JPS6388983A - Chargimg information collecting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To set multiplying factor of charging according to the content of a program by transmitting program numbers of sent out programs to all terminal equipments simultaneously beforehand and collecting time of looking and listening for programs from each terminal equipment. CONSTITUTION:Signals received from a center unit are inputted to a reception control circuit 2 through a receiving interface 1. Control information C1, C2 contained in received signals are discrimineted in the reception control circuit 2. In the case of C1, program number information that follows the information C is stored in a register 7. A timer 5 count time of looking and listening of the program after the program number information is stored in the register 7, and performs timing operation. When control information is discriminated as C2, it is reported to a transmission control circuit 4 that the received signal is a charging information collection command. The transmission control circuit 4 transmits program number information stored in the register 7 at the time and time information of looking and listening in the timer 5 to the center unit through a transmitting interface 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field The present invention relates to a billing information collection method, and more particularly to a billing information collection method in a two-way CATV system that transmits information between a center device and a plurality of terminal devices. In a two-way CATV communication system that transmits information between a terminal device and a terminal device, a center device sends a billing information collection command to each terminal device, and each terminal device sends a billing information collection command in response to this billing information collection command. The viewing time of the selected program is sent to the center device as billing information.

In this conventional charging information collection method, only the viewing time on each terminal device is used as charging information, regardless of the broadcast program, so if you want to change the charging multiplier according to the contents of the broadcast program, However, there is a drawback that the billing multiplier must be set at 1%.

Therefore, the present invention was made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional system, and its purpose is to increase the billing multiplier according to the content of the program sent from the center device. To provide a billing information collection method that can be set and collected from viewers in accordance with the content of a program.

Structure of the Invention According to the present invention, there is provided a billing information collection method in a two-way CATV communication system that transmits information between a center device and a plurality of terminal devices, in which the center device includes:
After program specifying information specifying the sending program is sent to all of the terminal devices at once, a billing information collection command is sent to each terminal device, and the terminal device responds to the billing information collection command. A billing information collection method is obtained, characterized in that the program specifying information and viewing time information of the corresponding program are transmitted to the center device as billing information.

Example Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a terminal device applied to an embodiment of the present invention. The terminal device includes a reception interface 1, a reception control circuit 2, a transmission interface 3, a transmission control circuit 4, timers 5 and 6 for counting program viewing time, and registers 7 and 8 for storing program numbers.
Contains.

In this configuration, a reception signal received from a center device (see FIG. 2), which will be described later, is input to the reception control circuit 2 via the reception interface 1. This reception control circuit 2 uses control information CI, C included in the reception signal.
2 (see Figure 3) is identified, and the control information is 01.
At this time, the program number information following this information C1 is stored in the register 7. The timer 5 performs a timekeeping operation by counting the viewing time of the program whose program number information is stored in the register 7.

Further, when the reception control circuit 2 identifies that the control information of the received signal is 02, it notifies the transmission control circuit 4 that this received signal is a billing information collection command.

The transmission control circuit 4 transmits the program number information stored in the register 7 at this time and the viewing time information in the timer 5 to the center device via the transmission interface 3.

Timer 6 and register 8 store the new program number of control information C1 when it is received before the data of timer 5 is sent to the center device, and set the viewing time of this program. It is for counting.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a center device used in an embodiment of the present invention. The center device includes a transmission interface 9, a transmission control circuit 10, and a program number management circuit 11.
, a terminal address management circuit 12 , a reception interface 13 , a reception control circuit 14 , and a storage circuit 15 .

Based on the information from the program number management circuit 11, the transmission control circuit 10 transmits program number information for specifying the program to each terminal device via the transmission interface 9 in synchronization with the start of the transmission program. Further, the transmission control circuit 10 uses the address A (see FIG. 3) of each terminal device obtained from the terminal address management circuit 12 to transmit an accounting information collection command to the terminal device via the transmission interface 9.

Therefore, in response to this billing information collection command, the terminal device transmits the program number, which is its own billing information, and the viewing time of this program to the center device. This signal is supplied to the reception control circuit 14 via the reception interface 13, and the address of the terminal device, the program number, and its viewing time are stored as data in the storage circuit 15.

FIGS. 3(a) to 3(C) are examples of data formats exchanged between the center device and the terminal devices. (a
) is a data format for transmitting a program number that specifies a program to be transmitted, and is used to simultaneously transmit the program number to all terminal devices in synchronization with the start of program transmission. In this case, the first control information C1 is used and subsequently the program number information is transmitted. Therefore, by identifying this first control information C1, each terminal device receives the following program number information, stores it in the register 7, and operates the timer, as described above.

FIG. 3(b) shows the data format when collecting billing information from the center device to each terminal device, using the second control information C2 and subsequently addressing the terminal device from which billing information should be collected. Eight is sent. In response, the terminal device transmits billing information to the center device using the data format shown in FIG. 3(C). In this case, the third control information C3 is used, and subsequently the address A of the terminal device, the program number, and the viewing time of the program are transmitted as billing information.

FIG. 4 is a system diagram of a two-way ATV communication system to which the present invention is applied, in which a center device 10 having a CPU
0 and n terminal devices 101 to 10n constitute a CATV system, and the billing information collection method described above is realized.

By doing this, it becomes possible to calculate the viewing and listening time for each broadcast program, so that a billing multiplier can be set according to the content of the program, and rational billing calculations are possible.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the program number of the sending program is transmitted to all terminal devices at the same time,
Since the viewing time corresponding to this program is collected from each terminal device, it is possible to set the charging multiplier according to the content of the program, which has the effect of increasing the degree of freedom in organizing programs in the CATV system. There is.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a terminal device used in an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a center device used in an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. FIG. 4 is a system diagram of a CATV system to which the present invention is applied. Explanation of symbols of main parts 5.6... Timer 7.8... Register 11... Program number management circuit 12...
...terminal address management circuit 15...memory circuit

Claims (1)

[Claims] A billing information collection method in a two-way CATV communication system that transmits information between a center device and a plurality of terminal devices, wherein the center device collects program specifying information that specifies a sending program from the terminal device. After transmitting the information to all devices at once, a billing information collection command is transmitted to each terminal device, and the terminal device receives the program specific information and the viewing time information of the corresponding program in response to the billing information collection command. A billing information collection method characterized in that billing information is transmitted to the center device.