JPH05176195A - Remote control system for catv - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely inform an object device for remote control to the operator by sending a device code and its remote control data code from a remote control section to a home terminal and displaying the result on a screen of a television receiver. CONSTITUTION:When a device desired to be controlled is selected by using a device selection key 23ST, a code assigned to the device is stored in a memory (m) of a microcomputer 23M built in a remote control transmitter. Moreover, the device code is sent to a home terminal simultaneously and the home terminal discriminates the device and the result is displayed on a screen of the television receiver. When a common operation key 23S is depressed, the device code to be stored and its remote control data code are sent, the home terminal discriminates the device and the result is displayed on the screen of the television receiver. Thus, the control device set by the remote controller is clearly discriminated by displaying the information of the selected device onto the screen of the television receiver and the CATV remote control system offering convenience of use is obtained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a CATV remote control system, and more particularly to a system for remotely controlling a CATV home terminal and other devices with a common remote control transmitter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various electronic devices have been used around the home and in daily life, and moreover, those having a structure that can be controlled by remote control have been increasing. Conventionally, each device has been operated by using an independent remote control transmitter, but this has poor operability, and the convenience of the remote control is not fully utilized. For such problems,
A system has been developed that can operate a plurality of devices using a common remote control transmitter.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the appearance of a remote control transmitter that can operate a plurality of devices with a single remote control transmitter that has been conventionally used. The operation unit includes a control device selection switch 1 including a slide switch and a common operation key 2 for giving a command to the control device including a push button switch.
Is provided. In this type of system, first, a switch 1 is used to switch a target device operated by a remote controller. Along with this switching, the operation key 2 is set for the device selected by the switch 1, and when the operation key 2 is pressed, the device selected by the switch 1 can be operated by remote control. For example, the switch 1 is a home terminal, a television, a video, etc., and the operation keys 2 are a power source, CHup / down, and volume up / down.
n or the like is set.

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram of the conventional remote control transmitter. The device selection switch 1 and the common operation button switch 2 are connected to the microcomputer 3, and the output of the microcomputer 3 is given to the light emitting diode 5 via the transistor 4 as a remote control signal. 6 is a battery. The input BCD of the microcomputer 3 is normally a resistor 7 and pull do
Although it has been turned on and is at the “L” level, only one selected from the input BCDs by the switch 1 is connected to the battery 6 and is at the “H” level. That is, the microcomputer 3 inputs B
Which device the switch 1 is switched to is determined by whether the CD is "H" or "L".

The operation button switch 2 connects the input EFG and the output HIJK of the microcomputer 3 to each other.
Discriminates which operation button switch 2 is pressed from the connected combination of input and output, and outputs the transmission data of the device selected by the switch 1 from the output A of the microcomputer 3. The output transmission data is amplified by the transistor 4 and causes the infrared light emitting diode 5 to emit light.

[0006]

In the conventional remote control transmitter, it is necessary to switch the slide switch 1 in order to select the control device as described above, which is troublesome to operate. Further, there are drawbacks that the slide switch and the push button switch, which are operated differently, are mixed, and the operation is difficult to perform, and the cabinet and the like are complicated in terms of mechanism as compared with the case where only the push button is used. The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks and provides a convenient CATV remote control system.

[0007]

In the CATV remote control system of the present invention, the remote control unit is assigned to each key for inputting a control command commonly used by a plurality of control target devices and each device for setting the control target device. The home terminal includes a selection key, a memory for storing a code for identifying the control target device, and a light emitting element for transmitting an output signal, while the home terminal stores the memory for holding the control target device information and the output signal from the remote controller. The control target device information is received and compared with the information held in the memory to update the content, and a control unit for instructing on-screen display is provided.

[0008]

[Operation] When the user selects the device to be controlled by pressing the device selection key, the code assigned to the device is stored in the remote control transmitter and at the same time the device code is transmitted to the terminal, and the home terminal identifies the device. And on-screen display on the TV screen connected to the home terminal. Next, when the user presses the common operation key, the device code stored in the memory and the remote control data code thereof are transmitted. The home terminal receives it, discriminates the device, displays it on-screen on the television screen as described above, and when it is the home terminal, executes the process based on the remote control data code.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the embodiment, a home terminal, a television, and a video are listed as one remote control transmitter that can be operated.

FIG. 1 shows an external view of the remote control transmitter 23. The operation section is provided with a device selection key 23ST by a push button switch by allocating a dedicated key for each device to be controlled. The operation section is further provided with operation keys 23S common to these control target devices by push button switches.

FIG. 2 shows a circuit diagram of the remote control transmitter. The device selection key 23ST and the common operation key 23
S is connected to the microcomputer 23M, and the microcomputer 23M is connected to the battery 6. Selection key 23ST and operation key 2
3S is connected to each of the input LEFG and the output HIJK of the microcomputer 23M, the microcomputer 23M determines which key is pressed from the combination of the connected input and output, and sends the transmission data corresponding to the pressed key to the microcomputer. Two
Output from 3M output A. The output transmission data is amplified by the transistor and causes the infrared light emitting diode to emit light.

FIG. 3 shows an operation flowchart of the microcomputer 23M shown in FIG. First, starting from START, the control target device memory m built in the microcomputer 23M is initialized in the home terminal. Next, in STEP 1, it is checked whether a key has been pressed. If the pressed key is a common operation key, the process moves to STEP 2 to send the device code set in the device memory m to be controlled, and then to the device in the memory. Send the data code corresponding to the operation key and press S
Return to TEP1.

If the key pressed in STEP 1 is the device selection key, the process proceeds to STEP 3 to clear the contents of the device memory m to be controlled in the microcomputer 23M to store the newly selected device and send the device code. Then return to STEP1. FIG. 4 shows transmission data generated by the remote control transmitter when the device selection key 23ST and the common operation key 23S are pressed.

Next, the home terminal will be described.
FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of the CATV home terminal 25. CATV input terminal 1 for cable broadcasting from the broadcasting center
Given to 1. The input transmission signal is distributed to the display signal and the control signal by the distributor 12, and the display signal is the tuner 1
3, IF amplification detection circuit 14, OSD (ON SCREE
The signal is supplied from the output terminal 17 to the TV receiver 24 via the (N DISPLAY) circuit 15 and the RF modulator 16. On the other hand, the distributed control signal is input to the control circuit 19 composed of a microcomputer via the data receiver 18,
The control according to the content of the control signal is executed. The home terminal 25 is provided with a remote control light receiving section 20 for receiving the light emitted from the remote control transmitter 23, a CH display section 21 for displaying a reception channel, and an operation key 22.

The signal a input from the CATV input terminal 11 is branched by the distributor 12 into 11a and 12a.
The branch signal 11a is converted to the IF signal if of the channel CH selected by the tuner 13, and then amplified and detected by the IF amplification detection circuit 14 to become a video signal P and an audio signal S. The video signal P passes through the OSD circuit 15 and is combined with alphabets, numbers, characters, etc. to become a signal P ', which is added to the RF modulator 16 together with the audio signal S and converted into a specific frequency signal r corresponding to an empty channel of the television. It is output via the output terminal 17. By connecting the television 24 to the output terminal 17, CATV can be viewed.
On the other hand, the branch signal 12a passes through the data receiver 18 and is demodulated into the data signal b, and is input to the control circuit unit 19.

The control circuit section 19 is mainly composed of a microcomputer as described above, and controls the entire home terminal based on the control content of the data signal b. Further, the control circuit section 19 decodes the signal c from the operation keys 22 and the remote control transmitter 23, outputs the channel selection data d to the tuner 13, and at the same time, displays the selected channel in the CH display section 2
Display in 1. In addition, the control circuit section 19 outputs to the OSD circuit 15 data e such as alphabets, numbers, characters (eg, CH, volume, voice mode, etc.) that need to be displayed on the screen of the television 24. In particular, in the present embodiment, if the data c transmitted from the remote control transmitter 23 is the device code to be controlled, the control circuit section 19 outputs the data e of the device name to the OSD circuit 15 and displays it on the screen of the television 24. Display the device name. Next, since the control circuit section 19 is mainly composed of a microcomputer, the operation of the microcomputer will be described with reference to FIG.
Will be described in more detail using.

In FIG. 6, starting from START, first, the control target device memory including the RAM provided in the microcomputer is cleared, and the process proceeds to STEP1. At STEP 1, it is checked whether the remote control signal c is received. If not received, the process proceeds to STEP 4 to output the character data e of the device name stored in the RAM of the control device to the OSD circuit 15 and then returns to STEP 1. Nothing is displayed when the control device memory RAM is cleared. When the remote control signal c is received, the process proceeds to STEP2.

At STEP 2, it is checked whether the signal c is the control target device code or the data code of the home terminal, and if neither is present, the process proceeds to STEP 4 to perform the above-mentioned operation. If it is a control device code, move to STEP 3,
If it is the data code of the home terminal, the processing corresponding to the data code of the common operation key (for example, channel selection, volume up / down, etc.) is performed, and the process proceeds to STEP4.

In STEP 3, it is checked whether the received device code is the same as the previously received control device memory RAM code. If the same, the process proceeds to STEP 4, and if different, the controlled device memory RAM is cleared and a new reception is made. After registering the device code in the RAM, move to STEP4. STE
An example of the on-screen display at P4 is as shown in FIG.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of devices can be operated by a common remote control transmitter, and an indication of which device to be operated is selected is provided on-screen. Since the display function is used, the software of the remote controller transmitter and the microcomputer built in the home terminal can be used, and the function can be improved without an economical burden. Further, since the operation unit of the remote control transmitter has the same key structure as the operation target device selection key as the common key, the operation is simple, and the mechanical structure is simple and the manufacturing load can be reduced. The information of the selected device is displayed on-screen on the TV screen.
The display can be displayed larger than that displayed on the display panel of the remote control transmitter, and the user can clearly identify the control device to which the remote control is set.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a remote control transmitter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the remote control transmitter.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the remote control transmitter.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an operation example of the remote control transmitter.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a home terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the home terminal.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an on-screen display state of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an external view of a remote control transmitter in a conventional CATV system.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a conventional remote control transmitter.

[Explanation of symbols]

 19 control circuit RAM RAM control circuit built-in memory 23 remote control transmitter 23S remote control transmitter common operation key 23ST remote control transmitter control target device selection key 23M remote control transmitter built-in microcomputer m remote control transmitter built-in microcomputer memory 24 TV 25 home terminal

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A CATV remote control system for remotely controlling a home terminal of a CATV system, wherein a remote control transmitter has a key for inputting a control command commonly used by a plurality of control target devices and each device for setting the control target device. The home terminal is provided with a selection key assigned, a memory for storing a code for identifying the control target device, and a light emitting element for oscillating an output signal, and the home terminal has a memory for holding the control target device information and the remote control transmitter. And a control unit that receives the output signal of the control target device information, compares the control target device information with the held information in the memory to update the content, and instructs the on-screen display.
V remote control system.