JP2003110512A - Digital broadcasting system, digital broadcasting method, local broadcasting facility device therefor, and wide area broadcasting facility device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide precise broadcasting services for each area while preventing broadcasting from being illegally distributed by a third person in a broadcasting area. SOLUTION: In a digital broadcasting system provided with a local broadcasting facility device 12 for receiving wide area broadcasting contents from a wide area broadcasting facility device 11, resending them to a specific area, multiplexing original local broadcasting contents on the resent signal, and performing local broadcasting, when transmitting the local broadcasting contents from the wide area broadcasting facility device 11 to the local broadcasting facility device 12, authentication is performed between the wide area broadcasting facility device 11 and the local broadcasting facility device 12, and while preventing broadcasting of contents from being illegally distributed by the third person, the suitable local broadcasting contents are provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital broadcasting system, a digital broadcasting method, and a regional broadcasting equipment and a wide area broadcasting equipment therefor. The present invention relates to a digital broadcasting system, a digital broadcasting method, and a regional broadcasting facility device and a wide area broadcasting facility device for surely and easily changing contents when broadcasting.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Digital broadcasting is expected to be further enhanced as digitalization progresses from communication satellites (CS) to cable TV and terrestrial broadcasting.

The most important feature of digital broadcasting is that the introduction of information compression technology improves the efficiency of use of frequencies required for program transmission and enables the number of broadcasting channels to be increased as compared with analog broadcasting. is there. Furthermore, since high-level error correction technology can be applied, high quality and uniform service can be provided.

Further, the digitization enables not only the conventional broadcasting of images and sounds but also the broadcasting of characters and data (data broadcasting). For example, news can be sent as character data, and personal computer (PC) software can be distributed by broadcasting, and systems for providing such services have been introduced one after another.

[0005]

However, in satellite broadcasting in which digital broadcasting is currently put into practical use, since the satellite is suitable for wide-area broadcasting on a nationwide scale, even if there is a regional limitation, its distribution is not possible. The operation is performed over a wide area, and the receiving apparatus selects only according to the area code of the receiving apparatus. In such a system, even if it is called a regional broadcast, it is distributed over a wide area. Therefore, it is not possible to consume a wide area band, and it is impossible to set the distribution area in detail.

On the other hand, in a broadcasting system for performing broadcast transmission to a so-called mobile receiving device such as digital broadcasting for automobiles, since the receiving device moves around and the receiving environment is not constant, for example, in a valley of a building in an urban area. Reception will occur in a place where radio waves are hard to reach. Therefore, in such areas, a relay station called a gap filler is installed on the roof of a building, etc., and the broadcast wave sent by satellite or communication is received by the relay station and retransmitted to the area. There is.

In view of the above situation, the present invention envisions a regional station, a relay station, a gap filler, etc. as a broadcasting station that distributes regional broadcasting that transmits information closely related to the area, and a third party is involved in regional broadcasting. While preventing unauthorized broadcast distribution,
The purpose is to provide a digital broadcasting system and the like that can provide detailed broadcasting services for each region.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a digital broadcasting system or the like according to the present invention receives wide area broadcasting contents from a wide area broadcasting facility device, retransmits the contents to a specific area, and transmits the retransmitted signal. In a digital broadcasting system including a regional broadcasting facility apparatus that multiplexes unique regional broadcasting content to perform regional broadcasting, when the regional broadcasting content is transmitted from the wide area broadcasting facility apparatus to the regional broadcasting facility apparatus, the wide area broadcasting facility apparatus Perform authentication of the regional broadcast facility device, or perform authentication of the wide area broadcast facility device from the regional broadcast facility device, or both.

With the above configuration, the local broadcast facility apparatus authenticates the sender of the local broadcast content before broadcasting the local broadcast content, and thus prevents unauthorized distribution of broadcast content by a third party. Is possible,
It becomes possible to provide appropriate regional broadcast contents.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the digital local broadcasting system of the present embodiment is a region in which a wide area station 11 by digital satellite broadcasting, a wide area broadcast from the wide area station 11 and a regional broadcast are multiplexed, switched or partially replaced. It has a station 12 and a receiving device 13 receives both broadcasts. The broadcast from the wide area station 11 is intended for a relatively wide area such as the whole country via the satellite 11a, while the local station 12
The regional broadcasting from is targeted at relatively limited areas such as specific municipalities.

Further, the regional stations 12 are often operated unmanned like a gap filler, and it is considered that the broadcasting contents transmitted from the regional stations 12 are often managed by the regional stations 12. The regional broadcasting content transmitted from the local station 12 is transmitted to the local station 12 according to the schedule defined by the wide area station 11. This transmission means includes a method of using two-way communication such as public telephone line and a method of using one-way communication such as terrestrial wave and satellite broadcasting. In any case, the steady transmission of the broadcast content from the wide area station 11 to the local station 12 is a big problem.

In the present invention, with respect to this problem, even if a person masquerading as the wide area station 11 transmits false broadcast contents to the local station 12, the local station 12 side can reject the reception.
A mechanism is provided in which a person who impersonates the regional station 12 can refuse transmission even if he / she requests transmission of broadcast content from the regional station 11. By introducing such a mechanism into the digital local broadcasting system, even if the local station 12 is unattended, inappropriate broadcasting may flow to the area or a broadcasting right may be used by a third party without permission. In addition to preventing this, the broadcast content managed by the wide area station 11 can be prevented from leaking to other than the local station 12.

FIG. 2 shows an overall configuration diagram of the regional station 12 in the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 shows a processing flow thereof, showing a processing flow of the regional station 12 when receiving frame information from the wide area station 11. Description will be given along the flowchart of FIG.

This process is started by connecting the communication from the wide area station 11 (S11). When the connection is made, mutual authentication processing is performed. If mutual authentication fails,
If S12 becomes NG and an error occurs, an error is output (S13) and the process ends. If all verification processes are successful, the trust relationship between the regional station 12 and the wide area station 11 is established, so the signed content is transmitted from the wide area station 11, and the local station 12 receives this with the modem 121 (S
14).

In the regional station 12, the data received by the modem 121 is passed through the control unit 122 and the broadcast content verification unit 123, and the signature verification unit 124 extracts the signature verification key from the signature verification key storage unit 125 to verify the signature. To do. If the signature verification fails here, the answer is NG in S15, and a response indicating the failure of the signature verification is transmitted to the wide area station via the modem 121 (S16). If the signature verification is successful, S15 is OK and the content is directly registered in the content DB 126 from the control unit 122 (S17). When the registration is completed, the control unit 122 sends a notification of registration completion to the wide area station 11 (S18) and ends all the processes.

Now, a process of broadcasting and transmitting a content packet from the content DB 126 will be described. When the broadcast is started, the broadcast schedule unit 127 sequentially takes out the content packets included in the content DB 126 in ascending order of registration, and sends them to the broadcast transmitting unit 128 for broadcast transmission. In the broadcast schedule unit 127, a broadcast schedule is programmed, and in addition to the above, when contents are prioritized, a method of determining the broadcast frequency according to the priority may be considered.

FIG. 4 shows an overall configuration diagram of the wide area station 11 in the present embodiment, and FIG. 5 shows the flow of the processing. Regarding the processing in which the wide area station 11 transmits the frame information to the local station 12, FIG. A detailed description will be given along the flowchart of FIG. 5 with reference to the overall configuration diagram.

First, untransmitted content information in the content DB 115 (control section 112 in the case of immediate transmission) is extracted from the signature generation key storage section 116 by a signature generation section (not shown) via the content verification section 113. A signature is generated for the content information with the generated signature generation key. The generated signature is added to the content information (S21),
The content with the signature is transmitted to the control unit 112, and the control unit 112 transmits the content information to the modem 1
Communication connection is made to the regional station 12 by 11 (S22). If the communication connection is successful, mutual authentication is performed with the regional station 12. If the mutual authentication fails, S23 results in NG, an error is output (S24), and the process ends there.

When mutual authentication is successful, S23 is OK.
Then, the previously generated signed content information is transmitted from the control unit 112 via the modem 111 (S2).
5). Regional station 12 that received the signed content information
Verifies the signature added to the content information and, if the verification is successful, sends a content receipt notification to the wide area station 11;
Send to. In the wide area station 11 that has received this, if the notification is a failure, the result in S26 is NO, the content information is transmitted to the content verification I / F 114 together with the reason for failure, and correction is urged (S27). If it is a receipt notification, S26
The answer is YES, the message is displayed, and the process ends. The processing of the regional station 12 described here is as described above.

In the present embodiment, all the devices connected by communication are mutually authenticated, but if it is known in advance that the connected device is a reliable device, the device is connected to the reliable device. Although the authenticated device is authenticated by the trusted device, there may be variations such as not authenticating the trusted device. By doing so, the authentication process can be lightened. Further, there is a case where the authentication process itself is not required for connecting devices having a mutual trust relationship such as communication between the wide area station 11 and the local station 12. Similarly, if the communication line is a dedicated line and the devices to be connected for communication can be limited, there is also an implementation mode in which the authentication process is not necessary. An example is the case where the connection between the wide area station 11 and the regional station 12 is a dedicated line. The communication line may be an internet communication network.

Regarding the authentication means, some variations are conceivable depending on the situation of use. In this embodiment, the most secure method is adopted, in which mutual authentication is performed and the digital signature of the received data is also confirmed. However, if such a highly safe method is adopted, not only the processing time will be required, but also the processing device will become large.

Therefore, in a system in which the security is guaranteed to some extent or the risk of data being tampered with is low, only the digital signature can be verified without mutual authentication, or the digital signature can be used. No, MAC (MESS
AGE AUTHENTICATION CODE) There is also a method of simply attaching the authorization code of the message author to the data.
By doing so, it is possible to reduce the processing time, reduce the cost of the processing apparatus, and reduce the size.

Further, as the communication means, in addition to the means of using a normal telephone line (public line), a means of using the Internet can be considered. Even in this case, it is possible to deal with the situation without changing the configuration or the algorithm. However, when using the Internet, as compared with a case where a telephone line is directly connected, a plurality of computers are involved in the process, so security must be taken into consideration. For this reason, it is necessary not only to strengthen the authentication means, but also to encrypt the content. For this purpose, it is necessary to add a means for sharing and encrypting the encryption key, but such an added configuration is self-evident.

Furthermore, in the above example, the content is provided as character information to the receiving device or the like, but the character may be output by voice.

As described above, for example, when advertising the sales information of a product, the price of gasoline, etc., and the price fluctuates day by day, the content provider can easily and surely broadcast the content in a specific area. Since the contents of can be changed, the usefulness of the local broadcast can be greatly enhanced.

As a part of the mobile broadcasting service, a GPS signal from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite 11b is received as shown in FIG. 1, and a local station 12 is received as shown in FIG. It is effective to selectively transmit wide area broadcasting and regional broadcasting from the GPS signal obtained by the GPS signal receiving section 129.
For example, in the control unit 122, by analyzing the GPS signal, (1) the wide area broadcast and the area broadcast are multiplexed and transmitted so that the user can appropriately select, (2) the wide area broadcast and the area broadcast are switched, Make it possible to watch the local broadcast by entering the area of the regional station. (3) Replace the part of the wide area broadcast, for example, the data broadcast part with the local broadcast so that the local broadcast can be viewed while watching the wide area broadcast. Can be realized.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, a regional station, a relay station, a gap filler, etc. are assumed as a broadcasting station that distributes regional broadcasting for transmitting information closely related to the region, and a third party in the regional broadcasting is assumed. It is possible to provide a digital broadcasting system or the like that can provide detailed broadcasting services for each region while preventing unauthorized broadcast distribution of the above.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a digital local broadcasting system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a regional station according to this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of a regional station according to this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a wide area station according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a wide area station in the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Wide area station 11a ... Broadcast satellite 11b ... GPS satellite 111 ... Modem 112 ... Control unit 113 ... Content verification unit 114 ... Content verification I / F 115 ... Content DB 116 ... Signature generation key storage unit 12 ... Regional Bureau 121 ... Modem 122 ... Control unit 123 ... Broadcast content verification unit 124 ... Signature verification unit 125 ... Signature verification key storage unit 126 ... Content DB 127 ... Broadcast schedule section 128 ... Broadcast transmitter 129 ... GPS signal receiving section 13 ... Receiving device

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Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A digital broadcasting system including a regional broadcasting facility device that receives regional broadcasting content from a wide area broadcasting facility device, retransmits the retransmitted signal to a specific area, and multiplexes the retransmitted signal with unique regional broadcasting content to perform regional broadcasting. At the time of transmitting the regional broadcast content from the wide area broadcasting facility device to the local area broadcasting facility device, the wide area broadcasting facility device authenticates the local area broadcasting facility device or the wide area broadcasting facility device performs the wide area broadcasting. A digital broadcasting system characterized by authenticating equipment or both. 2. The digital broadcasting system according to claim 1, wherein the broadcast content is transmitted from the wide area broadcasting facility apparatus to the local area broadcasting facility apparatus by one-way communication or two-way communication. 3. A regional broadcast facility apparatus is arranged in a specific area, receives the wide area broadcast content from the wide area broadcast facility apparatus, retransmits it to the area, and multiplexes its own local broadcast content into the retransmitted signal to perform regional broadcast. In the digital broadcasting method for performing, when transmitting the regional broadcast content from the wide area broadcasting facility apparatus to the regional broadcasting facility apparatus, the wide area broadcasting facility apparatus authenticates the regional broadcasting facility apparatus or the local broadcasting facility. A digital broadcasting method, characterized in that the device authenticates the wide area broadcasting facility device or both. 4. The digital broadcasting method according to claim 3, wherein the broadcasting content is transmitted from the wide area broadcasting facility apparatus to the local area broadcasting facility apparatus by one-way communication or two-way communication. 5. A regional broadcasting facility which is arranged in a specific region, receives wide area broadcasting content from a wide area broadcasting facility device, retransmits it to the area, and multiplexes its own regional broadcasting content with the retransmission signal to perform regional broadcasting. The regional broadcast facility device comprises an authentication processing means for performing authentication with the wide area broadcast facility device when receiving regional broadcast content from the wide area broadcast facility device. 6. The regional broadcasting facility apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a multiplexing unit that multiplexes and transmits the wide area broadcasting content and the regional broadcasting content according to a predetermined condition. 7. The regional broadcasting facility apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising switching means for switching between the wide area broadcasting content and the local area broadcasting content according to a predetermined condition and broadcasting. 8. The regional broadcasting facility apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a replacement unit configured to replace a part of the wide area broadcasting content with the local area broadcasting content and broadcast the area according to a predetermined condition. 9. The regional broadcasting facility apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a positioning satellite signal is used for the predetermined condition. 10. A wide area broadcasting facility apparatus which broadcasts wide area broadcasting content and sends its own local area broadcasting content to a local area broadcasting equipment arranged in a specific area, wherein the local area broadcasting content is transmitted to the local area broadcasting equipment. A wide area broadcasting facility apparatus comprising an authentication means for performing authentication with the regional broadcasting facility apparatus when performing the operation.