JPH0993366A - Dialing restriction device for television reply - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent tentative concentration of a telephone line by providing a dialing processing section and differentiating data transfer timing to an incoming line by each or a group of television receivers. SOLUTION: A teletext and data broadcast decoder 126 has a decode section 201 decoding a data broadcast, a telephone function section 202 and an identification number section 203. In this case, the system is provided with an automatic dialing processing section as the telephone function section 202, which starts automatic dialing after a period by dialing wait data after the input of an operation signal in the case of dialing connection to a telephone line in response to the operation signal. This is because congested telephone lines are prevented by differentiating the dialing start time from plural television receivers to the incoming line.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a television response transmission restricting device, which receives and processes a data broadcasting signal such as a character figure or the like to be broadcast included in a television broadcasting signal and performs a program operation, and then a telephone line. It is applied to the system that communicates with the outside through.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A character broadcasting program has been realized in which character or graphic data is multiplexed and transmitted with an ordinary television broadcasting signal. Currently available teletext programs include news, weather forecasts, traffic information, tourist information, and TV shopping. In addition, there is a case where a questionnaire survey is performed to a viewer in a program.

By the way, the current teletext program is a system in which information is unilaterally provided to a viewer from a television station. For example, in the case of TV shopping, when a shopping information program is broadcast by teletext, the viewer makes a memo of the desired product number or mail order company's telephone number while watching the characters displayed on the screen, and sees the memo. While making phone calls using a telephone, he will place orders and orders. Also, in the case of conducting a questionnaire survey to the viewer in the program, the viewer takes notes such as a telephone number for responding, and responds using the telephone while looking at the memo. In such a case, a problem such as a wrong telephone call due to a wrong dial or a wrong telephone call when a telephone number is erroneously written down occurs.

As described above, in the conventional character multiplex broadcast program, a one-way broadcast from a television station is performed, and the response is long because the system waits for a telephone call from the viewer. In addition, there is a problem that many wrong calls are generated.

In order to solve such a problem, therefore, a program executing means for transmitting computer program data from a broadcasting station side in a character multiplex broadcasting program and executing the computer program is provided in a receiver.
It has been proposed that the program executing means dials the telephone automatically through the communication control means when the viewer gives an operation input and automatically transmits the input data of the viewer. ing. This way,
The number of false calls is reduced, and the response time to the collection station is near real time. Hereinafter, a program that sends a computer program as described above or sends supplementary data that supplementarily describes a main broadcast program is called a complementary program, and a computer program is called a script.

[0006]

By the way, when the above system is actually installed in a home and applied to various uses, various studies are required. If you actually use the telephone function of the above TV receiver to implement TV shopping, viewer participation quiz programs, ticket reservation information programs by viewers, etc. Will receive telephone reservations and answers all at once. When such a situation occurs, the telephone line is congested, the telephone cannot be connected, and the telephone user who has nothing to do with the videophone cannot make a telephone call.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the dialing operation of the telephone function of the television receiver can be made different for each group or individually in time so that the telephone line can be prevented from being temporarily concentrated. It is an object of the present invention to provide a call origination control device for response.

[0008]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, by providing a dialing processing section in a telephone function section provided in a television receiver, data transmission to an uplink by individual or group of television receivers. The timing is different. This can prevent the telephone lines from being temporarily concentrated.

That is, receiving means capable of receiving a television broadcast signal, and video signal processing means for displaying a program video signal which is a received signal of the receiving means on the display means,
Data broadcast decoding means included in the received signal of the receiving means, receiving the data broadcast transmitted by being multiplexed in a data channel independent of the video / audio signal, demodulating, and obtaining a sub-video signal, The data broadcast decoding means further comprises a telephone function, and the telephone function includes an automatic dialing processing section. This processing unit is operated by a management program that responds to operation signals, and when dialing is connected to a telephone line, there is a period of waiting dialing data after the operation signal is input. You can start automatic dialing and change the dialing start time from multiple TV receivers to the upstream line. It is obtained by the.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of a system to which a two-way communication device using television broadcasting, which is an embodiment of the present invention, is applied. This system, by utilizing the current character multiplex broadcasting function and telephone communication function, adds a telephone communication function to one-way broadcasting of television broadcasting and expands an upstream data transmission function, The two-way communication function is realized as a whole. This system basically extends the existing teletext system by software. Therefore, even if you add a script to the character multiplex broadcast and broadcast it,
It has no effect on current TV broadcasts, teletexts, and TV receivers.

The overall system is composed of a network including a TV receiver 11, a broadcasting station 12, a telephone network 13, and a collecting station 14. The broadcasting station 12 uses a teletext channel to broadcast a script, which is a computer program for realizing bidirectionality, in a complementary program in synchronization with a normal television program. Alternatively, it is repeatedly broadcast as an independent broadcast within a predetermined broadcast time.
This script is a kind of application program that describes the progress procedure of the two-way communication system.
The V broadcast signal is superimposed and transmitted during the vertical blanking period.

The script is a T that receives a TV broadcast signal.
It is stored in the memory of the V receiver 11 and is executed by, for example, a program execution device (script decoder) incorporated in the TV receiver 11. This script decoder displays a symbol mark indicating that the current program is a complementary program, for example, "i", notifies the viewer of it, and starts script execution in response to an operation input from the viewer. , Respond such as display of program supplement data.

Although the response from the viewer may end in the TV receiver 11 by itself, the result of the response may be sent to a computer system (collection station 14) provided in various places via the telephone network 13. Sending, and in some cases, broadcasting station 12
It is also possible to reflect in real time on the program content provided by. In addition, the collection station 14 via the telephone network 13.
It is also possible to take in data from the side.

The TV receiver 11 is equipped with a script decoder and a modem in order to realize a bidirectional function in addition to an ordinary TV broadcast receiving circuit including a character multiplex decoder. The script decoder extracts a script from a TV broadcast signal transmitted from the broadcast station 12 and executes the script to realize two-way communication. When the viewer responds to send the upstream data, the viewer responds by using the remote controller for TV operation. When data is transmitted to the collection station 14, automatic dialing is performed by a modem connected to the TV receiver 11, and connection is made to the collection station 14. The uplink data may be transmitted immediately or may be transmitted after waiting at night or the like.

Since the modem added to the TV receiver 11 has a function of automatically dialing, it is not necessary for the viewer to dial for upstream data transmission. The telephone number of the automatic dial destination is the broadcasting station 12 for each complementary program.
It is embedded in the script from the side and sent. This telephone number may be one or plural, and in the case of plural telephone numbers, the viewer can select the destination.

The script decoder is realized by a processor that executes a computer program. However, since the character multiplex decoder also usually has a built-in processor, the script decoder is actually realized by expanding the function of the character multiplex decoder in software. Therefore, the script decoder includes a character multiplex decoder and a program ROM, and shares many circuits with the character multiplex decoder.

When broadcasting a program of a viewer participation system in which the viewer's response is reflected in the program, the broadcasting station 12 adds a supplementary program data including a script to a broadcast signal including normal video / audio. Insert and send. A program production system for generating and inserting data of a complementary program including a script can be composed of a personal computer and a multiplexer.

The broadcasting station 12 broadcasts by inserting a supplementary program into the broadcast wave in addition to a normal program. The computer programs to be added are roughly classified into those produced by the broadcasting station itself and those produced and provided by third parties such as advertising companies and mail order companies. Furthermore, there are those produced by broadcasting stations that can be prepared in advance, and those that are inserted live, such as when broadcasting sports.

Here, the structure of the script will be described. The script is created by the production system of the broadcasting station 12, and is sent together with normal images and sounds. The script is realized as a set of objects as follows.

(1) Background / display material (2) Operation button (3) Character string (4) Image, etc. Each object can have a complementary procedure (procedure), which is an extended BASIC language. Described by etc. This language is a normal BASIC with control instructions for two-way communication.

When the script is executed, first, the screen background and screen components such as operation buttons are displayed. When the viewer selects the operation button, a program corresponding to the button is activated.

A method of processing response data is registered in advance in the collecting station 14, and the collected contents can be redistributed to a broadcasting station, an advertising company, a sponsor, a mail order company, etc. in accordance with the method.

The forms of interactive programs that can be realized by this interactive communication system can be roughly classified into the following three types. (1) Complementary data program-Selective display of additional information about advertising products.

Display selectively the data during sports broadcasting.・ Display the program contents.・ Memorize the cooking resapies and display them later.

Respond to answers to questions in early childhood education programs.・ Respond to viewers' answers in quiz programs. (2) Response feedback program (use the collecting station) -Take questionnaires on politics, economics, and social reporting.

-Take questionnaires on sports programs.・ Display stats of correct respondents and tournaments in viewer participation quiz programs. (3) Program with transaction (use collection station) -Orders will be accepted at the server (collection station) through TV shopping.

A server (collection station) accepts a catalog request or the like in an advertisement with a request such as information. -For audience rating survey, send the viewing program data to the server (collection station) with the consent of the viewer.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show a period in which teletext data is transmitted in a TV teletext broadcast signal of a hybrid transmission system. That is, the teletext data is the 14th H (277H) to the 16th H (279H), and the 21th H (284H) in the vertical blanking period.
Is superimposed on. In this vertical blanking period, there is a margin for further multiplexing of data, so for example, the 10th H (second
73H) to 13th H (276H) can be multiplexed and transmitted. Although the script may be multiplexed at a position different from the current character multiplex position in this way, it may be time-divisionally transmitted to the same position as the current character multiplex signal. Also, teletext data can be transmitted on one sub-channel of the audio multiplex signal, and in this case, the data from the FM receiving unit is taken in.

FIG. 3 shows in more detail an example of the structure of a data packet in one line period transmitted in the character multiplex broadcast and the data broadcast. A bit synchronization code and a byte synchronization code are arranged before the data packet. The data packet section includes a prefix, a data block, and a check code. Further, the prefix part includes a service identification code and a packet control code. This service identification code can be used to identify the arrival of the complementary program signal.

FIG. 4 shows a specific circuit configuration of a bidirectional communication device provided in the TV receiver 11, a decoder including a character multiplex broadcast decoder and a script decoder, that is, a character multiplex and data broadcast decoder. .

The video signal of the reception channel is input terminal 21.
It is supplied to the sync separation unit 22 and the A / D converter 23 via. In the vertical blanking period of the video signal, data for bidirectional digital communication is multiplexed as described in FIG.
The data digitized by the A / D converter 23 is waveform-equalized by the waveform equalization unit 24 and the data acquisition / error correction unit 2
5 is introduced. The waveform equalizer 24 compensates for deterioration of the video signal converted into a digital signal during transmission.
Separates the digital broadcast signal multiplexed with the video signal,
The multiplexed data and clock in it are output. The data fetching / error correcting unit 25 fetches the multiplexed data in units of 8 bits in the buffer RAM 26 in synchronization with the clock and performs error correction.

The CPU 27 operates based on the fixed program stored in the program ROM 28. Character font RO
A character font for displaying characters is stored in M29, and corresponding character data can be read out by addressing a desired character to the ROM 29.

A synchronizing signal for display synchronized with the TV receiver is introduced to the input terminal 30 and supplied to the display control section 31. The display control unit 31 performs a process of reading the data in the display memory 32 in synchronism with the reproduction of the television image and writing the display data to the display memory 32 in response to a write command from the CPU 27. Display memory 3
The data read from No. 2 is stored in the color map memory 33.
Is supplied as an address input, and each level data of the primary color signals RGB corresponding to the address is output. This level data is converted into an analog RGB signal by the D / A converter 34 and is derived from the output terminal as a display signal. It should be noted that this display signal is displayed on the display as a television image signal in which graphics are superimposed by synthesizing the television image signal by a synthesizing means (not shown). Further, the D / A converter 34 is
Omitted depending on the interface on the display side,
The RGB signals themselves may be output.

From the input terminal 36, an operation signal by the viewer from the remote control operation unit is input. This operation signal is sent to the CPU via the operation input interface (I / F) 37.
It is taken in 27 and analyzed.

38 is a modulator and demodulator (modem),
It constitutes a communication control unit and is connected to the telephone line via the line connection unit 39. The line connection unit 39 connects the line,
It controls disconnection and is controlled by the CPU 27.

The CPU 27 is connected to each functional block, that is, the data fetching / error correcting unit 25, the program ROM 28, the character font ROM 29, the operation input I / F 37, the display control unit 31, the modem 38, etc. via a bus line. . Further, a work RAM 41, a program RAM 42, and a non-volatile memory 43 are connected to the bus line.

The program RAM 42 is a memory for storing a computer program transmitted from a broadcasting station,
According to the viewer's operation, the contents of this computer program can be interpreted and the procedure of this computer program (script) can be executed according to the interpreter in the fixed program stored in the ROM 28. The non-volatile memory 43 stores a unique identification number (ID) of this receiving terminal (decoder), and this unique identification number is used when transmitting order data to the collecting station 14 in, for example, TV shopping. To be done. The collection station 14 determines the orderer by recognizing the ID.

The circuit configuration described above is also used when processing a character multiplex broadcast program. That is, when the reception of the character multiplex broadcast program is instructed by the remote control operation, the CPU 27 is switched to be under the control of the character multiplex broadcast program processing program stored in the program ROM 28. Then, the character data sent is the character font R
It is converted into display data by the OM 29 and stored in the display memory 32 via the display control unit 31.

FIG. 5 shows the essential parts of one embodiment of the present invention. The television signal received by the tuner 121 is input to the video processing circuit 122 for detection,
Processing such as gamma correction is performed and the result is input to the display image processing unit 123. In the display image processing unit 123, brightness / color separation processing and the like are performed, and the output program video signal is output to the synthesis unit 124.
Is supplied to the display unit 125 via.

The video signal in the video processing circuit 122 is input to the character multiplex and data broadcast decoder 126. The configuration of the decoder 126 is as described with reference to FIG. 4, but here, the portions related to the present invention are collectively shown. Character multiplexing and data broadcasting decoder 126
In the character multiplex broadcast processing mode or the data broadcast processing mode, the output of is input to the synthesizing unit 124 as a sub video signal and is synthesized with the program video signal to obtain a character display or a display of supplementary data.

Character multiplex and data broadcast decoder 126
Has a decoding unit 201 for decoding a data broadcast, a telephone function unit 202, and an identification number unit 203. The telephone function unit 202 includes the modem 38, the line connection unit 39, and C of FIG.
The identification number section 203 corresponds to the non-volatile memory 43, and the decoding section 201 corresponds to the other blocks and the CPU 27.

Here, it is assumed that television shopping is currently being performed. Then, the viewer operates the remote controller 301 to input a desired product number. Then, the main controller 302 recognizes the information and transmits it to the CPU 27 in the decoder 126. The CPU 27 operates according to a script (management program) transmitted in advance, generates order data, and outputs the transmission data to the telephone line using the telephone function unit 202.

In this system, the telephone function unit 2
02 has an automatic dialing processing unit. When the dialing connection is made to the telephone line in response to the operation signal, the automatic dialing processing unit uses the dialing waiting data after the operation signal is input. Automatic dialing is started after a certain period. This is to prevent the telephone line from being congested by changing the dialing start time points from a plurality of television receivers to the upstream line.

Steps A1 to A6 of FIG. 6 show a flowchart of the above processing. Here, various types of data as described below can be used as the dialing waiting data. That is, the waiting signal until the decoding unit 201 demodulates the dial permission signal sent from the broadcasting station is used as the dialing waiting data. When the dial permission signal is demodulated, dialing is started (see (a) in FIG. 7).

In another embodiment, the output indicating that the receiver identification number sent from the broadcasting station and its own identification number do not match is used as dialing waiting data, and dialing is performed when they match. It is set to start (see FIG. 7B).

In another embodiment, condition data including at least the receiver identification number and time zone information is transmitted from the broadcasting station, and the condition data internally held and generated satisfy this condition data. The waiting signal up to is used as the dialing waiting data, and the dialing is started when the condition data is satisfied. To determine whether or not the time zone condition is satisfied, either the internal clock circuit information or the time information sent by data broadcasting may be used (see (c) in FIG. 7).

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the dialing start times from a plurality of receivers are made different based on the control from the broadcasting station, but this may be done individually or in groups, and The identification numbers may be odd or even.

In still another embodiment, the time measurement period based on the data determined by the output of the random data generator is used as the dialing waiting data, and the dialing is started when the time measurement period elapses. Good.

In this case, the waiting time is set and the start pulse is generated by the means shown in FIG. 8, for example. Appropriate data, for example, data generated when the viewer performs an operation such as channel selection, is serially supplied to the register 401, and the register 401 holds the comparison data. The comparison data held in this register varies depending on the viewer. This is because each viewer has different operation contents.
Then, when the viewer responds and provides a response signal to access the complementary program, the latch circuit 402 causes the register 40 to register.
Latch 1 bit in parallel. This latch data is
The comparator 403 compares the count value of the counter 404. The counter 404 starts the counting operation by turning on the switch 405 when the previous response signal is input. When a coincidence pulse is obtained from the comparator 403, this is used as a dialing start signal. Further, the counter 404 is cleared at this time.

By using the above circuit, the period from the input of the response signal to the acquisition of the coincidence pulse becomes the dialing waiting time. Since the data set in the register 401 varies depending on the viewer, the timing at which the start pulse is generated at each receiver is different, and the congestion of the telephone line at the same time is eliminated.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The dialing operation of the telephone function of the television receiver may be temporally different for each group or for each group to prevent the telephone lines from being temporarily concentrated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system to which a data broadcast transmission and reception device of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of character multiplex and data broadcasting signals.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of data packets of character multiplex and data broadcasting signals.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a character multiplex and data broadcast decoder according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart shown to explain an operation example of the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing various examples inside step A4 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing still another example of the automatic dialing function.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... TV receiver, 12 ... broadcasting station, 13 ... telephone line network,
14 ... Collection station, 22 ... Sync separation section, 23 ... A / D converter, 24 ... Waveform equalization section, 25 ... Data acquisition / error correction section, 26 ... Buffer RAM, 27 ... CPU, 28 ... Program ROM, 29 ... Character font ROM, 31 ... Display control unit, 32 ... Display memory, 33 ... Color map memory, 34 ... D / A converter, 37 ... Operation input I / F, 38
... Modem, 39 ... Line connection section, 41 ... Work RAM, 42
... program RAM, 43 ... non-volatile memory, 121 ... tuner, 122 ... video processing circuit, 123 ... display image processing section, 124 ... synthesizing section, 125 ... display, 126 ... character multiplex and data broadcast decoder, 201 ... decoding section , 20
2 ... Telephone function unit, 203 ... Identification number unit, 301 ... Remote controller, 302 ... Main controller.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ───

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] July 29, 1996

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] All figures

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG.

[Fig. 2]

[Figure 3]

FIG. 4

[Figure 5]

FIG. 6

FIG. 7

[Figure 8]

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A receiving means capable of receiving a television broadcast signal, a video signal processing means for displaying a program video signal, which is a received signal of the receiving means, on a display means, and a receiving signal of the receiving means. The data broadcast decoding means for receiving and demodulating the data broadcast transmitted by being multiplexed and transmitted on the data channel independent of the video / audio signal, and the sub-decoder decoded by the data broadcast decoding means. The data broadcast decoding means further includes a telephone function, and the telephone function is provided with an automatic dialing processing section. This processing section is provided with a synthesizing means for synthesizing a video signal into the program video signal. , When operating by a management program that responds to operation signals and dialing connection to the telephone line, dialing after the operation signal is input. A television response regulation device characterized in that automatic dialing is started after a period of time depending on waiting data, and it is possible to set different dialing start points to uplinks from multiple television receivers. 2. The automatic dialing processing unit waits for a dialing signal from the input of the operation signal until the data broadcast decoding means demodulates a dial permission signal sent from a broadcasting station. 2. The television response restriction device according to claim 1, wherein the dialing is started after the permission signal is demodulated as data. 3. The automatic dialing processing unit sets the output indicating that the receiver identification number sent from the broadcasting station and its own identification number do not match as the dialing waiting data, and dials when they match. The television response regulation device according to claim 1, wherein a ring is started. 4. The automatic dialing processing unit receives condition data including at least a receiver identification number and time zone information from a broadcasting station, and the condition data internally possessed and generated is satisfied. 2. The television response regulation device according to claim 1, wherein a waiting signal until the start is used as the dialing wait data, and dialing is started when the condition data is satisfied. 5. The automatic dialing processing unit sets a time measurement period based on data determined by an output of a random data generation unit as the dialing waiting data, and starts dialing when the time measurement period elapses. The television response regulation device according to claim 1.