JPH0654897B2 - Information transmission method and pay broadcasting receiving terminal in pay broadcasting system - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for transmitting various information from a sender to a receiver in a pay broadcasting system, for example, in a pay broadcasting system of a television satellite by a broadcasting satellite. The present invention relates to a method for transmitting individual information including monetary amount information from a viewer to a viewer side, and also relates to a pay broadcast receiving terminal used in such a system.

Conventional technology and its problems In the paid broadcasting system such as television broadcasting by broadcasting satellite, which is scheduled to be fully implemented in the near future in Japan, prevent unauthorized viewing by those who do not have an official contract with the broadcasting supplier. Therefore, it has been considered that the transmission side scrambles a television signal by a predetermined method and sends it, and the receiving side descrambles it to reproduce the original signal.

In such a pay broadcasting system, as a matter of course, the broadcast supplier and the viewer make a contract for specific reception conditions and the like every predetermined contract period. And based on this contract,
The viewer pays the reception fee to the broadcast provider according to the contract content, and the broadcast provider provides the viewer with information according to the contract content, particularly individual information, by using, for example, a telephone or a mail. Here, referring to the 1988 report of the Telecommunications Technology Council (created on November 28, 1988), individual information is collectively referred to as related information together with common information and message information. The common information is a generic term for program information including information about programs and a key for descrambling, and control information for instructing forced on / off of the descramble function of the decoder. The individual information is for each subscriber. Of the contract information and a work key for decrypting the common information, and the message information additionally displays information about pay broadcasting services on the receiving side. Thus, the function of the above-mentioned common information, that is, the related information consisting of the number information, the control information, the individual information, and the message information, is related to the program, the program information transmitted by being superimposed on the broadcast wave, and the decoder distributed in advance. This is to compare the contract conditions of the individual information stored in the service so that only the recipient who has made a valid contract can receive the service. The program information, the control information, the individual information, and the message information, which compose this related information, each consist of a plurality of common or unique information, but the detailed description thereof is omitted because it deviates from the subject of the present invention.

If the above pay broadcasting system is illustrated in an easy-to-understand manner, its entire configuration is shown in the block diagram of FIG. In FIG. 5, on the broadcasting side of this system, a television signal is scrambled by a scrambler 1, and this scrambled signal is transmitted to a system service area via a broadcasting satellite 7. On the viewer side in the service area, the descramble device 6 descrambles and plays back the television signal received by the receiving terminal, and in this case, the descramble device 6 firstly broadcasts and is currently receiving. By checking the program information and the individual information given to each viewer from the broadcast supply side according to the contract contents, it is determined whether or not the received television signal may be descrambled.

By the way, although the program information has been mentioned above, this is typically information such as a code for identifying a number, a program jean, a unit price of a program, etc. Or time-division multiplexed with the horizontal blanking of the video signal.

Further, the individual information is information given from the method supply side to the decoder of the receiving terminal of each viewer who has contracted to view the program, and is, for example, the ID given to the decoder of the receiving terminal.
It consists of a number, information indicating the contract content of the received program, amount information such as advance payment, and important information including the expiration date.

Here, the contract contents of the received program are as follows, for example.

Contract to receive all broadcast programs (Flatto-Fee method) Program of specific janul (eg sports, movies, etc.)
Contract to receive.

A subscription is made when the program is received, and the reception fee is a prepaid or postpaid contract (pay-per-view method).

The operation of the descrambling device 6 will be described below with reference to FIG. In Fig. 6, satellite 7
The scrambled television signal from the device is taken into the descramble device 6 of the viewer receiving terminal, and the microcomputer 8 in the device determines by the descrambler 9 whether or not the signal is descrambled. The required control is performed based on the determination result. All of the individual information referenced by the microcomputer to perform this judgment / control is
It is stored in the individual information memory 10. On the other hand, the program information that is also referred to is separated from the scrambled television signal by the descrambler 9 and then given to the microcomputer 8.

The microcomputer 8 determines whether or not the television signal can be descrambled by collating the received program information with the individual information, and controls the operation of the descrambler 9 based on the result. To do. Therefore, if the judgment is descrambleable, the descrambler 9 descrambles the input scrambled television signal and then outputs it. Conversely, if the descramble is not possible, the descrambler 9 descrambles it. Output as is without doing.

Note that the individual information includes the information about the above-mentioned advance payment, but writing it to the individual information memory 10
Overlay method is used instead of override method. The descrambling device 6 also has an ID number memory 11 of the receiving terminal, which is used when inputting the individual information.
Input of individual information is performed by, for example, a barcode.

FIG. 7 shows the packet format of the individual information input by the bar code. As described above, the individual information includes the ID number 12 of the receiving terminal, the amount information 13 such as advance payment,
A packet is formed with important information including other information 14 such as the contract content of the received program and the expiration date of the item in this information.

The flowchart for inputting individual information using a bar code is shown in FIG. The microcomputer 8 uses the ID number 12 of the input individual information and the I number in the descrambling device 6.
The ID number of the receiving terminal stored in the D number memory 11 is collated (15), and when it is determined that the two match, the individual information is taken into the descrambler 9 (1
6), store in the individual information memory 10. On the contrary, if the result of the determination is that they do not match, the capture is rejected.

In the conventional method of sending individual information as described above, the bar coded individual information is input to the decoder of the pay-type receiving terminal over a plurality of times, so that the amount information in the individual information packet, etc. It may cause incorrect input. That is, since the decoder of the receiving terminal judges whether or not the individual information can be taken in based on only the judgment result of whether the ID numbers match when the individual information is taken in, as described above, the amount of money can be re-input. Information may be used illegally. Therefore, in order to prevent such re-input that induces illegal use, information other than the ID number may be stored in the memory, but the individual information includes many kinds of information. Therefore, it is unavoidable to increase the memory capacity required to prevent the re-input, and the configuration of the receiving terminal becomes complicated,
At the same time, the cost of the device becomes high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention and Characteristics of Solving Means The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and to prevent unauthorized use of individual information such as monetary information. (EN) It is possible to provide a new and highly useful information transmission method in a pay broadcasting system that can be prevented.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention is such that, on the broadcast supply side, an issue number is added by incrementing (previously +1) for each piece of information to be sent to the receiving terminal on each viewer side, especially for each piece of individual information, On the other hand, the receiving side on the viewer side sends information, and the receiving terminal on the viewer side sequentially stores the issue number of the individual information sent from the broadcast supply side, and the issuing of newly input individual information on the receiving terminal. It is provided with a comparison means for comparing and collating the number with the previous one, and it is determined that the issue number of the newly input individual information matches the one obtained by incrementing (+1) the issue number of the previous individual information. Only when it is done, permitting the capture of information to the receiving terminal and continue the processing, and conversely, when the two do not match, rejecting the capture, making illegal input impossible. It is intended. Therefore, according to the method of the present invention, the above-mentioned problems can be solved with a simple configuration in which the issue number memory is simply added to the descramble device of the receiving terminal.

Embodiments In order to clarify the specific structure and operation of the present invention, embodiments thereof will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the method of the present invention, which is the same as the prior art shown in FIG. 5 as far as the basic principle of a pay broadcasting system is concerned. In FIG. 1, the television signal scrambled by the scrambler 17 on the broadcast supply side is transmitted via the satellite 24 and descrambled by the descramble device 23 of the receiving terminal on the viewer side. Become a signal.
Also in this embodiment, the individual information from the broadcast supply side is encoded by the bar code printer (encoder) 19,
Consider the case where the postcard 20 is printed and sent to the viewer.

As will be immediately understood by comparing FIG. 1 with FIG. 5 above, in the present invention, means 1 for preliminarily adding an issue number to the broadcast supply side when sending individual information.
8 is newly provided. Therefore, the individual information is encoded by the bar code printer 19 while including the issue number by the issue number adding means 18, and is sent by mail or telephone 2.
0 or the like to send to the viewer, and at the receiving terminal, the barcode reader 22 decodes the individual information including the issue number. Then, the decoded issue number is sequentially given a number obtained by incrementing (+1) the previous number.

Packet information of individual information including the issue number,
For example, it is as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, this individual information has an ID number 30 and important information including other information 32 such as a prepayment 31, contract details, and contract expiration date. Although it is similar to the figure, in the present invention, the issue number 33 is also included in the individual information, which is different from the prior art in this respect.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the descrambling device 23 in FIG. The descrambling device 23 has not only an individual information memory 27 and an ID memory 28, but also an issue number memory 29. The issue number memory 29 contains the issue number of the last-acquired individual information. Is memorized. Here, as the initial setting of the issue number memory 29, the value of issue number -1 of the individual information that is first issued may be placed at the time of shipping of the barcode reader (decoder). For example, if the issue number of individual information to a certain decoder starts from 1,
0 is set in the issue number memory 29.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a processing procedure at the time of inputting individual information in the receiving terminal in the embodiment shown in FIG. The individual information after the barcode is decoded by the barcode reader (decoder) 22 is input to the descrambling device 23. However, up to the procedure (34) of collating the ID number in the descrambling device, the process shown in FIG. This is similar to the case of the conventional example. However, in the embodiment of the present invention, I
After verifying the D number, the issue number is also verified and the check (35) is also performed. Here, since the issue number is sequentially incremented (+1) as described above, the individual information having the issue number which does not match the issue number +1 stored in the issue number memory 29 in the descrambling device 23. The microcomputer 25 refuses to take it into the descrambler 26 because of this mismatch. On the contrary, only when the individual information having the issue number of issue number +1 stored in the issue number memory 29 is input, it is taken into the descrambler 26 and becomes a descrambled television signal. It is output.

Alternatively, when sending individual information from the broadcast supply side, the issue number is encrypted and included in the individual information, and the descramble device of the receiving terminal decodes this code to verify the issue number. If it is done, the safety will be much higher.

Here, an IC card, a magnetic card, or the like can be used instead of the postcard for recording the bar code used in the illustrated embodiment. Also in that case, as in the case of the embodiment, the issue number is added to the individual information, and the procedure according to the flow chart of FIG. 4 may be taken with the system configuration substantially equivalent to that shown in FIG. . Furthermore, instead of just package media like these, instead of it,
It is also possible to use the telephone line in the same manner.

Further, in the illustrated embodiment, the issue number which is incremented each time of issue is added to the information to be sent, however, conversely, it is also possible to use the issue number to be decremented (-1). Nor. In short, as long as it is an issue number that changes with a predetermined relationship one after another, it is in line with the basic idea of the present invention.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As is apparent from the above description, the present invention effectively solves the problems of the prior art and has the following unique effects.

The issuer of the individual information on the broadcast supply side adds the issue number by the increment method (or decrement method, etc.) to the individual information and issues it, while the descramble device of the viewer receiving terminal inputs the individual information. The issue number has been incremented (decremented, etc.), so it is taken in as a new one, so re-entry is prevented by a simple means of simply adding the issue number memory in the conventional descrambling device. Therefore, it is possible to prevent unauthorized use of individual information such as amount information. And in the descramble device of the receiving terminal,
By storing the issue number of the individual information that has been written in a predetermined procedure and using this issue number to collate with the issue number of the newly entered individual information, the check is performed to check the issue number of the once used individual information. It becomes possible to prevent the repeated use of the individual information including the amount information by a simple means without needing to erase only the amount information portion.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the entire configuration of a pay broadcasting system embodying the information transmission method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the descrambling device shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an individual information packet format diagram of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the microcomputer processing of the individual information processing input. FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, and FIG. 8 are drawings relating to a conventional pay broadcasting system, and correspond to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 of the present invention, respectively.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Mika Igarashi 8 Shinsugita-cho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A broadcast supply side transmits a broadcast including a program to be viewed by a viewer and program information related to the program, the viewer side receiving terminal receives the broadcast, and the viewer side receiving terminal. In the pay broadcasting system, which compares the received individual program information with the individual information pre-loaded and stored in, and controls whether or not the received program can be viewed according to the comparison result, An information transmitting method for transmitting the individual information from the broadcast supply side to the viewer side receiving terminal, wherein the broadcast supply side sequentially changes the individual information to be transmitted with a predetermined relationship each time it is issued. The individual information sent by adding the issue number to the viewer side, while the viewer side receiving terminal, among the individual information sent from the broadcast supply side, receives the individual information last input to the viewer side receiving terminal. Of information The issue number is stored in the memory, and the issue number of the newly input individual information and the issue number of the last entered individual information stored in the memory are collated by the comparison means,
As a result of the comparison by the comparison means, only when it is determined that the issue number of the newly input individual information has a predetermined relationship with the issue number of the last input individual information, The above-mentioned information transmission method, characterized in that the acquisition is permitted. 2. A broadcast including a program to be viewed by a viewer and program information related to the program is transmitted from a broadcast supply side, the viewer side receiving terminal receives the broadcast, and the viewer side receiving terminal. In the pay broadcasting system, which compares the received individual program information with the individual information pre-loaded and stored in, and controls whether or not the received program can be viewed according to the comparison result, An information transmitting method of transmitting the individual information from the broadcast supply side to the viewer side receiving terminal, wherein the broadcast provider adds an issue number that is incremented at each issue to the individual information to be transmitted. , The viewer side receiving terminal stores the issue number of the individual information last input to the viewer side receiving terminal among the individual information sent from the broadcast supply side. And a comparing means for collating the issue number of the newly input individual information with the issue number of the last inputted individual information stored in the memory. As a result of the collation by the comparing means, the new The above-mentioned information sending method, wherein the fetching of the individual information is permitted only when it is determined that the issued number of the input individual information is equivalent to the issue number of the last input individual information. . 3. A pay broadcast receiving terminal for receiving a pay broadcast including a program to be viewed by a viewer and program information related to the program, the pay broadcast being transmitted from a broadcast supply side, the broadcast supply Whether or not the received program information can be viewed according to the comparison result, by comparing the received program information with the individual information sent from the user side and pre-loaded and stored in the pay broadcast receiving terminal. In the pay broadcast receiving terminal, the individual information is important information, an issue number that changes in a predetermined relationship every time the important information is sent, and an ID number,
And information reading means for reading the individual information, and first judging means for judging whether or not the ID number read by the information reading means and the unique ID number of the pay broadcast receiving terminal match. Read by the second reading unit, which determines whether or not the issue number read by the information reading unit and the issue number read in the past have a predetermined relationship, I
Only when it is determined that the D number and the unique ID number of the pay broadcast receiving terminal match, and the read issue number and the issue number read in the past have the predetermined relationship, Whether to capture the important information, compare the important information captured by the capturing means with the received program information, and determine whether or not the received program can be viewed according to the comparison result. A pay broadcast receiving terminal, characterized by comprising: