JPS61129939A - Information receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a simple receiver not requiring the presence of a destination of a message by fetching transmission information to a memory when a subscrib er address and an address of the transmission information are coincident and displaying the presence of an information input. CONSTITUTION:When a message addressed to a specific subscriber is included in a free area of transmitted PCM data, the subscriber address and a destination address added to a message data are collated by a PCM processor 24. When a coincidence detection exists, the message data is fetched to an RAM39 via a message microcomputer 46 and the result is displayed on a display section 102. When a subscriber observing the display operates a message button 108, the message data is read from the RAM39 and displayed on a screen. Thus, simple information not requiring to make a letter of a printed document is obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an information receiving device that receives information such as texts and messages transmitted to a specific subscriber.

[Conventional technology]

There are two ways to send messages to specific individuals: mail and telephone. Postal mail requires time and effort to create letters and printed materials. Another inconvenience is that telephone calls cannot be answered unless the person on the other end is at home.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a simple information receiving apparatus using a TV broadcasting system or the like which is a one-way image communication line, and which does not assume that the recipient of the message is at home.

[Means for solving problems]

The information receiving device of the present invention is a device that receives information transmitted with an address code of a specific subscriber,
Means (ROM 35, PCM processor 24) for comparing the above address code and subscriber address, and means (R
AM39) and means to display that information has been input (
It is equipped with an LED l 02 e), means for displaying the stored information contents (monitor TV, etc.), and operation means (message button 108) for starting the display of the information contents.

[Effect]

The subscriber knows from the display means that information (such as a message) has been input, and can read (view) the stored information by operating the operating means.

That is, by using a unidirectional image transmission line,
Information can be transmitted regardless of the person's absence.

〔Example〕

An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an information transmission system using a satellite broadcasting channel will be described below.

Note that the present invention is also applicable to a normal TV broadcast system or a CAT■ system.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a pay-per-view system using satellite broadcasting (direct broadcasting) channels. Direct broadcast radio waves from the broadcasting satellite 10 are received by the receiving parabolic antenna 2, demodulated by the DBS tuner 1, and the signals sent after undergoing a predetermined scrambling operation are decoded (descrambled) by the decoder in the tuner. ) processed and viewed.

This pay-per-view system allows each user (
Subscribers) are supposed to transfer a certain prescribed fee in advance from a bank 3 to a broadcasting center 6 using a cash card 5 or the like. The transferred fee data is transmitted from the central processing unit 4 of the bank to the central processing unit 7 of the broadcasting center 6, and the transferred fee data is transmitted from the center 6 to the user through a satellite broadcasting link. This is PCM
This is done using the data area and the vertical blanking section of the TV signal, and the data is sent from the transmitter -8 through the transmitting parabolic antenna 9 to the broadcasting satellite 10 with the ID code of each user attached, and then from the satellite 10 to the broadcasting satellite 10. The signal is sent to the tuner 1 through each user's parabolic antenna 2.

Each user's tuner 1 (decoder) has a memory for charging, and the transferred charge data is stored in the memory. Further, the data in the memory is displayed on the display section 102. In the case of paid broadcasting, program status information called "pay-per-view" is sent from the broadcasting center 6 to each user through a satellite broadcasting channel at the time of broadcasting. If each user wants to watch the program,
A channel is specified using the numeric keypad 101 of the tuner, and a password corresponding to a pay-per-view switch is input. Then, the decoder performs descrambling and viewing becomes possible.

At the same time, data corresponding to the viewing fee is subtracted from the charging memory in the decoder. This means that pay-per-view has been performed.

Note that when the data in the billing memory decreases to a value obtained by repeating subtraction by multiple pay-per-views, a message prompting the user to transfer the fee from a bank etc. is displayed on the TV screen or display unit 102. be done.

Tuner 1 also has message memory,
Message data sent from the broadcast center 6 via a satellite broadcast link with an address code or ID code of a specific message destination is stored in the message memory. At the same time, an LED indicating that a message has been received lights up, and when the user notices that this LED is lit, he or she presses the message on switch. As a result, the message is displayed on the screen of the monitor TV and can be read.

Note that the sender of the message requests the center 6 to send the message through, for example, a telephone line. Further, when this system is operated by a group with a specific purpose, the broadcasting center 6 serves as the information center for this group and also serves as a source of messages.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the arrangement of the operation panel of the DBS tuner 1 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the tuner 1 (indoor unit).

When the power switch 100 on the operation panel in FIG. 2 is pressed, the tuner 1 enters the standby state, and the display section
2, the standby LED 102f lights up.

In the standby state, in FIG. 3, the D B S received signal is introduced into the tuner section 12, where it is tuned and detected and output as a video signal, for example an NTSC signal, to a video processing system. Note that the output of the tuner part 12 is also led out as a detection output via the buffer amplifier 11 to the output terminal T7. Tuning is performed using the numeric keypad 101, and the tuning control microcomputer 1
3 derives a tuning signal to the tuner part 2 via the PLL prescaler unit 14 based on the tuning operation information. Channel information is displayed on the channel display LED 102a (FIG. 2) of the display section 102.

Note that the polarization polarity discrimination signal obtained from the tuning control microcomputer 13 is sent to the output terminal T8 as a control output via the polarization polarity control amplifier 21.
In addition, an outdoor unit (SHF-
(UHF converter).

The video signal output from the tuner section 2 is filtered by a low-pass filter 15 to remove the high-frequency PCM area transmission signal, and the scrambled signal is decoded by a descrambling circuit 16. The spectrum of the energy-dispersed and transmitted signal is returned to its original state by the anti-despersal circuit 17, and is led out as a video output from the output terminal T3 to the monitor 'rV via the clamp circuit 18.

Note that in order to connect to a VTR, the video output from the anti-despersal circuit 17 is converted into an RF signal at an appropriate channel number by an RF modulator 19, passed through an RF switch 20, and is led out from an RF output terminal T2 to the VTR. Ru. This RF switch 20 is equipped with a VHF or UHF TV.
The antenna reception output of the broadcast radio wave is also supplied from the input terminal T1, and is switched to the RF output of the DBS broadcast and led out to the terminal T2.

The switching operation is shown in Figure 2 (7) DBS/TV switching! rl103
T? It will be done. When DBS broadcasting is selected, the DBS LED 104 lights up in conjunction with this switching button 1.03.

On the other hand, the data in the PCM area included in the high frequency range of the output of the tuner part 2 is extracted by the bandpass filter 22, and the extracted 4-phase modulation data is demodulated by the QPSK decoder 23, and is derived to the PCM processor 24. .

FIG. 4 shows the data format of the output of the decoder 23 (
This is a diagram showing data sink (SYNC).
), a control code for stereo/mono-sil, etc. is sent, and in the case of a pay program, a program number, charge data, and scramble status information are sent. Next, status information of the received program, that is, program status data that distinguishes free programs, paid programs by reservation, and pay-per-view programs, is sent, and then four types of audio data (1) to ( 4) is transmitted. In the next free area, messages addressed to a specific subscriber and subscriber's deposit (transfer) information are sent to the subscriber's address (r.
D information) is sent. A program guide is also sent using this area. Finally, an error correction code is attached to one frame of data.

The PCM processor 24 first performs data dinterleaving on the data shown in FIG. 4 based on the output from the RAM 25 that stores interleave information, and further performs error correction based on the error correction code. Next, in the case of pay broadcasting, descrambling of the audio data is performed in the PCM processor 24 based on the scramble status information. At the same time, the scramble information is sent to the video descrambling circuit 16, and the video signal is simultaneously descrambled.

The PCM processor 24 processing output is processed by a D/A converter 26 and a stereo/mono-sil audio switch 27.
, low-pass filters 28L', 28R and buffer amplifiers 29L, 29R as L channel and R channel audio outputs at output terminals T5. It is derived at T6.

By operating the audio selection phase 105 on the operation panel in FIG. 2, one of the four types of audio data can be selected.
You can choose one. The selection number is displayed by lighting the LED group 102b of the display unit 102. Further, the station number of the DBS broadcast being received at this time and the stereo/mono-sil distinction are displayed on the LED group 102e.

When receiving paid pay-per-view programs,
"Pay-per-view" program status information is sent along with the program's pricing data. The PCM processor 24 that received this status information
The LED 102g for Pay Bar View on the Kuwa I panel will blink and light up.

This informs the subscriber that it is a pay-per-view program. If the subscriber wishes to view this program, the subscriber operates the numeric keypad 101 of the tuner 1 and inputs the password. The input code is sent from the tuning control microcomputer 13 to the pay-bar-view microcomputer 31 and compared (verified) with the contents (registration code) of the code code memory 32. If a match is detected, the descrambling described above is performed and viewing becomes possible. In other words, only those who know the password can view the video. This can prevent children from watching adult programs or from being charged for their child's operations without their parents knowing.

Note that the sent fee data is stored in the fee memory 33 and displayed on the TV screen for a short time, for example, 3 seconds.

Furthermore, by pressing the fee navy button 106 on the operation panel shown in FIG. 2, the fee can be displayed on the screen at any time while viewing the program.

When a pay-per-view program is received, the program fee is subtracted from the billing memory 34. In this charging memory 34, the amount of money to be transferred is written every time there is a deposit (transfer) from a subscriber. The deposit information is sent from the broadcasting center 6 using the free area of the PCM data and attached with the subscriber's address data, as shown in the data format of FIG. PCM Pronocessor 24 is
The sent address data is compared (verified) with the subscriber address data stored in the ROM 35, and if a match is detected, the deposit data is written into the billing memory 34.

When the remaining amount in the billing memory 34 falls below a certain level due to viewing of a Pay-Bar-View program, a re-transfer request is sent to Pay-Bar-View.
It is generated from the bar view microcomputer 31 and transferred to the message microcomputer 36. The message microcomputer 36 outputs message data to the character generator 37 to the effect that "fee is insufficient". Character generator 3
7, a character display signal corresponding to mensage data is generated in synchronization with the synchronization signal from the synchronization separation circuit 38. This display signal is superimposed on the video signal output from the anti-dispersal circuit 17 and displayed as a message on the -TV screen.

Further, when the balance becomes below a certain level, the error display LED 102d on the display section 102 of the operation panel shown in FIG. 2 lights up.

By pressing the balance button 107 on the operation panel shown in FIG. 2, the contents of the billing memory 34 can be displayed on the TV screen at any time. The displayed contents include the deposited amount, the date of deposit, and the remaining amount.

By looking at this display, the subscriber can determine whether additional deposit is necessary or not.

If a message (private message) addressed to a specific subscriber is included in the free area of the transmitted PCM data shown in Figure 4, the subscriber address and message data are sent as in the case of payment information. The PCM presser 24 compares the message with the destination address assigned to the message, and if a match is detected, the message data is taken into the RAM 39 via the message microcomputer 36. Also, at this time, there was a message input on the display section 10 of FIG.
This message is displayed by lighting the message LED 102e in step 2.

When the subscriber finds that the LED 102e is lit, he operates the message 108 on the operation panel. Then, the message data is read from the RAM 39, the read data is sent to the character generator 37 via the message microcomputer 36, and the message (character) is displayed on the screen by the character signal output. This display can be cleared by pressing the message button 108 again. Furthermore, the message data stored in the RAM 39 can be cleared by pressing the clear button 109 on the operation panel.

Messages include relatively short sentences such as messages of condolence, proverbs, and idioms from books, as well as private letters. For example, if the number of characters in the message is 200, the transmission rate is 2.
When the speed is 56 Kbps, the transmission from the broadcasting center 6 will be completed in about 20 minutes even if the number of subscribers is 100,000.

The message RAM 39 contains information from the broadcast center 6 to the PC.
Programs sent using the M data free area (
An area for storing program guides is provided. As shown in FIG. 5, the program guide has syndex data I at the beginning, and detailed data P1, P2 of each page shown in the index.
This is followed by -, and the end of the page data is connected to index data ■, creating a circular structure. That is,
A series of program guide data is sent periodically. Each data I.

PL, P2−・−m=−・−・−1−−−−− are each 1
That's the size of the screen.

When the user wants to view the program guide, he or she presses the program guide button 110 provided on the operation panel shown in FIG. Then, this data is sent as a message from the PCM processor 24 at the timing of transmitting the index data ■.

- Loaded into the RAM 39 via the microcomputer 36. The successive data in the RAM 39 is converted into a character signal by the character generator 37 and then derived as a video signal, whereby index data as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the TV screen. The index consists of page numbers including detailed contents, 3 program times, titles, fees, etc.

If you want to see more detailed data, enter the page number, for example 02, using the numeric keypad 101.

Then, the data of P2 is taken into the RAM 39 instead of the index data I, and this data is displayed as shown in FIG. Note that the access time for importing data for one screen of index or detail page is about 3 seconds, assuming that one screen (one page) has 1000 characters and there are 100 pages of rings in FIG. 6.

Furthermore, by specifying a time slot and entering a code corresponding to the up/down keys from the numeric keypad, you can view detailed explanations of programs during that time by turning the page. When returning to index data I, a specific key code such as "00" is input from the numeric keypad 101. To return to the normal screen, the program guide button 110 is pressed again.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the present invention loads the transmitted information into the memory when the subscriber address and the transmitted information address match, and at this time displays a message indicating that the information has been input, and the subscriber who sees this display It is configured such that the information content can be known (read) by operating an operating means that starts displaying the information content. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a simple information transmission system that does not require the creation of letters or printed documents, etc., and it also uses existing one-way image communication lines such as TV broadcasting systems (satellite broadcasting and CATV), and allows subscribers to communicate from home. This provides an inexpensive and convenient system that can be transmitted at any time even when the data is not in use.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a satellite pay broadcasting system to which the present invention is applied, Fig. 2 is a front view of the operation panel of a subscriber's tuner, Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the main parts of the tuner, and Fig. 4 is a transmission diagram. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the format of PCM data, FIG. 5 is a data configuration diagram of the program guide, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the index screen of the program guide, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the detail page screen of the program guide. In addition, in the symbols used in the drawings, 1-・・・・・・・・・・−・−DBS tuner 2
, t−−m=−・−・・・−・−PCM processor 3
5-・--1----・-----ROM36----
---------- Mesosage microcomputer 102---------- Display section 102a---------Mesosage LED 1
08------Message phase.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A device that receives information transmitted with an address code of a specific subscriber attached, and includes means for comparing the address code and the subscriber address, and storing the information when a match is detected by the comparison. An information receiving device comprising: a means for displaying information input; a means for displaying stored information; and an operation means for starting display of the information.