KR100730659B1 - Broadcasting signal monitoring system and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a broadcast signal monitoring system and method for monitoring a broadcast signal at a head end output of a cable broadcasting provider system (hereinafter, referred to as an SO system). To this end, at least one program provider system (PP system) for producing a broadcast and transmitting the produced broadcast through a broadcast cable; A DMC (Digital Media Center) system which bundles the at least one broadcasted data in channel units and provides them to each wired broadcasting service provider system; And a system operator system (SO system) for transmitting the broadcast signals, which are bundled in the channel unit and / or the cable broadcasting provider unit, to each subscriber TV, wherein the DMC system is the SO system. By monitoring by feeding back the broadcast signal output from the, it performs efficient and low-cost broadcast monitoring.

Program provider, cable operator, DMC, STB, remote controller, encoder

Description

Broadcasting signal monitoring system and method {BROADCASTING SIGNAL MONITORING SYSTEM AND METHOD THEREOF}

1 is a block diagram showing a broadcast signal transmission system according to the prior art.

2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a broadcast signal transmission system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a block diagram showing a broadcast signal monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a broadcast signal monitoring method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a broadcast signal monitoring method when an error occurs according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6A-6C illustrate certain channels of each SO system being monitored in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

* Explanation of Codes on Major Parts of Drawings *

100: program provider system (PP system)

400: subscriber TV

500; DMC (Digital Media Center) system

510: monitoring server

520: collector server

600: cable broadcasting company system (SO system)

610: control server

611: remote controller

612: encoder

620: STB (Set-Top Box)

The present invention relates to a broadcast system, and more particularly, to a broadcast signal monitoring system and method for monitoring a broadcast signal of a head end output terminal of a cable broadcasting provider system.

Many devices are used for stable transmission of digital broadcasting. Among them, monitoring while watching the actual screen is essential. Currently, the Digital Media Center (DMC) monitors all channels. This monitoring method will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 1.

1 is a block diagram showing a broadcast signal transmission system according to the prior art.

As shown in FIG. 1, at least one program provider system (PP system) 100 for producing a broadcast and transmitting the produced broadcast through a broadcast cable; A digital media center (DMC) system 200 which bundles the transmitted at least one broadcast in a channel unit and provides it to each wired broadcasting service provider system; And a system operator system (hereinafter referred to as an SO system) 300 which transmits the broadcast signals bundled by the channel unit to each subscriber TV 400.

The broadcast signal transmission system according to the related art configured as described above will be described.

In general, when the PP system 100 supplies a broadcast signal corresponding to one channel to the DMC system 200, the DMC system 200 supplies the entire PP system () to supply all the broadcast signals to the SO system 300. The broadcast signals output from the 100 are bundled and supplied to each SO system 300. Then, the SO system 300 supplies the bundled broadcast signal to each subscriber TV 400.

At this time, the DMC system 200 digitizes the signal transmitted from each PP system 100 and displays a signal immediately before transmission to each SO system 300 on the screen. Therefore, the DMC system 200 monitors the broadcast signal by installing and operating dozens of CRTs to display a large number of broadcasts transmitted from the PP system 100 on the screen (that is, the number of the PP system 100). .

However, such monitoring only monitors the broadcast signal transmitted to the DMC system 200, and does not monitor the screen viewed by the actual viewer.

Therefore, the signal after passing through the headend output of the SO system 300 should be monitored, but this monitoring requires several multiples of the number of CRTs (as much as the number of SO systems), which requires too much cost and space to build. There was a problem.

In addition, as the number of SO systems increases, there is a problem that increases accordingly.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a broadcast signal monitoring system and method for monitoring a broadcast signal after passing through a headend output stage of an SO system.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a broadcast signal monitoring system and method for informing a monitoring agent of a failure in a broadcast signal after passing through a headend output terminal of an SO system.

In order to achieve the above object, the broadcast signal monitoring system according to the present invention comprises: at least one program provider system (Program Provider System, PP system) for producing a broadcast to transmit the produced broadcast through a broadcast cable; A DMC (Digital Media Center) system which bundles the at least one broadcasted data in channel units and provides them to each wired broadcasting service provider system; And a system operator system (SO system) for transmitting the broadcast signals, which are bundled in the channel unit and / or the cable broadcasting provider unit, to each subscriber TV, wherein the DMC system is the SO system. It is characterized in that for monitoring by feeding back the broadcast signal output from.

On the other hand, the broadcast signal monitoring method according to an aspect of the present invention, (a) the monitoring server transmitting the channel information and STB (Set-Top Box) control command to the remote controller; (b) the remote controller transmitting infrared channel tuning information to the STB using infrared (Infrared); (c) the STB tuning a corresponding channel transmitted from the remote controller; (d) the encoder capturing the video / audio signal of the corresponding channel; (e) the encoder reconstructing the image for each channel into a single video screen, generating an MPEG4-based video and transmitting the same to the monitoring server; And (f) the monitoring server receiving an MPEG4-based video signal from the encoder and displaying the video signal on the screen.

In addition, the broadcasting signal monitoring method according to an aspect of the present invention, (a) the monitoring server transmitting the channel information and STB (Set-Top Box) control command to the remote controller; (b) the remote controller transmitting infrared channel tuning information to the STB using infrared (Infrared); (c) the STB tuning a corresponding channel transmitted from the remote controller; (d) the encoder capturing the video / audio signal of the corresponding channel; (e) the encoder detecting the error signal by comparing the captured image with an error pattern image; (f) if an error occurs, transmitting the error information to the collector server through TCP / IP; (g) collecting, by the collector server, the information on the error type and network information of the corresponding SO system and transmitting the collected information to the monitoring server through TCP / IP; And (h) the monitoring server notifying the occurrence of the error through an SMS and / or an alarm system.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and preferred embodiments. Like reference numerals refer to like or similar elements throughout the drawings.

2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a broadcast signal transmission system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the system includes at least one program provider system (PP system) 100 for producing a broadcast and transmitting the produced broadcast through a broadcast cable; A DMC (Digital Media Center) system 500 which bundles the transmitted at least one broadcast in a channel unit and provides it to each cable provider system, and feeds back and monitors a broadcast signal output from the cable provider system; And a cable operator system (SO) 600 that transmits the broadcast signals bundled by the channel to each subscriber TV 400.

When the PP system 100 supplies a broadcast signal corresponding to one channel to the DMC system 500, the DMC system 500 supplies the entire PP system 100 to supply all the broadcast signals to the SO system 600. The broadcast signals output from the bundle are bundled and supplied to each SO system 600. Then, the SO system 600 supplies the bundled broadcast signal to each subscriber TV 400. At this time, the DMC system 500 displays on the screen a signal immediately before transmitting to the subscriber TV 400 from the head end output terminal of each SO system (600).

3 is a diagram illustrating a broadcast signal monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Fig. 3, the monitoring system includes a DMC system 500; And at least one SO system 600. At this time, the DMC system 500 includes at least one monitoring server 510; And a collector server 520, and the SO system 600 includes at least one control server 610 and an STB 620, which is a headend output of the SO system 600. In this case, an embodiment of the present invention has been described on the basis of the connection between the DMC system 500 and the SO system 600 through TCP / IP, but may be easily applied through a wired network such as a power line network in the future.

Monitoring server 510 manages the network configuration and channel configuration of the various SO system 600, shows a number of service channels for the selected SO system 600 on a single screen, when a specific service channel is selected, the corresponding service Shows the voice and video screen for, and executes the VOD service monitoring and data broadcasting service for the channel.

The collector server 520 receives the monitoring information from the monitoring server 510 and performs error processing and alarm service. For example, an error occurs by indicating flickering on the screen where an error occurs, or by integrating a text service to a mobile terminal of a person in charge, thereby notifying the fact of an error occurrence. At this time, the information on all events is made into DB so that the operator can check the history information on the error.

The remote controller 611 captures a command code corresponding to the remote control of the STB 620 of each SO system 600 in the monitoring server 510, transmits the command code to the corresponding SO system 600, and stores the command code. Remote control the STB (620) through. Also, the channel information to be tuned is received from the monitoring server 510 to remotely control the STB 620 based on a predetermined scheduling.

The encoder 612 receives the A / V output of the STB 620 to capture A / V through the A / V analog capture board. At this time, by using the information on each tuning channel commanded from the remote controller 611, only the A / V portion for the corresponding channel is separately captured. After changing the point of time of the captured A / V into an image, it is analyzed whether or not it is an error screen according to the error pattern of the STB 620, and transmits the analysis result to the monitoring server 510.

Hereinafter, a monitoring method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the monitoring server 510 transmits the channel information and the STB 620 control command to the remote controller 611 (S401). That is, the monitoring server 510 transmits a remote control command code table for channel information to be tuned by the remote controller 611, and transmits the sequential tuning channel number list and the STB 620 control command through TCP / IP. .

Then, the remote controller 611 transmits infrared channel tuning information to the STB 620 using IR (Infrared) (S402). That is, the remote controller 611 remotely controls (turns on / off, channel up / down, volume up / down) the STB 620 through the IR. In this embodiment, although implemented through IR, it is also possible through other communication media, such as RFID (Radio Frequency ID) that can be remotely controlled.

The set-top box (STB) 620 tunes the channel transmitted from the remote controller 611 (S403). In this case, the video / audio signal of the corresponding channel is captured by the encoder 612 and transmitted (S404).

Then, the encoder 612 reconstructs the image for each channel into one video screen as shown in FIG. 6A, and then generates an MPEG4-based video and transmits the video to the monitoring server 510 (S405).

Then, the monitoring server 510 receives the MPEG4-based video signal from the encoder 612 and displays it on the screen (S406). In this case, as shown in FIG. 6A, the screen may simultaneously monitor screens transmitted from up to n SO systems 600, and as shown in FIG. 6B, screens transmitted from one SO system 600. As shown in FIG. 6C, even one channel of a specific SO system 600 can be controlled. That is, all the functions of the STB 620 located in each SO system 600 can be controlled by the DMC system 500 through the monitoring server 510.

Meanwhile, an embodiment in which an error occurs in a predetermined channel of a specific SO system 600 will be described.

The monitoring server 510 transmits the channel information and the STB 620 control command to the remote controller 611 (S501). Then, the remote controller 611 transmits infrared channel tuning information to the STB 620 using IR (Infrared) (S502). The set-top box (STB) 620 tunes the channel transmitted from the remote controller 611 (S503). In this case, the video / audio signal of the corresponding channel is captured by the encoder 612 and transmitted (S504).

The encoder 612 detects an error signal by capturing the image signal and comparing the captured image with an error pattern image (S505). At this time, if an error occurs, the error information is transmitted to the collector server 520 through TCP / IP (S506). Then, the collector server 520 collects the information on the error type and network information of the SO system 600 and transmits it to the monitoring server 510 through TCP / IP (S507).

Thereafter, the monitoring server 510 notifies the occurrence of the error to the operator through the SMS and / or alarm system (S508).

While the present invention has been described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications or changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, by monitoring all the channels provided from the headend output of each SO system at the same time, there is an effect of performing an efficient and low-cost broadcast monitoring.

In addition, according to the present invention, when an error occurs as a result of monitoring, it is effective to automatically find the channel information of the corresponding SO system and notify the operator directly or indirectly.

Claims (8)

In the broadcast signal monitoring system for monitoring the output of the set-top box connected to the output of the broadcast system, Monitoring server; A remote controller for transmitting the channel information to the set top box so that the set top box tunes a channel corresponding to the channel information when receiving the channel information and the control command for the set top box from the monitoring server; An encoder for capturing an image output from the set-top box and transmitting the captured image to the monitoring server; The monitoring server is a broadcast signal monitoring system for displaying the captured image on the screen. The method of claim 1, The monitoring server delivers a sequential tuning channel number list to the remote controller, And the remote controller sequentially transmits channel numbers corresponding to the sequential tuning channel number list to the set top box so that the set top box tunes the channel numbers sequentially. The method of claim 2, The encoder is configured to transmit a plurality of images output by the set-top box for each channel in the grid structure of the image transmission to the monitoring server. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The monitoring server is installed in a digital media center (DMC) system that bundles and transmits one or more broadcast signals transmitted by a program provider system in channel units, The remote controller and the encoder are installed in the cable provider system for transmitting the broadcast signal to the subscriber TV, The broadcast system is a broadcast signal monitoring system that is the cable provider system. The method of claim 4, wherein The encoder detects an error signal by comparing the captured image with an error pattern image, and provides error information to the monitoring server when an error signal is detected. The method of claim 5, The remote controller is a broadcast signal monitoring system for transmitting the channel information to the set-top box through the infrared. In the broadcast signal monitoring method for providing monitoring information on the output of the broadcast system to the monitoring server, Receiving channel information and a control command from the monitoring server; Transmitting the channel information to a set top box connected to an output terminal of the broadcasting system so that the set top box tunes a channel corresponding to the channel information; And capturing an image output by the set-top box and transmitting the captured image to the monitoring server. The method of claim 7, wherein Receiving the control command further includes receiving a sequential tuning channel number list, The transmitting of the channel information includes the step of sequentially transmitting channel numbers corresponding to the sequential tuning channel number list to the set top box so that the set top box sequentially tunes the channel numbers.

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