JPH06120917A - CATV announcement broadcasting system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To provide a highly reliable system at low cost, which enables detailed announcement of specific areas and groups for announcement broadcasting. [Structure] In a system that uses a bidirectional CATV transmission line and broadcasts audio to a plurality of terminals from a center facility and a subcenter installed on the terminal side, a computer 101 and a broadcasting facility 102 are provided on the center facility side. .
On the center equipment side, the downlink equipment control channel of the transmission line is used via a modem, and the center equipment 1 is polled.
The status of the broadcasting equipment 102 connected to 00, the subcenter 111a connected to the terminal side and the terminals 110a, 110b, ... Are sequentially monitored, and designated from a plurality of audio channels in response to a broadcasting request from the center equipment 100 and the subcenter 111a. , To control the terminals 110a, 110b, ... Corresponding to a specific area or group,
Enable announcement broadcasting.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a CATV announcement broadcasting system which utilizes two-way CATV transmission to perform announcement broadcasting by voice from a center side to each terminal side.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in each municipality, cable broadcasting is generally used to carry out communication broadcasting from the center to residents. However, recently, the use of CATV, which enables transmission of a large amount of information, has become popular for activating the area.

Therefore, there is an increasing demand for a system having the function of conventional cable broadcasting and capable of performing highly functional announcement broadcasting using the CATV transmission path. As described above, when the CATV transmission path is used to perform announcement broadcasting by voice to the subscribers on the terminal side, a method of simultaneously broadcasting on a specific channel from a modulator provided on the center facility side is performed.

[0004]

However, with the widespread use of CATV facilities, it is possible to specify a specific area, a hobby circle, a member for each school class, etc., depending on the broadcast content, so that a more sophisticated system can be contacted. Is required. In this case, it is difficult to make a specific contact using CATV, and a telephone contact is generally made.

[0005] Further, as a device using the CATV,
The MCA / C method, which adapts the channel access method of wireless communication to the cable, is used. However, this communication method is mainly for communication between terminals as in the case of telephone. Therefore, there is a problem that it is not possible to perform the announcement broadcasting by finely designating the specific district or group.

In addition, MCA / C (Multi Channel Access)
On Cable) control channel (C-channel)
And a communication channel (S-channel), which is a system for setting a communication channel to be used for communication between terminals by a control channel and performing communication, so that the transmission and reception channels are controlled in a complicated manner for each terminal device. It is necessary to provide a function to do so, and there is a drawback that the device of the terminal becomes complicated and expensive.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it is possible to perform announcement broadcasting by finely designating a specific area or group, which has good operability and is highly reliable and inexpensive. The purpose is to provide.

[0008]

The present invention is a bidirectional CA.
In a system that uses a TV transmission line and broadcasts audio to a plurality of terminals from a center facility and a sub-center installed on the terminal side, the center facility side is equipped with a computer and a center MPU, and the transmission line is connected via a modem. The downlink control channel is used to sequentially monitor the status of the broadcasting equipment connected to the center equipment by polling, the subcenter connected to the terminal side, and the terminal device, and from multiple audio channels according to the broadcast request from the center equipment and subcenter It is characterized by assigning a designated audio channel and controlling terminals corresponding to a specific area or group to enable broadcasting.

[0009]

The center MPU sequentially communicates with the broadcasting equipment, the sub-center on the subscriber side, and the terminals, each having a unique address, via a modem by a polling signal, and monitors their states. This polling signal is transmitted using a downlink control channel as a downlink signal on the transmission path.

The broadcasting equipment, the sub-center, and the terminal which have received the polling signal and confirmed the address addressed to the own station are
The upstream control channel is used to sequentially send back the broadcast request and operating state of the own station to the center MPU as an answer signal.

Broadcast request data from the broadcasting facility and the sub-center on the subscriber side is processed by the center MPU, passed to the computer as a command, and then the area to which the terminal belongs, the group to which the subscriber belongs, etc. are judged, Control data for upstream and downstream audio channels used for broadcasting and control data for operating the terminal device for receiving the broadcast are sent to the terminal side on the downstream channel via the center MPU and the modem. When the announcement is broadcast from a broadcasting facility to a specific district, for example, the district name is selected.

After that, when the polling signal from the center MPU to the broadcasting facility by the downlink control channel is sent to the broadcasting facility, the broadcast request data, the data of the district name of the announcement broadcasting, etc. are transmitted from the broadcasting facility to the upstream. It is sent to the center MPU via the control channel and then passed to the computer. Then, the computer searches for a terminal connected to the area for broadcasting the announcement by the broadcasting facility, selects the audio channel to be received, and then controls the terminal to broadcast the announcement from the broadcasting facility. Is prepared.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a notification broadcasting system using a bidirectional CATV according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a TV broadcast wave CA.
This is a center facility for transmitting to a TV line. To this center facility 100, a computer 101 for managing and controlling the entire announcement broadcasting system and a broadcasting facility 102 are connected.

In the CATV transmission line, main branch amplifiers 103a, 103b, ... Are connected in multiple stages to the main line 104, and branch amplifiers 105a, 105b ,. It is connected. A branch line 107 is further connected to the branch amplifiers 105a, 105b, ...
Each subscriber is connected via 9.

Here, the terminals 110a, 1 are provided to each subscriber.
0b, ..., 110n, and terminals 1 in these areas
10a, 110b, ..., 110n have sub-centers 111a (sub-centers of other groups 111b,
... are omitted) are connected to configure the system. Figure 2
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing details of center facility 100 and broadcast facility 102.

The center equipment 100 includes the TV retransmitter 20.
1, converter 202, modem 203, center MPU
Main components are 204 and mixer 205. The TV broadcast wave sent from the center equipment 100 to the CATV transmission line is
After being received by the antenna, the signal is input to the TV retransmitter 201, amplified to a prescribed signal level, and frequency-converted for rearrangement of TV channels, and then is transmitted to the CATV transmission line via the mixer 205 and the branching device 206. Sent from the terminal 207. Further, the mixer 205 is connected to the converter 202, and the modem 203 and the center MPU 204 are connected.
The computer 101 is connected via the.

In addition, the branching unit 206 has a broadcasting facility 1
02 is connected. The broadcasting facility 102 includes a microphone 208 for inputting an announcement broadcast audio signal, a broadcasting table 209, a speaker 210, an MPU 211, a modulator 212, and a modem 21.
3, a mixer 214, and a demodulator 215. The speaker 210 is used for broadcasting equipment, a telephone call for meetings among a plurality of sub-centers, and the like. Next, the operation of the announcement broadcast in the above embodiment will be described.

The TV broadcast wave sent from the center equipment 100 to the CATV transmission line is received by the antenna and then input to the TV retransmitter 201 to be amplified to a prescribed signal level and to be re-arranged in the TV channel. Converted from the terminal 207 to CA through the mixer 205 and the branching device 206.
It is sent to the TV transmission line. The frequency at this time is 90 in FIG.
The band of TV broadcasting of MHz or more is used. FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of channel arrangement of the announcement broadcasting system.

The center MPU 204 has a broadcasting facility 102 in which unique addresses are set, sub-centers 111a, ... On the subscriber side, and terminals 110a, 11 respectively.
0b, ..., 110n are sequentially communicated with the polling signal via the modem 203, and their states are monitored.

This polling signal is transmitted as a downlink signal on the transmission line using the downlink control channel shown in FIG. 5, and is a high frequency signal obtained by FSK-modulating the signal of the center MPU 204 by the modem 203.

The broadcasting facility 102, the sub-center 111a, which has received the polling signal and confirmed the address addressed to itself,
... and the terminals 110a, 110b, ..., 110n are
Using the upstream control channel, the broadcast request and operating status of the local station are sequentially returned to the center MPU 204 as an answer signal.

The converter 202 installed in the center equipment 100 is a high frequency signal obtained by modulating an audio signal broadcast from the broadcasting equipment 102 and the sub-centers 111a, ... On the subscriber side, and the upstream audio channel 1 shown in FIG. ~
n is frequency-converted into downlink audio channels 1 to n.

The frequency conversion in this converter 202 is
When the input levels of the upstream audio channels 1 to n are almost equal, the upstream audio channels 1 to n can be collectively converted into the downstream audio channels 1 to n by one local oscillator.

However, since a large number of sub-centers 111a, ... Are installed at different locations in the CATV transmission line, there is a difference in the input level between the upstream audio channels 1-n, so that the audio channels 1-n are different from each other. The frequency is converted separately.

Here, the control channels of this embodiment are the computer 101, the center MPU 204, and the modem 20.
Since 3 is connected to the center equipment 100, the upstream control channel is not frequency-converted to the downstream control channel.

That is, the modem 2 of the center facility 100
The polling signal and the control signal transmitted from 03 use a downlink control channel, and the broadcasting facility 102, the sub-centers 111a, ..., The terminals 110a, 110b ,.
send to n.

Further, the broadcasting facility 102, the sub-centers 111a on the subscriber side, ..., The terminals 110a and 110b.
The answer signal sent from ... is sent to the center equipment 100 using the upstream control channel.

The computer 101 is the center equipment 10
0, and is connected to the broadcasting facility 102 and the sub-centers 111a, ..., Terminals 110a, 110b ,.
110n stores all addresses and their attributes, that is, data such as districts to which the terminals 110a, 110b, ..., 110n belong, groups and circles to which subscribers belong, schools, etc., and commands preset in the center MPU 204, etc. Communicate with.

Broadcast request data from the broadcasting facility 102 and sub-centers 111a, ...
Computer 10 processed by U204 as a command
1, and then the terminals 110a, 110b, ..., 11
Up and down audio channels 1 used for broadcasting by judging the area to which 0n belongs, the group to which the subscriber belongs, etc.
Terminals 110 for receiving control data of ~ n and broadcast
Control data for operating a, 110b, ..., 110n is sent to the terminal side via the center MPU 204 and the modem 203 in the downlink channel.

The broadcasting facility 102 amplifies and switches audio signals for broadcasting, and the sub-center 111 on the subscriber side.
, and terminal 110a, 110b, ..., 110n are selected by their attributes. Broadcast facility 10
When the notification broadcast is made from 2 to a specific area, for example, the area name is selected by the key of the broadcast console 209, and the data is passed to the MPU 211.

After that, a polling signal from the center MPU 204 to the broadcasting facility 102 by the downlink control channel is transmitted via the mixer 214 and the modem 213 to the MPU 21.
1 is transmitted to the MPU 211 from the MPU 211, the modem 213,
The signal is sent to the center MPU 204 via the mixer 214 through the upstream control channel, and is further passed to the computer 101.

Then, a terminal 110 connected from the computer 101 to the area where the broadcasting facility 102 announces and broadcasts.
a, 110b, ..., 110n are searched, and a voice channel to be received is selected.
By performing the control of a, 110b, ..., 110n, the announcement broadcasting from the broadcasting facility 102 is prepared.

After that, the audio signal of the announcement broadcast is input through the microphone 208 of the broadcasting facility 102. The input audio signal is amplified to a predetermined level by the broadcasting console 209, and then is sent to the center facility 100 through the mixer 214 on the designated upstream audio channels 1 to n, which are FM-modulated by the modulator 212. To be

This upstream designated audio channel 1
The broadcast wave of n is sent to the converter 202 via the branching device 206 and the mixer 205, and is sent to each of the terminals 110a, 110b, ...
It is received and broadcast by the terminal with the specified address.

When terminating the announcement broadcast, the broadcast console 209
Is used to notify the end of broadcasting to the MPU 211, and thereafter, the upstream control channel is used as an answer signal of the polling signal by the downstream control channel from the center MPU 204, and the computer 101 receives the end of broadcasting data. Sending from the computer 101 to the broadcasting facility 102 and each terminal 110
By sending a control signal for ending the broadcast to a, 110b, ..., 110n, the audio channel occupied at the time of the announcement broadcast is released.

The operation of the announcement broadcasting is explained to the area designated by the broadcasting equipment 102.
0b, ..., 110n follow the same procedure when broadcasting to the area, circle, etc. to which it belongs.

That is, the representative of each district and the circle,
A case will be described in which a sub-center 111a provided at a school or the like broadcasts to designated terminals 110a, 110b, ..., 110n.

The sub-center 111a, as shown in FIG. 3, receives the audio signal of the announcement broadcast, the microphone 300, the broadcasting unit 301, the speaker 302, the demodulator 303, and the MPU 30.
2, a modulator 305, a modem 306, a mixer 307, and a terminal 308 connected to the service line 109, and the above-mentioned FIG.
The broadcasting console 2 has a configuration similar to that of the broadcasting equipment 102 in
09 is a simplified broadcasting unit 301. this is,
This is because the operation is simplified by limiting the broadcasting area and the circle to which the subscriber belongs.

When broadcasting an announcement to the district belonging to the sub-center 111a, the key provided in the broadcasting unit 301 is operated,
A broadcast request for the district is sent to the computer 101 as in the case of the announcement broadcast from the broadcast facility 102.

Next, the control data for determining the upstream audio channel for broadcasting is sent from the computer 101 to the sub-center 111a, and the transmission frequency of the modulator 212 is controlled.

In addition, terminals 110a and 110 in the broadcasting area
Control data for determining the downstream voice channel is sent to b, ..., 110n, and is controlled by the demodulator 405 of the terminal device in FIG.

By this series of control, the sub center 1
Preparations are made for broadcasting in the area from 11a, and the audio signal from the microphone 300 is amplified by the broadcasting unit 301, and is modulated by the modulator 305 on the designated upstream audio channel.
After being M-modulated, it is sent from the terminal 308 to the center equipment 100 through the mixer 307, frequency-converted into a downstream audio channel by the converter 202 in the center equipment 100, and sent to the terminals 110a, 110b, ..., 110n. The demodulator 405 of the terminal unit demodulates the amplifier 4
06, and is broadcast through the speaker 407.

Here, the modulator 3 of the sub-center 111a
The MPU 304 controls the settings of the upstream audio channel for broadcasting using 05 and the downstream audio channel for monitoring the broadcast with the demodulator 303.

That is, the polling signal and control data by the downlink control channel sent from the center MPU 204 of the center equipment 100 are received by the MPU 304 via the modem 306.

The MPU 304 sends the control data of the channel based on the control data to the PLL (phase lock loop) of the modulator 305 and the demodulator 303, and controls the frequency to set and control the voice channels for transmission and reception.

The MPU 304 also monitors the state of the keys of the broadcasting unit 301, detects announcement broadcasts and communication requests between sub-centers, and sends the transmission request data to the center facility 100 via the modem 306. .

Therefore, by registering various types of broadcasting and calling forms as data in the computer 101 in advance, the broadcasting facility 102, the sub-center 111a, and the other sub-centers 111b, ... Have two audio channels. It is possible to perform a meeting operation in which a two-way call is made between them.

For example, when making a call between the sub-center 111a and the sub-center 111b (not shown), by operating the key of the broadcasting unit 301 to specify the sub-center of the other party, the computer 101 can make a voice call. Channel control is performed by each sub-center 111a, 11
You can make a call by receiving 1b. Terminals 110a, 1
The configuration of 10b, ..., 110n is shown in FIG.

Terminals 110a, 110b, ..., 110n
Is an operation display unit 400, MPU 401, modem 402,
Mixer 403, terminal 404, demodulator 405, amplifier 40
6 and a speaker 407, and the mixer 403 has a terminal 40.
4 to the service line 109. The polling signal and the control signal sent from the center equipment 100 are transmitted to the MPU 4 via the terminal 404, the mixer 403, and the modem 402.
Sent to 01. The polling signal is sent to the terminal 110.
The states of a, 110b, ..., 110n are sequentially monitored. That is, the operations of the power supplies of the terminals 110a, 110b, ..., 110n and the states of the operation display unit 400 and the demodulator 405 are sent to the center facility 100. The operation display unit 400 includes a push button for confirming the announcement broadcast, a display LED during reception, and the like.

Further, the control signal sent from the center equipment 100 determines the control content by the MPU 401, controls the PLL of the demodulator 405 to set or cancel the receiving channel, and displays the reception status. Operation display section 4
00. The announcement broadcast audio signal received and demodulated by the demodulator 405 is amplified by the amplifier 406 and then broadcast to the subscriber by the speaker 407.

Although the configuration and operation of the embodiment of the announcement broadcasting system of the present invention have been described above, the configuration data of the district of the computer 101 and the configuration data of the group to which the subscriber belongs are expanded, and a large number of broadcast facilities 102 are mainly formed. It is also possible to hold a conference using this system between the sub-centers 111a, 111b, ....

That is, the operator of the broadcasting facility 102 becomes the chairperson, and the conference can be performed by a method of selecting the subcenters 111a, 111b, ...

In the case of a disaster or fire, the computer 101 performs emergency broadcast by automatically selecting and controlling the recording tape of the broadcast contents provided in the broadcast facility in addition to the emergency broadcast area data. Or
Joining outdoors by sending a special message or BGM broadcast at a specified time limited to the entire area or to a specific area or public facility, and connecting to a designated terminal device and a local loudspeaker. It is also possible to broadcast announcements to people.

[0055]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention,
Since a large number of downlink audio channels facing the upstream are provided on the broadband CATV transmission line, and these audio channels are collectively controlled by the computer connected to the center facility,
Broadcasting of multiple districts and communication of circles can be done simultaneously. Further, when the number of audio channels is increased and the system scale is expanded, it can be easily realized by increasing the audio channel control data of the computer. In addition to the announcement broadcast from the broadcasting equipment connected to the center equipment, a sub-center can be connected to any place on the terminal side to perform district broadcasting or circle communication broadcasting. In addition, it is possible to make a call for a meeting between the broadcasting facility and a plurality of sub-centers, and further, it is possible to display when the other party is in a call, which enables efficient operation.

By the converter installed in the center equipment,
Downstream audio channels that are opposite to upstream can be easily realized, and the frequencies of the modulator and demodulator inside the equipment of the broadcasting equipment, subcenter, and terminal can be shared, so the circuit configuration of these equipment can be standardized. It will be cheaper. Also, there are few maintenance parts.

The computer connected to the center equipment,
Data such as the subcenter, district to which the terminal belongs, circle, etc. is registered in advance, and the address of the broadcast target based on the data can be selected by computer re-control, so the operation at the time of broadcasting is easy and erroneous operation is possible. Disappear.

Since control and status monitoring of the broadcasting equipment, sub-centers, and terminals are performed on the control channel by the polling method from the center MPU provided in the center equipment, there is no interference with a plurality of broadcasting requests, and the broadcasting equipment,
The system reliability is high because it is possible to monitor the operation status of sub-center broadcasting, etc., power-off of terminals, etc., and connection status with transmission lines.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a specific area or group can be designated in detail for announcement broadcasting, and a highly functional and highly reliable CATV announcement broadcasting system can be provided at low cost. It is a thing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a notification broadcasting system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of equipment on the center side.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a sub center.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a terminal device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of channel arrangement of the announcement broadcasting system.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 center equipment 101 computer 102 broadcasting equipment 103a, 103b,
... Main line branch amplifier 104 Main lines 105a, 105b,
... Branch amplifier 106 Branch line 107 Branch line 108 Branch device 109 Drop line 110a, 110b, ..., 110n Terminal device 111a, ... Sub-center 201 TV retransmitter 202 Converter 203 Modem 204 Center M
PU 205 Mixer 206 Brancher 207 Terminal 208 Microphone 209 Broadcast table 210 Speaker 211 MPU 212 Modulator 213 Modem 214 Mixer 215 Demodulator 300 Microphone 301 Broadcast section 302 Speaker 303 Demodulator 304 MPU 305 Modulator 306 Modem 307 Mixer 308 Terminal 400 Operation display unit 401 MPU 402 Modem 403 Mixer 404 Terminal 405 Demodulator 406 Amplifier 407 Speaker

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ───

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] October 27, 1992

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0041

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

Next, the control data for determining the upstream audio channel for broadcasting is sent from the computer 101 to the sub-center 111a on the downstream control channel , and the modulator 212
The transmission frequency of is controlled.

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Figure 1

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 1]

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kenji Fukuda 1406 Hasunuma, Omiya City, Saitama Prefecture, Yagi Antenna Co., Ltd. Omiya Plant (72) Yukio Yamada 1406 Hasunuma, Omiya City, Saitama Prefecture, Omiya Plant, Yagi Antenna Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. In a system that uses a bidirectional CATV transmission line and broadcasts audio to a plurality of terminals from a center facility and a subcenter installed on the terminal side, the center facility includes a computer and a center MPU. Using the downlink control channel of the transmission line via the modem, the status of the broadcasting equipment connected to the center equipment by polling, the subcenter connected to the terminal side, and the terminal unit are sequentially monitored, and broadcast from the center equipment and subcenter A CATV announcement broadcasting system characterized by assigning a specified audio channel from a plurality of audio channels in response to a request and controlling a terminal device corresponding to a specific area or group to enable broadcasting. 2. The computer stores the allocation status of audio channels to be broadcast by a broadcasting facility, a sub-center, and a terminal and the attribute of an address for each district or group, and the broadcasting facilities and sub-devices included in the attributes are stored according to a request. 2. The CATV announcement broadcasting system according to claim 1, wherein the operation of the center and the terminal device is controlled using the downlink control channel via the center MPU and the modem. 3. The audio channel allocated by the computer controls the upstream audio channel and the downstream audio channel of the transmission line in response to a broadcast request from the center facility and the sub-center, and broadcasts simultaneously in a plurality of districts. The CATV announcement broadcasting system according to claim 1, wherein the CATV announcement broadcasting system is provided with a function capable of enabling communication and between the sub centers and between the broadcasting facility and the sub center. 4. The center facility comprises a converter,
2. The CATV announcement broadcasting system according to claim 1, wherein an upstream audio channel of the CATV line is received from a broadcasting facility or a sub-center facility, frequency-converted to a downstream audio channel, and transmitted again to the CATV line. 5. The terminal device selects a channel according to control data of a downlink control channel sent from a computer connected to the center facility, and receives the downlink audio channel. C
ATV announcement broadcasting system.