KR100223657B1 - Apparatus and method of teansmitting and receiving control imformation among telephone station and network system of vod service - Google Patents

Abstract

end. The technical field to which the invention described in the claims belongs:

Method and device for transmitting / receiving control information between network device and video station device of video service on demand

I. The technical problem the invention is trying to solve:

Provided are a method and an apparatus capable of transmitting and receiving control information without having a plurality of control information transmission lines and separate control channel concentrating devices when transmitting and receiving control information for a VOD service between a telephone company device and a network device.

All. The gist of the solution of the invention:

A LAN processing modulation device for a LAN interface is provided in a network device and a telephone company device to transmit / receive control information through a LAN interface method.

la. Important uses of the invention:

This can be important when providing VOD services.

Description

Method and device for transmitting / receiving control information between network device of video on demand service and telephone company device

The present invention relates to a video on demand (hereinafter referred to as VOD) service, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving control information between a VOD service network device and a telephone company device.

VOD service is a service that allows local phone companies or cable TV broadcasters to select VOD subscribers to select and watch the videos they want at the time they want.

The configuration of a conventional VOD service network for providing such a VOD service is shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional VOD network is composed of a VOD service company 2 that performs VOD service, a subscriber part 6 receiving VOD service, and a telephone station 4 serving as a relay between the VOD service company 2 and the subscriber part 6. do. The VOD service company 2 includes a network device 10 for managing a VOD service network and analyzing and transmitting VOD service information, and a control channel concentrator 12 for condensing VOD service control information transmission lines. The subscriber part 6 is provided with a subscriber device 30 functioning as a modem and a set-top box 32 which actually processes the received information. The set top box 32 may be a television or a computer implemented to allow two-way transmission and reception. On the other hand, the telephone station 4 includes a telephone station device 20 for relaying VOD service data between the network device 10 and the subscriber device 30, and a control channel concentrator 22 for converging a VOD service control information transmission line. The telephone company apparatus 20 is connected to the subscriber apparatus 30 by an asymmetric digital subscriber line ADSL. Asymmetric digital subscriber line ADSL consists of two-wire telephone lines and allows transmission of 1.5 Mbps signals from telephone station 4 to subscriber part 6. Meanwhile, the telephone company 4 of the telephone company 4 and the network device 10 of the VOD service company 2 transmit and receive control information for controlling the VOD service. Control information transmission and reception is usually performed in a point-to-point connection mode. Therefore, the control information transmission line is needed as many subscribers. In addition, the network device 10 and the telephone station device 20 are usually far from each other. Therefore, the control channel concentrators 12 and 22 condense control information transmission lines corresponding to the number of subscribers connected to the adjacent network device 10 and the telephone company device 20, respectively. Connected through.

Hereinafter, a conventional method of a VOD service using an asymmetric digital subscriber line ADSL will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The VOD service subscriber inputs desired control information into the set-top box 32, where the control information may be a desired video title or request to view a video list. The set top box 32 transmits the input control information to the subscriber device 30 through the control information transmission path. The subscriber station 30 transmits the received control information to the telephone company station 20 through the asymmetric digital subscriber line ADSL. The telephone station device 20 outputs the received control information to the control channel concentrator 22. The control information output to the control channel concentrator 22 is input to the network device 10 through the control channel concentrator 12 adjacent to the high speed line and the network device 10. The network device 10 analyzes the received control information and transmits the desired VOD information to the telephone company device 20 through the one-way VOD data information transmission path. The telephone company device 20 transmits the received VOD information to the subscriber device 30 through the asymmetric subscriber line ADSL, and the subscriber device 30 transmits the received information to the set-top box 32 through the one-way VOD data information transmission line. The subscriber can then receive the desired VOD information through the set-top box 32.

When it is necessary to control the set-top box 32 from the network device 10, the control information is transmitted in the reverse order to the control information from the set-top box 32 to the network device 10.

As described above, when transmitting and receiving control information between the network apparatus and the telephone company apparatus by the one-to-one connection method, at least the number of subscribers and the same number of transmission lines should be provided. In addition, since the distance between the network device and the telephone station device is generally far apart, separate control channel concentrators are required to configure the control information transmission path therebetween. Therefore, in the conventional VOD service network, there is a problem that a separate additional equipment for the aggregation of control information transmission line has to be installed. In addition, since a large number of control information transmission lines are required according to the number of subscribers, there was a difficulty in installing, maintaining, and repairing the transmission lines.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving control information without providing separate control channel concentrators for converging a large number of control lines when transmitting and receiving control information between a telephone company device and a network device.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a LAN processing modulator for a local area network (hereinafter referred to as a LAN) interface in a network device and a telephone company device, respectively, so as to provide a LAN interface therebetween. The control information is transmitted and received using the method.

1 is a block diagram of a conventional video-on-demand service network

2 is a block diagram of an on-demand video service network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a configuration diagram of a VOD service network according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the VOD service network according to an embodiment of the present invention is composed of a VOD service company 2, a telephone station 4, and a subscriber unit 6 like a conventional VOD service network. However, the VOD service network according to an embodiment of the present invention does not include the control channel concentrator 12 in the VOD service company 2 and the control channel concentrator 22 in the telephone station 4. Instead, in a VOD service network according to an embodiment of the present invention, an Ethernet processing modulator 14 for LAN interface control information corresponding to a plurality of subscribers in the network device 10 and the telephone company device 20, respectively. I have 24. Ethernet Processing Modulators 14 and 24 are connected to a single Ethernet port. The Ethernet processing modulation devices 14 and 24 function to convert the control information into the Ethernet protocol. Control information converted to the Ethernet protocol is transmitted and received through the Ethernet port connected between the Ethernet processing modulators 14 and 24. In more detail, the Ethernet processing modulators 14 and 24 add one address to the control channel in the process of converting control information input to the control channel from the network device 10 and the telephone company device 20 into the Ethernet protocol, respectively. It transmits to each other through the Ethernet port and outputs the received control information to the control channels in the network device 10 and the telephone company device 20 corresponding to the added address, respectively. By adding an address to the control information, the control channels corresponding to each other between the network device 10 and the telephone company 20 need not be connected in a one-to-one manner in the Ethernet interface method. Control information transmission and reception between the network device 10 and the telephone company device 20 according to the Ethernet interface method can be performed using a single Ethernet port. In this case, a baseband coaxial cable is used as a transmission medium. The transmission time is slower than the one-to-one real time transmission time, but since the amount of data of the control information to be transmitted is quite small, it can be transmitted at the same time as the almost real time transmission time.

Hereinafter, a method of a VOD service according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2. First, when the subscriber inputs the desired information through the set-top box 32, the inputted information is transmitted to the subscriber device 30 through the control information transmission line, and the subscriber device 30 transfers the control information to the telephone company device 20 through the asymmetric digital subscriber line ADSL. send. The telephone company apparatus 20 outputs the received control information to the Ethernet processing modulator 24, and the Ethernet processing modulator 24 converts the output control information into an Ethernet protocol to perform addressing, synchronization, and the like. Sends via LAN port to Ethernet processing modulation device 14 of device 10. The Ethernet processing modulator 14 outputs the control information received through the LAN port to the corresponding control channel of the network device 10 corresponding to the address to be transmitted. The network device 10 analyzes the output control information and transmits the desired VOD information to the telephone company device 20 through the one-way VOD data information transmission path. The telephone company device 20 transmits the received VOD information to the subscriber device 30 through the asymmetric subscriber line ADSL, and the subscriber device 30 transmits the received information to the set-top box 32 through the one-way VOD data information transmission line. The subscriber can then receive the desired VOD information from the set-top box 32.

When it is necessary to control the set-top box 32 from the network device 10, the control information is transmitted in the reverse order to the control information from the set-top box 32 to the network device 10.

On the other hand, as in the embodiment of the present invention described above, Ethernet or other low- and low-speed LAN system can bring the expected effect of the present invention. In addition, as another embodiment of the present invention, a fiber distributed dual interface (FDDI), which is a high-speed LAN that uses an optical cable as a transmission medium when the distance between a telephone station device and a network device is considerably far away or a large amount of channels and data are needed. The system can also be used.

As described above, in the present invention, since the control information transmitted and received between the telephone company apparatus and the network apparatus is transmitted / received by a transmission / reception method using a LAN interface during the VOD service, many control information transmission / reception lines are not required for the network apparatus and the telephone company apparatus, and separate control is performed. It is possible for additional equipment such as information transmission line concentrators to be replaced by a single LAN port. Therefore, there is an advantage that the cost used for the provision of many transmission lines and additional equipment can be economical and easy to install and maintain.

Claims (6)

A method of transmitting / receiving a plurality of control information for controlling on-demand video service between a telephone company device of a telephone station relaying an on-demand video service company and a subscriber of an on-demand video service in an on-demand video service, and a network device of the on-demand video service company. Converting a plurality of control information transmitted / received between telephone company devices into a local area network protocol for a local area network interface, and using the local area network to convert a plurality of control information converted into a local area network protocol between the network device and the telephone company device Control information transmission and reception method characterized in that the process consisting of the interface. The method of claim 1, wherein the local area network is a medium / low speed local area network using a base bend coaxial cable as a transmission medium. The method of claim 1, wherein the local area network is a high-speed communication network using an optical cable as a transmission medium. A plurality of control information transmitting and receiving devices for on-demand video service between a telephone company device of a telephone station relaying an on-demand video service company and an on-demand video service subscriber in an on-demand video service, and a network device of the on-demand video service company, wherein the network device and a telephone Local area network processing modulators respectively configured in a local station device and converting a plurality of control information transmitted and received between the network device and a telephone station device for a local area network interface to a local area network protocol, and are connected between the local area network processing modulator and the local area network protocol. Control information transmitting and receiving device, characterized in that consisting of one local area network for performing control information transmission and reception. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the local area network is a medium / low speed local area network using a base bend coaxial cable as a transmission medium. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the local area network is a high speed communication network using an optical cable as a transmission medium.

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