JPH11355349A - Broadcasting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the burden of a transmission system and to decrease the power consumption of a receiving device by adding a flag showing the normal service and also the presence or absence of a mail to a transport stream, transmitting the transport stream, decoding the received transport stream and detecting the flag that is included in the transport stream and that shows the presence or absence of a mail. SOLUTION: When the information is multiplexed by an information multiplexing device 1, a mail flag showing the presence or absence of a mail is added to the individual information(EMM) such as the key individual information. A receiving terminal receives the EMM when the power supply of a set top box(STB) serving as a receiver is turned on. When the mail flag shows the presence of a mail, an LED of the STB is turned on and a sound is generated by the commands of a microcomputer 10. The microcomputer 10 controls a modem 13 to request a transmission center to transmit the mail via a public telephone circuit 14. Then the mail that is transmitted in a transport stream is received.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a broadcasting system, and more particularly to a broadcasting system which improves the transmission / reception function of a mail in a broadcasting system which distributes a mail to an individual together with a normal service using a transport stream. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a plurality of broadcasting satellites have been launched,
As a result, digital broadcasting using satellite waves has been started by a plurality of broadcasters. In order to receive such a digital broadcast service, a set serving as a receiving device is a decoder for decoding a compressed signal of the received broadcast and converting it into a signal that can be displayed on a display device such as a CRT.・ Top box (hereafter,
STB).

[0003] A mail service for transmitting an electronic mail addressed to an individual on a radio wave using digital broadcasting as described above has also been started. This e-mail includes contact information from a transmission center, e-mail on the Internet, and the like.

[0004] However, at present, the above-mentioned mail is
The information is multiplexed on the transport stream as one of the personal information, and is broadcast-transmitted from the transmission center, and is repeatedly transmitted irregularly over a certain period of time. Therefore, if the receiving device does not receive the transmitted stream, the receiving device may fail to receive the mail. It should be noted that once the mail is received, the receiving side is devised so that even if the same mail is received thereafter, it is not determined to be a new mail.

[0005] The number of users of the above-mentioned services is expected to increase in the future. However, when the number of e-mails increases, the burden on the transmission center increases, and the system needs to be enlarged or improved. It is conceivable that the deterioration in quality and the increase in cost will rebound to users.

[0006]

The conventional broadcasting system is configured as described above. As the demand for a service for transmitting mail together with program information increases, the load on the system on the transmission center side increases. There is a problem that becomes. Further, the current mail transmission mechanism has a problem that the power consumption of the receiving device cannot be reduced. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and can provide a receiving apparatus capable of reducing a load on a transmitting side system due to mail transmission and realizing low power consumption. The purpose is to provide a system.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a broadcasting system which transmits a transport stream including mail information and receives the mail information. A transmitting device that adds a flag indicating presence / absence of mail and transmits the same, receives and decodes the transport stream, detects the flag indicating presence / absence of the mail included in the transport stream, and displays the detection result. And a receiving device.

[0008] A broadcast system according to a second aspect of the present invention is the broadcast system according to the first aspect,
The receiving device is activated at a predetermined time during the activation standby mode, and detects a flag indicating the presence or absence of the mail included in the transport stream at the time of the activation.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a broadcast system according to the first aspect, wherein:
When the flag indicating the presence or absence of the mail is present, the receiving device requests the transmitting device to transfer the mail content itself.

[0010] The broadcast system according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the broadcast system according to the third aspect,
The transmitting device, after receiving the transfer request of the mail content itself from the receiving device and sending out the mail content itself,
The flag indicating presence / absence of the mail is changed from existence to absence.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the broadcasting system according to the third aspect, the upper receiving device sends the mail content itself to the transmitting device after receiving the mail content itself from the transmitting device. Then, a notification signal indicating completion of reception of the mail content itself is transmitted, and the transmitting device receives the notification signal and changes the flag indicating presence / absence of the mail from presence to absence.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the broadcasting system according to the first aspect, wherein:
The transmitting device transmits the flag indicating the presence or absence of the mail to the receiving device when the receiving device connects to transmit the billing information to the transmitting device using a public telephone line. It is something that was taken.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the broadcasting system according to the sixth aspect,
When the receiving device receives the flag indicating the presence or absence of the mail, the receiving device requests the transmitting device to transfer the mail content itself, and the mail content itself multiplexed in the transport stream. Is to be received.

The broadcast system according to claim 8 of the present invention is the broadcast system according to claim 6, wherein
When the receiving device receives the flag indicating the presence or absence of the mail, the receiving device requests the transmitting device to transfer the mail content itself, and receives the mail content itself using a public telephone line. It is to be done.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of a broadcasting system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Embodiment 1 FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a broadcasting system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes audio and video information of a plurality of programs (A channel, B channel,... Channel), and these programs. An information multiplexing device that multiplexes information and other information into a transport stream, 2 is a modulator that modulates the transport stream, and 3 is an uplink device that transmits the modulated transport stream as a broadcast signal. The transmitting device 4 is a broadcasting satellite for relaying a signal output from the uplink / transmitting device 3, and the receiving device 5 receives a plurality of broadcast signals propagating in the air and broadcasts a transport stream including a desired channel. A tuner for selecting a signal; 6 a demodulator for demodulating a broadcast signal of the program selected by the tuner 5; Is a transport stream decoder for decoding a transport stream of a demodulated broadcast signal, 8 is an audio / video decoder for decoding audio / video signals extracted from the decoded transport stream, and 9 is a decoded audio / video. It is a display device such as a CRT for displaying a video signal. Reference numeral 10 denotes a microcomputer for controlling the operations of the tuners 5, demodulators 6, transport stream decoders 7, audio / video decoders 8, and display devices 9 via a bus 11, and reference numeral 12 denotes when a pay program is viewed. An IC card (or smart card) 13 for storing user billing information, personal information, and the like imposed on the user, etc., 13 transmits and receives various information to and from the transmitting device via a public telephone network 14. It is a modem.

The operation will be described below. In addition, here, about the transmission / reception operation | movement of a normal audio / video signal,
Since it is not directly related to the present application and is the same as a well-known one, a description thereof will be omitted. FIG.
Is a diagram showing the form of a transport stream. When multiplexing is performed by the information multiplexing apparatus 1, a 1-bit flag (mail flag) indicating the presence / absence of mail is set to personal information such as individual key information (EMM (Entitlement). Management Messag
e) packet).

The receiving terminal activates the receiving terminal only when it is necessary to realize power saving in the standby mode, and otherwise cuts off the main power supply or stops the clock supply. In this case, in order to perform a process of receiving a PCR (Program Clock Reference) indicating a broadcast time for each program for time adjustment and a process of receiving information such as an EMM, it is considered that the It starts at a given time, and returns to the standby mode again after the above processing is completed. At the time of the start or at the time of turning on the power of the set top box which is the receiver,
The transport stream having the mail flag as described above is received. The processing flow is as shown in FIG.
In step S30, the EMM is received, and in step S3
In step 1, the mail flag is checked, and if the mail flag indicates that there is no mail, the process proceeds to step S35.
The state of the set top box will be determined.

If the mail flag indicates that mail is present in step S31, the flow advances to step S32 to notify the user of the presence of mail. Specifically, in accordance with a command from the microcomputer 10, lighting of an LED provided in the set top box, display on a display device such as a liquid crystal, generation of sound, and the like are performed.

In step S33, the microcomputer 10 controls the modem 13 to make a request to send mail to the transmission center via the public telephone network 14, and in step S34 the transport The mail received in the stream is received. Note that a mail transmission request from the set top box to the transmission center is made automatically or by a viewer issuing a command using a remote controller or the like.

After receiving the e-mail, set top
The current state of the box is checked, and if the power is off (standby state), the process proceeds to step S36 to turn off the power of unnecessary blocks or stop the clock supply, and returns to the standby state again. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S35 that the set-top box is in the power-on state, only a series of processes related to the mail reception is completed, and the process returns to the normal processing state.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a mail flag indicating the presence or absence of mail is added to a service (program) on the transmitting side to transmit a transport stream, and the receiving terminal sets the mail flag. When a message is detected, the sender of the mail body is requested to be sent to the sender. And the burden on the transmitting system can be reduced.

Embodiment 2 FIG. Hereinafter, a broadcasting system according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the first embodiment, the receiving side receives the mail flag included in the transport stream to detect the presence or absence of the mail. In the second embodiment,
The difference is that the mail flag is detected using the public telephone line network.

That is, although the configuration is exactly the same as that shown in FIG. 1, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4, in step S40, the charging information stored in the IC card 12 on the receiving side is periodically transmitted. In order to notify the transmission center, the transmission processing of the billing information and the like is performed via the public telephone line network 14 using the modem 13. At this communication, a mail flag is transmitted from the transmission center side to the receiving terminal side. Can be Then, in step S41, the presence or absence of a mail is determined from the mail flag. If the mail flag indicates that there is no mail, the process is terminated, that is, the communication line between the transmission center and the receiving terminal is turned off. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S41 that there is an e-mail, the process proceeds to step S42, and the setting and the setting are performed according to the instruction of the microcomputer 10 as in the first embodiment.
The user is notified of the presence of a mail by turning on an LED provided in the top box or generating a sound.

Then, the process proceeds to a step S43, wherein the set
Determine the status of the top box. Set here
When the top box is powered off (standby),
Proceeding to step S44, the next time the power is turned on (a state in which the transport stream in which the mail body is multiplexed can be received), the modem 13 is operated to reach the transmission center via the public telephone network 14. A processing reservation or the like is performed so that a mail transmission request is made. On the other hand, when the set-top box is in the power-on state in step S43, the modem 13 is controlled automatically or in accordance with a command from a viewer's remote controller to send mail from the center via the public telephone network 14. A request for transmission is made, and the process proceeds to step S46 to receive the mail transmitted in the transport stream.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a mail flag is received when the transmission center is informed of the billing information and the like, and when the mail is present, the transmission center is instructed to transmit the mail. I requested it,
Even if the mail body has already been received on the receiving side as in the related art, it is not transmitted many times, and the load on the system on the transmitting side can be reduced. In this case, the frequency of checking for the presence / absence of mail is slightly lower than that in the first embodiment, but the data transmitted from the transmission center side is smaller and the system load on the center side is further reduced. Can be expected.

In the second embodiment, only the mail flag is received by using the public telephone network 14 and the mail itself is received in the transport stream. It is also possible to receive using the network 14.

[0027]

As described above, according to the broadcasting system of the present invention, the transmitting side adds the mail flag indicating the presence or absence of mail to the service (program), transmits the transport stream, and When the above-mentioned mail flag is detected, the sending of the mail body is requested from the sending side when the above-mentioned mail flag is detected. Is no longer transmitted, and the burden on the system on the transmitting side can be reduced.

Further, when the transmission center is notified of the billing information or the like at regular intervals, a mail flag is received, and if there is a mail, the transmission center is requested to transmit the mail. In addition to the fact that the mail itself has already been received at the receiving side, it will not be sent many times, and because the data sent from the sending center side will be less, the center The effect is that the burden on the system can be expected to be further reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a broadcast system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transport stream input to a transport decoder unit in the broadcast system according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a processing flow for describing an operation of the broadcast system according to the first embodiment of the present invention when receiving a mail.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a process flow for describing an operation of the broadcast system according to the second embodiment of the present invention when receiving a mail.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information multiplexing apparatus 2 Modulator 3 Uplink / transmission apparatus 4 Broadcasting satellite 5 Tuner 6 Demodulator 7 Transport stream decoder 8 Audio / video decoder 9 Display 10 Microcomputer 11 Bus 12 IC card 13 Modem 14 Public telephone network

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A broadcasting system for transmitting a transport stream including mail information and receiving the same, comprising: a transmitting apparatus for adding a flag indicating presence / absence of mail to the transport stream together with a normal service; A broadcasting system, comprising: a receiving device that receives the transport stream, decodes the same, detects a flag indicating the presence / absence of the mail included in the transport stream, and displays a result of the detection. 2. The broadcasting system according to claim 1, wherein the receiving device is activated for a predetermined time during the activation standby mode, and detects a flag indicating the presence or absence of the mail included in the transport stream at the time of the activation. A broadcasting system characterized by: 3. The broadcast system according to claim 1, wherein the receiving device requests the transmitting device to transfer the mail content itself when the flag indicating presence / absence of the mail is present. system. 4. The broadcasting system according to claim 3, wherein the transmitting device receives the transfer request for the mail content itself from the receiving device and sends the mail content itself.
A broadcasting system characterized in that the flag indicating presence / absence of the mail is changed from presence to absence. 5. The broadcasting system according to claim 3, wherein the upper receiving device indicates completion of reception of the mail content itself to the transmitting device after receiving the mail content itself from the transmitting device. A broadcasting system, comprising: transmitting a notification signal; and receiving the notification signal, changing the flag indicating presence / absence of the mail from presence to absence. 6. The broadcasting system according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting device connects the flag indicating presence / absence of the mail so that the receiving device transmits billing information to the transmitting device using a public telephone line. A broadcast system for transmitting to the receiving device when performing. 7. The broadcasting system according to claim 6, wherein the receiving device requests the transmitting device to transfer the mail content itself when the receiving device receives the flag indicating the presence or absence of the mail. A broadcast system receiving the mail content itself multiplexed in the transport stream. 8. The broadcasting system according to claim 6, wherein the receiving device requests the transmitting device to transfer the mail content itself when the receiving device receives the flag indicating the presence / absence of the mail. A broadcast system for receiving the mail itself using a public telephone line.