JPH01288084A - Terminal control equipment for catv system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize a forced viewing function such as emergency broadcast simply by incorporating an operation signal reception section of a television receiver and a light emitting section connected optically to the signal detection section to a terminal controller. CONSTITUTION:A converter 12 controlled at the same time with a television receiver TV via a remote controller operation device S of the television receiver TV and a light emission section 17 connected optically to the operation signal detection section TVa of the television receiver TV are provided to the controller, the converter 12 selects a prescribed wave designated via the operation device S, converts the wave into a specific channel, gives it to the television receiver TV and the light emission section 17 outputs an optical signal for power application corresponding to the forced viewing command. Thus, the operation required to select the viewing of each channel including the broadcast of a paid channel is conducted by the changeover only of the reception channel by the operation device S of the television receiver TV. Then the forced viewing service of emergent information sent via the emergency broadcast channel is simply realized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application This invention is directed to a two-way or one-way CATV system in which a remote controller-type operating device for a combined television receiver is shared when switching and viewing broadcasts from multiple channels. This invention relates to a new terminal control device for a CATV system that can be used and operated.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION CATV systems that are used within large-scale facilities such as hotels and hospitals or within a certain area are becoming popular. Therefore, in these CATV systems, in addition to transmitting television broadcast programs broadcast as public broadcasters and some independent broadcast programs as broadcasts on free channels, specific information and other independent broadcast programs are transmitted. By transmitting broadcast programs etc. as paid channel broadcasts, we can provide viewers with the following benefits:
- It is common to provide high-level information services.

Such a system uses a combination of a television receiver and a terminal control device as a terminal device, and while the television receiver is a general commercially available product, the terminal control device is connected to the transmission line and the television receiver. It is possible to selectively receive one predetermined wave from among multiple channel broadcasts, including free channel broadcasts and pay channel broadcasts, transmitted via a transmission line. This is what needs to be configured. Therefore, the applicant focused on the fact that most recent television receivers are operated via a remote controller type operating device that uses infrared rays, and the applicant We have previously proposed a system that can significantly simplify the operating procedure by sharing the operation of both the receiver and the terminal control device (Japanese Patent Application No. 63-29).
648).

With this device, when you operate the channel selection switch on the controller, the optical signal emitted from the controller enters both the operation signal receiver of the television receiver and the light receiver of the terminal control device at the same time. The latter switches the converter inside the terminal control device and selectively tunes to one predetermined wave, and the former switches the receiving channel of the television receiver to a specific channel that matches the output of the converter, thereby tuning to any channel. Broadcasts can be selectively received. In addition, when receiving pay channel broadcasts, one of the channel selection switches on the controller is made to correspond to the pay selection switch, and a two-stage channel selection switch is used to select one wave of pay channel broadcasts. By performing the operation, a predetermined billing operation function can also be realized.

Problem to be Solved by the Invention According to the prior art, since the television receiver can only be turned on and off using a remote controller-type operating device, it is difficult for the viewer to There was a problem in that it was not possible to implement a function that forced users to watch emergency broadcasts and the like. Furthermore, if this were to be achieved by force, a switch for the power supply would have to be inserted into the power line of the television receiver, and this switch would have to be forcibly operated based on instructions from the center. The problem of having to modify the television receiver was unavoidable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the problems of the prior art, an object of the present invention is to incorporate a light emitting part optically connected to an operation signal receiving part of a television receiver into a terminal control device, and to respond to forced viewing commands from a center side. By turning on the power of the television receiver using the optical signal from this light emitting part, the television receiver can be turned on without making any special modifications to the television receiver.
An object of the present invention is to provide a new terminal control device for a CATV system that is devised to easily realize a forced viewing function such as emergency broadcasting.

Another object of the present invention is to realize a forced power-off function from the center side in order to deal with forgetting to turn off the power of a television receiver, and furthermore, to provide an optical signal for the operating device of a commercially available television receiver. In view of the fact that specifications vary depending on the manufacturer and model of TV receivers, C has a learning and memory function to match the TV receiver to which it is combined.
An object of the present invention is to provide a terminal control device for an ATV system.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the object, the present invention includes a converter that can be operated simultaneously with a television receiver and a television receiver that can be operated simultaneously through a remote controller-type operating device of the television receiver. Equipped with a signal receiver and an optically connected light emitting section, the converter selects one specified wave via a remote controller type operating device, converts it to a specific channel, and transmits it to a television receiver. The gist is that the transmitting and light emitting section emits an optical signal for turning on the power in response to a forced viewing command from the center side.

The light emitting unit emits an optical signal for selecting a specific channel or an optical signal for selecting an emergency channel following the optical signal for powering on, or responds to a forced off command from the center side. An optical signal for turning off the power may be emitted and output, and a learning storage section may be added to adapt the optical signal output from the operating device to the specifications.

With this configuration, if there is no forced viewing command from the center, the
By controlling both the television receiver and the terminal control device at the same time, it is possible to selectively view any one wave of broadcasts from a plurality of channels transmitted via the transmission path. In other words, in a system in which a converter can selectively convert all channels of broadcasting to be transmitted, firstly, the television receiver receives a predetermined specific signal regardless of which reception channel is switched to by the operator. Adjust to receive the channel. Therefore,
When a desired channel is selected using the controller, the converter converts one predetermined wave specified by the channel selection switch on the controller into a specific channel and sends it to the TV receiver, so the TV receiver can select the channel of interest. Can receive broadcasts.

When a forced viewing command is transmitted from the center side via the transmission path, the light emitting section first emits an optical signal for powering on, and this light enters the operation signal receiving section of the television receiver. Therefore, the television receiver is forcibly turned on. On the other hand, at this time, if the converter selects one specific wave whose broadcast content is emergency evacuation information etc. (hereinafter referred to as the emergency broadcast channel), converts it and sends it to the television receiver. , viewers are forced to view predetermined emergency information.

In a system where the converter can selectively convert only some channels of the broadcast to be transmitted, other channels can be viewed directly using the channel switching function of the television receiver without going through the converter. ,
A television receiver must have some of its reception channels tuned for reception of a particular channel, and other reception channels tuned for reception of the broadcast channel for direct viewing.

In such a case, if the emergency broadcast channel is to be viewed via a converter, the light emitting unit emits an optical signal for selecting a specific channel following the optical signal for powering on, and By matching the reception channel to the output of the converter, forced viewing of emergency information can be performed. In addition, when the emergency broadcast channel is to be viewed directly without going through a converter, the receiving channel of the television receiver is tuned to the emergency broadcast channel by the optical signal for emergency broadcast channel selection from the light emitting part. do it. In this case, the converter operates by selecting and converting the emergency broadcast channel in response to the emergency viewing command in the former case, and in the latter case, bypassing the emergency broadcast channel and converting it to the TV receiver. It is something that is communicated.

It works as described above.

Example Examples will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The terminal control device 10 of the CATV system includes a modem 11, a converter 12, and a control section 13 (FIG. 1).
At the end of the transmission line TR connected to a sensor (not shown), it is combined with a commercially available television receiver TV equipped with a remote controller type operating device S to form a terminal device of the CATV system.

The transmission path TR is a coaxial cable network, and it is assumed that multiplex television broadcast signals of a plurality of channels including, for example, free channel broadcasts and pay channel broadcasts are transmitted from a center (not shown).

Broadcasting on free channels usually consists of retransmitted programs of general public television broadcasting and independent broadcasting programs unique to the CATV system.

Furthermore, broadcasts on pay channels are specific self-broadcast programs, and when viewed, a viewing fee is charged according to the viewing time.

When the transmission path TR is introduced into the terminal control device 10, it is first connected to the modem 11, and is input to the television receiver TV as an output of the terminal control device 10 via the converter 12.

The modem 11 transmits a television broadcast signal transmitted via the transmission path TR to the converter 12, and
Control unit 1 separates terminal control signals transmitted from the center.
3, and is also created inside the terminal control device 10,
This is for sending data signals sent to the center to the transmission line TR. Further, the converter 12 selects and tunes one specified wave from the multiplex television broadcast signal, and transmits it to a pre-selected specific channel (hereinafter referred to as a specific channel) on the television receiver TV. , which converts the frequency and transmits it. However, here, the specific channel refers to a commercially available television receiver T.
V is any one channel among the receivable reception channels, and the television receiver TV is adjusted in advance to receive the frequency of this specific channel no matter which reception channel is switched to by the operation device S. To do (assume)

The control section 13 is connected to a storage section 14, a light receiving section 15, a paid storage section 16, and a light emitting section 17, and is also provided with a bidirectional data bus between it and the modem 11. Further, a control signal path via a pay storage section 16 is provided between the converter 12 and the converter 12 .

The light receiving unit 15 receives an infrared light signal Ls from a remote controller type operating device S, and receives it as an electrical signal.
5 and the operation signal light receiving section TVa of the television receiver TV, the light is simultaneously incident on and sensed. Further, it is assumed that the light emitting section 17 is optically connected to the operation signal light receiving section TVa of the television receiver TV, and therefore,
The optical signal Lsl from the light emitting section 17 is transmitted to the operation signal light receiving section TV.
It is assumed that light enters the optical signal a and that the television receiver TV can be operated according to the contents of the optical signal specifications.

The controller S is attached to a commercially available television receiver TV.
Generally, there are 12 channel selection switches, each of which corresponds to each received channel of the television receiver TV, while any one of them is assigned to select the broadcast of a pay channel, and the other The thing is
It is assumed that each broadcast signal channel is assigned to a free channel broadcast and a pay channel broadcast. Note that the correspondence relationship between the channel selection switch assigned in this way and each channel number for free channel broadcasting and pay channel broadcasting is determined by the terminal control device 10.
It is assumed that the information is stored in the storage unit 14 of .

The controller S may further include an off timer switch, a power switch, etc., and the functions of each of these switches are completely (same) as those in a normal commercially available television receiver. The switch automatically turns off the power of the television receiver TV as a set time elapses, and the power switch is an operation switch for opening and closing the power of the television receiver TV.

The operation of the terminal control device 10 of the CATV system having such a configuration is as follows.

When the television receiver TV is currently viewing any of the free channel broadcasts, the pay storage unit 16 of the terminal control device 10 is in a state where information indicating that the pay selection has been selected has been reset. , the converter 12 tunes to the frequency of the channel number of any one wave of the free channel broadcast corresponding to the reception channel selected by the channel selection switch of the operation device S, and converts this signal to the frequency of a specific channel. and sends it to the television receiver TV. On the other hand, since the television receiver TV is adjusted to receive a specific channel among all reception channels, the viewer can, by operating the controller S,
You can select and watch any one wave of a free channel broadcast.

Next, when you operate the channel selection switch on the controller S that is assigned to select a pay channel broadcast in order to watch a pay channel broadcast, the television receiver TV will select the channel selection switch corresponding to that channel selection switch. The actual receiving channel frequency at this time is also the frequency of the specific channel.

On the other hand, by operating the controller S, the optical signal Ls is sensed by the television receiver TV and at the same time reaches the control unit 13 via the light receiving unit 15. The fact that a pay channel broadcast has been selected is stored.

Next, among the channel selection switches on the controller S,
Select any one wave of the pay channel broadcasts by operating one of the broadcast signal channels assigned to the pay channel broadcasts.

As a result, the converter 12 selects one wave of the channel number corresponding to the operated channel selection switch and converts it to a specific channel. 1
You will be able to select and watch waves.

In this state, the control unit 13 connects the transmission path TR from the center to
and modem 11,
A response indicating that the terminal device is currently viewing a pay broadcast is generated, and in response to this response, the center can calculate charges for the terminal device.

To return from viewing paid channel broadcasts to free channel broadcasting, operate one of the channel selection switches on controller S that is assigned to free channel broadcasts. Select the broadcast channel. As a result, the television receiver TV is switched to the reception channel corresponding to the operated switch, and at the same time, the terminal control device 1
0, the information indicating that the paid selection has been selected in the paid storage section 16 is reset, and the converter 12 also resets the predetermined one of the broadcasts of the free channel corresponding to the operated switch.
Since the wave is selected, the television receiver TV can thereafter watch the broadcast of the free channel.

As described above, while watching a free channel or pay channel broadcast on the television receiver TV, or by operating the power switch of the controller S, the television receiver T
Suppose that a forced viewing command is transmitted from the center side via the transmission line TR when the power of V is turned off.This command signal is first transmitted to the control unit 13 via the modem 11. is input. In response to this, the control unit 13
A signal is sent to the light emitting unit 17, and the light emitting unit 17 emits and outputs a power-on optical signal Lsl to the television receiver TV. Therefore, the television receiver TV enters and maintains the power-on state, regardless of whether it has already been powered on.

On the other hand, since the control unit 13 also sends a signal to the converter 12 to the effect that there is a forced viewing command, the converter 12
In response to this, the emergency broadcast channel is selected from among the plurality of channels of broadcast signals transmitted via the transmission path TR, converted to a specific channel, and sent to the television receiver TV. Therefore, the viewers will be forced to watch this emergency broadcast channel from now on, so if the program content is set as emergency broadcast content such as information on the occurrence of a disaster in the building or emergency evacuation information, the viewers will be able to:
It is possible to receive a forced viewing service for these emergency information.

When transmitting a forced off command from the center side, the light emitting unit 17 can similarly emit an optical signal Lsl for turning off the power, so that the TV receiver TV forcibly turns off its power. It can be done. For example, in hotels etc., it is possible to forcibly turn off the power of the TV receiver in the guest room after checking out from the center side, which prevents unnecessary power consumption due to forgetting to turn off the power. .

In addition, the specific content of the optical signal specifications of each optical signal Lsl for powering on and powering off in the above explanation, as well as the correspondence between the channel selection switch of the controller S and the channel number of each broadcast channel, is 14, and can be arbitrarily determined by changing the stored contents. However, the light emitting part 1
The optical signal Lsl from 7 is input to the operation signal light receiving part TVa of the television receiver TV, and in order to operate the power supply of the television receiver TV, the optical signal Lsl from 7 is transmitted as an optical signal when the power switch of the controller S is operated. This should be defined in exactly the same optical signal specifications as Ls.

Another embodiment of the converter 12 may include bypass switches 12a, 12a operated by the control unit 13 (
Figure 2). At this time, the converter 12 converts some of the broadcasts of multiple channels transmitted via the transmission path TR,
For example, it is assumed that only pay channel broadcasts can be selected and converted to a specific channel, and when viewing broadcasts of other channels, the function of the converter 12 is bypassed by bypass switches 12a, 12a, and therefore, these The broadcast channels shall be viewed directly using the channel selection function of the television receiver TV. Therefore, the television receiver TV at this time adjusts to receive a specific channel for the reception channel corresponding to the broadcast channel to be viewed via the converter 12, but the broadcast channel to be viewed directly by bypassing the converter 12. For those corresponding to
Adjustments are made to receive the broadcast channel.

Now, if the emergency broadcast channel transmitted via the transmission path TR corresponds to the broadcast channel to be viewed via the converter 12, the light emitting unit 17 will respond to the forced viewing command from the center side and turn on the TV. Following the optical signal Lsl for powering on the television receiver TV, an optical signal Lsl for selecting a specific channel is outputted to the television receiver TV. Also, converter 1 at this time
2 selects an emergency broadcast channel in response to an emergency viewing command, converts it to a specific channel, and transmits it to a television receiver TV.

According to this configuration, when there is an emergency viewing command,
The broadcast signal of the emergency broadcast channel is selected by the converter 12, converted to a specific channel, and reaches the television receiver TV.
The power is turned on by the power-on optical signal Lsl from can receive the forced viewing service of the emergency broadcast channel.

Further, in this embodiment, when the emergency broadcast channel is to be viewed directly on the television receiver TV without going through the converter 12, the light emitting unit 17
Instead of the optical signal Lsl for selecting a specific channel, an optical signal Lsl for selecting an emergency broadcast channel may be emitted and output. That is, in response to the emergency viewing command, the bypass switch 12as 12a bypasses the function of the converter 12, while the television receiver TV is powered on and switched to a reception channel for receiving the emergency broadcast channel. Therefore, it is also possible to implement a forced viewing service for emergency broadcast channels.

A learning storage section 20 can be attached to the terminal control device 10 of the CATV system (FIG. 3).

The learning storage unit 20 is for updating the contents of the storage unit 14 of the terminal control device 10 so as to conform to the optical signal specifications of the optical signal Ls of the operating device S.

The learning storage unit 20 includes a memory 21 forming the storage unit 14 in FIG. In addition, a switch number display 24 is connected to the counter 23. The control unit 13 also includes an indicator lamp L2 consisting of a light emitting diode.
0 is connected.

Now, when the learning/memory mode switch S20 is turned on, the program shown in FIG. 4 starts operating in the control section 13.

The program first initializes the contents of the counter 23 (program step (1) in the figure, hereinafter simply referred to as (1)), so the switch number display 2
4 displays the number 1, which is the initial content of the counter 23. Therefore, when the first channel selection switch of the controller S is operated to cause the optical signal Ls to enter the light receiving section 15, the program detects this (2) and buffers the contents of the optical signal Ls. Store it in the memory 22 (3). When the end of the optical signal Ls is detected (4), the buffer memory 2
In order to transfer the contents of 2 to the memory 21 5), this optical signal Ls
that the contents of indicate the channel selection switch.
Memorize it as well.

Next, the program lights up the display lamp L20 to indicate that the channel selection switch has been memorized.
), checks whether processing for a predetermined score has been completed (7), and after an appropriate time delay (8), increments the counter 23, resets memorization completion, and turns off the display lamp L20. Do (9).

When the counter 23 is added up, the number 2 is displayed on the switch number display 24, so in the same way, the optical signal Ls corresponding to the next channel selection switch of the operation device S is
The contents of can be stored in the memory 21. below,
By changing the contents of the counter 23 in the order of 1, 2, 3, . . . and repeating the same operation, each signal specification of the optical signal Ls corresponding to each channel selection switch can be learned and memorized. Regarding the power switch of the controller S, the signal specifications of the optical signal Ls when the power switch is operated to turn on or turn off the television receiver TV are stored in the memory 21. Also, the optical signal specifications of each optical signal Lsl for specific channel selection and emergency broadcast channel selection can be stored in the channel selection switch corresponding to the receiving channel corresponding to the specific channel and emergency broadcast channel. The optical signal specification of the optical signal Ls may be stored in the memory 21 according to the above-mentioned operating procedure.

In this way, when reading and determining the receiving channel set by the controller S using the contents stored in the memory 21, the optical signal Ls stored in the buffer memory 22 via the light receiving section 15 is used. What is necessary is to compare the content with the content stored in the memory 21, find a match between the two, and specify the receiving channel number at that time.

In addition, when the light emitting unit 17 emits light signals Lsl for powering on, selecting a specific channel, selecting an emergency broadcast channel, or turning off the power, the power switch of the controller S stored in the memory 21 is used. With reference to the optical signal specifications of the optical signal Ls when operating the above, an optical signal Lsl matching the contents is created and outputted by light emission.

Generally, the operating device S is commercially available as an accessory to the television receiver TV, so the signal specifications of the operating device S are not uniform depending on the manufacturer and model of the television receiver TV. However, if the learning storage section 20 is attached, the specifications of the terminal control device 10 can be easily adapted to the signal specifications of the operating device S, so that the terminal device can be used in combination with a television receiver TV of any manufacturer or model. can be configured.

Note that the program shown in FIG. 4 that defines the operation in the learning storage section 20 is merely an example, and in particular, the content and timing to be displayed externally can be arbitrarily determined.

In the above description, when the power switch of the controller S is one and the optical signals Ls for powering on and powering off are the same, the light emitting unit 17 responds to the emergency viewing command by: It is necessary to emit the optical signal Lsl for powering on only when the television receiver TV is in the power-off state, and not to emit any optical signal when it is already in the power-on state. be. In addition, in response to a forced off command, the optical signal Lsl for powering off must be output only when the television receiver TV is in the power on state, and at this time, the optical signal Lsl for powering on and powering off The signal specifications of each optical signal Lsl are the same.

In order to realize such a function, for example, the power supply current of the television receiver TV is detected via a current transformer, and the output signal thereof is guided to the control unit 13 to determine whether the television receiver TV is in a power-on state or not. Since it is possible to determine whether or not the optical signal Lsl is emitted, it is possible to control the light emitting section 17 based on the determination result and determine whether or not the light emission output of the optical signal Lsl is necessary.

It is assumed that the optical connection method between the light emitting section 17 of the terminal control device 10 and the operation signal light receiving section TVa of the television receiver TV can take any form (FIG. 5). For example, by pulling out the light emitting section 17 from the terminal control device 10 via the extension cable 17a, the optical signal Lsl from the light emitting section 17 can easily enter the operation signal light receiving section TVa (see Fig. )).Furthermore, the optical signal Lsl from the light emitting section 17 may be guided to the operation signal light receiving section TVa via the optical fiber cable 17b ((B) in the same figure).

Furthermore, the optical signal Lsl can be made to enter the operation signal light receiving unit TVa via an external reflecting mirror M or a reflecting mirror M incorporated in the terminal control device 10 ((C) in the same figure, (
D)). However, in Fig. 5, in order to improve the space factor of the installation location, the television receiver TV is
The operating device S, which is stacked and installed on the upper surface of the terminal control device 10 and which inputs the optical signal Ls into the operation signal light receiving section TVa and the light receiving section 15 of the terminal control device 10, is also shown.

As described in detail, according to the present invention, a converter that can be operated simultaneously with a television receiver via a remote controller type operating device of the television receiver, and an operation signal receiving section of the television receiver and an optical The converter selects one predetermined wave specified via the operating device, converts it to a specific channel, and sends it to the television receiver, and the light emitting unit selects one predetermined wave specified via the controller, converts it to a specific channel, and sends it to the television receiver. By outputting an optical signal for powering on in response to the
All of this can be done by simply switching the reception channel using the TV receiver's controller, so the operation can be extremely simplified, and if necessary, it can be transmitted via the emergency broadcast channel. This has an extremely excellent effect in that a forced viewing service for emergency information can be easily implemented.

If the light emitting unit emits light and outputs an optical signal for turning off the power in response to a forced off command, it is possible to forcibly turn off the power to the television receiver, and in addition, a learning memory unit can be added. This has the advantage that it can be easily adapted to TV receivers of different manufacturers and models.

In addition, according to the present invention, a commercially available television receiver can be used as it is, and there is no need for any modification, making it easy to construct a system and ensuring the performance of the television receiver. It has excellent practical effects in that it is advantageous for obtaining.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an overall block system diagram showing an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of main parts showing another embodiment. FIGS. 3 and 4 show still another embodiment, with FIG. 3 being a main block diagram and FIG. 4 being a program flow chart. FIGS. 5(A) to 5D) are schematic diagrams showing the mode of optical connection between the light emitting section and the operation signal light receiving section. TR...Transmission line TV...TV receiver TVa.
・・Operation signal receiver

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) In a terminal control device of a CATV system that is combined with a television receiver and capable of selectively receiving broadcasts of multiple channels transmitted via a transmission line, The converter includes a converter that can be operated at the same time as the television receiver, and a light emitting section that is optically connected to the operation signal receiving section of the television receiver, and the converter is operable at the same time as the television receiver. One predetermined wave is selected, converted to a specific channel, and sent to the television receiver, and the light emitting section emits and outputs an optical signal for powering on in response to a forced viewing command from the center side. A terminal control device for a CATV system, characterized in that: 2) The terminal control device for a CATV system according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting section emits an optical signal for selecting a specific channel following the optical signal for powering on. 3) The CATV according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting unit emits an optical signal for selecting an emergency broadcast channel following the optical signal for powering on.
Terminal controller of the system. 4) The light emitting unit emits an optical signal for turning off the power in response to a forced off command from the center side, according to any one of claims 1 to 3. Terminal control device for CATV system. 5) The terminal control device for a CATV system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a learning storage unit for adapting to the optical signal specifications of the operating device.