentication is performed at the time of turning on the in-home receiving device holding the representative right, and TV viewing is possible. It becomes possible. In the series of operations described above, the screen notification indicating that the main power of the in-home receiving device is turned on is an example of notification of information regarding the video receiving device to which the authentication authority has been delegated according to the present invention.

  Then, after the TV viewing on the secondary contract home receiving device 12 is started (S504), when the power SW 25 of the secondary contract home receiving device 13 having the representative right is turned off (S506), the secondary contract home receiving device 12 and The representative right transfer control is performed between the 13 authentication authority management units 24, and the representative right is transferred from the sub-contract home receiver 13 holding the representative right to the sub-contract home receiver 12 (S507). Later, the power supply of the sub-contract home receiver 13 is turned off. At this time, as in the case of S505, S505a, and S505b, the sub-contract home receiving device 13 stores the delegated representation right to the sub-contract home receiving device 12 as an operation history.

  Further, when the power-off operation of the sub-contract home receiver 12 to which the representative right has been delegated starts (S508), the authentication authority management unit 24 of the sub-contract home receiver 12 receives the main contract home receiver that is currently powered off. It is determined whether links have been established with other in-home receiving devices except for the device 11 and the sub-contract in-home receiving device 13 (S509). At this time, if there is another sub-contract home receiving device with a further established link, the representative right is transferred to the sub-contract home receiving device (S510), and then the power of the sub-contract home receiving device 12 is turned on. Turn off. At this time, similarly to the power-off operation of the sub-contract home receiver 13, the sub-contract home receiver 12 stores as an operation history that the representative right has been delegated to the other sub-contract home receiver.

  Once the delegated device has been delegated and re-delegated, the home device must be turned on when the power is turned on based on the operation history that it has stored. In order to notify the user of the screen, the link is established when the user turns on the power of the home receiving device notified on the screen in order and turns on the home receiving device holding the representative right, Authentication is performed.

  After that, when one of the sub-contract home receivers holds the representative right and the power SW 25 of the main contract home receiver 11 is turned on (S514), the network I / F unit 23 is connected to the home LAN 16. When link establishment is started and a link is established with the sub contract home receiving device having the representative right, the representative right is returned to the main contract home receiving device 11 (S515).

  On the other hand, in step S509, when all the home receiving devices other than the sub-contract home receiving device 12 are turned off as in this example and no link is established, the home LAN 16 with the representative right remains. The network I / F unit 23 connected to is inquired of the user whether to turn off the power (S511). Here, the user turns off the main power supply including the power supply of the network I / F unit 23 (S512), or keeps the power supply of the network I / F unit 23 and the like for performing the authentication control on. Only whether the power is turned off can be selected (S513). Whether or not to turn off the power of the network I / F unit 23 and the like for performing authentication control may be set as a default instead of allowing the user to select.

  In the sub-contract home receiving device 12 to which the delegated right has been delegated, when the other main power is turned off while the power of the network I / F unit 23 and the like for performing authentication control is turned on (S513) Even when all other home receiving devices are powered off, the home receiving device 12 that does not have the representation right can be connected to the sub-contract home receiving device 12 that has the representation right on the home LAN 16 even if the power is turned on first. , Authentication, and television viewing.

  On the other hand, when the main power supply including the power supply of the network I / F unit 23 and the like is turned off (S512), other in-home reception is performed while the power supply of the sub-contract residential reception device 12 holding the representative right is turned off. You cannot watch TV even when the device is turned on. As in the case of S505, S505a, and S505b, the sub-contract home receiver 13 to which the representative right has been delegated is related to the destination home receiver 12 to which the representative right has been delegated when the power is turned on again. The user is informed of the screen that “the main power source of the sub-contract subscriber receiving device 12 needs to be turned on”.

  In addition, the sub-contract residential reception device 12 also notifies the user that the power is turned off in a state where he / she has representative rights before the main power is turned off (S512) (S511a). ). In this case, the user can confirm which in-home receiving device should be used for authentication (sub-contract in-home receiving device 12 in this embodiment) before starting another in-home receiving device. it can. Here, the notification in S511a is an example of a warning notification according to the present invention. Further, this notification may be performed before the operation of S304 of FIG. 3 of the first embodiment or before S413 of FIG.

  In the above example, when the power switch 25 of the main contract home receiver 11 is turned on in steps S514 and S515, the representative right is returned to the main contract home receiver 11. Even when the power switch SW25 of the contract home receiver 11 is turned on, the sub contract home receiver that holds the representative right at that time without returning the representative right to the main contract home receiver 11 is the representative. You may make it keep holding right. That is, the in-house receiving device that holds the representation right may retain the representation right until the power of the in-home reception device itself is turned off.

  In the case of the first embodiment, when there are a plurality of sub-contract home receivers, authentication control is performed in order to enable TV viewing with only one sub-contract home receiver being turned on. It was necessary to have a function of turning on only the power supply of the network I / F unit 23 and the like for performing. For example, in the case of the configuration shown in FIG. 2, when the power is turned off in the order of the main contract home receiving device 11 and the sub contract home receiving device 12, if this function is not provided, only the sub contract home receiving device 13 is provided. I couldn't watch TV with the power on.

  In the case of the second embodiment, since the delegation of representative rights between the sub-contract home receivers is permitted, only the power source of the network I / F unit 23 and the like for performing the authentication control is turned on. Even if the function is not provided, even if the power of the other in-home receiving apparatus is turned off, the TV viewing with only one sub-contracted in-home receiving apparatus is possible.

  Note that the user may set in advance whether or not the delegated right of delegation can be transferred between the sub-contract home receivers.

  Further, in each embodiment, the configuration of two sub-contract home receiving devices has been described. However, the sub-contract home receiving device may have three or more configurations, and the same effect can be obtained.

  In each embodiment, the home receiving device to which the representative right is delegated from the main contract home receiving device 11 has been described as the sub contract home receiving device 13, but the representative right is delegated to any other sub contract home receiving device. You may make it do. For example, it is possible to randomly select the in-house receiving device as the delegation destination and delegate the representation right, or allow the user to select the delegation destination each time. Moreover, you may make it determine the home receiver which delegates representation rights based on statistical information etc.

  For example, as an example of statistical information, the home receiving device to which the representative right is transferred may be determined as the home receiving device with the longest integration time that is powered on. By doing so, the probability that the right of representation is held in the home reception device having a long viewing time, that is, the frequency of use is increased, and when the power supply SW is newly turned on, The probability of turning on the power can be increased.

  In addition, when determining the home receiving device to which the representative right is transferred based on the statistical information, the transfer right of the representative right may be determined regardless of the main contract or the sub contract. For example, when the sub contract receiving device with the representative right is turned off, even if the link with the main contract home receiving device is established, the sub-contract home receiving device has a longer power-on integration time than the main contract home receiving device. When the link is established with the contract receiving apparatus, the representative right may be transferred to the sub contract receiving apparatus having a long power-on integration time instead of being transferred to the main contract receiving apparatus.

  In each of the above embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the home LAN 16 is realized by, for example, Ethernet (registered trademark) or the like, and is physically different from the coaxial cable network that transmits or distributes the CATV video signal. However, the network of the present invention may be realized as a cable network using a CATV coaxial cable and other broadcasting cables. In this case, there is no need to separately prepare a LAN cable or the like for connecting each in-home receiving device, and the device can be installed and set more easily.

  Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the main contract home receiving device 11 and the sub contract home receiving devices 12 and 13 connected to the home LAN 16 are both the home receiving device 10 shown in FIG. 1 having a common configuration. Although the description has been given assuming that there is a configuration, the main contract home receiving device and the sub contract home receiving device may have different configurations.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the home receiving device 100 as the main contract home device. However, the same or corresponding parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. The in-home receiving device 100 of this configuration example is different from the in-home receiving device 10 of FIG. 1 in that it includes a broadcast recording unit 27 that records video data received by the broadcast receiving unit 21. The broadcast recording unit 27 is a means using a large-capacity recording medium such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a BD (Blu-ray Disc) drive, a DVD-ROM drive, etc., and plays back the recorded program and outputs it to the video output device 20. It can be distributed to other in-home receiving devices 12 via the distributor 15 for viewing.

  In the CATV system including the in-home receiving device 100 as described above, not only the direct reception from the CATV station 14 but also the distribution of the video data recorded in the broadcast recording unit 27 to other in-home receiving devices described above. Since authentication similar to that in the above embodiment is required, an authentication control method between in-home receiving apparatuses can be applied. Further, since the importance is increased by adopting a configuration capable of recording a program, as described above, it is more suitable as a target device of a main contract whose representation right should always be returned. The broadcast recording unit is an example of the recording unit of the present invention.

  Further, the program of the present invention is the above-described authentication unit for permitting the other video receiving apparatus to receive the video data from the outside in the authentication control method of the video data receiving system of the present invention described above. And / or the authentication authority management unit of the predetermined one video receiving apparatus delegates the authentication authority to any of the other video receiving apparatuses connected to the network and establishing a link. A program for causing a computer to execute the operation of the authentication authority delegation step, and a program that operates in cooperation with the computer.

  In the recording medium of the present invention, the authentication unit of the above-described authentication control method of the video data receiving system of the present invention permits the other video receiving device to receive the video data from the outside. The authentication step and / or the authentication authority management unit of the predetermined one video receiving apparatus delegates the authentication authority to any of the other video receiving apparatuses connected to the network and establishing a link. It is a recording medium that records a program for causing a computer to execute the operation of the authentication authority delegation step, and is a recording medium that can be read by the computer and that is used in cooperation with the computer.

  Further, one usage form of the program of the present invention may be an aspect in which the program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium and operates in cooperation with the computer.

  Further, the recording medium includes a ROM and the like.

  The computer of the present invention described above is not limited to pure hardware such as a CPU, and may include firmware, an OS, and peripheral devices.

  As described above, the configuration of the present invention may be realized by software or hardware.

  As described above, by using the home receiving device of the present invention, the home receiving device of the main contract is turned off in the home of the contracted home while preventing illegal television viewing in other homes, and the equipment is saved. It is possible to view the television only with a home receiver with a legitimate sub-contract while increasing power and extending the service life.

  The video reception device, the video data reception system, the authentication control method thereof, and the like of the present invention are useful as technology for preventing unauthorized use of a device contracted with a business operator.

  The video receiving device, the video data receiving system, and the authentication control method thereof according to the present invention have an effect that even if the video receiving device on the authenticating side is turned off, the video receiving device on the receiving side can watch TV. It is useful as a plurality of video receiving apparatuses, video data receiving systems, authentication control methods thereof, etc., which are contracted with operators such as CATV stations.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the home receiver of Embodiment 1 and 2 of this invention CATV system connection configuration diagram in a home where a plurality of home receivers according to Embodiments 1 and 2 of the present invention are contracted The figure which shows the flowchart of operation | movement of the main contract home receiving apparatus at the time of turning on again after turning off the main power supply of the main contract home receiving apparatus in the contract home which owns the home receiving apparatus of Embodiment 1 of this invention FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the operation of the sub-contract home receiving device to which the representative right is delegated when the main power of the main contract home receiving device is turned off in the contract home that owns the home receiving device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Figure Configuration diagram of a connection example when an unauthorized television viewing is attempted in the CATV system including the in-home receiving device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Configuration diagram of a connection example when an unauthorized television viewing is attempted in the CATV system including the in-home receiving device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Operation of each sub-contract home receiver when the main power of the sub-contract home receiver that holds the representative right is turned off in the contract home that owns the home receiver of Embodiment 2 of the present invention Showing the flow chart of The block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the home receiver as a main contract home receiver of this invention (A) A configuration diagram showing connection with a CATV station in a case where two home receiving devices are contracted in a conventional home, (b) an in-house receiving device of an illegal usage pattern in a conventional CATV system, and Configuration diagram showing connection with CATV station The block diagram which shows the connection with the CATV station of two in-house receivers using the conventional authentication technique

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10,100 Home receiver 11 Main contract home receiver 12 Sub contract home receiver 13 Sub contract home receiver 14 CATV station 15 Distributor 16 Home LAN
17 Contracted House 18 Unsigned House 19 Distributor 20 Video Output Device 21 Broadcast Reception Unit 22 Authentication Unit 23 Network I / F Unit 24 Authentication Authority Management Unit 25 Power Switch
26 Power Control Unit 27 Broadcast Recording Unit

Claims (15)

A power control unit that detects instructions to turn off and on the power; and
A video data receiving unit for receiving at least video data from outside;
A network interface unit connected to the network for authentication;
An authentication unit with an authentication function;
An authentication authority management unit that manages an authentication authority that enables the authentication function of the authentication unit; and a plurality of image receiving apparatuses connected to each other by the network,
The authentication unit can permit other video reception devices to receive the video data from the outside by the authentication function,
When the power of the predetermined video receiving apparatus having the authentication authority is turned off, the authentication authority management unit of the predetermined video receiving apparatus is connected to the network to establish a link. A video data receiving system in which the power of the predetermined video receiving device is turned off after delegating the authentication authority to any of the other video receiving devices. The plurality of video receiving devices are one main video receiving device and a slave video receiving device other than the main video receiving device,
When the main video receiving device is turned on in a state that does not have the authentication authority, when a link is established with the slave video receiving apparatus that has the authentication authority in the network, The video data receiving system according to claim 1, wherein the authentication authority is transferred from the slave video receiving device to the main video receiving device.   The video data receiving system according to claim 2, wherein the main video receiving device includes a recording unit that records the video data received by the video data receiving unit.   The video data receiving system according to claim 1, wherein the video receiving device having the authentication authority holds the authentication authority until the power of the video receiving device is turned off.   When the video receiving apparatus having the authentication authority is turned off, the authentication authority management unit of the video receiving apparatus determines which video receiving apparatus to which the authentication authority is delegated is the video receiving apparatus. The video data receiving system according to claim 1, wherein:   When the power of the video receiving apparatus having the authentication authority is turned on again, the authentication authority management unit of the video receiving apparatus notifies information about the video receiving apparatus to which the authentication authority has been delegated. The video data receiving system according to claim 5.   The warning is notified when there is no other video receiving apparatus with which the link is established in the network when the power of the video receiving apparatus having the authentication authority is turned off. Video data reception system. The power control unit has a function of turning off the power for operating other functions while the power for operating at least the network interface unit, the authentication unit, and the authentication authority management unit is on. And
When there is no other video receiving device with which the link is established in the network when the video receiving device having the authentication authority is turned off, the network interface unit, the authentication unit, The video data receiving system according to claim 1, wherein the power for operating other functions is turned off while the power for operating the authentication authority management unit is turned on.   The other video reception device to which the authentication authority management unit of the predetermined one video reception device delegates the authentication authority is determined based on statistical information regarding a use frequency of each of the plurality of video reception devices. The video data receiving system according to 1. The external video data is broadcast program data from a cable TV station,
The video data receiving system according to claim 1, wherein each of the video receiving devices is an STB for cable television.   The video data receiving system according to claim 10, wherein the network is a cable network using a cable used for transmission of the broadcast program data. A power control unit that detects instructions to turn off and on the power; and
A video data receiving unit for receiving at least video data from outside;
A network interface unit connected to the network for authentication;
An authentication unit with an authentication function;
A video receiving device comprising: an authentication authority management unit that manages an authentication authority that enables the authentication function of the authentication unit;
The authentication unit allows the other video receiving device to receive the video data from the outside by using the authentication function to the other video receiving device;
When the power is turned off while having the authentication authority, the authentication authority management unit sends the authentication authority to any of the other video receiving apparatuses connected to the network and establishing a link. After receiving the video, the video receiver turns off. A power control unit for detecting an instruction to turn off and on the power, a video data receiving unit for receiving at least video data from the outside, a network interface unit connected to a network for authentication, and an authentication unit having an authentication function; An authentication control method for a video data receiving system in which a plurality of video receiving devices having an authentication authority management unit for managing an authentication authority for enabling the authentication function of the authentication unit are connected to each other by the network,
An authentication step in which the authentication unit permits the other video receiving device to receive the video data from the outside to the other video receiving device by the authentication function;
When the predetermined one video receiving apparatus having the authentication authority is turned off, the authentication authority management unit of the predetermined one video receiving apparatus is connected to the network before the power is turned off. And an authentication authority delegation step of delegating the authentication authority to any of the other video reception apparatuses that are connected to and established a link.   14. The authentication step of the video data receiving system according to claim 13, wherein the authentication unit permits the other video receiving apparatus to receive the external video data, and the predetermined one. The authentication authority management unit of the video receiving apparatus of the first apparatus executes the authentication authority delegation step of delegating the authentication authority to any of the other video receiving apparatuses connected to the network and establishing a link. Program to let you.   A recording medium on which the program according to claim 14 is recorded, the recording medium being usable by a computer.

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