JPS59185489A - Bidirectional catv device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To execute a release and a recovery from both center side and terminal side by providing a function for releasing and recovering the viewing inhibition of a specified channel, in a device of a specified channel viewing inhibiting system. CONSTITUTION:When executing a check-in registration in a hotel, minor guest information and a key word designated by an adult guest are added and registered in a host computer system 210. When said check-in information is transmitted to a center CPU110, it is sent out to a guest room terminal concerned 500, and stored in a terminal control device 510. Thereafter, when a viewer requests a charged channel, a terminal control part of the terminal equipment 500 decides preferentially whether said channel is an inhibited channel or not, and if it is an inhibited channel, it is informed to the guest room terminal equipment 500. When the viewer registered in the host computer system 210 desires said channel, the viewing inhibition can be released by inputting a key word by operating a key of a key pat 520.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a two-way CATV apparatus that employs a system for inhibiting viewing of specific channels.

Conventional configurations and their problems In recent years, practical use of CATV/stems has been gaining momentum mainly in the United States, and along with this, the functions associated with NOSdems have also become more diverse. Among them, how many viewing prohibition methods have been proposed to prevent viewing of specific channels, and some of them are as follows: ■ Scramble method - Image sent from the center This method scrambles the image and sends it to a terminal that has not been designated as prohibited for viewing (DL, Tescramble) to restore the normal image. ■Center control method When a quest occurs from one terminal, the center The center determines whether the channel is prohibited and notifies the terminal, and if the channel is not prohibited, the terminal outputs the video of the requested channel to the receiver.■Terminal control method Not installed at all. Sometimes, a method of setting prohibited channels specific to that terminal.

However, with these methods, in the case of ■, it is necessary to add scrambling and descrambling equipment on the center side and the terminal side, which leads to cost amplification, and in the case of As time increases or communication speed increases, the cost of communication equipment increases.
In the case of (2), where a transmission error problem occurs, there is a drawback that prohibited channels cannot be changed online.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks, provides a low-cost, two-way CATV device with a new function of prohibiting viewing of specific channels.

Composition of the Invention The present invention connects a terminal control device, a TV/TV receiver, a terminal device equipped with a keypad, a center computer system, etc. to form a CATV network, and the computer system transmits information for prohibiting viewing of specific channels. It has a function of generating information and a function of reading information stored in the terminal control device, and has a function of storing and operating the channel request signal generated by the keypad and the signal for prohibiting viewing and canceling the prohibition of viewing of a specific channel in the terminal control device. When a channel request is made from the keypad (matching i and a specific channel,
A function that checks for discrepancies and, when a match is found, cancels and restores the ban on viewing a specific channel, making it possible to cancel or restore the ban on viewing a specific channel from either the center side or the terminal side. It is.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS First, an already proposed two-way CATV device, which is the premise of the present invention, will be explained, and its problems will be explained, and then embodiments of the present invention will be explained.

As an embodiment of the present invention, a case where the present invention is applied to a hotel will be described below. Fig. 1 shows the system configuration. The broadcasting center 100 and the terminal devices 500 in each guest room are connected to the transmission line 400.
are connected through. Broadcasting center 100 and hotel center 200 are connected via modem 112 and cable 14. Furthermore, the broadcast center 100 and the front terminal 300 are connected via a cable 15 and a cable 22. The broadcasting center 100 includes a center computer system (hereinafter abbreviated as center CPU) 110. Video and audio information source group 120. Video and audio switching device 13o
, head end 140. Modem 111. and modem 1
It is made up of 12 parts. In addition, the signal from the antenna 150 that receives commercial television broadcasts installed outside the hotel is
It is input to headend 140 via cable 24 .

Signals from data source 160 are input to headend 140 via cable 25 . Center CPU11. O is composed of a computer, a display device, a magnetic disk device, a floppy disk device, a magnetic tape device, a line printer device, a card league device, etc.

The source group 120 includes independent broadcasting studio equipment 121° video tape recorder 122. Video disc player 123
It is composed of a two-character figure generator 124 and the like. The source group 12o and the video/audio switching device 130 are connected to the center CPU
110, cable 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 according to the control signal from the center CRU 110 are input to the video and audio switching device 130 via the cable 21.
3 to the headend 140. Also,
In order to perform bidirectional data transmission between the center CPU 110 and the terminal device 500, the center CPU 110 and the head end M140 (d) are connected via a modem 111 and a cable 13.The head end 140 receives various input video and audio signals. , a function to mix this modulated video/audio signal with a modulated data signal from the center CRU 110 , a function to output this mixed video/audio/data signal to the transmission line 400 , and a function to output the mixed video/audio/data signal from the terminal device 500 . The modulated data signal sent via the transmission line 400 is sent to the center CPU 11 via the cable 13 and the modem 111.
It has functions such as outputting to 0.

Hotel center 2o○ is host computer system 21
0 and modem 112.

Host computer system 210 includes a computer,
It consists of a display device, magnetic disk device, floppy disk device, magnetic tape device, line printer device, card league device, etc.

Front terminal 3oO (l-j:, This is a terminal that is used for communication broadcasts from the front desk to each guest room, etc., and is connected to the center CPU11.
The front keyboard 310 and the broadcasting source 320 are configured to transmit and receive data to and from the computer.

The front keyboard 310 is connected to the center CPU 110 via the cable 15. The output signal from the broadcast source 320 is input to the video/audio switching device 130 via the cable 22.

The transmission line 400 includes a bidirectional trunk amplifier 410, a bidirectional branch amplifier 42o, a bidirectional duplexer 43o, and a series unit) 4.
40 and a cable 41.

The terminal device 500 includes a terminal control device 510. Keypad 520 for selecting channels and television receiver 6
It consists of 30 pieces. The terminal control device 510 is a center C
Function for transmitting and receiving data with pU 110, 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 starting from 0 and outputting it to the television receiver 530. The terminal control device 510 and the keypad 620 are connected by a cable 61. Still, the terminal control device 510 and the television receiver 5
30 is connected by a cable 52.

Furthermore, a block diagram of the terminal control device 510 is shown in FIG. Terminal control device 510, distributor 511, electronic tuner 512. Modem 513. Terminal control unit 514, address setting switch 515. Consisting of a power relay 516 and a power sensor 517, the terminal control unit 514 performs communication control with the center CPU 110, channel switching of the television receiver 530 by control of the electronic tuner 512, and channel switching of the television receiver 530 by control of the switch relay 516. Two-on/off management, key force detection from the keypad 520, and display output to the LED display section 521 of the keypad 520 are performed.

Further, the plan view of the keypad 520 of the terminal device is as shown in FIG. 5, where 521 is an LED for displaying channel information corresponding to the pressed key, 622 is a request key for a pay channel group, and 523 is a hotel channel. group request key, 524 is a TV retransmission channel group request key, 525 is a response key for confirmation of viewing when requesting a channel for participation, 626 is a channel request key for system operation explanation, 527 is a power switch, 5
28 is a release key for prohibiting viewing of a specific channel.

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

The operation will be explained below. Moat, center CpU11
0 and the terminal device 500, in order to perform bidirectional data transmission, one data channel is provided in addition to the video channel, and the lower data signal from the center CPU 110 is modulated by the modem 111, and then At the head end 140, the data channel signal is mixed with other video channel signals, transmitted through the transmission path 400 to the terminal device 600, and transmitted to the terminal control device 51.
0, the signal of the data channel is demodulated and processed as downstream data from the center CPU 110;
.

Next, the two data signals (d) from the terminal device 500 are modulated by the terminal control device 510 and placed on the data channel, and transmitted to the head end 1 via the transmission path 400.
40 and separated from other channel information at the head end, the data channel signal is transmitted to modem 1
After being demodulated by the modem, the center CPU1
Sent to 10.

Note that by setting the carrier frequencies of upper and lower data to different layer wave numbers, bidirectional data transmission is possible with one transmission channel.

Next, as a transmission method, in order to enable data transmission with multiple terminals, a multi-drop boxing method is used. A unique number (address) is assigned to each terminal device, and the address is sent from the center CPU 110. The added command data is sequentially sent to Pinoton Real in the format shown in FIG.
The bit serial downstream data from the center CPU 110 is received, all data is reassembled into the format shown in FIG. 3, and temporarily held in the memory.

Next, the terminal control unit 514 compares the address part of the held data with its own address read from the address setting switch 515, and only if they match, determines that the data from the center is valid and uses the current command. In addition to performing the appropriate terminal processing, the center CPU1.
10, the uplink data from the terminal device 5.00 is the third
Transmit bit serially in the format shown in the figure. An example of commands from the center is shown in FIG.

The operation method of prohibiting viewing of a specific channel in the conventional configuration shown in FIG. 1 will be described below. First, the operation of prohibiting viewing of a specific channel in the new system will be explained. In advance, the center CPU 110 sends a pay channel notification command to all terminal devices 500 along with a channel number and pay channel classification (
The terminal control device 510 stores the sent advantageous channel information in the memory of the terminal control device 510.

Note that G channel and d: are paid channels that are charged a certain amount if each advantageous channel belonging to the G channel group is viewed, and are not included in the G channel group. Each channel has a different price, each is independent, and you are always charged a fee when that channel is viewed.

If a minor guest subsequently stays in the relevant hotel room,
When registering for check-in at the hotel front desk,
It is registered in the host computer system 210 with the addition of information "Minor Customer".

Accordingly, the guest's check-in information including the guest room number, minor guest information, etc. is sent from the host computer system 210 to the center Cp. U11. Error transmitted to O, center CPU110
Then, based on the check-in information, it is determined that it is a minor guest check-in, and at the next polling timing, the channel data prohibits minors in the data format shown in Figure 3 for the corresponding guest room terminal. A prohibited channel notification command is sent to the terminal device 500 by setting the channel number on which the program (adult movie, etc.) is being broadcast. In this embodiment, the program prohibited for minors is a specific channel among the R channels (paid channels) that have been previously notified to the terminal.

The terminal control device 510 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 510.

After that, when the viewer presses the power switch 527 of the keypad 520, the signal is transmitted to the terminal control section 514, and under the control of the terminal control section 514, the power relay 516 becomes "○N", and the television receiver 530 At the same time as the power is turned on, the electronic tuner 512 outputs video of a specific channel to the television receiver 530 under control from the terminal control section 514. Note that at this time, the power sensor 51
7, the TV power-on status is always detected. Furthermore, since the electronic tuner 512 is directly controlled by the terminal control section 514, information on the channel being viewed can also be held in the terminal control section 514.

Subsequently, when the viewer requests a pay channel by pressing one of the pay channel keys 522 on the keypad 520, the signal is transmitted to the terminal control section 514, and the terminal 21i1J's autopsy 514 requests the pay channel that has just been requested. The channel is set to G channel, but
Before determining whether the R channel is set,
It is determined whether the channel is a prohibited channel with priority, and if it is a prohibited channel, the electronic tuner 512 is controlled to switch the television receiver 630 to the rejected telop channel instead of the requested channel, and to the viewer, The viewer is immediately notified that the pay channel just requested cannot be viewed, and the viewer then operates the keypad 620 again to request another channel.

At this time, the center CPU 110 is notified of the requested information, and the processing is completed within the terminal device 500. ! ,Ta,
The rejected telop is a video/audio signal that is created by the video source group 120 in the broadcasting center 100 and is constantly sent to the terminal device 500 via the video/audio switching device 130 and the head end 140.

A common method of use is when broadcasting a program such as an adult movie, the program is registered as a prohibited channel in the center CPU table in advance, and guests are registered for check-in at the front desk of the hotel. If the customer is a minor, the information "minor" is sent to the CPU.
If you do so, you will automatically be excluded from adult movies in guest rooms underage.

Next, the advantages and problems of this operating method will be explained.

When a request occurs on each terminal, the terminal side immediately determines whether the channel is a prohibited channel or not, and the system is highly responsive because it can process the corresponding response and there is no need for a special circuit to prohibit viewing of a specific channel. Reliability and low cost can be achieved. Furthermore, by operation at the center, you can
Any prohibited channel can be set/cancelled online, which has the effect of allowing flexible handling of system operation.

However, this method of operation poses complex problems, especially in terms of usage.10 For example, when broadcasting advantageous programs such as adult movies, when registering guests at the front desk of a hotel, there are It is very difficult to judge whether or not information such as "" can be entered. Also, when an adult customer and a minor customer receive broadcasting services using the same TV receiver, it is necessary to prohibit viewing of certain channels. Whether or not to do so should be left to the judgment of the adult customer. Therefore, there is a need for an operational method that allows adult customers to cancel or restore the viewing ban at any time after check-in, but the conventional method had the drawback of leaving the decision to the service provider's discretion. .

The present invention provides the new system with a function for prohibiting viewing of specific channels, which is easy for guests to use.

The operation method of the present invention will be described below, avoiding duplication with the parts already described. First, when registering for check-in via the front desk terminal at the hotel front desk, if the hotel determines that the guest is a minor, the hotel will add the information "Minor Guest J" to the guest room and host it. Register in the computer system 210. At that time, the corresponding room where the minor guest will be sharing the room is registered as a "minor guest", and adult movies etc. are introduced to the adult guest sharing the room, and the corresponding adult guest is registered. If a customer wishes to lift the ban on a particular channel at any time, the keywords specified by the adult customer are added to the host computer system 210 with the keywords ``minor customer'' and \Iliki. .It's a TV receiver 530 that may be used by minors.
Similarly, the "minor guest" information and keyword are registered at the same time for the corresponding guest room where there is a guest.

Thereby, check-in information including the guest room number, minor guest information, keywords, etc. is transmitted from the host computer system 210 to the center CPU 110, and as in the conventional case, the check-in information is transmitted to the corresponding guest room terminal. 50
sent to 0.

The terminal control device 510 stores the above check-in information. After that, the viewer presses the power switch 527 of Kill Bad 620, and then the advantageous channel key 5
22 to request a pay channel, the signal is transmitted to the terminal control unit 614, which determines whether the channel is a prohibited channel with priority, and if it is a prohibited channel, it is sent to the terminal control unit 614. Same as example #i (A The video will not be provided.

Here, the viewer is connected to the host computer system 21.
If you are a registered viewer who is registered with 0 and wish to provide video of a prohibited channel, please enter the keyword held by the relevant registered viewer using the keys on the keypad 520. Viewing of a specific channel is prohibited. It becomes possible to cancel the .

Hereinafter, a method of operating the keypad 520 to cancel the prohibition of viewing a specific channel will be explained based on FIG. 5.

First, if you press any one of the channel keys 522 and the above 4U ``No'' message appears, if you wish to view the prohibited channel, in order to avoid a misjudgment by the terminal control unit 514, The paid viewing confirmation response key 525 is pressed twice and the keyword held by the concerned registered viewer is input.At this time, the terminal control unit 514 controls switching to the rejected telop channel, and then If the signal from the paid viewing confirmation response key 525 is received twice, then the user waits for the keyword input, and if the keyword "month" is received within the set time, the keyword signal and the above-mentioned terminal control device 514 have already been received. Comparison is made with the keyword information of registered '4M listeners stored in 3. Next, if the keyword signal written in -L and the above keyword information match, the electronic tuner 512 is controlled to tune the requested channel. Furthermore, in order to avoid erroneous judgment by the terminal control unit 514 regarding the keyword signal, the keyword is set to the key > M5.
It is assumed that the request key 522 is configured by a combination of a plurality of keys among the request keys 522 of the 20 input keys and the advantageous channel group.

As described above, the control and procedure for canceling the ban on viewing a specific channel is performed, and the control and procedure after the ban is lifted is the same as in the conventional example.After switching to the requested channel, the video is provided for the set preview time. Then, after the paid announcement telop is displayed, an input signal from the barbed viewing confirmation response key 525 starts providing the video of the requested channel and enters the billing state.

Next, the control and procedure for recovering from prohibiting viewing of a specific channel will be explained. Keyboard operations for recovery after canceling the viewing prohibition can be performed simply by pressing the power switch 527 of the keypad 620 to turn off the power of the corresponding television receiver 53'O. After the above operation, when the power switch 527 is pressed again and one of the keys 522 for advantageous channels including prohibited channels is pressed to request a barbed channel, the check stored in the corresponding terminal control device 510 is checked. The in information is transmitted to the terminal control unit 614, and the specific channel viewing prohibition function is activated again. In this way, the control and procedure for restoring the specific channel to parental prohibition is performed.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention maintains the w' length of the conventional example by providing the function of canceling and restoring the prohibition of viewing a specific channel in addition to the conventional functions, and also improves the conventional example. The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks and provides a new system that has a function for prohibiting viewing of specific channels that is easy for guests to use. This has the effect of increasing the conservation rate.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a bidirectional CATV device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a terminal control device in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram of communication between a center control device and a terminal device. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a command from the center control device, and FIG. 5 is a plan view of the keypad of the terminal device. 100...Broadcast center, 110...Center CR
U. 400...Transmission path, 500...Terminal device, 510...Terminal control device, 520...
・Kinokurad, 530...TV receiver. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 3
Diagram (1 no center - Hatohe C6 bar 4) (21i undrawn → t (4 bytes) @4 diagram

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A CATV network is formed from a center computer system, a terminal device having a terminal control device, a television receiver, and a keypad, and a transmission path connecting the center computer system and the terminal control device, The center computer system has a function of generating a notification for canceling the prohibition of viewing a specific channel, and a function of reading information stored in the terminal control device, and the keypad receives a channel request signal and a function for canceling the prohibition of viewing a specific channel. The terminal control device has a function of generating a specific channel viewing prohibition signal, and a function of storing specific channel viewing prohibition information, and a specific channel corresponding to the channel requested by the channel request signal and the stored specific channel viewing prohibition information. 2. A two-way CATV device characterized by having a function of not transmitting video/audio information of the specific channel to the receiver when the channels match, and a function of canceling the prohibition of viewing the specific channel and allowing the same.・