KR100970630B1 - Digital satellite broadcasting receiver and view method for Pay Per View program using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a digital satellite broadcast receiver, and more particularly, to a digital satellite broadcast receiver and a method for watching a pay-per-view (PPV) program using the same. The digital satellite broadcasting receiver according to the present invention is a multi-switching unit for receiving and dividing the digital satellite broadcasting signal of the low-noise-amplified RF band into a plurality of outputs through each path, and outputs to each path from the multi-switching unit. The main unit receives a plurality of satellite signals to be tuned and demodulated to a specific channel and outputs them in the form of TP, and stores the viewing records of pay-per-view programs of the plurality of sub units, and is installed in separate spaces, respectively. It is not equipped with a satellite tuner, and receives a TP signal of the corresponding channel from the main unit, descrambles, decodes, displays, and consists of a plurality of sub-units watching pay-viewing programs.

Main unit, subunit, pay per view (PPV)

Description

Digital satellite broadcasting receiver and view method for pay per view program using the same}

1 is a conceptual block diagram of a multi-channel digital satellite broadcast receiver according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a detailed block diagram of the main unit of Figure 1

3 is a detailed block diagram of each sub-unit of FIG.

4 is a view for explaining a pay watching program viewing method using a digital satellite broadcast receiver according to the present invention

Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

101: satellite antenna 102: LNB

103: multi-switching unit 110: main unit

111: multi-tuner section 112: multi-channel TP distribution section

113: CPU 114: modem

115: EPG DB 116: main transceiver

120: sub unit 301: sub transceiver

302: A / V decoder and control unit 303: CAS unit

304: memory 305: front panel

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a receiver for receiving digital satellite broadcasts, and more particularly, to restricts pay-per-view (PPV) program billing of a main unit tuning multiple channels simultaneously and subunits tuning each different channel in a plurality of spaces. The present invention relates to a satellite broadcast receiver and a method for watching a pay-per-view program using the same.

In general, digital satellite broadcasting has spread rapidly to Europe, Japan, Asia, and Africa since the world's first DirecTV in 1994, and can be viewed anywhere in the world.

Digital satellite broadcasting is a method of compressing video / audio / additional data and transmitting digitally through satellites in MPEG 2 standard, and is related to a wide coverage area and region which are inherent to satellites compared to other transmission media. Due to the lack of equal broadcasting quality, economics of establishing a satellite broadcasting network, and simplicity of satellite channels, it is mainly led by pay broadcasting companies.

In addition, the receiver capable of receiving the digital satellite broadcast employs a CAS (Conditional Access System) that restricts the reception so that only subscribers can receive the pay broadcast.

The CAS receives a TV program and a data service signal scrambled by a transmitting station in a receiver for pay per channel (PPC) or pay per view (PPV) other than the free and basic channel of satellite broadcasting. It is a system for managing authorized subscribers to receive service by descrambling using a smart card. Here, the PPC is a service that collects a predetermined fee for receiving a channel and is able to receive a broadcast, and the PPV is a service that calculates and charges a fee per program as a reception time. To this end, the CAS operator issues a smart card to the subscriber. Smart cards are also known as Conditional Access Modules (CAMs).

The smart card stores, for example, channel information that a user can view in the memory portion in the case of a pay channel, and usage information in the case of a PPV.

The PPV service allows the user to purchase a movie or sporting event in advance, for example. In other words, the user may purchase a paid viewing program through the smart card.

Therefore, it is possible to extract the information stored in the smart card at the request of the limited reception system operator or the receiver. Also, the smart card has a decryption function that can descramble the scrambled signal. Provide the required key.

The digital satellite broadcast includes not only a program but also program guide information. The program guide information is called APG (Advanced Program Guide) in digital satellite broadcasting such as DirecTV, and EPG (Electronic Program Guide) in digital terrestrial broadcasting. The program guide information is additional data information that allows the viewer to use the TV more conveniently. The viewer can obtain information about the current broadcast program and the future broadcast program directly on the screen without a newspaper or other guide medium. .

On the other hand, as people's income levels rise and their lives get better, it's common for homes to have more than one television these days.

In this way, users receive digital satellite broadcasts in an independent space in a house, and the user's burden is increased by using a smart card to watch pay-per-view programs without restriction. There is a disadvantage in that the fee is charged. .

Accordingly, an object of the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and a digital satellite broadcast receiver applying a discount rate to the pay-viewing program when viewing the same pay-per-view (PPV) program in an independent space in a house. And it relates to a paid viewing program viewing method using the same.

       According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, a multi-switching unit for dividing a plurality of digital satellite broadcast signals of the received and low noise amplified RF band into a plurality of paths, and outputs through each path, in the multi-switching unit A main unit that receives a plurality of satellite signals output through each path, tunes and demodulates each channel to a specific channel, outputs them in the form of TP, and stores viewing records of pay-per-view (PPV) programs of a plurality of subunits, and an independent space. Each of the subunits is installed in the terminal, and there is no satellite tuner therein, and the TP signal of the corresponding channel is received from the main unit, descrambled, decoded, displayed, and the pay-per-view (PPV) program. It is composed.

      Each of the plurality of subunits has a smart card embedded therein, and the smart card is registered as a family card at the time of issuance with all cards in the same domain / home.

      In addition, the family card informs the billing policy in advance, shows the number of paid viewing programs currently being viewed, and informs the applied fee in advance.

      According to another feature of the present invention for achieving the above object, when the main unit adds a sub-unit, the step of inquiring the viewing center of the viewing discount rate of the paid viewing program according to the total number of sub-units, and the charging according to the inquiry Receiving a discount rate table for the discount rate based on the number of registered subunits from the center, the main unit notifying the received discount rate list to the subunit, and the subunit user according to the received discount rate Applying for a discounted paid viewing program is to watch.

        According to another feature of the present invention for achieving the above object, the plurality of sub-units inquiring the main unit of the fee for the paid viewing program, and the main unit to check the viewing record of the paid viewing program received And retrieving a basic fee for the checked paid viewing program from a program guide information database, calculating a current paid viewing program fee by applying a discount rate to the basic fee, and transmitting the calculated fee to the subunit.

Hereinafter, a configuration and an operation according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a conceptual block diagram of a multi-channel digital satellite broadcasting receiver according to the present invention, in which an antenna 101 capable of receiving a high frequency band digital satellite broadcast and a satellite signal of a high frequency band received through the antenna 101 are shown. A low noise amplifier (LNB) 102 for low noise amplification, a multi-switching unit 103 for dividing and outputting a plurality of satellite signals output from the LNB 102 and an output from the multi-switching unit 103 Multiple satellite signals are received and tuned to the channels required by each subunit through a multi tuner, converted into transport streams (TP), and output to each subunit. The main unit 110 and the independent space for storing the descrambled and decoded signals by receiving a specific channel from the main unit 110. Display, and is composed of a plurality of sub-unit 120 for viewing a pay-per-view (PPV) programs.

FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of the main unit 110 and includes a plurality of tuners and demodulators 111a to 111d to receive satellite RF signals output from the multi-switching unit 103 to request each sub-unit. Multi-channel TP that simultaneously tunes to a channel and demodulates and outputs the TP signal in a TP form, and distributes the TP signal output from each tuner and demodulator of the multi-tuner unit 111 to each sub-unit. Central processing unit (CPU) 113, which controls the overall operation of the distribution unit 112, the main unit, and also controls the data communication between the main unit and each sub-unit, main distributed in the distribution unit 112 The main transceiver unit 116 receives the TP signal of the unit through the CPU 113 and outputs it to each sub unit, or receives the signal output from each sub unit and outputs the signal to the CPU 113, the request of each sub unit According to above It is configured to include the modem 114 for performing two-way communication with the broadcast transmitting side.

Here, each tuner and demodulator of the multi-tuner unit 111 demodulates the satellite signal of the tuned channel by a quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) method and converts the demodulated signal into a TP form.

3 is a detailed block diagram of each of the sub-units, a sub-integrated receiver and decoder (IRD) for receiving the TP signal transmitted from the main unit 110 and restoring the original digital video and audio signal. Display devices (eg, TVs) for displaying signals are connected and do not have a built-in satellite tuner.

Referring to FIG. 3, the sub-transmitter / receiver 301, a ROM and a RAM configured to receive a TP signal output from the main unit 110 or output a signal according to a user's request to the main unit 110 is provided. A CAS unit 303 for performing user authentication and descrambling using a memory 304, a smart card, and a TP signal output from the sub transceiver unit 301 to the CAS unit 303 to perform descrambling. The A / V decoder and the control unit 302 then separate the audio and video signals from the descrambled TP signal and decode the separated audio and video signals using a corresponding algorithm using the memory 304. In addition, the A / V decoder and the controller 302 output the user input signal input through the remote controller to the sub transceiver 301 to transmit to the main unit 110.

In the ROM of the memory 304, various control programs for controlling sub-units are mapped, and the RAM reads and decodes data necessary for writing and reading bit streams for decoding and motion compensation during A / V decoding. Used to write data and read data to be displayed.

The CAS unit 303 is provided in each sub unit, and manages information related to user registration, authentication, and billing by using a smart card inserted into the CAS unit 303, and simultaneously descrambles scrambled data. Perform. Here, the smart card inserted into the CAS unit 303 is a family smart card that can be equally applied to each sub IRD, and may be issued as many as the number of sub units registered in the satellite broadcasting service provider. That is, only one ID and password may be registered in the smart card or ID and password may be registered for each subunit. For example, if only one ID and password are registered, user ID can be authenticated by inputting the ID and password in any subunit. If an ID and password are registered for each subunit in one smart card, the corresponding subunit must register its ID and password to receive this user authentication. In this case, security can be kept secure for each subunit.

When using the integrated smart card, the satellite broadcasting service provider may provide a subscriber service such as discounting the subscription fee according to the number of registered subunits.

The smart card is registered as a family card at the time of issuance in the same domain / home.

In this case, the modem 114 is not installed in each subunit but is installed only in the main unit 110, and a signal transmitted or received to a satellite broadcasting service provider from each subunit is transmitted through the modem 114 of the main unit. Is done. That is, the main unit 110 independently transmits purchase information of each subunit to the satellite broadcasting service provider, and transmits the result back to the corresponding subunit.

Therefore, it is not necessary to install a modem for each subunit, so that the burden on the user can be reduced.

For example, if you watch the same pay-per-view (PPV) program in each subunit, you can know in advance the billing policy that was applied when you issued the family card.

Meanwhile, a remote control unit (eg, a remote controller) provided for each sub unit allows a user to interact with and control the main unit, and a signal input from the remote control unit is a front panel of each sub unit. It is output to the A / V decoder and the control unit 302 through 305.

4 is a view illustrating a pay-per-view (PPV) program viewing method using a digital satellite broadcasting receiver according to the present invention. The multiple sub-units may frequently view a duplicate program for a PPV program.

Main unit maintains PPV viewing record of each sub unit, and charges the normal rate when watching the first PPV, and applies discount rate for further watching.

Referring to FIG. 4, when a new subunit is added to the charging center, the main unit transmits a PPV discount inquiry query message according to the total number of subunits to the charging center (S11).

Then, the charging center notifies the main unit of the discount rate for the discount rate based on the number of registered subunits (S12).

For example, the fee is discounted as the number of viewing of the subunits increases.

On the other hand, if the sub unit inquires the main unit for the fee for the pay-per-view (PPV) program (S21), the main unit examines the PPV viewing record of the sub units to retrieve the basic fee from the program guide information (EPG) database. In operation S22, the subunit is notified to the subunit by calculating the current PPV rate by applying the discount rate from the base rate.

Then, the sub unit outputs the discount rate table and refers to the PPV program to the main unit with reference to it (S23), which the main unit receives and applies for a paid viewing program to the charging center (S24).

As described above, according to the present invention, a digital TV receiver having multiple sub-units receives a discount rate when the PPV is charged for each sub-unit. There is a discount.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the embodiments, but should be defined by the claims.

Claims (6)

In the paid viewing program control method using a digital satellite broadcast receiving system comprising a main unit and a sub unit, When adding a subunit through which the main unit communicates, inquiring the charging center for discount cost information of a pay-per-view program according to the total number of subunits connected through the transceiver; Receiving, by the main unit, discount cost information based on the number of registered sub units from the charging center according to the inquiry; The main unit notifying the sub unit of the received discount cost information; And And displaying the informed discount cost information in a sub-unit. In the paid viewing program control method using a digital satellite broadcast receiving system comprising a main unit and a sub unit, Inquiring, by the at least one subunit of the plurality of subunits, the main unit of the fee of the pay-per-view program by using the transceiver; Checking, by the main unit, a viewing record of the inquired pay viewing program; Inquiring a charging center by using a modem for discount cost information according to a viewing record of the pay watching program; Receiving, by the main unit, the discount cost information; Searching, by a main unit, in a program guide information database of a basic fee for the checked paid viewing program; And And calculating, by the main unit, a fee of the discounted paid viewing program according to the discount cost information based on the basic fee, and transmitting the calculated fee to the subunit. 2. The method of claim 1, The smart card is installed in the sub-unit, has information on user registration, authentication and paying for paid broadcasts, and provides a key for descrambling, When at least two smart cards are issued to the same home, the two or more smart cards are registered as family cards. The paid viewing program control method using the digital satellite broadcasting receiving system, the total number of sub-units is calculated based on the number of smart cards registered as the family card. A main unit communicating with a plurality of subunits of a digital satellite broadcast receiving system, A multi-tuner unit for receiving a plurality of satellite signals output from the multi-switching unit, respectively tuning and demodulating a specific channel and outputting the TP in a TP form; A multi-channel TP distribution unit for distributing TP signals output from the respective tuners and demodulators to the sub-units; A program guide information database for storing a plurality of digital broadcast program guide information; A modem for transmitting purchase information to a satellite broadcaster and receiving from the satellite broadcaster; A transceiver for communicating with a sub unit; A modem for transmitting purchase information to a satellite broadcaster and receiving from the satellite broadcaster; And When the communicating subunit is added, the discount cost information of the pay-per-view program according to the total number of subunits communicating with the charging center through the modem is inquired, the discount cost information according to the inquiry is received, A central processing unit which controls to transmit discount cost information of the pay-viewing program to a sub unit; Main unit comprising a. A main unit communicating with a plurality of subunits of a digital satellite broadcast receiving system, A multi-tuner unit for receiving a plurality of satellite signals output from the multi-switching unit, respectively tuning and demodulating a specific channel and outputting the TP in a TP form; A multi-channel TP distribution unit for distributing TP signals output from the respective tuners and demodulators to the sub-units; A program guide information database for storing a plurality of digital broadcast program guide information; A modem for transmitting purchase information to a satellite broadcaster and receiving from the satellite broadcaster; A transceiver for communicating with a sub unit; A modem for transmitting purchase information to a satellite broadcaster and receiving from the satellite broadcaster; And Receiving a fee of a paid viewing program from at least one or more subunits of a plurality of subunits by using the transmitting and receiving unit, inspecting a viewing record of the paid viewing program inquired of all the communicating subunits, and Contact the billing center for the discounted cost information according to the viewing record using a modem, receive the inquired discounted cost information, retrieve the basic fee before the discount of the paid viewing program from the program guide database, A central processing unit for controlling to transmit the fee of the discounted pay-viewing program according to the sub-unit; Main unit comprising a. delete

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