KR19990018802U - Internet television with telephone line connection check - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an Internet television, and in particular, an Internet television having a telephone line connection check function that checks whether a telephone line necessary for an Internet connection is connected to a modem, and outputs an OSD text on the screen to inform the user when the telephone line is not connected. .

The present invention incorporates a program for Internet communication in a general television configuration, and has a modem. When the user selects an Internet function and requests access to the Internet, a microprocessor for controlling the operation of the television is connected to the modem. It outputs a control signal for internet access, and if the response signal is not detected from the exchange that provides a communication service by the modem attempting to connect to the Internet server, the microprocessor notifies the microprocessor, and the microprocessor does not connect the telephone line. By outputting OSD text on the screen to indicate that the user did not have the convenience of using the Internet.

Description

Internet television with telephone line connection check

The present invention relates to an Internet television, and in particular, an Internet television having a telephone line connection check function that checks whether a telephone line necessary for an Internet connection is connected to a modem, and outputs an OSD text on the screen to inform the user when the telephone line is not connected. .

An information television (hereinafter referred to as an Internet television) equipped with a modem is not limited to simply watching a broadcast signal received through an antenna, but can be provided with a service through the Internet by connecting to the Internet (exactly an Internet server) through a modem. Speaks television.

1 shows a configuration of a general Internet television.

That is, the tuner 10 for receiving a broadcast signal, the video / audio separator 20 for separating the video signal and the audio signal from the broadcast signal received by the tuner 10, and the video / audio separator 20 ), An image processor 30 and an audio processor 40 for processing the separated video / audio signal, a speaker (SP) and a water pipe (CRT) for outputting the processed video / audio signal, and a key input unit (50). In a general television configuration including a microprocessor 80 that controls the overall operation of a television by the key operation of a key, the microprocessor 80 is connected to the Internet through a telephone line and connected to a host computer and data. Modem 90 to transmit and receive, and the data received by the modem 90 is received through the microprocessor 80 to convert into an analog signal that can be displayed on the water pipe (CRT) to the image processing unit 30 of the television Output The data decoder 70 is added.

In addition, the microprocessor 80 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that performs control, data transmission and operation of a television and a modem by a program, various memories in which programs and various data for operating the television are stored (P- ROM, DRAM, f-ROM) and the like.

When the user wishes to watch the Internet broadcast through the key input unit 50, the microprocessor 80 of the Internet television is a browser program (for example, 'Albatross' similar to Netscape 2.01) necessary for connecting to an Internet server. Program is called from an internal ROM, and browses to an Internet television broadcasting site via the modem 90.

As the modem 90, a serial type (for example, RS-232C standard) is common, and a detailed configuration thereof is shown in FIG.

That is, a DTE interface 97 connected to a data terminal equipment (DTE) of an Internet server, a data access arrangement (DAA) circuit 96 connected to a public line network or a telephone, and a hook control signal to the DAA circuit 96. MPU (Micro Processing Unit: 91) for controlling the overall operation of the modem, and the ROM (92) and RAM (93) that stores the program and data necessary for the MPU 91 to perform the control of the modem; An analog transmission / reception terminal (TXA / RXA) line and a pulse dial control signal line are connected to the DAA circuit 96, and a modulation / demodulation unit 95 connected to the DTE interface 97 and a serial data and control signal line; It consists of a USART (Universal Synchronous & Asynchronous Receiver & Transmitter) 94 which performs synchronous / asynchronous reception and transmission operation under the control of the MPU 91.

In order to access the Internet through the modem 90 configured as described above, the telephone line must be connected to the modem first. However, when a user tries to access the Internet server, the telephone line is not recognized. In the unsuccessful state, it was inconvenient to try to connect repeatedly.

The present invention devised to solve the above inconvenience provides an Internet television with a telephone line connection confirmation function that notifies the user by outputting OSD text on the screen when the telephone line required for internet access is not connected to the modem. There is a purpose.

1 is a block diagram of a general Internet television

2 is a detailed block diagram of the modem of FIG.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of confirming a telephone line connection of a modem in the Internet television of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

30: image processing unit 50: key input unit

60: OSD generator 70: data decoder

80: microprocessor 90: modem

91: MPU 96: DAA circuit

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention incorporates a program for Internet communication in a general television configuration and includes a modem. When the user selects an Internet function and requests access to the Internet, the modem is connected to the Internet. Attempts to connect to the server, and if the response signal from the exchange providing the communication service is not detected, it outputs an OSD character indicating that the telephone line is not connected on the screen.

Hereinafter, a process of confirming the connection of a telephone line in an Internet television having a telephone line connection confirmation function of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

When the user selects a specific channel through the key input unit 50 while the television is powered on, the microprocessor 80 controls the tuner 10 to receive a broadcast signal of the corresponding channel, and the received broadcast signal is an image. The video signal is separated from the audio separation unit 20, and the separated video signal is processed by the image processing unit 30 and the audio signal is processed by the audio processing unit 40 and output through the water pipe CRT and the speaker SP, respectively. The user will watch a television broadcast.

When the user selects the Internet function through the key input unit 50 to receive the Internet service while watching television, the microprocessor 80 calls the browser program necessary for connection to the Internet server from the internal ROM, and the modem 90 Attempt to connect to the Internet server via.

As such, in connection with the Internet server, the CPU of the microprocessor 80 first checks whether the telephone line is connected to the modem 90, and the process is illustrated in FIG.

That is, when the Internet function is selected by determining whether the user selects the Internet function through the key input unit 50 (S100), the above-described browser program is called and the modem 90 outputs a control signal for requesting the Internet connection. (S101).

The MPU 91 of the modem 90 which receives the control signal for requesting the Internet connection outputs a hook control signal to the DAA circuit 96 and exchanges the Internet server with an internet server through an exchange (communication service company) connected to a public line network. Attempt to connect (S102).

After the connection is attempted, it is determined whether a response signal is received from the exchange (S103). If a response signal is received, the connection is normally made to the Internet server (S104). If the response signal is not received from the exchange, the telephone line is not connected to the modem. The MPU 91 outputs an internet access disable signal to the CPU (S105). Accordingly, the CPU requests the output of an OSD character (for example, "the telephone line is not connected to the modem to connect to the Internet server") for informing the user that the telephone line is not connected to the OSD generator 60.

Then, the OSD generating unit 60 performs the processing necessary for outputting the OSD text, and outputs the OSD text to the water tube CRT by loading the video signal on the video signal output by the video processor 30 (S106).

This allows the user to recognize that the telephone line is not connected to the modem 90.

As described above, the effect of the present invention is that when the user selects the Internet function and requests access to the Internet, if no response signal from the exchange is detected, the microprocessor displays an OSD character on the screen indicating that the telephone line is not connected. By outputting, the user is provided with the convenience of using the Internet.

Claims (1)

Modem 90 including the MPU 91 for controlling the connection with the public line network, and the microprocessor 80 and the microprocessor 80 for controlling the overall operation of the television and embedding the program necessary for Internet communication In the Internet television including the OSD generating unit 60 for outputting OSD characters to the receiving tube (CRT), The microprocessor 80 outputs a control signal for internet access to the modem 80 when the internet function is selected, and an OSD character indicating that the telephone line is not connected when the modem 80 receives an internet access disable signal. The Internet television having a telephone line connection confirmation function, characterized in that it further comprises a function of controlling the OSD generator (60) to be output to the water pipe (CRT).