JPH10336621A - Pay television broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid the problem that a reserved program cannot be viewed or the like by recognizing in advance the operation defect of an IC card other than the IC card in use. SOLUTION: The IC cards 40a, 40b and 40c are respectively mounted to three card slots 38a, 38b and 38c provided in an IC card connector 36 and a CPU 24 judges whether or not the IC card other than the IC card in use is normal at every constant interval of time based on intrinsic information such as the number of the card. When the IC card is abnormal, an alarm sentence is on-screen displayed by an MPEG decoder 20 and then, an LED 34 is lighted. The normality and abnormality of the IC card are stored in a RAM 28.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pay television broadcast receiving apparatus, and more particularly to a pay television broadcast receiving apparatus using a different IC card for each broadcaster to receive digital television broadcasts using a communication satellite, for example. Related to the device.

2. Description of the Related Art A digital television broadcast receiving apparatus employs a so-called limited reception system in which a receiver is limited so that only a regular subscriber can view the broadcast. In this conditional access system, the decryption information transmitted at the same time is reproduced by an IC card provided by a broadcaster to a regular contractor, and the digital television broadcast signal is decrypted (descrambled) according to the decryption information. Since such an IC card is different for each broadcaster, if the receiving device has only one card slot, if it is intended to receive a broadcast from a different broadcaster, it is necessary to replace the IC card. The replacement of the IC card is troublesome. In order to solve such a problem, a pay television broadcast receiver is provided with a plurality of card slots, a different IC card is mounted for each card slot, and only an IC card inserted into any one of the slots is provided. May be selectively enabled. For example, if the receiving device has three card slots, IC cards of three broadcasters can be installed at the same time, so that the broadcasts of the three broadcasters can be viewed without replacing the IC cards.

If a plurality of IC card slots are provided in the receiving apparatus as described above, it is not necessary to replace the IC card for each broadcaster, but a plurality of IC cards are required.
Since the card is not used for decryption at the same time,
It is necessary to check whether an IC card other than the IC card currently used (current IC card) operates correctly. When a program of a certain broadcaster is pre-purchased, the decryption is actually performed using the IC card of the broadcaster immediately before the reserved program is actually broadcast. In other words, there is a possibility that the program of another trader is being watched until the reserved program is started.
Switching of the C card is not performed. Therefore, when it is determined that the IC card has an abnormality only when the reserved program starts, and if the user cannot immediately cope with the abnormality,
There is a problem that it becomes impossible to view or record the reserved program. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a pay television broadcast receiving apparatus capable of knowing in advance an abnormal state of an IC card other than an active IC card.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a pay television broadcast receiving apparatus for receiving different pay television broadcasts by means of a plurality of IC cards mounted in a plurality of slots. Is a pay television broadcast receiving apparatus, further comprising a verification means for verifying whether or not is normal.

The IC card verification routine is executed by a timer interruption every predetermined time, for example, 30 seconds. For example, if the user has activated the verification function of the IC card by turning on the verification key of the remote controller, the verification means uses the verification information based on the unique information of each IC card, such as the serial number, in this verification routine. Then, it is verified whether an IC card other than the current IC card operates normally. Specifically, such unique information is read from the IC card mounted in each slot, and it is determined whether the unique information has been correctly received or the unique information is correct.

According to the present invention, it is possible to verify in advance whether or not an IC card other than the current IC card can operate normally. Therefore, for example, when a reserved program starts, it cannot be viewed or recorded. Such problems can be eliminated in advance. In other words, if the program of the broadcaster of the IC card whose abnormal state is detected by the verification means is not reserved, such a problem is eliminated,
Further, if the broadcaster replaces the IC card in which the abnormal state is found, it is possible to avoid the above-mentioned unexpected problem thereafter. The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, a set-top box 10 of this embodiment is, for example, connected as an adapter to a current analog television receiver. It should be pointed out in advance that the present invention can be applied to an analog television receiver or a digital television receiver incorporating the component 10 or a component corresponding thereto. The set-top box 10 of this embodiment is, for example, a pay digital television broadcast (for example, by a communication satellite).
"Perfect TV", "J Sky B", "Director T"
V "), and a digital broadcast signal received by an antenna (not shown) is provided to the tuner 12. The tuner 12 receives a desired transponder's broadcast data of a plurality of channels in accordance with a command signal from the CPU 24. The broadcast data selected by the tuner 12 is provided to an input processing circuit 14, where the input data is input to the input processing circuit 14, for example, QPSK.
Alternatively, the signal is demodulated according to a data demodulation method such as 16QAM, and the input processing circuit 14 performs an error correction process. The output of the input processing circuit 14 is a transport stream composed of a plurality of transport packets, and is provided to the descrambler 16. The descrambler 16 descrambles (decrypts) only the transport packet of the channel contracted by the receiver according to the command signal from the CPU 24 and the decryption information.
Then, it is given to a separation circuit or a demultiplexer 18. The demultiplexer or separation circuit 18 extracts video / audio data included in the transport packet and
It is given to the EG decoder 20. The separating circuit 18 further includes program guide information included in the transport packet,
The limited reception information and the mail data are separated, and these information or data are stored in the RAM 2 under the control of the CPU 24.
8 is stored. One program is processed by the MPEG decoder 20, and the user gives a selection signal to the CPU 24 by the remote control transmitter 44 and the remote control receiver 42 in order to select one program from the multiplexed programs. This selection signal is sent from the CPU 24 to the separation circuit 1.
8, the separation circuit 18 converts the video / audio data of the program desired by the user into the MPEG decoder 2
0 can be given. The MPEG decoder 20 normally converts the MPEG decoder IC and its output data into NTSC
And a cascade connection of encoder ICs for converting into a PAL television signal. And PAL
/ NTSC encoder IC, for example,
No. 235 has a copy protection signal addition function proposed by Macrovision. A RAM 22 is connected to the MPEG decoder 20, and the RAM 22 is used as a data buffer for decoding processing or for storing bitmap data for on-screen display. The video / audio data decoded by the MPEG decoder 20 is supplied to an attached television receiver (not shown) as a normal television signal, that is, a video signal (V) and an audio signal (A). . In addition, this set-top box 1
In a television receiver having a built-in 0, the video signal (V) and the audio signal (A) are used for display as they are. The CPU 24 has a ROM 26 for storing a control program and the RAM 2 described above.
8 and the modem 30 and the EEPROM 3
2 are connected. The EEPROM 32 is a nonvolatile memory for storing a viewing history of a pay program, information of a reserved program, or mail data. Light emitting diode (LE
D) 34 is provided, and this LED 34 has several light emitting areas, and is turned on (lit) or turned off (turned off) by the CPU 34. In this embodiment, when an abnormality is found in execution of a verification routine described later, the LED 34
By turning on the light emitting area corresponding to the IC card or the slot, the abnormality of the IC card or the slot is notified to the user. The set-top box 10 includes an IC card connector 36, and the IC card connector 36
Like the remote control receiver 42, it is connected to the CPU 24. A plurality of IC card connectors 36 (3 in the embodiment)
Card slots 38a, 38b, and 38c, and each of the card slots 38a, 38b, and 3c.
8c includes an IC card 4 for different broadcasters.
0a, 40b and 40c are mounted. The IC cards 40a to 40c have terminals such as Vcc, GND, clock, and data lines arranged in an arrangement determined by, for example, ISO7816. Contacts that can make electrical contact with the terminals in such an arrangement are provided in each of the slots 38 a to 38 c of the IC card connector 36. Therefore,
Each slot 38a-38c has an IC card 40a-40c
Is inserted, power is supplied to the IC cards 40a to 40c and the corresponding card slots 38a to 38c
Provides a card insertion signal to the CPU 24. Therefore, the CPU 24 can know which slot of the IC card connector 36 has inserted the IC card of which broadcaster. That is, each of the cards 40a-4
0c is provided with information unique to the card, for example, a serial number. When the cards 40a to 40c are inserted into the card slots 38a to 38c, the cards 40a to 40c
The specific information is sent to the CPU 24 from 40c. The CPU 24 stores such card-specific information in the RAM 28, for example. That is, the CPU 24
Cards 40a-40c are card slots 38a-38c
When the IC card is mounted on the IC card, the unique information of the mounted IC card is written into the RAM 28. Further, a remote control transmitter 44 is provided in association with the set-top box 10, and this remote control transmitter 44 sends a remote control signal (optical signal) to a remote control receiver 42 provided in the set-top box 10. Therefore, remote control receiver 42 gives the remote control signal to CPU 24. Remote control transmitter 44
Has a verification key (not shown) for the user to input whether to activate or deactivate the verification function of the IC card. Therefore, when the user operates (turns on) the verification key of the remote control transmitter 44, the CPU 24 executes a verification routine described later. When the user has not turned on the verification key, the verification routine is not executed. The verification routine shown in FIG. 2 is a timer interrupt routine that is executed at regular intervals, for example, every 30 seconds. In the first step S1 of this verification routine, the CPU 24 operates the verification key ( (Not shown) is turned on. That is, the CPU 24 determines in the first step S1 of the verification routine that the IC card 40a
It is determined whether to execute the verification of .about.40c. If "NO" is determined in this step S1, the user does not desire the card verification, and the process returns. If the user has pressed the verification key, step S1
Is determined to be "YES", the CPU 24
In the next step S2, a variable Slot is set. FIG.
In the case of the embodiment, this variable Slot is set as “3”. This is because the IC card connector 36 has three card slots 38a to 38c. In the next step S3, the CPU 24 determines the count value n of a slot counter (not shown) formed in the RAM 28, for example, in order to designate the first card slot 38a.
Is set to “1”. That is, in this step S3, C
The PU 24 selects the card slot 38a. And
In the next step S4, the CPU 24 determines whether or not the slot of the count value n = 1, that is, the card slot 38a is a slot in which an IC card currently in use is mounted, that is, is a working slot. Specifically, this step S4 is performed by determining whether or not the CPU 24 is currently reproducing decryption information using the IC card 40a. If the IC card installed in the slot specified in step S3 is currently in use, it is obvious that the IC card is currently in use and can be normally operated. No verification operation is performed on the card.
The I card inserted in the card slot specified in step S3
If the C card is not the currently used IC card, a verification process shown in detail in FIG. 3 is executed in step S5. In step S31 in FIG. 3, the CPU 24
It is determined whether or not an IC card is inserted in slot n (specified in step S3). If the IC card is not inserted in step S31, the process returns. If the IC card is inserted in the slot n, in the next step S32, the CPU 24
Requests the IC card mounted in the slot n to transmit data such as unique information such as a serial number. Then, in a step S33 subsequent to the step S32, the CPU 24 determines whether or not the unique information, for example, the serial number has been correctly received from the IC card inserted in the slot n. For example, when the CPU 24 does not receive the unique information data within a certain time after issuing the data transmission request in step S32,
In step S33, "NO" is determined. Step S
If "NO" is determined in the step S33, the next step S
At 34, the CPU 24 stores the abnormal state of the slot n in, for example, an appropriate flag area (not shown) of the RAM 28 and, for example, "cannot reserve xx broadcast because the IC card in slot n has an abnormality. The contact is xxx-xxx-xxxx. Is given to the MPEG decoder 20, and the warning message is displayed on-screen. further,
Further, the CPU 24 turns on one of the LEDs 34,
The user is notified of the abnormal state of the IC card inserted in the card slot n. If “YES” in the step S33, that is, if the unique information (serial number) is correctly received from the IC card, the CPU 24 determines in a next step S35 whether or not the IC card number is correct. More specifically, the determination in step S35 is made by comparing the number of the IC card stored in the RAM 28 when the IC card is mounted first. That is, the card number read at the time of mounting the IC card is compared with the card number received at steps S32 and S33.
In step 35, "YES" is determined. When "NO" is determined in the step S35, the previous step S34 is executed. If “YES” is determined in the step S35, in a step S36,
The CPU 24 stores the normal state of the slot n by resetting the aforementioned flag area of the RAM 28.
At the same time, the on-screen display and the LED 34 are erased. After executing step S31, S34 or S36, the process returns to step S6 of FIG. In step S6, the count value of the slot counter is incremented (n = n + 1), and in step S7, it is determined whether the count value n has become larger than the variable Slot. That is, in step S7, IC
All card slots 38a-3 of card connector 36
It is determined whether the verification operation has been completed for 8c.
Therefore, if "YES" is determined in the step S7, the card verification routine of FIG. 2 ends. If "NO" is determined in the step S7, the process returns to the previous step S4 to execute the same processing again.
In the above-described embodiment, it is determined in step S1 in FIG. 2 whether the user desires card verification. Therefore, if the user does not wish, the IC card is not verified, and in this case, the warning display as in step S34 (FIG. 3) is not performed. Unnecessary information (on-screen display of warning text) is not displayed. However, this step S1 (FIG. 2)
May be omitted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a card verification routine in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Set-top box 20 ... MPEG decoder 24 ... CPU 28 ... RAM 34 ... LED 36 ... IC card connector 38a, 38b, 38c ... Card slot 40a, 40b, 40c ... IC card 44 ... Remote control transmitter

Claims (3)

[Claims] In a pay television broadcast receiving apparatus for receiving different pay television broadcasts by a plurality of IC cards mounted in a plurality of slots, verification for verifying whether or not other IC cards other than an active IC card are normal. A pay television broadcast receiving apparatus, further comprising means. 2. The pay television broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said verification means verifies whether the IC card is normal based on the unique information of the IC card. 3. The pay television broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a notifying means for notifying an abnormal state when an abnormality is detected by said verification means.