JPH0983973A - Data broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To smoothly execute a connection try to an online service without causing an unavailable state of a line by executing connection to the online service affer passing a delay time obtained by referring to delay control data when a connection request to the online service is given. SOLUTION: A data broadcast decoder part 16 fetches a data broadcast signal from a video signal to decode and stores it in RAM 13. When the connection request is given from the user CPU 11 judges whether delay control data exists or not in data which is concerned with the connection request and stored in RAM 13 and when it exists, retrieves the piece of delay control data by an ID number to obtain a delay time. Then CPU 11 drives a display control part 18 to display the delay time on a display part 19. Then when clear input is not given from an operation input part 20, connection is waited for just this delay time but after passing the delay time, CPU 11 actually executes connection to the online service.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is connected to a data broadcast decoder section for decoding a data broadcast signal superimposed on a television broadcast, a display section for displaying a television broadcast or a video signal of the data broadcast, and a telephone line. The present invention relates to a data broadcast receiving device including a modem.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a data broadcasting system with an interactive function. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 is a television broadcasting station, 2 is a data broadcasting receiving apparatus that also serves as a television receiver including a data broadcasting decoder 2a and a modem 2b, and 3 is connected to the data broadcasting receiving apparatus 2 via a telephone line 4. TV broadcast station 1
And a response server connected via a telephone line 5.

In the television broadcasting station 1, character / graphic data and a program for adding interactivity are encoded under a predetermined standard and converted into a data signal,
Add a sync code and error correction code, etc. to make a data broadcast signal assigned to a data packet, superimpose this on the vertical blanking period (VBL) of the video signal as in the case of the character multiplex signal, and convert to a radio wave. To broadcast. In the data broadcast receiving device 2, the data broadcast signal is decoded by the data broadcast decoder 2a, stored, displayed, decoded as necessary, and a predetermined process is executed. When the content of the television broadcast is, for example, television shopping or a questionnaire survey, the telephone number or the facsimile number of the orderee or the other party is included as a data broadcast signal, and this is stored in the memory. The product name, the number of purchases, the name and address of the purchaser, the response data of the questionnaire survey, etc. are added by the input means in the data broadcast receiving device 2 and stored in the memory. Then, it automatically dials and transmits necessary data to the response server 3 through the telephone line 4 through the modem 2b.

Note that the response server 3 collects orders and responses from each home, performs data processing according to instructions from the television broadcasting station 1 and information providing companies / service companies that have been prepared in advance, and displays the processing results on the TV. It is transmitted to the broadcasting station 1 and the information provider / service company. In this way, interactive (bidirectional) data transmission / reception is performed.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] When watching the contents of a TV broadcast and doing a TV shopping or conducting an online questionnaire, the connection is flooded immediately after the reception starts, and the line becomes congested and the line cannot be used. hand,
It often takes a long time to connect. In such a case, it is considered to be a useful technique to add the connection timing ahead or behind by some method.

[0006]

A data broadcast receiving apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a data broadcast decoder section for decoding a data broadcast signal superimposed on a television broadcast, and a video signal for the television broadcast or the data broadcast. A display unit for displaying and a modem connected to a telephone line may be provided, and the data decoded by the data broadcast decoder unit may include delay control data, and the delay control may be performed when a connection request to an online service is made. It is characterized in that it is configured to wait for the actual connection for the delay time obtained by referring to the data, and to execute the connection to the online service after the delay time has elapsed. The timings of connection requests are distributed among a large number of data broadcast receiving devices, and unregulated connection tries, that is, congestion of the line is avoided, and the connection tries of the respective data broadcast receiving devices are smoothly performed as a whole.

A data broadcast receiving apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect, the delay time is displayed. Since the waiting time (delay time) is displayed to inform the user, the user does not become annoyed much and can wait calmly until the waiting time elapses.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the data broadcasting receiving device according to the first aspect, wherein the delay control data determines a delay time corresponding to a number corresponding to a part of the ID number of the data broadcasting receiving device. It is set.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a data broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the data broadcast receiving apparatus of the embodiment.

In FIG. 1, the data broadcast receiving apparatus 10 is constructed as follows. Reference numeral 11 is a CPU (central processing unit) that controls the entire system, 12 is a ROM (read only memory) that stores a program for the control, and 13 is a data broadcast that assists the control / calculation and the decoded data. RAM (random access memory) for storing signals, 14 is an input terminal for a television signal received by a receiving antenna (not shown), 15 is a video signal for selecting and demodulating a video signal of a desired channel from the input television signal A reception unit, 16 is a data broadcast decoder unit that separates and decodes the data broadcast signal superimposed in the vertical blanking period of the demodulated video signal, and 17 is a video signal from the video signal reception unit 15 and data from the RAM 13. A video switching unit for switching and transmitting a broadcast signal, 18 is a video signal receiving unit 1
5, a display control unit that controls display states such as switching of reception channels in the channel selection unit, screen division in the display unit 19, scrolling of data broadcast signals, and control of the video switching unit 17, and 19 is a CRT or LCD. A display unit, 20 is an operation input unit such as an operation panel or a remote controller that can also input data, 21 is an input interface, 22 is a modem for converting digital data into an analog voice signal level for two-way communication with a telephone line, and 23 is CPU11
And a bus connecting the ROM 12 to each unit from the modem 22, and 24 is an NCU (Network Control Unit) for connecting the modem 22 to the telephone line 30. Further, 40 is interactive (bidirectional) with the NCU 24 of the data broadcast receiving apparatus 10 via the telephone line 30.
Is a response server connected to.

First, a general operation of receiving a data broadcast program will be described. The video signal receiving unit 15 selects from the received TV signals, sends the TV signal of the reception channel to the video switching unit 17, and at the same time the data broadcast decoder unit 1
Send to 6. The data broadcast decoder unit 16 separates and decodes the data broadcast signal superimposed in the vertical blanking period of the selected video signal, sends it to the RAM 13, and temporarily stores it. The display control unit 18 controls the video switching unit 17, and sends either the video signal of the television broadcast from the video signal receiving unit 15 or the data broadcast signal read from the RAM 13 to the display unit 19. The display control unit 18 is also the display unit 1.
The display mode in 9 is controlled to be full screen or two screens, and character data is scroll-displayed as a telop on the lower side or the upper side of the full screen.
The control performed by the display control unit 18 is determined by an input command from the operation input unit 20.

When the content of the program related to the data broadcast is, for example, a quiz program or variety program or a questionnaire survey in which the viewer participates, the user performs an operation of selecting one from preset answers and issues an automatic dial command. When issued, C
The PU 11 automatically dials the response server 40 via the modem 22, the NCU 24, and the telephone line 30, and provides reply information to the response server 40. The response server 40 processes the information as necessary and communicates the result to the broadcasting station via a telephone line.

Next, the operation when watching the contents of the TV broadcast and performing the TV shopping or the online questionnaire will be described. Individual data broadcasting receiver 1
An ID number is assigned to 0 in advance and is registered in the RAM 13. In addition to the data such as the telephone number, mail-order company name, product name, product number, and price of the response server 40 that provides online services, the TV broadcasting station adds the data broadcasting signal superimposed on the vertical blanking period of the TV broadcast to the data broadcasting signal. Also, delay control data is included. The delay control data associates a delay time from when an online service connection request is made until the actual connection operation is performed with a part of the numerical value of the ID number. For example, when the first digit of the ID number is 1, the delay time of 1 second is associated, when it is 2, the delay time of 2 seconds is associated, and when it is 3, the delay time of 3 seconds is associated. It is associated with each other.

As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2, the data broadcast decoder 16 extracts the data broadcast signal from the video signal and decodes it (step S1), and the RAM 13
The decrypted data is stored in (step S2). In the case where the decrypted data includes the above-mentioned delay control data in addition to the data such as the telephone number, the mail-order company name, the product name, the product number, and the price of the response server 40 performing the TV shopping, as described above. There is. The user issues a connection request (dial operation) for the online service by operating the remote control, but the CPU 11 determines whether or not there is a connection request operation from the user (step S3), and if there is a connection request, the connection request is made. Involved in RA
It is determined whether delay control data is present in the data stored in M13 (step S4). When the delay control data exists, the delay control data is searched by the ID number to obtain the delay time (step S
5).

Then, the display control unit 18 is driven to display the delay time on the display unit 19 (step S6). It is determined whether or not a clear input is made from the operation input unit 20 (step S7), and if it is not cleared, it waits (waits) for the above delay time (step S8), and when the delay time elapses, the online service is actually started. The connection is executed (step S9). This connection is made by automatically dialing the telephone number in the data stored in the RAM 13 via the modem 22.

The operation of searching the delay control data by the ID number to obtain the delay time will be supplemented. When there is a TV shopping broadcast, each data broadcast receiving device 10
An extremely large number of viewers who are watching the contents of the broadcast simultaneously perform a request for connection to an online service. if,
If these requests are flooded at the same time, there is a possibility that the line will be extremely crowded and the line will not be usable. However, the data broadcasting receiving apparatus 10 whose first digit is 5, for example, waits for 5 seconds, and the data broadcasting receiving apparatus 10 whose first digit is 9, for example, waits for 9 seconds. Then
In general, a data broadcast receiving apparatus whose first digit is n waits for n seconds. Therefore, connection request timings are distributed, chaotic connection attempts and eventually line congestion are avoided, and connection attempts of each data broadcast receiving apparatus are smoothly performed as a whole. Further, since the waiting time (delay time) is displayed to inform the user, there is an advantage that the user does not become annoyed much and the waiting time can be calmly waited.

It is applicable not only to online shopping, but also to online services where connection requests such as questionnaire surveys and viewer participation programs are prone to flooding.

[0018]

According to the data broadcasting receiving device of the first aspect of the present invention, the timing of connection request is distributed among a large number of data broadcasting receiving devices, and chaotic connection attempts, that is, congestion of the line is avoided. Connection trials of the respective data broadcast receiving devices are smoothly performed as a whole.

According to the data broadcasting receiving device of the second aspect of the present invention, since the waiting time (delay time) is displayed and notified to the user, the user is not annoyed much and the waiting time elapses. You can calm down and wait.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a data broadcast receiving device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the data broadcast receiving apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a data broadcast receiving device according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Television broadcasting station 2 ... Data broadcasting receiving device 2a ... Data broadcasting decoder 2b ... Modem 3 ... Response server 4 ... Telephone line 5 ... Telephone line 10 ... Data broadcasting receiving device 11 ... CPU 12 ... ROM 13 ... RAM 14 ... TV signal input terminal 15 ... Video signal receiving section 16 ... Data broadcast decoder section 17 ... Video switching section 18 ... Display control section 19 ... Display section 20 ... Operation input section 21 ...... Input interface 22 ...... Modem 23 ...... Bus 24 ...... NCU 30 ...... Telephone line 40 ...... Response server

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI Technical indication location H04M 11/00 H04N 5/44 Z H04N 5/44 7/173 7/173

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A data broadcast decoder section for decoding a data broadcast signal superimposed on a television broadcast, a display section for displaying a video signal of the television broadcast or the data broadcast, and a modem connected to a telephone line, The data decoded by the data broadcast decoder unit may include delay control data,
When there is a connection request to the online service, the actual connection is waited for the delay time obtained by referring to the delay control data, and after the delay time, the connection to the online service is executed. Data broadcasting receiver. 2. The data broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data broadcast receiving apparatus is configured to display the delay time. 3. The data broadcasting reception according to claim 1, wherein the delay control data is set to calculate a delay time corresponding to a number corresponding to a part of the ID number of the data broadcasting receiving device. apparatus.