Patent Publication Number: US-2002002709-A1

Title: Method and system for transmitting multimedia data with downstream data transfer over local TV broadcasting channel and for receiving request with upstream data transfer over another channel

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] The present invention relates generally to a data communication method and system and, in particular, to a method and system for communicating multimedia data with downstream data transfer over a local TV broadcasting channel to plurality of customer premise equipments and with upstream data transfer over another channel.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002] In the past, multicast data communication services and networks, which are capable of transmitting multimedia data such as audio data or video data, had not been constructed. Consequently, a plurality of users could not receive multimedia data at high speed.  
       [0003] However, communication technology has developed rapidly and the desires of users have increased in pace with that development. In recent years, users have been able to receive multimedia data via Internet services. Moreover, broadband, multi-channel, and interactive services have been possible. So, users have been able to see and hear TV broadcasting signals via fast Internet services.  
       [0004] However, in the case of using a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) with 33.6 Kbps or 56 Kbps speed or an ISDN (Integrated Service Digital Network) with 128 Kbps speed, the real time transfer of text data, audio data, graphic data or video data is actually difficult. Therefore, cable TV service providers have entered the Internet or telephone communications market, becoming combined broadcasting services and communication services. So, users can receive multimedia data in real time and VOD (Video On Demand) services capable of receiving any specified multimedia data demanded by the public.  
       [0005] One representative multimedia data service is the CATV (Cable TV) transferring system, which uses optical cables or coaxial cables as data transferring media. A CATV transferring system that operates as an integrated wired TV service may be roughly divided into a data communication service and a multi-channel video service. In order to use these services, CATV subscribers must have a personal computer and they must be located within the range of the CATV system&#39;s communication. These are essential conditions for using CATV services.  
       [0006] A schematic diagram illustrating an example of a prior CATV system is shown in FIG. 1.  
       [0007] With reference to FIG. 1, a CATV system consists of a CATV service subscriber center  10  for receiving multimedia data through a CATV network  2  and a multimedia data distribution center  20  for transmitting multimedia data to a plurality of CATV service subscriber centers  10 .  
       [0008] The CATV service subscriber center  10  may include a computer system  11  and a TV  15 . The computer system  11  receives multimedia data at high speed from the CATV network  2  through a splitter  13  and a cable modem  12 . The cable modem  12  converts the CATV radio frequency (RF) signal received from the CATV network  2  to a Local Area Network (LAN) signal, and provides the LAN signal to the computer system  11 .  
       [0009] On the other hand, the cable modem  12  converts the LAN signal received from the computer system  11  to a CATV radio frequency signal, and provides the CATV radio frequency signal to the CATV network  2  through the splitter  13 . Therefore, the cable modem  12  carries out various functions such as data modulation and demodulation, tuning, bridging and routing. The cable modem  12  may be coupled to a LAN card in the computer system  11  through a LAN cable linked to the connector of a LAN transceiver.  
       [0010] Generally, the downstream data transmission rate from the multimedia data distribution center  20  to the CATV service subscriber  10  ranges from 10 Mbps to 40 Mbps. Upstream data transmission rate from the CATV service subscriber  10  to the multimedia data distribution center  20  range from 2 Mbps to 10 Mbps.  
       [0011] A subscriber can see and hear video data transmitted from the CATV network  2  with a TV  15  coupled to a set top box (STB)  14 . The set top box  14  is a communication terminal device for using an interactive multimedia data service (or interactive TV service), such as for providing video on demand, home shopping services, and network games. A digital set top box is a terminal device enabling users to see and hear digital broadcasting signals with an analog TV, and an external set top box is used for taking advantage of the Internet through a connection to an ordinary TV. In other words, the set top box  14  plays the role of a converter for converting received digital signals to analog signals that can be shown on the screen of an analog TV  15 . The name of set top box  14  is generated from meaning of using it on the TV  15  and it comes into use for designating specified product in advanced concept.  
       [0012] The multimedia data distribution center  20  consists of a data channel controller  23 , a signal distributor  22 , a frequency converter  24  and a cable router  21 .  
       [0013] The data channel controller  23  transmits periodic reference signals or high-speed multimedia data to a cable modem  12  through a CATV network  2 . The data channel controller  23  provides an upstream data signal, which is transmitted from the cable modem  12 , to Internet  4  through the cable router  21 . In general, the data channel controller  23  converts a CATV downstream data signal with a 6 MHz transmission rate to a digital signal with a transmission rate ranging between 4 Mbps and 30 Mbps. It also converts a digital signal with a transmission rate ranging from 500 Kbps to 10 Mbps into a CATV upstream data signal with a transmission rate of 6 Mbps.  
       [0014] The signal distributor  22  provides an upstream data signal, which is transmitted through the CATV network  2 , to the frequency converter  24 . The frequency converter  24  converts the frequency of the upstream data signal, and then the signal distributor  22  provides the frequency-converted upstream data signal to the data channel controller  23 . Also, the signal distributor  22  receives the CATV downstream data signal from the data channel controller  23  and provides it to the frequency converter  24 . The frequency converter  24  converts the frequency of the CATV downstream data signal, and then the signal distributor  22  provides the frequency-converted CATV downstream data signal to the CATV service subscriber center  10  through the CATV network  2 . Preferably, the frequency converter  24  may control frequencies in units of 250 KHz for using multi-channel.  
       [0015] By supporting optical communication and new media technology, the CATV system can provide interactive communication services. Also, the CATV system has the advantage of providing various kinds of services, such as home shopping, home banking, as well as local information. Furthermore, the CATV system may be understood as a dream channel because a wide variety of services are possible, such as crime prevention, water rate checking, remote medical diagnosis, and all kinds of useful information.  
       [0016] In short, the multi-channel video service is a service capable of broadcasting various TV programs, such as movies, educational programs, entertainment programs, and programs related to recreation and sports. The multi-channel video service center provides various programs to a plurality of subscriber centers connected with a TV program provider and CATV broadcasting center.  
       [0017] A CATV network  2  may be mainly composed of hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) cable, which is with a combination of optical cable and coaxial cable. HFC cable is used for the CATV services, but at present it may be used for high-speed Internet services. High-speed Internet services do not use telephone lines, so subscribers can use the telephone and the Internet simultaneously. Also, Internet services use a different bandwidth than CATV services, so using them does not have any influence upon a TV&#39;s signal reception. Internet services using a CATV network  2  generally have high speed, e.g., a 10 Mbps download rate, so it is possible to transmit large volumes of multimedia data in a short time, to broadcast real-time video data, and to provide services such as video conferencing.  
       [0018] However, it is possible to use a CATV service only in the service area in which the CATV network is constructed. Because cable modems have not yet become standardized, data transmission rates vary according to the kind of modem used and the user&#39;s connection.  
       [0019] Prior art solutions to improve data transmission rates have included providing wide bandwidths and the high-speed data transmissions found in a cable television infrastructure.  
       [0020] In U.S. Pat. No. 5,534,913, issued Jul. 9, 1996, entitled “Apparatus and Method for Integrating Downstream Data Transfer Over a Cable Television Channel with Upstream Data Carrier by Other Media” a telecommunication network is disclosed that utilizes high-speed, cable transmission channels to transport information on a downstream channel from an information service provider to a user&#39;s customer premises equipment.  
       [0021] In U.S. Pat. No. 6,141,682, issued Oct. 31, 2000, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Integrating Interactive Local Internet Access and Downstream Data Transfer Over a Cable TV System With Upstream Data Carried By Other Media” a data communication system is disclosed that utilizes high bandwidth channels to transmit information on a downstream channel from an information service provider and interactive data service provider to a user&#39;s customer premise equipment.  
       [0022]FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional telecommunication system with downstream data transfer over a cable television channel and upstream data transfer by other media.  
       [0023] With reference to FIG. 2, a conventional telecommunication system uses a cable television infrastructure for communicating between information service providers  90 A- 90 N a user&#39;s customer premise equipment  80 . Generally, information service providers  90 A- 90 N communicate with the user&#39;s customer premise equipment  80  over the high-speed communication channels  92  of a telecommunication network  94 .  
       [0024] Communication is initiated between the user&#39;s customer premise equipment  80  and one of the information service providers  90 A- 90 N when the user makes a request for information. The user employs, for example, a personal computer system  74  of the user&#39;s customer premise equipment  80  in order to make a request for information. The personal computer system  74  includes a modem  76  which is coupled to a public switched telephone network (PSTN)  84  through a communication channel  82 . The request is routed by a split channel bridging unit  98  over a high-speed, bi-directional communication channel  96  and the telecommunication network  94  to a specified information service providers  90 A- 90 N.  
       [0025] In response to the request, the specified one of the information service providers  90 A- 90 N transmits the requested information back through the telecommunication network  94  and the high-speed, bi-directional communication network  96  to the split channel bridging unit  98 . The split channel bridging unit  98  routes the requested information to one of a plurality of cable distribution head ends  30 A- 30 N. One of the plurality of cable distribution head ends  30 A- 30 N provides a service to the user&#39;s customer premise equipment  80 . Therefore, the split channel bridging unit  98  routes the requested information to an associated one of a plurality of cable distribution head ends  30 A- 30 N. The cable distribution head end  30 A- 30 N associated with the user&#39;s request distributes the requested information to the user&#39;s customer premise equipment  80  over cable communication channels  36 .  
       [0026] In this way, the personal computer system  74  of the user making the request receives information over the cable television system at substantially higher transmission rates than would be realized if the information was transmitted over the relatively low-speed data channels of a PSTN  84 , which uses a dial-up modem.  
       [0027] Communication from a requesting user&#39;s customer premise equipment  80  to a specified one of the information service providers  90 A- 90 N is referred to as communication along an upstream communication path. Correspondingly, communication from a specified information service provider  90 A- 90 N to the user&#39;s customer premise equipment  80  is referred to as communication along a downstream communication path.  
       [0028]FIG. 3 illustrates another conventional telecommunication system with downstream data transfer over a cable television channel and upstream data transfer by means of other media.  
       [0029] With reference to FIG. 3, conventional telecommunication systems have one upstream communication path and another downstream communication path. Also, an interactive data service provider coupled to one end of the downstream communication path can be accessed locally in order to enhance data transmission rates.  
       [0030] A conventional telecommunication system may utilize a cable television infrastructure to communicate between information service providers and a user&#39;s customer premise equipment  150 . However, information service providers may be coupled at one end of an upstream communication path, e.g., information service providers  152 A- 152 N, and on a downstream communication path, e.g., information service providers  154 A- 154 N. A user requesting information services transmits a request for information from, for example, a personal computer system  164  within the user&#39;s customer premise equipment  150 . The request is received by one of a plurality of modems  172 A- 172 N coupled to a PSTN  168  through a communication channel  174 A- 174 N.  
       [0031] The user&#39;s request for information also specifies the type of information requested. Depending upon the type of information requested, the communication controller  176  routes the user&#39;s request for information to a selected one among a plurality of information service providers  152 A- 152 N coupled at the end of the upstream communication path or a selected one among numerous interactive data service providers  154 A- 154 N coupled on the downstream communication path.  
       [0032] The requested information received from the selected one of the information service providers  152 A- 152 N is passed by the receiver  184  over communication channel  186  to the first input  188   a  of a channel combiner  188 . A request for interactive data services is passed by the communication controller  176  over a communication channel  180  to the second input  188   b  of the channel combiner  188 . The first input and the second input are multiplexed by the channel combiner  188  to provide a multiplexed signal which includes the requested information received from the selected one of the information service providers  152 A- 152 N and the request for interactive data services from the communication controller  176 . The multiplexed signal is outputted by the channel combiner  188  and transmitted on one of the cable transmission channels, e.g., cable transmission channel  190 , of the downstream communication path to one of a plurality of cable distribution devices  192 A- 192 N.  
       [0033] One of a plurality of cable distribution devices  192 A- 192 N serves one of a plurality of user&#39;s customer premise equipment  150 . The user&#39;s premise equipment  150  is served by the particular cable distribution devices  192 A- 192 N associated with it. However, the user&#39;s customer premise equipment must include a computer system, a cable modem and a set top box for using a CATV network. Moreover, in order to use CATV services, the user must reside within the CATV service area. Also, the user must purchase some expensive devices, e.g., a cable modem or set top box, in order to use CATV services.  
       [0034] On the other hand, the information requested by the user may be of various types, ranging from small amounts of data, e.g., music files or information for home shopping, to lengthy media files, e.g., movies, educational programs, entertainment programs, and sports broadcasts. Typically, the kinds of information that consist of small amounts of data are useful in neighborhoods where people have interests similar to those of the user, so it is efficient to provide the requested information simultaneously to a plurality of users residing in a specified area.  
       [0035] There is particularly a need for a method and apparatus which employs a local broadcasting distribution network to provide requested information over local broadcasting channels as a downstream communication path while also allowing localized access over an upstream communication path.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0036] It is a first object of this invention to provide a communication system that employs a local TV broadcasting channel as a downstream data transfer to provide multimedia data, and which also allows requests for multimedia data to be made to the broadcasting control center over another channel as upstream data transfer.  
       [0037] It is another object of this invention to provide a communication system that employs a local TV broadcasting channel instead of a cable distribution channel to provide multimedia data simultaneously to the plurality of customer premise equipments in a limited neighboring area, and which allows requests for multimedia data to be made without the cable modem and set top box usually used by cable distribution networks.  
       [0038] It is another object of this invention to provide a communication system that employs a broadcasting server in the local broadcasting center to provide multimedia data to the plurality of customer premise equipment within limited service area and which improves the efficiency of the data transmission rate.  
       [0039] To achieve the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, it is provided communication system for transmitting multimedia data with downstream data transfer over local distribution channel for TV broadcasting to a plurality of customer premise equipments and with upstream data transfer over telecommunication channel for user&#39;s request from at least one of the customer premise equipments. The communication system includes a broadcasting control center for receiving user&#39;s request from the customer premise equipment through the upstream telecommunication channel and for transmitting broadcast applying signal to the specified local broadcasting center in accordance with the received user&#39;s request, and at least one of local broadcasting center coupled to said broadcasting center and said plurality of the customer premise equipments, for propagating requested multimedia data through the local distribution channel for TV broadcasting to the plurality of the customer premise equipments in specified service area in accordance with the broadcast applying signal from the broadcasting control center.  
       [0040] The telecommunication channel further includes automatic response service (ARS) system.  
       [0041] The broadcasting control center includes a database for keeping in store user&#39;s private information, summary of multimedia data and broadcasting information of the local broadcasting centers, an ARS server for receiving user&#39;s request and providing service comments to the customer premise equipment through telecommunication channel, and a controller for providing broadcast applying signal to the specified local broadcasting center coupled to said customer premise equipment, said broadcast applying signal comprising said user&#39;s private information, summary of the multimedia data and the broadcasting information of the specified local broadcasting center.  
       [0042] The broadcasting information includes at least one of code of local broadcasting center, local area code, and code of local distribution channel for TV broadcasting.  
       [0043] The summary of the multimedia data includes code assigned to requested multimedia data.  
       [0044] The broadcast applying signal includes transmission code, response code, request code, multimedia data code and checksum code, wherein said transmission code comprising transmission date and transmission time, said response code for certificating arrival of the broadcast applying signal, said request code comprising request data and request time, said checksum code for checking error of transmisson.  
       [0045] The controller includes a router for receiving multimedia data from information service provider (ISP) through internet and a multimedia processor for giving a code for one multimedia data, storing the code of multimedia data and providing the multimedia data to the plurality of local broadcasting centers.  
       [0046] The plurality of local broadcasting centers include a database for keeping in store multimedia data to be broadcasting through local distribution channel for TV broadcasting, a receiver for receiving the broadcast applying signal from the broadcasting control center, a schedule manager for detecting requested multimedia data from the database according to the broadcast applying signal and for controlling the broadcasting time of the detected multimedia data, a converter for converting digital multimedia data detected from the database to analog multimedia data, a caption editor for generating analog broadcasting signal with added caption data, said caption data are displayed on the TV in customer premise equipment and a propagation controller for controlling the transmission of the analog broadcasting signal to plurality of customer premise equipments in specified service area through local distribution channel for TV broadcasting.  
       [0047] The schedule manager further includes a buffer for storing the broadcasting signal temporarily for propagating through the local distribution channel of TV broadcasting in order of requests.  
       [0048] The caption data includes at least one of ARS phone number, local area code, local broadcasting center code, TV channel code, serviceable multimedia data code, multimedia data code in standing-by and playing time of multimedia data in standing-by.  
       [0049] The local broadcasting center includes at least one of broadcasting monitor for checking screen condition and transmission error of multimedia data propagated to plurality of customer premise equipments.  
       [0050] Also, to achieve the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, it is provided method for communicating multimedia data with downstream data transfer over local distribution channel for TV broadcasting to a plurality of customer premise equipments and with upstream data transfer over telecommunication channel for user&#39;s request from at least one of the customer premise equipments. The method of communicating multimedia data includes the steps of: (a) keeping multimedia data for transmitting through the local distribution channel for TV broadcasting in the database of plurality of local broadcasting centers, respectively; (b) keeping summary of multimedia data in the database of broadcasting control center, said summary reflecting specified multimedia data in local broadcasting centers; (c) receiving user&#39;s request from the customer premise equipment through the upstream telecommunication channel; (d) generating broadcast applying signal according to the user&#39;s request, said broadcast applying signal is comprised of at least one of user&#39;s private information, summary of multimedia data and summary of local broadcasting center; (e) transmitting said broadcast applying signal to the specified local broadcasting center; (f) detecting requested multimedia data from database in local broadcasting center according to the broadcast applying signal; (g) converting detected digital multimedia data to analog broadcasting signal for providing through local distribution channel of TV broadcasting; and (g) propagating the analog broadcasting signal to the plurality of customer premise equipment in limited service area.  
       [0051] The summary of local broadcasting center includes at least one of code of local broadcasting center, local area code, and TV channel code in capable of transmitting broadcasting signal.  
       [0052] The summary of multimedia data includes code for assigning requested multimedia data.  
       [0053] The broadcast applying signal includes transmission code, response code, request code, multimedia data assigning code and checksum code, wherein said transmission code comprising transmission date and transmission time, said response code for certificating arrival of the broadcast applying signal, said request code comprising request data and request time, said checksum code for checking error of transmission.  
       [0054] The step of converting detected digital multimedia data to analog broadcasting signal for providing through local distribution channel for TV broadcasting further includes the step of adding caption data to the analog broadcasting signal, wherein said caption data are displayed on TV screen of customer premise equipment.  
       [0055] The caption data include at least one of ARS phone number, local area code, local broadcasting center code, TV channel code, serviceable multimedia data code, multimedia data code in standing-by and playing time of multimedia data in standing-by.  
       [0056] Also, to achieve the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, it is provided communication system for providing broadcast applying signal to the specified local broadcasting center, said broadcast applying signal is for applying propagation of multimedia data with downstream data transfer over local distribution channel for TV broadcasting to a plurality of customer premise equipments, and for receiving user&#39;s request with upstream data transfer over telecommunication channel from at least one of the customer premise equipments. The communication system includes a database for keeping in store user&#39;s private information, summary of multimedia data and broadcasting information of the local broadcasting centers, an ARS server for receiving user&#39;s request and providing service comments to the customer premise equipment through telecommunication channel, a generator for generating broadcast applying signal which is comprised of at least one of user&#39;s private information, summary of the multimedia data and the broadcasting information of the specified local broadcasting center, and a transmitter for transmitting the broadcast applying signal to the specified local broadcasting center governing the user&#39;s customer premise equipment having requested multimedia data.  
       [0057] Also, to achieve the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, it is provided method for providing broadcast applying signal to the specified local broadcasting center, said broadcast applying signal is for applying propagation of multimedia data with downstream data transfer over local distribution channel for TV broadcasting to a plurality of customer premise equipments, and for receiving user&#39;s request with upstream data transfer over telecommunication channel from at least one of the customer premise equipments. The method of providing broadcast applying signal includes the steps of: (a) keeping in store summary of multimedia data and summary of the plurality of local broadcasting centers, wherein said multimedia data are stored in the plurality of the local broadcasting centers, respectively, (b) receiving user&#39;s request from customer premise equipment through telecommunication channel; (c) generating broadcast applying signal which is comprised of at least one of user&#39;s private information, summary of the multimedia data and the broadcasting information of the specified local broadcasting center; and (d) transmitting the broadcast applying signal to the specified local broadcasting center governing the user&#39;s customer premise equipment having requested multimedia data.  
       [0058] Also, to achieve the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, it is provided communication system for propagating multimedia data with downstream data transfer over local distribution channel for TV broadcasting to a plurality of customer premise equipments according to user&#39;s request with upstream data transfer over communication channel from at least one of the customer premise equipments. The communication system includes a database for keeping in store multimedia data to be broadcasting through local distribution channel for TV broadcasting, a receiver for receiving the broadcast applying signal from the broadcasting control center, wherein said broadcast applying signal is comprised of at least one of user&#39;s private information, summary of the multimedia data and the broadcasting information of the specified local broadcasting center, a schedule manager for detecting requested multimedia data from the database according to the broadcast applying signal and for controlling the broadcasting time of the detected multimedia data, a converter for converting digital multimedia data detected from the database to analog multimedia data, a caption editor for generating analog broadcasting signal with added caption data, said caption data are displayed on the TV in customer premise equipment, and a propagation controller for controlling the transmission of the analog broadcasting signal to plurality of customer premise equipments in specified service area through local distribution channel for TV broadcasting.  
       [0059] Also, to achieve the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, it is provided method for propagating multimedia data with downstream data transfer over local distribution channel for TV broadcasting to a plurality of customer premise equipments according to user&#39;s request with upstream data transfer over communication channel from at least one of the customer premise equipments. The method for propagating multimedia data includes the steps of: (a) keeping in store multimedia data to be broadcasting through local distribution channel for TV broadcasting; (b) receiving the broadcast applying signal from the broadcasting control center, wherein said broadcast applying signal is comprised of at least one of user&#39;s private information, summary of the multimedia data and the broadcasting information of the specified local broadcasting center; (c) detecting requested digital multimedia data from the database; (d) converting digital multimedia data detected from the database to analog multimedia data; (e) generating analog broadcasting signal with added caption data, said caption data are displayed on the TV in customer premise equipment; and (f) propagating the analog broadcasting signal to plurality of customer premise equipments in specified service area through local distribution channel for TV broadcasting according to broadcasting schedule.  
       [0060] Also, to achieve the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, it is provided communication system for transmitting multimedia data with downstream data transfer over local distribution channel for TV broadcasting to a plurality of customer premise equipments and with upstream data transfer over internet for user&#39;s request from at least one of the customer premise equipments. The communication system includes a broadcasting control center for receiving user&#39;s request from the customer premise equipment through internet as upstream communication channel and for transmitting broadcast applying signal to the specified local broadcasting center in accordance with the received user&#39;s request, and at least one of local broadcasting center coupled to said broadcasting center and said plurality of the customer premise equipments, for propagating requested multimedia data through the local distribution channel for TV broadcasting to the plurality of the customer premise equipments in specified service area in accordance with the broadcast applying signal from the broadcasting control center.  
       [0061] Also, to achieve the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, it is provided method for communicating multimedia data with downstream data transfer over local distribution channel for TV broadcasting to a plurality of customer premise equipments and with upstream data transfer over internet for user&#39;s request from at least one of the customer premise equipments. The method for communicating multimedia data includes the steps of: (a) keeping multimedia data having object to propagate through the local distribution channel for TV broadcasting in the database of plurality of local broadcasting centers, respectively; (b) keeping summary of multimedia data in the database of broadcasting control center, said summary reflecting specified multimedia data in local broadcasting centers; (c) receiving user&#39;s request from the customer premise equipment through the internet as upstream communication channel; (d) generating broadcast applying signal according to the user&#39;s request, said broadcast applying signal is comprised of at least one of user&#39;s private information, summary of multimedia data and summary of local broadcasting center; (e) transmitting said broadcast applying signal to the specified local broadcasting center; (f) detecting requested multimedia data from database in local broadcasting center according to the broadcast applying signal; (g) converting detected digital multimedia data to analog broadcasting signal for providing through local distribution channel of TV broadcasting; and (h) propagating the analog broadcasting signal to the plurality of customer premise equipment in limited service area.  
       [0062] Also, to achieve the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, it is provided a computer-readable medium having computer readable code stored therein, for accomplishing method of communicating multimedia data with downstream data transfer over local distribution channel for TV broadcasting to a plurality of customer premise equipments and with upstream data transfer over telecommunication channel for user&#39;s request from at least one of the customer premise equipments. The computer-readable medium includes a first keeping module for storing multimedia data for transmitting through the local distribution channel for TV broadcasting in the database of plurality of local broadcasting centers, respectively, a second keeping module for storing summary of multimedia data in the database of broadcasting control center, said summary reflecting specified multimedia data in local broadcasting centers, a receiving module for receiving user&#39;s request from the customer premise equipment through the upstream telecommunication channel, a generating module for generating broadcast applying signal according to the user&#39;s request, said broadcast applying signal is comprised of at least one of user&#39;s private information, summary of multimedia data and summary of local broadcasting center, a transmitting module for providing said broadcast applying signal to the specified local broadcasting center, a detecting module for detecting requested multimedia data from database in local broadcasting center according to the broadcast applying signal, a converting module for converting detected digital multimedia data to analog broadcasting signal for providing through local distribution channel of TV broadcasting, and a propagating module for propagating the analog broadcasting signal to the plurality of customer premise equipment in limited service area.  
       [0063] Also, to achieve the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, it is provided a computer-readable medium having computer readable code stored therein, for accomplishing method of providing broadcast applying signal to the specified local broadcasting center, said broadcast applying signal is for applying propagation of multimedia data with downstream data transfer over local distribution channel for TV broadcasting to a plurality of customer premise equipments, and for receiving user&#39;s request with upstream data transfer over telecommunication channel from at least one of the customer premise equipments. The computer-readable medium includes a keeping module for storing summary of multimedia data and summary of the plurality of local broadcasting centers, wherein said multimedia data are stored in the plurality of the local broadcasting centers, respectively, a receiving module for receiving user&#39;s request from customer premise equipment through telecommunication channel, a generating module for generating broadcast applying signal which is comprised of at least one of user&#39;s private information, summary of the multimedia data and the broadcasting information of the specified local broadcasting center, and a transmitting module for transmitting the broadcast applying signal to the specified local broadcasting center governing the user&#39;s customer premise equipment having requested multimedia data.  
       [0064] Also, to achieve the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, it is provided a computer-readable medium having computer readable code stored therein, for accomplishing method of propagating multimedia data with downstream data transfer over local distribution channel for TV broadcasting to a plurality of customer premise equipments according to user&#39;s request with upstream data transfer over communication channel from at least one of the customer premise equipments. The computer-readable medium includes a keeping module for storing multimedia data to be broadcasting through local distribution channel for TV broadcasting, a receiving module for receiving the broadcast applying signal from the broadcasting control center, wherein said broadcast applying signal is comprised of at least one of user&#39;s private information, summary of the multimedia data and the broadcasting information of the specified local broadcasting center, a detecting module for detecting requested digital multimedia data from the database, a converting module for converting digital multimedia data detected from the database to analog multimedia data, a broadcasting signal generating module for generating analog broadcasting signal with added caption data, said caption data are displayed on the TV in customer premise equipment, and a propagating module for propagating the analog broadcasting signal to plurality of customer premise equipments in specified service area through local distribution channel for TV broadcasting according to broadcasting schedule.  
       [0065] Also, to achieve the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, it is provided a computer-readable medium having computer readable code stored therein, for accomplishing method for communicating multimedia data with downstream data transfer over local distribution channel for TV broadcasting to a plurality of customer premise equipments and with upstream data transfer over internet for user&#39;s request from at least one of the customer premise equipments. The computer-readable medium includes a first keeping module for storing multimedia data having object to propagate through the local distribution channel for TV broadcasting in the database of plurality of local broadcasting centers, respectively, a second keeping module for storing summary of multimedia data in the database of broadcasting control center, said summary reflecting specified multimedia data in local broadcasting centers, a receiving module for receiving user&#39;s request from the customer premise equipment through the internet as upstream communication channel, a generating module for generating broadcast applying signal according to the user&#39;s request, said broadcast applying signal is comprised of at least one of user&#39;s private information, summary of multimedia data and summary of local broadcasting center, a transmitting module for providing said broadcast applying signal to the specified local broadcasting center, a detecting module for detecting requested multimedia data from database in local broadcasting center according to the broadcast applying signal, a converting module for converting detected digital multimedia data to analog broadcasting signal for providing through local distribution channel of TV broadcasting, and a broadcasting signal propagating module for propagating the analog broadcasting signal to the plurality of customer premise equipment in limited service area.  
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0066] A full understanding of this invention can be gained from the following description of the preferred embodiments when they are read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
     [0067]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a prior CATV system;  
     [0068]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a conventional telecommunication system with downstream data transfer over a cable television channel and upstream data transfer by other media;  
     [0069]FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another conventional telecommunication system with downstream data transfer over a cable television channel and upstream data transfer by other media;  
     [0070]FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a communication system which uses a broadcasting distribution network as a downstream communication channel to provide requested information, and a PSTN network with an ARS system as an upstream communication channel in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0071]FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the broadcasting control center of the communication system of FIG. 4;  
     [0072]FIG. 6 is a flow chart that illustrates a method of providing multimedia data based upon a user&#39;s request on an ARS system as an upstream communication path in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0073]FIG. 7 is a format for requesting data via user&#39;s customer premise equipment through an ARS system as an upstream communication path in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0074]FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a communication system which uses a broadcasting distribution network as a downstream communication channel to provide requested information, and uses the Internet as an upstream communication channel in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0075]FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the broadcasting control center of the communication system of FIG. 8;  
     [0076]FIG. 10 is a flowchart that illustrates a method of receiving requests for music on the Internet from user&#39;s customer premise equipment on Internet as an upstream communication path in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0077]FIG. 11 is a flowchart that illustrates a method of receiving requests on the Internet for moving pictures from user&#39;s customer premise equipment as an upstream communication path in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0078]FIG. 12 is a flowchart that illustrates a method of transmitting broadcasts applying a signal based upon the user&#39;s request to a specified local broadcasting center in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0079]FIG. 13 shows the data format of the broadcast applying signal transmitted from the broadcasting control center to the specified local broadcasting center in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0080]FIG. 14 is a block diagram of the local broadcasting center in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0081]FIG. 15 is a flowchart that illustrates a method of propagating broadcasting signals from the local broadcasting center to customer premise equipments of local user in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0082]FIG. 16 is a diagram that illustrates the process of propagating requested multimedia data through the broadcasting distribution network with uni-channel services in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and  
     [0083]FIG. 17 is a diagram that illustrates a process of propagating requested multimedia data through the broadcasting distribution network with multi-channel services in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
    
    
     [0084] Identically labeled elements appearing in different diagrams described above refer to the same elements but may not be referenced in the descriptions for all figures.  
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
     [0085] Hereinafter, the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
     [0086] A schematic diagram illustrating communication system which uses local TV broadcasting channel as a downstream data transfer to provide multimedia data corresponding to a customer&#39;s request, and a telephone network with an automatic response service (ARS) system as an upstream data transfer for the present invention is shown in FIG. 4.  
     [0087] With reference to FIG. 4, the communication system includes customer premise equipment  210 , a local broadcasting center  300 A- 300 N for propagating a broadcasting signal simultaneously to the plurality of customer premise equipment  210  within limited area, and a broadcasting control center  230  for transmitting broadcast applying signal to a local broadcasting centers  300 A- 300 N corresponding to a customer&#39;s request.  
     [0088] A customer premise equipment  210  requests for multimedia data to a broadcasting control center  230  through a wired or wireless telephone  211 . For example, a dual tone multi frequency (DTMF) signal is generated by a telephone  211  according to the customer&#39;s input. The ARS system  224  receives the DTMF signal from the customer&#39;s telephone  211 . If a connection between the ARS system  224  and the customer&#39;s telephone  211  is created, the customer inputs a specified code number into the telephone  211  corresponding to a guide provided by the ARS system  224 . The DTMF signal comprises a plurality of different frequency signals corresponding to the respective numbers of customer&#39;s telephone  211 . The DTMF signal consists of one high frequency signal and the other low frequency signal associated with each number of customer&#39;s telephone  211 . For this reason, the DTMF signal is not generated by to the customer&#39;s tone of the voice.  
     [0089] The broadcasting control center  230  may include an ARS server  232  connected to the ARS system  224  for controlling comments that are provided to the customer through the PSTN  222 . Also, the broadcasting control center  230  may get a supply of multimedia data such as audio data and video data from information service providers  228  or from contents providers through the Internet  226 . In order to receive this supply of data, the broadcasting control center  230  needs a router  236  for connecting to the Internet  226 . The multimedia data supported by Internet service providers  228  or by contents providers is edited in the broadcasting control center  230  so that it can be seen and heard by a customer via a TV  212  among customer premise equipment  210 .  
     [0090] Generally, the multimedia audio and video data are compressed and stored for convenience in transmitting it. Compressed audio data typically requires a bandwidth of 13-64 Kilobits per second and compressed video data requires a bandwidth of 25-150 Kilobits per second, depending upon the compression method. Therefore, in the case that large volumes of multimedia data are transmitted, it is preferable that multimedia data is stored at local broadcasting centers  300 A- 300 N near the customer premise equipment  210 . Furthermore, the summary data, e.g., descriptions of data class, broadcasting time and multimedia data code, are preferably stored at a broadcasting control center  230 , while multimedia data are stored at local broadcasting centers  300 A- 300 N.  
     [0091] The controller  240  of the broadcasting control center  230  receives a request from the ARS server  232  and detects a data code, which indicates multimedia data corresponding to customer&#39;s request, an area code, which indicates the customer&#39;s residential area, and a broadcasting center code, which indicates a specific local broadcasting center coupled to the customer premise equipment. Then the controller  240  generates a broadcasting applying signal, which includes the detected codes in addition to a customer&#39;s request, to be sent to a specified local broadcasting center  300 A- 300 N. The specified local broadcasting center  300 A- 300 N transmits the multimedia data to customer premise equipment in the service area by means of a broadcasting unit  320 A- 320 N corresponding to the broadcast applying signal received from the broadcasting control center.  
     [0092] Generally, subscribers using broadcasting service do not require multimedia data all the time, so that it is inefficient to assign channels for receiving multimedia data to each subscriber. Therefore, it is preferable that each local broadcasting center  300 A- 300 N, which covers a limited local area, e.g., a district, a village or a city, provides customers in a limited service area with multimedia data corresponding to the customer&#39;s request over a TV channel  330 .  
     [0093] In accordance with the present invention, local broadcasting centers  300 A- 300 N also provide standby schedule data. Therefore, customers in the same service area for TV broadcasting can make inquiries multimedia data depending upon the remaining time of standby data and type of on-air data, e.g., music data, home shopping data, animation/movie data, or useful information.  
     [0094] The local broadcasting centers  300 A- 300 N provide broadcasting services to a plurality of customer premise equipment  210  as the object of its service in a limited area. For example, customers who reside in an area where there is trouble with broadcasting signal detection, such as remote mountain villages, can construct a wired TV network in such areas and receive the broadcasting signal either on-air or standby form through a wired TV broadcasting channel. The local broadcasting centers  300 A- 300 N may provide various multimedia data through a plurality of TV broadcasting channels. Or local broadcasting centers  300 A- 300 N may provide various multimedia data through one TV broadcasting channel with different broadcasting times for each kind of multimedia data. Therefore, each local broadcasting center  300 A- 300 N may include broadcasting units  320 A- 320 N for propagating broadcasting signals to the corresponding customer premise equipment through a TV broadcasting channel  330 .  
     [0095] A block diagram of a broadcasting control center  230  in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 5.  
     [0096] With reference to FIG. 5, the broadcasting control center  230  may include an ARS server  232 , a controller  240 , a database  234  and a router  236 . The ARS server  232  receives the customer&#39;s request through the ARS system  224 .  
     [0097] The controller  240  may include a request detector  242 , a broadcasting applying signal generator  244  and a multimedia processor  246 .  
     [0098] The multimedia processor  246  converts the raw multimedia data supplied through the router  236  into specified data format. Then the multimedia processor  246  transmits the multimedia data with a specified data format to the local broadcasting centers  300 A- 300 N. Also, the multimedia processor  246  stores the related summary data in a database  234 . The raw multimedia data may be supplied through the Internet  226  or by readable storage media, e.g., a hard disk or CD-ROM, directly from the contents providers. The multimedia processor  246  generates summary data, e.g., the kind of data, their playing time and name, corresponding to the supplied multimedia data. And, the multimedia processor  246  stores them in a database  234 . Also, the multimedia processor  246  provides the core data, which is for displaying on the customer&#39;s TV, to a broadcasting server  310 A- 310 N in the local broadcasting center  300 A- 300 N coupled to the customer premise equipment.  
     [0099] More particularly, the multimedia processor  246  classifies the multimedia data, for example, music data, home shopping data, animation/movie data or useful information, and gives codes to each kind of multimedia data. In the case that a uni-channel service is provided by the local broadcasting center, the multimedia processor  246  appoints the playing time of the each kind of multimedia data. On the other hand, in the case that multi-channel services are provided by the local broadcasting center, the multimedia processor  246  appoints the code to each channel which the multimedia data may be provided. Also, in using multi-channel services, the playing time may be added to the multimedia data. Therefore, summary data, e.g., the kind of multimedia data, the TV broadcasting channel, the playing time and the name of the data, are stored in a database  234  within the broadcasting control center  230 .  
     [0100] The request detector  242  detects a customer&#39;s residential area, TV channel and selected multimedia data from the customer&#39;s request received through an ARS server  232 . Then, the request detector  242  selects the specified area code, local broadcasting center code, TV channel code and multimedia data code from the database  234 .  
     [0101] The broadcasting applying signal generator  244  creates an broadcasting applying signal, which includes the request date/time, a checksum bit added to the local area code, a local broadcasting center code, a TV channel code and a multimedia data code. The broadcasting applying signal is provided to the broadcasting servers  310 A- 310 N within specified local broadcasting center  300 A- 300 N. The customer can see and hear the requested multimedia data on a TV in accordance with the broadcasting signal from the local broadcasting center  300 A- 300 N.  
     [0102] A flow chart that illustrates a method of requesting multimedia data from customer premise equipment through an ARS system as an upstream communication path in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 6.  
     [0103] With reference to FIG. 6, the ARS system  224  provides comments, which illustrate contents could be served to the customer premise equipment  210 , if the customer premise equipment connects to the ARS system  224  using a telephone  211  (step s 10 ). The customer may know in advance the local area code, local broadcasting center code, TV channel code and multimedia data code which indicates for example, music data, home shopping data, animation/movie data and useful information. In this case, the customer can input a specific local area code, local broadcasting center code, TV channel code and multimedia data code on the telephone  211  sequentially (step s 16 ). If not, the user can input specific codes sequentially according to the service comments provided by the ARS system (step s 14 ).  
     [0104] There may be just one local broadcasting center or plurality of local broadcasting centers in one limited local area. If there is plurality of local broadcasting centers, the ARS system  224  can provide the comments for the local broadcasting center&#39;s codes (step s 20 ). Also, the customer can directly input a specific code of local broadcasting center by using buttons on a telephone if the customer knows that code in advance (step s 22 ). Similarly, an ARS system  224  can provide comments of serviceable multimedia data codes (step s 26 ), or the customer can directly input multimedia data codes using a telephone (step s 28 ).  
     [0105] A local broadcasting center may use one TV broadcasting channel for providing selected multimedia data based on time division, and another local broadcasting center may use plurality of TV broadcasting channels corresponding to each kind of multimedia data. In the case that a local broadcasting center has multi-channel services, the step of selecting a specified local broadcasting center is also necessary.  
     [0106] A data format of request from customer premise equipment through ARS system as an upstream data transfer in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 7.  
     [0107] With reference to the FIG. 7, the ARS system may have at least one of local area code according to the service area, e.g., Seoul, Pusan and Taegu, respectively. At least one of local broadcasting center codes is located at the lower level of the local area code. If there is one local broadcasting center, just one local broadcasting center code is assigned, and otherwise plurality of the local broadcasting center codes are assigned to them, respectively.  
     [0108] The local broadcasting center may have at least one of TV broadcasting channels for providing multimedia data. In the case that the local broadcasting center has one channel and serves various multimedia data in accordance with different period of the playing time, just one TV channel code is located under the local broadcasting center code and multimedia data code is located under the TV channel code. On the other hand, in the case that the local broadcasting center has plurality of channels according to the different kind of the multimedia data, plurality of the multimedia data code are located under the each TV channel code, respectively.  
     [0109] If the customer inputs the local area code, local broadcasting center code, TV channel code and multimedia data code, the ARS system provides certification comment for the input contents (step s 30 ).  
     [0110] On the other hand, the customer can request the multimedia data through Internet.  
     [0111] A block diagram of a communication system which uses local TV broadcasting channel as a downstream data transfer to provide requested multimedia data and Internet as a upstream data transfer in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 8.  
     [0112] With reference to FIG. 8, the communication system of the present invention consists of Internet  226  as a upstream data transfer. This is indicates that the broadcasting control center  230 - 1  includes a web server  238  instead of the ARS server. Therefore, the communication system uses Internet  226  as a upstream data transfer instead of the telephone network, e.g., PSTN and web server  238  instead of the ARS server. And other configuration and process are the same with that of FIG. 4.  
     [0113] A block diagram of a broadcasting control center  230 - 1  of the communication system of FIG. 8 is shown in FIG. 9.  
     [0114] With reference to FIG. 9, the broadcasting control center  230 - 1  may include a web server  238 , a controller  240 , a database  234  and a router  236 . The web server  238  receives the customer&#39;s request through the Internet  226 .  
     [0115] The controller  240  may include a request detector  242 , broadcasting applying signal generator  244  and a multimedia processor  246 .  
     [0116] The multimedia processor  246  converts the raw multimedia data supplied through the router  236  to the specified data format. And then the multimedia processor  246  transmits the converted multimedia data with specified data format to the local broadcasting centers  300 A- 300 N. And, the multimedia processor  246  stores the summary data of them in the database  234 .  
     [0117] The request detector  242  detects local area, TV channel and selected multimedia data corresponding to the customer&#39;s request received through the web server  238 . Then, the request detector  242  selects the local area code, local broadcasting center code, TV channel code and multimedia data code from the database  234 .  
     [0118] The broadcasting applying signal generator  244  creates the broadcasting applying signal, which includes request date/time and checksum bit added to the local area code, local broadcasting center code, TV channel code and multimedia data code. The broadcasting applying signal is provided to the broadcasting server  310 A- 310 N within the specified local broadcasting center  300 A- 300 N.  
     [0119] A flowchart that illustrates a method of receiving request of music from customer premise equipment on Internet as an upstream data transfer in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 10.  
     [0120] With reference to FIG. 10, the customer requests the connection with the web server  238  using the computer system  214  in the customer premise equipment  210  through the Internet  226 . Then, the web server  238  has the authenticating process for the customer (step s 40 ) using private information of the connected customer, for example, ID and password.  
     [0121] The broadcasting control center  230 - 1  provides serviceable music data to the authenticated customer. In this time, the customer can search desired music data using title of music or name of singer. If the customer selects the title of music for searching the music data (step s 42 ), the broadcasting control center  230 - 1  provides the list of the music in order of the title (step s 44 ). And, if the customer selects the name of singer for searching the music data (step s 42 ), the broadcasting control center  230 - 1  provides the list of the music in order of the name of the singer (step s 46 ). On the other hand, the customer can search desired music data directly by inputting the title of music in the searching windows.  
     [0122] The broadcasting control center  230 - 1  detects the desired music data from the database in accordance with customer&#39;s input (step s 48 ). If the requested music data are in the database, the broadcasting control center  230 - 1  provides the summary data of the music, e.g., music code, name of singer and playing time, to the customer (step s 54 ). If there is not desired music data in the database, the comments for indicating ‘no data’ are provided to the customer (step s 52 ).  
     [0123] In this time, the computer system of the customer premise equipment is being connected to the web server hence it is easy to listening the requested music previously. As it were, if the customer requests the pre-listening the desired music (step s 56 ), the broadcasting control center  230 - 1  transmits the music data to the customer premise equipment (step s 58 ). Therefore, it is preferable that the music data, which could have MP3 format capable of playing on the web, are stores in the database of the broadcasting control center  230 - 1 , because the customer can listen the music through the Internet.  
     [0124] Then, if the customer applies for the music data to broadcasting to the customer premise equipment in the limited local area (step s 60 ), the broadcasting control center  230 - 1  provides the certification comment (step s 62 ). And, the broadcasting control center  230 - 1  stores the contents of customer&#39;s applying for (step s 64 ). Therefore, the customer can hear the desired music on the TV within the customer premise equipment. And the customer can use karaoke service by the sound of music.  
     [0125] A flowchart that illustrates a method of receiving customer&#39;s request for the moving picture from customer premise equipment on Internet as an upstream data transfer in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 11.  
     [0126] With reference to the FIG. 11, the customer requests the connection to the web server  238  within the broadcasting control center  230 - 1  through Internet  226 . The web server  238  has the process for authenticating the customer using private information for the customer, e.g., ID, password, customer&#39;s name and resident registration number (step s 70 ).  
     [0127] The broadcasting control center  230 - 1  detects desired moving picture data from the database according to the customer&#39;s request (step s 72 ). If there is requested moving picture data in the database (step s 74 ), the broadcasting control center  230 - 1  transmits summary of the moving picture data, e.g., data code, title or playing time (step s 78 ). If not, the broadcasting control center  230 - 1  provides ‘no data’ comments and demands request again to the customer (step s 76 ).  
     [0128] In this time, the computer system of the customer premise equipment  210  is being connected to the web server. Hence it is easy to preview the requested moving picture, it is preferable to store the moving picture data in the database of the broadcasting control center  230 - 1 . As it were, if the customer requests the preview of the desired moving picture (step s 80 ), the broadcasting control center  230 - 1  transmits the moving picture data to the customer premise equipment (step s 82 ). Therefore, it is preferable that the moving picture data, which could have a format such as rm, ra, or mpeg capable of playing, for example, by the real player or windows media player, are stores in the database within the broadcasting control center  230 - 1 . In the case of using Internet as upstream data transfer, preferably moving picture data are classified to the web-based data and TV channel-based data, the former stores in the broadcasting control center  230 - 1 , and the latter stores in the local broadcasting center.  
     [0129] Then, if the customer applies for the moving picture data for the broadcasting (step s 84 ), the broadcasting control center  230 - 1  provides the certification comment (step s 86 ). And, the broadcasting control center  230 - 1  stores the contents of customer&#39;s applying for (step s 88 ). Therefore, the user can see and hear the requested moving picture such as animation and movie from the TV in the customer premise equipment.  
     [0130] A flowchart that illustrates a method of transmitting broadcasting applying signal based upon the customer&#39;s request to the local broadcasting center in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 12.  
     [0131] With reference to FIG. 12, the broadcasting control center receives the request for the multimedia data through the ARS server or web server (step s 90 ). The request for the multimedia data is transmitted to the broadcasting control center by the telephone or computer system within the customer premise equipment. In accordance with the customer&#39;s request through ARS server or web server, ARS count or Internet count is increased (step s 94 ). The result of the count may be used to take statistics.  
     [0132] If the local area code, local broadcasting center code, TV channel code and multimedia data code are provided by customer, the controller of the broadcasting control center detects information used to generate broadcasting applying signal from the database (step s 98 ). The broadcasting applying signal is for applying the local broadcasting center for propagating desired multimedia data according to the customer&#39;s request to the customer premise equipment. Therefore, the broadcasting applying signal may include additional data, e.g., transmitting date, transmitting time, and request time, added to the local area code, local broadcasting center code, TV channel code and multimedia data code.  
     [0133] A data format of broadcasting applying signal transmitted from the broadcasting control center to the local broadcasting center according to the customer&#39;s request in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 13.  
     [0134] With reference to the FIG. 13, the broadcasting applying signal may have multimedia data element, which illustrates desired multimedia data for propagating from local broadcasting center to plurality of the customer premise equipment, and header element for controlling the transmission of the broadcast applying signal.  
     [0135] The multimedia data element may consist of the multimedia data code, request date and request time. The multimedia data code can illustrate music data, home shopping data, animation/movie data or useful information data according to the customer&#39;s request.  
     [0136] The header element may include data header and report header, said data header illustrates the number of customer&#39;s request for the multimedia data. The report header may include report number, transmitting date, transmitting time and response code, said report number illustrates the kind of multimedia data, i.e. master data or optional data, Furthermore, the report header may include total bites, which illustrates total length of the broadcasting applying signal for judging the arrival of the broadcasting applying signal to the local broadcasting center. IP address or port number of the broadcasting server within the local broadcasting center may be used to transmit the broadcasting applying signal.  
     [0137] In this way, the broadcasting applying signal may be stored in the database of the broadcasting control center for making statistics of the transmission error and details of the customer&#39;s request (step s 102 ). The broadcasting applying signal may be arranged in the broadcasting control center according to the plurality of the customer&#39;s request. Then, the broadcasting control center is connected to the local broadcasting center according to the customer&#39;s request (step s 104 ) and transmits the broadcasting applying signal to that (step s 106 ).  
     [0138] In the process of transmitting broadcasting applying signal, the broadcasting control center judges the things whether the broadcasting applying signal is transmitted normally or not, according to the response code from the local broadcasting center. If the broadcasting control center receives back normal response, i.e. acknowledge signal, from the local broadcasting center, the broadcasting control center determines no error in the transmission process of the broadcasting applying signal (step s 108 ). If the response is not provided from the local broadcasting center, which indicates transmission error, the broadcasting control center retransmits the broadcasting applying signal (step s 110 ).  
     [0139] A block diagram of the local broadcasting center in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 14.  
     [0140] With reference to FIG. 14, local broadcasting centers  300 A- 300 N may have functions that detects desired multimedia data according to the broadcasting applying signal from the broadcasting control center, converts detected multimedia data, which stores in the digital form, to analog multimedia data, edits the analog multimedia data to make view on TV, and propagates the edited multimedia data to the customer premise equipment through the TV broadcasting channel according to the customer&#39;s request.  
     [0141] The database  314  is for storing multimedia data for transmitting through the TV broadcasting channel. The multimedia data may be large-volume video data, audio data, animation data or text data. Preferably, the multimedia data are stored in the digital form of MPEG 2 (Moving Picture Expert Group) for efficient transmission and storage. Furthermore, it is preferable to prevent the size of the multimedia data, which are transmitted through TV broadcasting channel, from exceeding 4 Gigabytes, which is data size for playing on TV for 1 hour.  
     [0142] The receiver  302  receives the broadcasting applying signal from the broadcasting control center. The schedule manager  304  detects desired multimedia data from the database  314  according to the broadcasting applying signal and controls the propagation of the detected multimedia data in accordance with request date and request time. The digital multimedia data, e.g., music data, home shopping data, animation/movie data and useful information, stored in the database  314  are converted to the analog form for propagating through TV broadcasting channel. Therefore, local broadcasting center may have decoder  306 , i.e. DA converter, to convert digital multimedia data to analog multimedia data. In this way, the multimedia data may be separated to audio data and video data, each audio data and video data may be converted to analog audio data and analog video data due to audio decoder and video decoder, respectively.  
     [0143] The caption editor  308  edits screen contents to be displayed on the TV by supplying various additive data to the converted analog multimedia data. As it were, if the additive data, e.g., ARS number or uniform resource locator (URL), local area code, local broadcasting center code, multimedia data code, TV channel code, standby data and remaining time, are supplied on the TV screen, the customers are apt to request desired multimedia data. Therefore, customers can request various multimedia data by ARS system or web server.  
     [0144] Also, customers can estimate start time of the desired multimedia data due to confirm standby data and remaining time, and therefore the customers can manage time efficiently.  
     [0145] The broadcasting controller  312  controls the propagation of the broadcasting signal, which is edited in the caption editor  308 , from the broadcasting unit  320  to the customer premise equipment  210  subscribed to the local broadcasting center  300 A- 300 N. The broadcasting controller  312  provides broadcasting signal to the monitoring TV  316  and broadcasting monitor  318  in the local broadcasting center  300  for manager&#39;s confirmation. The manager can see broadcasting condition for example, quality of screen and quality of sound in the customer premise equipment, using the monitoring TV  316 . And therefore, the manager can control the transmission of the broadcasting signal using broadcasting monitor  318 .  
     [0146] Furthermore, the broadcasting monitor  318  may have alarm device, e.g., Light Emitting Diode (LED), for displaying error message according to the error of the audio signal or video signal. Therefore, the manager can confirm occurrence of error, so that the manager can correct error conveniently. Also, in the case of using multi-channel for propagating broadcasting signal from the local broadcasting center to the customer premise equipments, the manager can confirm propagating condition in each channel using the broadcasting monitor  318  and monitoring TV  316 .  
     [0147] A flowchart that illustrates a method of propagating broadcasting signal from the local broadcasting center to the customer premise equipments in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 15.  
     [0148] With reference to the FIG. 15, the local broadcasting centers  300 A- 300 N receive the broadcasting applying signal from the broadcasting control center (step s 120 ) and detect whether error occurs in the broadcasting applying signal or not. For this process, the local broadcasting centers  300 A- 300 N compare total bites in the report header of FIG. 13 with total length of the received broadcasting applying signal (step s 122 ). If the result is same, i.e. ‘no error’ (step s 124 ), normal received response (acknowledge) is transmitted back to the broadcasting control center (step s 126 ), and if not, the local broadcasting center requests retransmission of the broadcasting applying signal to the broadcasting control center due to error response (step s 140 ).  
     [0149] If the local broadcasting center receives the broadcasting applying signal normally, the specified multimedia data are detected from database according to the broadcasting applying signal (step s 128 ). In the case of existing multimedia data standby data or on-air data (step s 130 ), the detected multimedia data are stores in buffer (step s 132 ). Otherwise, the detected multimedia data are propagated to the customer premise equipment without buffering.  
     [0150] A diagram that explains a process of propagating desired multimedia data through the local TV broadcasting uni-channel in accordance with preferred embodiment of a present invention is shown in FIG. 16.  
     [0151] With reference the FIG. 16, for propagating multimedia data, e.g., music data, home shopping data, animation/movie data and useful information, with uni-channel, there is need to divide 24 hours of a day into plurality of the broadcasting time with definite interval. Therefore, each kind of multimedia data is provided in each definite interval.  
     [0152] For example, if there are requests of music from customer premise equipment during the time of providing karaoke service, the requested music data are stored in buffer in order of request. If the requested music data are four, i.e. from requested music  1  to requested music data  4 , the requested music data  1  is propagated to the customer premise equipment, and others are stored in buffer. After the propagation of the requested music data  1  is finished, next requested music data  2  is propagated to the customer premise equipment. The buffer may provide the requested music data in order of First In First Out (FIFO).  
     [0153] On the other hand, it is possible to propagate multimedia data using multi-channel for transmitting each kind of them.  
     [0154] A diagram that explains a process of propagating requested multimedia data through the local TV broadcasting multi-channel in accordance with preferred embodiment of a present invention is shown in FIG. 17.  
     [0155] FIG,  17  shows the occasion that karaoke service corresponds to channel  1 , home shopping service corresponds to channel  2 , animation/movie service corresponds to channel  3  and useful information service corresponds to channel  4 . Therefore, each kind of multimedia data can be provided on each channel.  
     [0156] In the karaoke service, the customers can request music in channel  1 . The requested music data, for example, from the requested music data  1  to the requested music data  4 , are stored sequentially in buffer. The requested music are propagated to the customer premise equipment in order of request. Similarly, in channel  2 , channel  3  and channel  4 , each multimedia data are stored in buffer sequentially and propagated to the customer premise equipment according to the requested order.  
     [0157] The customers can estimate easily the propagation order by caption of screen, e.g., the order of standby multimedia data and playing time of each data.  
     [0158] The digital multimedia data are converted to analog multimedia data for propagating through local TV broadcasting channel (step s 134 ). Then, the caption data, for example, code of requesting multimedia data by ARS system or Internet, and summary of multimedia data capable of broadcasting, are added to the analog multimedia data (step s 136 ). This helps customers to manage the time for using service by confirmation of remaining time. The broadcasting signal i.e. multimedia data included caption, is propagated the customer premise equipments through local TV broadcasting channel (step s 138 ).  
     [0159] As described above, in the communication method and system of the present invention, the customers can request multimedia data by computer system or telephone, and the customers can see and hear desired multimedia data on the TV without any device, for example, cable modem and splitter.  
     [0160] Also, the communication system of the present invention can increase data transmission rate and can enhance the efficiency of the data transmission by propagation of the broadcasting signal to the customer premise equipments in the range of limited area simultaneously. Therefore, it is possible to decrease the useless time for broadcasting and increase the effectiveness of using the local TV broadcasting channels.  
     [0161] Also, in the communication system of the present invention, because the core data of multimedia data are stored in the local broadcasting center, it is possible to propagate broadcasting signal faster.  
     [0162] While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated that many variations, modifications and other applications of the present invention may be made.