JPS58223981A - Bidirectional catv system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain a function of inhibition of viewing of a specific channel of a CATV system with a low cost, by providing a function not transmitting video information of the specific channel according to a command of a center CPU to a terminal controller. CONSTITUTION:The center CPU 110 generates toll channel information and specific channel viewing inhibiting information and reads out the information stored in a terminal controller 510. Further, the terminal controller 510 stores the toll channel information and the specific channel viewing inhibiting information and prevents the video information of the specific channel from being transmitted on a receiver 530 when the receiving channel request signal from a key pad 520 is coincident with the specific channel corresponding to the specific channel viewing inhibiting information stored.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a system for prohibiting viewing of specific channels in an ATV system.
The practical use of ATV systems is becoming more popular, and along with this, the functions associated with the systems are also becoming more diverse.Among them, it is possible to make it impossible to view certain channels. Several viewing prohibition methods have been proposed in the past, including the following methods. That is,
■Scramble method - A method in which the image sent from the center is scrambled and sent, and on terminals that have not been designated as prohibited from viewing, the image is descrambled to restore the normal image. ■Center control method ~ When a request to view a program is generated from a terminal, the center is notified, and the second center determines whether or not it is prohibited, and the terminal is notified. Method for outputting video to a receiver 0 ■ Terminal control method A method in which a prohibited channel unique to the terminal is set when one terminal is not installed.

However, in the case of (2) with these methods, it is necessary to add scrambling and descrambling devices to the center side and the terminal side, which leads to an increase in cost. In the case of ■, this is due to an increase in the number of terminals.

With the increase in response time or faster communication speed1
There are drawbacks such as increased cost of communication equipment, problems with transmission errors, and in case (2), prohibited channels cannot be changed online.

The invention eliminates these drawbacks and provides 0ATV at low cost.
This invention provides a new system that provides a function of prohibiting viewing of a specific channel of the system.A case where the present invention is applied to a hotel will be described below as an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 shows the system configuration. Broadcasting center 100 and terminal devices 600 in each guest room are connected via transmission path 400 . Broadcasting center 10o and hotel center 200 are model 4
'A112 and. 7, 75.4□L□, -
1: It takes work. Further, the broadcasting center 1oO and the front terminal 300 are connected via a cable 16 and a cable 22. The broadcasting center 1oO includes a center computer system (hereinafter abbreviated as center CPU) 110. Video and audio information source group 120. Video/audio switching device 13o, head end 14o, modem 111. and modem 112
It is composed of Further, a signal from an antenna 160 installed outside the hotel for receiving commercial television broadcasting is input to the head end 140 via the cable 24.

Signals from external information sources 160 are also input to headend 140 via cable 26 . The center CPU 110 includes a computer, a display device, a magnetic disk device, a floppy disk device, a magnetic tape device, a line printer device, a card reader device, and the like.

The source group 120 includes independent broadcasting studio equipment 121° video tape recorder 122. Video disc player 123
It is composed of a single character figure generator 124 and the like. Source group 120. The video/audio switching device 130 is
110, Kufr 11. Controlled via cable 12. Various video and audio signals from the source group 120 are input to the video and audio switching device 130 via the cable 21, and the video and audio signals selected by the video and audio switching device 130 are input to the video and audio switching device 130 via the cable 21.
3 to the headend 140. still,
To perform bidirectional data transmission between center CPU 110 and terminal device 600.

The center CPU 11o and the computer are connected via a modem 111 and a cable 13.

The head end 140 has the function of modulating various input video and audio signals, and the function of modulating the modulated video and audio signals and the center CPU 1.
10, a function to output the mixed video/audio/data signal to the transmission path 400, and a modulated data signal sent from the terminal device 600 via the transmission path 400. Cable 13. It has a function of outputting to the center CPU 11o via the modem 111.

Hotel center 20'Oij: Consists of host computer system 210 and modem 112.

Host computer system 210 includes a computer,
The front terminal 3oO is composed of a display device, a magnetic disk device, a floppy disk device, a magnetic tape device, a line printer device, a card reader device, etc. The front terminal 3oO is for broadcasting communications from the front desk to each guest room. 0 front keyboard 310 composed of a front keyboard 310 that transmits and receives data to and from the center CPU 110 and a broadcasting source 320;
is connected to the center CPU 11o via a cable 16. The output signal from the broadcast source 320 is input to the video/audio switching device 130 via the cable 22.
The transmission line 4oo includes a bidirectional trunk amplifier 410. Bidirectional branch amplifier 420. Bidirectional duplexer 430. Series unit 44
0 and a cable 41.

The terminal device 500 includes a terminal control device 61o, a keypad 620 for selecting a channel, and a TV receiver 5.
It consists of 30 pieces. The terminal control device 610 is a center C
Function for transmitting and receiving data with PU110, transmission line 400
The video and audio signals sent via the keypad 52
It has a function of converting the frequency using a channel selection signal from 0 and outputting it to the television receiver 630. The terminal control device 610 and the keypad 620 are connected by a cable 61. In addition, the terminal control device 610 and the television receiver 6
30 is connected by a cable 62.

Furthermore, a block diagram of the terminal control device 51Q is shown in FIG. The terminal control device 610 includes a distributor 511°, an electronic tuner 612. Modem 613. Terminal control unit 614, address setting switch 516. A power relay 616 and a power sensor 517 are configured, and the terminal control unit 514 controls communication with the center CPU 110, switches the channel of the television receiver 63o by controlling the electronic tuner 612, and controls the power relay V-516171JII. 2. Wow, 7 off management, key human power detection from keypad 620.

Display output to the LED display section 621 of the keypad 620 is performed.

A plan view of the keypad 520 of the terminal device is shown in FIG. 2, and 621 is an LED for displaying channel information corresponding to the pressed key.

522 is a request key for the pay channel group, and 623 is a request key for the hotel channel group.

524 is a request key for the TV retransmission channel group;
626 is a response key for viewing confirmation when requesting a pay channel, 526 is a channel request key for system operation explanation, and 627 is a power switch.

Note that the receiver, keypad, and terminal control device may be integrated or may be separate devices.

The operation will be explained below.

First, in order to perform bidirectional data transmission between the center CPTJ 110 and the terminal device 600, a data channel 1 is provided separately from the video channel, and the downlink data signal from the center CPU 11o is transmitted to the modem 111.
After being modulated by the head end 140, it is mixed with other video channel signals as the data channel signal.

The signal is transmitted to the terminal device 600 via the transmission path 400, and the terminal control device 610 demodulates the signal of the data channel and processes it as downlink data from the center CPU 110.

Next, the uplink data signal from the terminal device 600 is modulated by the terminal control device 510, placed on the data channel, and passed through the transmission path 400.

The data channel signal, which is transmitted to the head end 140 and separated from other channel signals at the head end, is transmitted to the modem 111, and after being demodulated by the modem,
Note that there are multiple 0-order transmission methods that enable bidirectional data transmission in one transmission channel by using the carrier frequency of the NIRI data and downlink data as the side frequency. In order to enable data transmission with terminals, a polling method using multi-drop and a unique number (address) are assigned to each terminal device, and command data with the address added from the center CPU 110 is shown in FIG. The terminal control unit 614 of each terminal device 500 receives the bit serial downlink data from the center CPU 11o, and transmits all the data again in the fourth bit serial format.
The assembled surface is stored in the -H memory in the format shown in the figure.

Next, the terminal control unit 614 compares the address part of the held data with its own address read from the address setting switch 616, and only if they match, determines that the data from the center is valid and commands the current command. In addition to processing the terminal according to the
11o from the terminal device 600 in the format shown in FIG. 4 in a bit serial format. An example of the command from the center is shown in FIG. Explain the operation. first.

In advance, the center GPU 110 notifies all terminal devices 500 of information for each advantageous channel, such as the channel number and pay channel classification (G channel, R channel), along with the 2 pay channel notification command, and the terminal control device At 610, the sent pay channel information is stored in the memory of the terminal control device 510.

In addition, G channel here means that if you watch any one of the paid channels belonging to the G channel group, you will be charged a certain amount, and after that, you will not be charged even if you watch any channel in the G channel group. This is a paid channel, and the price differs for each channel compared to the R channel.

Each channel is independent, and you will be charged a fee whenever that channel is viewed.

After that, if the minor guest stays in the relevant hotel room,
21 when registering for check-in at the hotel front desk.
1 guest room number from the host computer system 210.
The check-in information of the guest, including information on minor guests, etc., is sent to the center C via the modem 112 and cable 14.
The information is transmitted to the PUI 10, and the center CPU 11o determines that the check-in is for a minor guest based on the check-in information, and sends the data shown in FIG. 4 to the corresponding guest room terminal at the timing of the first polling. In the format, set the channel number that is broadcasting programs (adult movies, etc.) that are prohibited to minors in the channel data.

A prohibited channel notification command is sent to the terminal device 600. In this embodiment, the program prohibited for young people is a specific channel among the R channels (pay channels) that have been previously notified to the terminal.

The terminal control device 610 stores the sent viewing prohibited channel information in a memory separate from the memory holding the G channel and R channel information of the terminal control device 610.

After that, when the viewer presses the power switch 627 on the keypad 620, the signal is transmitted to the terminal control section 614, and the power relay 616 is turned "ON" under control from the terminal control section 614, and the television receiver 630 is turned on. At the same time as the power is turned on, the electronic tuner 612 outputs video of a specific channel to the television receiver 630 under control from the terminal control unit 614. In addition, at this time, the power sensor 61
7, the TV power-on status can always be detected. Furthermore, since the electronic tuner 612 is directly controlled by the terminal control section 614, information on the channel being viewed can also be held in the terminal control section 614.

Subsequently, when the viewer requests a pay channel by pressing one of the pay channel keys 622 on the keypad 620, the signal is transmitted to the terminal control unit 614, and the terminal control unit 514 displays the currently requested pay channel. Before determining whether the channel is set to the G channel or the R channel, it is first determined whether the channel is a prohibited channel, and if the channel is prohibited, the electronic tuner 612 is controlled and the television receiver is 530, the viewer is immediately notified that the requested channel cannot be viewed, and the viewer then operates the keypad 620 again to request another channel.

At this time, the request information is not notified to the center CPU 110, and the processing is completed within the terminal device 500. Further, the rejected telop is created by the video source group 120 in the broadcasting center 100, and is created by the video and audio switching device 130. This is a video and audio signal that is constantly sent to the terminal device 600 via the head end 140.

A common method of use is when broadcasting paid programs such as adult movies, the program is registered as a prohibited channel in the center CPU table in advance, and guests are registered for check-in at the hotel reception. At the time of the event, if you are a minor customer, please enter [Information of minor 4 (i7c)
If you input it to PU.

Adult movies will automatically not be served in the guest rooms of minors.

As described above, the present invention has two features: when a request occurs on each terminal, the terminal side immediately determines whether a channel is prohibited and can take appropriate action, and also prohibits viewing of a specific channel. Since no special circuit is required for this purpose, high reliability and low cost of the system can be achieved. Furthermore, by operation at the center.

It is possible to set/cancel any prohibited channel on any terminal online, which has the effect of making it possible to flexibly handle system operation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a two-way 0 ATV system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a keypad of a terminal device, FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram of a terminal control device in FIG. 1, and FIG. The figure shows a communication data format between the center control device and the terminal device, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of commands from the center control device. 100...Broadcast center, 110...Center CPU. 400...Transmission path +60o...Terminal device+610...Terminal control device, 52o...
...Key Bad. 630...TV receiver. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person 1 Hosho 58-223981 (5) Figure 4/l) Center -, End i (6 Banoton/24 sentences%)
Rice-Zen 7 (4)\Itono Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A CATV network is formed from a center computer system, a terminal device having a terminal control device, a receiver, and a keypad, and a transmission path connecting the center computer system and the terminal control device. The keypad has a function of generating paid channel information and specific channel viewing prohibition information, and a function of reading out information stored in the memory of the terminal control device, and the keypad has a function of generating a reception channel request signal, The device has a function of storing the pay channel information and the specific channel viewing prohibition information, and when the received channel request signal matches a specific channel corresponding to the memorized specific channel viewing prohibition information, the device transmits the function to the receiver. A two-way CATV system characterized by having a function of not transmitting video information of the specific channel.