KR20090042037A - System and method for diagnosis interactively - Google Patents

Abstract

A system and a method for diagnosis interactively are provided to share problems between a receiver and a broadcast station by reporting a problem of a receiver to a broadcast station on a real time basis without a request from a broadcast station. A transmitter(10) outputs a control signal according to a test request according to a received first signal and a second signal to a corresponding receiver(20). A receiver transmits the first signal in which its own operation state shows abnormal and the second signal showing a diagnostic test result of being connected in the test request received from transmitter with transmitter. The receiver receives a control signal of the transmitter according to the second signal and outputs the control signal.

Description

Bidirectional diagnosis / processing method and system

The present invention relates to digital broadcasting, and more particularly, in a broadcasting system including at least one or more receivers connected to a network, in case of an abnormal operation state of each receiver, the receiver diagnoses a corresponding problem according to a bidirectional communication method. It's about processing.

In a general digital broadcasting environment, the receiver responds to the request in response to a request from the transmitter.

For example, when a receiver receives a request for an abnormal state of an operating state of a corresponding receiver from a transmitter, the receiver transmits a result of the request, that is, an abnormal state of an operating state of the corresponding receiver, to a transmitter connected to the network.

However, in such a broadcast environment, the receiver cannot respond immediately unless the transmitter requests a request at the time when the problem occurs. Therefore, the receiver user can not immediately respond to the time when the problem occurs in the receiver may not be able to watch the desired broadcast, there is a problem that causes inconvenience. This phenomenon may lead to a dispute by causing dissatisfaction between the transmitter side providing the content or the user viewing the content.

In order to solve the above problems,

The present invention is to provide a method and system that can respond immediately to the time when a problem occurs in the operating state of the receiver regardless of the request of the transmitter.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method and system that can be made bidirectionally in the immediate response at the receiver.

An example of a bidirectional diagnostic method according to the present invention is a broadcast system including at least one or more receivers connected to a network by a transmitter, when it is determined that there is an error in operation state data at each receiver, indicating that an operation state of the corresponding receiver is abnormal. Transmitting a first signal to a transmitter; Receiving a diagnostic request for each item associated with the first signal of a plurality of diagnostic items from a transmitter; Performing a diagnostic test linked to a diagnostic request for each received item at a corresponding receiver, and transmitting a second signal indicating a result of the performed diagnostic test; And receiving and outputting a control signal according to the second signal of the corresponding receiver from the transmitter, and diagnosing / processing an operation state in both directions according to a protocol for managing the network at each receiver.

In this case, the first signal may be a trap packet according to a protocol for managing the network.

The control signal may include at least one of a message to be output through a screen of a corresponding receiver and an audio clip output through a speaker.

In addition, a process of diagnosing / processing an operation state in both directions according to a protocol for managing the network in each receiver may be performed in a clear channel.

The protocol for managing the network may include a simple network management protocol (SNMP).

Another example of the bidirectional diagnostic method according to the present invention is a broadcast system including at least one or more receivers connected to a network by a transmitter, when there is an error in operation state data in each receiver, the first state indicating that an operation state of the corresponding receiver is abnormal. Transmitting a signal to a transmitter; Receiving a diagnostic request according to the first signal of the corresponding receiver from the transmitter; Performing a diagnostic test on all items defined in relation to operation state data according to a diagnostic request of the received transmitter at a corresponding receiver, and transmitting a second signal indicating a result of the performed diagnostic test; And receiving and outputting a control signal according to the second signal of the corresponding receiver from the transmitter, and diagnosing / processing an operation state in both directions according to a protocol for managing the network at each receiver.

In this case, the first signal may be a trap packet according to a protocol for managing the network.

The control signal may include at least one of a message to be output through a screen of a corresponding receiver and an audio clip output through a speaker.

In addition, a process of diagnosing / processing an operation state in both directions according to a protocol for managing the network in each receiver may be performed in a clear channel.

The protocol for managing the network may include SNMP.

An example of the bidirectional diagnosis / processing system according to the present invention is that in a broadcasting system including at least one or more receivers connected to a network in a diagnosis / processing in both directions according to a protocol for managing the network, its operation state is A receiver for transmitting to the transmitter a first signal indicating abnormality and a second signal indicating a diagnostic test result linked to a diagnostic request received from the transmitter, and receiving and outputting a control signal of the transmitter according to the second signal; And a transmitter for outputting a diagnostic request according to the received first signal and a control signal according to the second signal to a corresponding receiver.

In this case, the first signal may be a trap packet according to a protocol for managing the network.

The control signal may include at least one of a message to be output through a screen of a corresponding receiver and an audio clip output through a speaker.

In addition, the diagnosis / processing may be performed in a clear channel.

The protocol for managing the network may include SNMP.

In addition, the diagnostic request may be any one of an interactive-diagnostic request and a self-diagnostic request.

If the diagnostic request is a cross-diagnostic request, the receiver may transmit a diagnostic test result linked to the corresponding item requested for diagnosis in a second signal to the transmitter.

In addition, if the diagnostic request is a self-diagnosis request, the receiver may include a result of testing all predefined diagnostic items in the second signal and transmit the result to the transmitter.

According to the bidirectional diagnostic method and system according to the present invention,

First, when there is a problem in the operating state of the receiver, even without a request from the broadcasting station, information on the problem of the operating state can be reported to the broadcasting station in real time, so that the receiver and the broadcasting station can share the problem.

Second, by sharing the problem between the receiver and the broadcast station, there is an effect that can cope in both directions in real time.

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

According to the present invention, in a broadcasting system including at least one receiver connected to a transmitter through a network, when an operation state of each receiver is abnormal, the receiver corresponds to the transmitter in both directions according to a protocol for managing the network. A method and system for diagnosing / treating problems.

Basically, in the present invention, each receiver checks its own operating state, and if there is a problem, first reports from each receiver to the transmitter at the time when it is determined that the checked operating state is abnormal regardless of the request of the transmitter. After reporting, the receiver will actively diagnose / process the problem according to the bidirectional communication method.

In the following description, a transceiver having a software manager and a software agent communicating with each other according to a protocol for managing the network for bidirectional communication will be described as an example.

Thus, according to the present invention, by diagnosing / processing the problem in the receiver in both directions, it is possible to operate actively rather than passively in the transmitter. That is, when the receiver checks its operation state and determines that the operation state is abnormal, the receiver reports that the operation state of the receiver is abnormal to the transmitter even if there is no request for the operation state check report of the transmitter or irrespective of the request. .

Accordingly, information on the operation state of the receiver can be shared between the transceivers in real time. In addition, the problem occurring in the receiver can be diagnosed / processed in a bidirectional communication method with the transmitter. Therefore, it is possible for the receiver user to minimize complaints by dealing with the problem early from the occurrence of the problem.

In the following description, for convenience of description, the transmitter includes a broadcasting station, and the receiver includes a set-top box or an integrated digital television including the set-top box.

In addition, the protocol for managing the network will be described using a simple network management protocol (SNMP) as an example. In the above, the software manager provided in the transmitter refers to the SNMP manager, and the software agent provided in each receiver refers to the SNMP agent.

Before describing diagnosis / processing with each transmitter in both receivers according to the present invention, the communication method and function between the SNMP manager provided in the transmitter and the SNMP agent provided in the receiver for bidirectional communication according to the SNMP protocol will be described. The explanation is as follows. 1 is a view illustrating the functions of the SNMP manager and the SNMP agent in relation to the present invention.

Using the SNMP protocol, the transmitter 10 can grasp in detail the statistical data of the protocol currently being communicated by each receiver 20 connected through the network 30, information on a processor to be used, a TV manufacturer name, and the like.

The SNMP protocol is continuously upgraded for security as one of an application layer protocol for effectively controlling and managing equipment or servers in the network 30.

These SNMP protocols provide a language that allows multiple vendors to describe the control and information on their devices, and define a management information base (MIB) using the language. The information to be managed (MIB) can be expressed in a structured description language (SMI) to clearly define which objects can be managed by the manager and which objects and which objects should be managed.

Referring to FIG. 1, basically, the SNMP manager 15 and the SNMP agent 25 transmit at least one or more SNMP messages to each other through a network environment or an Internet environment 30 through a UDP (user datagram protocol) and an IP (internet protocol). Send and receive

An SNMP message requests each other between the SNMP manager 15 and the SNMP agent 25 and includes a response to the request. The SNMP message is mainly transmitted and received in the form of a packet in the SNMP protocol.

For example, the SNMP manager 15 delivers packets such as "GetRequest", "GetNextRequest", and "SetRequest" to the network environment or the Internet environment 30 via UDP and IP. In addition, the SNMP agent 25 of each receiver connected to the network environment or the Internet environment 30 receives the packets including the SNMP message through UDP and IP.

For example, the SNMP agent 25 transmits packets such as "GetResponse" and "Trap" to the network environment or the Internet environment 30 via UDP and IP. The SNMP manager 15 of the transmitter connected to the network environment or the Internet environment 30 receives the packets including the SNMP message through UDP and IP.

When the specific packet transmitted from the SNMP manager 15 is received, the SNMP agent 25 checks whether the received packet is any one of the "GetRequest", "GetNextRequest", and "SetRequest" packets. The corresponding operation according to the message included in the checked packet is performed on the SNMP managed object.

Basically, the "GetRequest", "GetNextRequest" and "SetRequest" packets are the packets transmitted from the SNMP manager 15 to the SNMP agent 25, and the "GetResponse" and "Trap" packets are the SNMP managers from the SNMP agent 25. This packet is transmitted to (15).

That is, "GetRequest" and "GetNextRequest" packets are packets for requesting information of the management object in the SNMP agent 25 from the SNMP manager 15, and the "SetRequest" packet is for controlling the management object in the SNMP agent 25. Packet. For example, the SNMP manager 15 sends a "GetRequest" or "GetNextRequest" packet to the SNMP agent 25 to request information on the management object in the SNMP agent 25, and requests the management object according to the requested information. You may send a "SetRequest" packet containing a message to control. In this case, the control may be, for example, content related to a setting required to perform an operation on the management object.

When the SNMP agent 25 receives the "GetRequest" or "GetNextRequest" packet, the SNMP agent 25 determines whether the message included in the packet is a request for an object managed by the SNMP agent 25. If it is determined that the request is for an object managed by itself, the value for the requested object is transmitted through a "GetResponse" packet. However, if the SNMP agent 25 determines that the message included in the packet is a request for an object other than the object managed by the packet, the SNMP agent 25 may not respond.

In addition, when an event occurs, the SNMP agent 25 may transmit a trap packet to the SNMP manager 15 in the same manner as described above. The trap packet may be used according to or defined by the contents previously defined in the SNMP protocol. For example, if the management object exceeds the range defined in the MIB to be managed or changes to a specific value, the SNMP manager 15 may change the trap packet. A trap can be sent to handle a managed object.

In connection with the present invention, the SNMP agent 25 may transmit a trap packet to the SNMP manager 25 when an important event or emergency occurs among objects managed by the SNMP agent 25 regardless of the request of the SNMP manager 15. have. That is, the SNMP agent 25 only needs to define the information MIB to be managed so that the receiver 20 can perform some special operation. In addition, the transmitter 10 and the receiver 20 should support the above-described management information (MIB) for a broadcast service.

Hereinafter, the present invention describes that each receiver 20 bidirectionally diagnoses / processes the transmitter 10 connected through a network in real time when there is an error in its operating state by using the SNMP function as described above. , As follows.

2 and 3 illustrate an example of a process of diagnosing / processing in both directions in a broadcasting system including a network-connected transceiver according to the present invention.

2 and 3 are remote, that is, according to a specific diagnosis type determined by the receiver 20 according to a request for determining a specific diagnosis type at the transmitter 10, and FIG. 2 is a case of interactive-diagnostic operation. 3 is for explaining the process between the transceivers in the case of self-diagnostic.

In addition, as described above, transmission and reception of signals for diagnosing / processing in both directions between the transceivers connected through the network 30 are performed between the SNMP manager 15 and the SNMP agent 25 respectively provided in the transceivers according to the SNMP protocol. .

Hereinafter, the set-top box will be described as an example of the receiver 20.

First, the case of the cross-diagnosis of FIG. 2 will be described.

The receiver 20 checks the operation state data to determine whether the operation state is abnormal. In this case, the check may be performed periodically.

The operation state data may mean data on the state of all operations in the receiver 20, but may also mean only data on the main operation state of the receiver 20 defined in advance through an appointment with the transmitter 10.

Hereinafter, for convenience of description, only the data on the main operating state of the predefined receiver 20 will be described as an example, but the data on the main operating state is, for example, data related to the determination of good or bad of a screen, and a separate type. Data related to attachment and detachment and insertion of the reception restriction module, or data related to attachment and detachment and insertion of an RF signal line.

The receiver 20 determines whether the operation state of the receiver 20 is normal or abnormal from the check result of the operation state data. In this case, in relation to the normal or abnormal determination of the operation state of the receiver 20, even if any one of the operation state data is determined to be abnormal or may be determined to be abnormal or at least two or more data is determined to be abnormal. .

In addition, in determining that an error occurs in the operation state data and is abnormal, even if an error occurs even once, it may be determined to be abnormal, but in consideration of various circumstances such as a reception environment, this may reduce the reliability of the determination. .

Accordingly, in order to increase the reliability and efficiency of the operation state abnormality determination, it is determined that the operation state data is abnormal only when it is determined that the error is more than a predetermined number of times in the receiver 20 or if the error is continuously generated. It would be desirable to.

If the receiver 20 determines that the operation state data is abnormal as described above, the receiver 20 reports that the receiver 20 is abnormal to the transmitter (S201). In this case, the receiver 20 may immediately report the transmitter 10 to the transmitter 10 at the time determined to be abnormal regardless of whether there is a request related to the operation status report from the transmitter 10 to the receiver 20.

In addition, with respect to the report, it is possible to use the SNMP function as illustrated above. That is, the receiver 20 includes a specific SNMP message indicating that an operation state of the receiver 20 is abnormal from the SNMP agent 25 provided in the transmitter 10 to the SNMP manager 15 provided in the transmitter 10 according to the SNMP protocol. Report by sending a packet. In this case, according to the SNMP protocol, the packet is transmitted from the SNMP agent 25 to the SNMP manager 15, and the packet may use a “Trap” packet.

In this case, in using the “Trap” packet, it is preferable to predefine contents related to the operation status report in the SNMP protocol. Hereinafter, the trap packet for the report is referred to as an SNMP trap packet.

When the report of step S201 is received, the transmitter 10 may recognize that an operation state of a specific receiver among at least one or more receivers connected to a network is abnormal.

Therefore, the transmitter 10 requests a diagnosis in order to solve the problem of the receiver 20, receives a response according to the request, and sends a corresponding solution as a control signal.

In the above process, the transmitter 10 requests the receiver 20 to remotely start the cross-diagnosis (S202), and the receiver 20 starts the cross-diagnosis of the received transmitter 10. An acceptance response to the request is made (S203).

When the transmitter 10 receives the cross-diagnosis acceptance response from the corresponding receiver 20, the transmitter 10 requests the cross-diagnostic to the receiver 20 (S204), and the receiver 20 recognizes the cross-diagnostic request. Responds (S205).

In this case, if the response in step S203 is a response to whether to diagnose according to the type of inter-diagnosis among a plurality of diagnostic types, the response in step S205 may include whether the inter-diagnosis may be started after the response in step S203. It can be said that it is a response to preparation of (20).

Therefore, when the accept response in step S205 is received, the transmitter 10 requests a test for each predefined item for cross-diagnosis (S206, S208), and the corresponding receiver 20 receives each item. The response according to the test request is transmitted (S207, S209).

In this case, the receiver 20 immediately responds to the test result linked to each item requested by the transmitter 10 according to the request for every item. That is, the receiver 20 does not collect a test result linked with a request for each item requested by the transmitter 10 and responds at once, but when a diagnostic request for any one item is received, Respond directly to test results. When the diagnostic request for the next item is received from the transmitter 10 again, the test result for the corresponding item is returned.

The response process of the above-mentioned diagnosis request and the diagnostic test result is determined that the transmitter 10 receives every response of the corresponding receiver 20 and determines that no further diagnosis is necessary as a result of the determination. Can be continued for. That is, the above-described diagnosis request and response process is performed until the transmitter 10 determines the cause of the abnormal operation state of the receiver 20.

When the transmitter 10 receives a diagnostic test result interlocked with the corresponding receiver 20 according to a diagnostic request for each item, the transmitter 10 determines a problem of the corresponding receiver 20. In addition, a control signal for solving the problem of the identified receiver 20 is generated and transmitted to the corresponding receiver 20 (S210). In this case, the control signal may be in the form of a configuration message for controlling the operation of the receiver 20, the message may be transmitted in the form of a specific packet. In addition, the packet may be, for example, the above-described "SetRequest" packet.

The control signal may be a message informing a user of a problem and a solution of the receiver 20 through a screen of the receiver 20 and / or an audio clip for notifying the problem and solution through a speaker of the receiver.

Therefore, the receiver may inform the user by outputting through a screen and / or a speaker according to the received control signal.

The foregoing has described a system and process for bidirectional diagnosis / processing when a remotely located transmitter requests cross-diagnostics and a receiver user responds to accepting the cross-diagnostics in response to the request.

Next, a description will be given of a system and a process of diagnosing / processing bidirectionally according to a self-diagnostic method when the corresponding receiver does not accept the cross-diagnostic request.

Although described with reference to FIG. 3, the same procedure as in FIG. 2 described above is used until the receiver reports an abnormal operation state of the corresponding receiver by using an SNMP trap packet.

When the transmitter receives a report that the operating state is abnormal from a receiver, the transmitter may recognize that the operating state of the corresponding receiver is abnormal.

Therefore, the transmitter requests a diagnosis in order to solve the problem of the corresponding receiver, receives a response according to the request, and sends a corresponding solution as a control signal.

In the above process, the transmitter remotely requests a cross-diagnosis start request to the corresponding receiver (S302), and the receiver responds to the received cross-diagnostic start request of the transmitter (S303).

When the transmitter receives a rejection response to the cross-diagnostic start request remotely from the corresponding receiver, the transmitter requests self-diagnosis to the corresponding receiver (S304).

When the receiver receives a self-diagnostic request from the transmitter, the receiver performs a diagnostic test linked to the self-diagnostic request. In this case, the diagnostic test may be a predefined item to be tested at the self-diagnosis request, and may include a diagnostic test for all operating states of the receiver. Alternatively, this may mean all of the diagnostic tests linked to each item in FIG. 2 described above. The receiver transmits a diagnostic test result according to the diagnostic test to the transmitter (S305).

When the transmitter receives a diagnostic test result from the receiver, the transmitter determines a problem and a countermeasure by determining a diagnostic result of the receiver. In operation S306, a control signal including the problem and / or countermeasure is generated and transmitted to the corresponding receiver.

In this case, the control signal may be a setting message, for example, a message to be provided to the user through the screen of the corresponding receiver. Alternatively, the control signal may be an audio clip for notifying the problem and / or solution through the speaker of the corresponding receiver. In addition, as described above, the control signal may be transmitted in the form of a "SetRequest" packet transmitted from the SNMP manager to the SNMP agent of the corresponding receiver according to the SNMP protocol.

Therefore, the receiver may be output through the screen and / or speaker according to the received control signal to solve the user's complaint by providing the user with the problem and / or countermeasures of the corresponding receiver.

2 and 3, when the receiver determines that there is an error in the operating state of the receiver through mutual diagnosis or self-diagnosis in both directions with the broadcasting station, even if there is no request for reporting the operation state of the broadcasting station in real time. You can report and solve the problem accordingly.

Hereinafter, specific examples of the scenario according to the present invention are as follows.

The receiver checks an operation state, for example, and assumes that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and reception error information of the signal are normal, but the transport stream (TS) is determined to be abnormal.

At this time, the receiver transmits the SNMP trap packet to the SNMP manager of the broadcasting station through the SNMP agent that there is an error in the operation state. The broadcast station receives the SNMP trap packet through the SNMP manager and recognizes that there is an error in the operation state of the corresponding receiver.

The broadcasting station checks whether the screen of the receiver is normally output when the separate point of deployment module is mounted or detached through the bidirectional communication with the corresponding receiver. In this case, the broadcast station may diagnose the channel by switching to a clear channel in which the scramble is not cleared in case the identification is impossible due to the reception limiting module (POD) in the diagnosis mode.

If there is a problem only when the detachable reception limiting module (POD) is installed as a result of the check, it is determined that the detachable reception limiting module (POD) has an abnormality and may transmit a corresponding message so that the receiver can check it.

However, if there is a problem only when the detachable reception limiting module (POD) is detached as a result of the check, the message may be transmitted since it is most likely a problem with the receiver.

The receiver may identify a problem part through the message transmitted from the broadcasting station, and respond to the problem.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the receiver can notify that there is an error in the transmitter immediately when the operation state occurs, the transmitter can also share the time and the phenomenon that the error occurs in the receiver. In addition, depending on the type of problem can be diagnosed in both directions, so that the problem can be analyzed and coped immediately.

Although there may be a dispute due to a problem in the conventional receiver because the transmitter does not immediately know the timing and phenomenon of a problem in the transmitter, the problem may be solved through a bidirectional diagnosis in real time according to the present invention.

4 shows an example of a detailed block diagram of a receiver according to the present invention. In the following specification, the receiver will be described using a cable broadcast receiver as an example for convenience of description. The operation thereof will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

For example, the receiver includes a host 400 and a cable card 420 attachable or detachable to the host. In general, the host 400 may receive only a cable broadcast signal or a broadcast signal of either terrestrial broadcast or satellite broadcast.

On the other hand, there are two methods of bi-directional communication between the receiver and the transmitter, and the OOB (Out Of Band) method and the DSG (DOCSIS Set-top Gateway) method are available for uplink service in the open cable.

Accordingly, the viewer may select and view a desired program through the host 400 using either of the two methods. Alternatively, the viewer can directly participate in the broadcast program or select and view necessary information. In addition, a data broadcast service may be provided through the OOB method and the DSG method.

The OOB scheme is a standard that defines a transmission standard between a transmitter (for example, a cable broadcasting station (headend)) and inter-sec equipment in a set-top box.

On the other hand, the DSG scheme refers to a transmission scheme between a cable modem control system of a transmitter and a DOCSIS-based cable modem in a set-top box. In this case, the DOCSIS may transmit data using a cable modem. 4 shows a receiver to which the OOB and DSG mixing scheme is applied.

In FIG. 4, the host 400 includes a first tuner 401a, a second tuner 401b, a first demodulator 402, a multiplexer 403, a demultiplexer 404, and a decoder 405. And a second demodulator (DOCSIS) 406, an OOB receiver 407, a switch 408, a modulator 409, and a controller 410.

The first tuner 401a tunes only a specific channel frequency among terrestrial A / V (Audio / Video) broadcasts transmitted through an antenna or cable A / V broadcasts transmitted in-band through a cable. It can be output to one demodulator 402.

Terrestrial broadcasting and cable broadcasting have different transmission schemes, and the first demodulator 402 may perform different demodulation processes on signals of different demodulation schemes.

If terrestrial A / V broadcasting is modulated and transmitted in VSB (Vestigial Sideband Modulation) scheme, and cable A / V broadcasting is modulated and transmitted in quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) scheme, the first tuner 401a selects a signal. Accordingly, the first demodulator 402 may demodulate a signal in a VSB manner or demodulate a signal in a QAM manner.

The signals demodulated by the first demodulator 402 may be multiplexed with each other by the multiplexer 403 to output the cable broadcast to the cable card 420 and the terrestrial broadcast to the demultiplexer 404.

4 also considers the case where the cable card 420 can handle multi-stream. Accordingly, the cable card 420 may allow a user to watch a broadcast through which the two or more streams are input through the host 400.

The demultiplexer 404 receives the multiplexed broadcast signal, demultiplexes the received broadcast signal into a plurality of streams, and outputs the multiplexed broadcast signal.

The decoder 405 receives and decodes the broadcast signal demultiplexed by the demultiplexer 404. This decoding results in a video / audio signal that the user can see.

The second tuner 401b tunes a specific channel frequency of the data broadcast transmitted through the cable by the DSG method and outputs it to the second demodulator 406. The second demodulator 406 may demodulate the DSG data broadcast and then output the demodulated broadcast signal to the controller 410.

The third tuner 407 tunes a specific channel frequency with respect to the downlink data broadcast transmitted by the OOB method through the cable and outputs it to the cable card 420.

When bidirectional communication is possible between the transmitter and the receiver, uplink information transmitted from the receiver to the transmitter (for example, information on the operating state of the receiver, application for a paid program, and host's directional information) may be OOB. Can be transmitted in a DSG manner. The receiver of FIG. 4 is provided with a switching unit 408 to transmit information by selecting one of the above schemes.

In the OOB method, user information or system diagnostic information is output to the modulator 409 through the cable card 420 and the switching unit 408, and the modulator 409 transmits the output signal to a quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK). The signal may be modulated by modulation or the like to be transmitted to the cable broadcasting station through the cable.

If broadcast information of the user is transmitted in a DSG manner, the information is outputted to the modulator 409 through the controller 410 and the switching unit 408, and the modulator 409 transmits a QAM (Quadrature Amplitute Modulation)-. The signal may be modulated by 16 modulation or the like and then transmitted to the cable broadcasting station through the cable.

In FIG. 4, when the received broadcast is terrestrial broadcast, the cable card 420 receives a multi-stream broadcast signal from the multiplexer 403, and if the broadcast signal is scrambled, The scrambled broadcast signal can be descrambled so that the cable broadcast can be normally viewed.

The controller 410 checks the operation state of the host. And check if When a problem occurs in the data of the operation state of the host, through the SNMP agent provided to the host as shown in Figures 2 to 3 to inform that there is an error in the operation state of the host. In this case, the SNMP agent transmits an SNMP trap packet indicating that an operation state of the corresponding receiver is abnormal to the transmitter's SNMP manager using the SNMP protocol.

In addition, the controller 410 receives a specific diagnosis start request, a diagnosis request, and the like transmitted through the SNMP manager of the transmitter through an SNMP agent, and responds to the request of the received transmitter. In this case, if the request is a diagnostic request, the controller 410 may control to perform a diagnostic test linked to the request, and may control to return the performed test result again.

When the control signal is received from the transmitter according to the returned test result, the controller 410 may control to decode the control signal so as to be displayed on a screen or output through a speaker. have.

As described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, an embodiment according to the spirit of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, those skilled in the art belonging to the present invention from this description Various modifications and variations are possible.

Therefore, the present invention should be grasped by the following claims, and the technical spirit of the present invention also affects both the equivalent range and the equivalent range, and it will be said to belong to the scope of the present invention.

1 is a diagram illustrating the SNMP operation and function in relation to the present invention.

2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing method in a bidirectional diagnostic system according to the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating another example of a processing method in a bidirectional diagnostic system according to the present invention.

4 shows an example of a detailed block diagram of a receiver according to the present invention;

* Description of the major signs in the drawings

10; Transmitter 15; SNMP manager

20; Receiver (set-top box) 25; SNMP agent

30; Network 400; Host

401a; First tuner 401b; 2nd tuner

402; First demodulator 403; Multiplexer

404; Demultiplexer 405; Decryptor

406; Second demodulator (DOCSIS) 407; OOB Receiver

408; Switching unit 409; Modulator

410; A controller 420; Cable card

Claims (18)

In a broadcast system including at least one receiver connected to the network by the transmitter, If each receiver determines that there is an error in the operation state data, transmitting a first signal indicating that the operation state of the corresponding receiver is abnormal to the transmitter; Receiving a diagnostic request for each item associated with the first signal of a plurality of diagnostic items from a transmitter; Performing a diagnostic test linked to a diagnostic request for each received item at a corresponding receiver, and transmitting a second signal indicating a result of the performed diagnostic test; And Receiving and outputting a control signal according to a second signal of the corresponding receiver transmitted from a transmitter, wherein each receiver diagnoses / processes an operation state in both directions according to a protocol for managing the network. The method of claim 1, The first signal is a trap packet according to a protocol for managing the network. The method of claim 1, The control signal may include at least one of a message to be output through a screen of a corresponding receiver and an audio clip output through a speaker. The method of claim 1, And diagnosing / processing an operation state in both directions according to a protocol for managing the network at each receiver. The method of claim 1, The protocol for managing the network comprises a simple network management protocol (SNMP). In a broadcast system including at least one receiver connected to the network by the transmitter, If there is an error in the operation state data at each receiver, transmitting a first signal to the transmitter indicating that the operation state of the corresponding receiver is abnormal; Receiving a diagnostic request according to the first signal of the corresponding receiver from the transmitter; Performing a diagnostic test on all items defined in relation to an operation state data according to a diagnostic request of the received transmitter at a corresponding receiver, and transmitting a second signal indicating a result of the performed diagnostic test; And Receiving and outputting a control signal according to a second signal of the corresponding receiver transmitted from a transmitter, wherein each receiver diagnoses / processes an operation state in both directions according to a protocol for managing the network. The method of claim 6, The first signal is a trap packet according to a protocol for managing the network. The method of claim 6, The control signal may include at least one of a message to be output through a screen of a corresponding receiver and an audio clip output through a speaker. The method of claim 6, And diagnosing / processing an operation state in both directions according to a protocol for managing the network at each receiver. The method of claim 6, The protocol for managing the network comprises a simple network management protocol (SNMP). In a broadcasting system including at least one receiver connected to a transmitter and a network, in the diagnosis / processing in both directions according to a protocol for managing the network, Transmitting a first signal indicating that its own operating state is abnormal and a second signal indicating a diagnostic test result linked to a diagnostic request received from the transmitter, and receiving and outputting a control signal of the transmitter according to the second signal. A receiver; And And a transmitter for outputting a diagnostic request according to the received first signal and a control signal according to the second signal to a corresponding receiver. The method of claim 11, The first signal is a broadcast system, characterized in that the trap packet according to the protocol for managing the network. The method of claim 11, And the control signal includes at least one of a message to be output through a screen of a corresponding receiver and an audio clip output through a speaker. The method of claim 11, The diagnosis / processing is a broadcast system, characterized in that the clear channel (clear channel). The method of claim 11, The network management protocol includes a simple network management protocol (SNMP). The method of claim 11, The diagnostic request is a broadcast system, characterized in that any one of an interactive-diagnostic request and a self-diagnostic request. The method of claim 16, And if the diagnostic request is a cross-diagnostic request, the receiver includes a diagnostic test result linked to the corresponding item for which the diagnostic request is requested, as a second signal, and transmits the result to the transmitter. The method of claim 16, If the diagnosis request is a self-diagnosis request, the receiver includes a result of testing all predefined diagnostic items in the second signal and transmits the result to the transmitter.

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