FR3030982A1 - METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC RECORDING OF RECOMMENDED VIDEO CONTENTS, DEVICE AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT THEREFOR. - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for automatically recording video content on a storage space of a service gateway for the exchange of data between an external communication network and a user terminal connected to a network of data. local communication, the video content being accessible via a content server connected to the gateway by the external network. This method is implemented during a predetermined download time span according to a profile of use of the bandwidth provided by the external network for obtaining, by several terminals, video content, and it comprises: - a obtaining step (10), from said content server, of video content not required by said user from among a plurality of video contents recommended for said user, and proposed by a content recommendation service; a recording step (11), within said storage space, of the video content obtained.

Description

Method for automatically recording recommended video contents, device and associated computer program product FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The field of the invention is that of the broadcasting of video contents over a communication network. It is particularly concerned with the field of video on demand (VOD), which is based on content servers with which user terminals can communicate via a communication network, such as the Internet. 2. Prior art At present, a conventional means for obtaining high-speed Internet access in a given location is to subscribe to an offer proposed by an operator, or Internet service provider ("ISP"). ). The connection to the network is then generally provided through a service gateway (more commonly called "box") which, once installed in the desired location (the home of an individual for example), allows you to enjoy a wide range of services sometimes grouped under the name "triple-play": Internet, telephony, television. These service gateways are also often used as a router, allowing multiple communication terminals (computer, tablet, smartphone, connected TV) that equip the various members of the household to connect to it (via a wired link Ethernet or a Wi-Fi wireless link for example) to exchange data between them but also with the outside. The service gateway thus serves as an interface between a local communication network and the Internet, and thus allows the various terminals of the home to access services available online.

Among the services offered, some question the consumer habits of users. Thus, the traditional model of broadcast video content consumption (the same video stream is broadcast to all at the same time) is now competing with the growing popularity of video-on-demand services, such as NetflixTM or CanalPlayTM for example. These services allow the user to choose his program from an important catalog, and to watch it whenever he wants. The user thus has access to a wide choice of video content, including content recently broadcast in a broadcast mode, in the case of television called "catch-up" (or "Replay" in English). In other words, the user becomes the master of his consumption of video contents: he goes from a passive consumption (he does not choose what is diffused or when it is broadcast) to an active consumption (he chooses this he wants to watch, and when). The contents thus available on demand are called delineralized. The development of video-on-demand offers has also allowed the emergence of new services. Thus content recommendation services have emerged. On the basis of a set of predefined criteria (a user's declared preferences, the analysis of the history of video contents already viewed, etc.), algorithms identify other video contents that may also interest the user. user, because close to his interests for example. Video on demand platforms can now rely on these recommendation services to highlight video content relevant to a given user. While it has many advantages for the user, this change in the way video content is consumed is not without its problems, particularly in terms of managing the bandwidth required to route it over the network. Indeed, video on demand involves a "point-to-point" communication between the user and the server hosting the video, and the ability for the video to be sent specifically to the user who requests it. This therefore presupposes a broadcast of the video stream in unicast mode, ie directly to the user, in contrast with a broadcasting broadcast in which the same video stream is sent to all. The implementation of a video-on-demand service is therefore extremely consuming in bandwidth. Moreover, even if the users of such a service have the possibility to access video contents at any time, their way of life makes that the request in video contents is not evenly distributed on the day: thus of the peaks For example, consumption is observed at certain times of the day, for example at the beginning of the evening, a period that is traditionally conducive for households to watch video content. These peak consumption forces operators and providers of video on demand to size their infrastructure accordingly, in order to be able to satisfy all users even at the peak of the service solicitation. Any negligence in this area has a direct impact on the user experience that can be degraded (inability to access the service or slowness, impromptu interruptions when playing video content, decreased video quality, etc.) and can prove disastrous for the branding of the provider of the video-on-demand service and / or the operator. This problem is further accentuated by the fact that many video content is now broadcast in an OTT mode, the acronym for "Over The Top". This mode of diffusion deprives the operator of any control and forces him to adapt willy-nilly in order to be able to absorb a significant burden related to the operation of a service of which he is an essential link, but that it does not control and which profits above all to the supplier of contents. In return, the content provider is not able to guarantee users consistent and sufficient quality of its service, the proposed video content is routed on a network that it does not manage. Scaling the infrastructure according to such a peak consumption is a solution that is nevertheless far from optimal. Indeed, not only is it extremely expensive, but the infrastructure, sized to cope with a peak solicitation barely a few hours, thus prove to be underutilized the rest of the time, ie most of the day. The use of resources is not optimized. There is therefore a need for a solution to better distribute the use of the bandwidth required for the operation of a video-on-demand service, while maintaining the possibility offered to users to access video content when they wish, and that does not present at least some of the disadvantages outlined above. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention provides a solution which does not present at least some of these problems of the prior art, thanks to an original method of automatically recording video content on a storage space associated with a service gateway. This gateway is intended for the exchange of data flows between an external communication network and at least one terminal of a user connected to a local communication network. The video content is accessible via a content server connected to the service gateway via this external communication network. According to the invention, such a method is implemented during a predetermined download time span as a function of a bandwidth utilization profile provided by the external communication network for obtaining, by a plurality of terminals, video content to said content server, and it comprises: a step of obtaining, from said content server, at least one video content not required by said user from among a plurality of video contents recommended for said user, and proposed by a content recommendation service; a step of recording, within said storage space, said at least one video content obtained. Thus, it is possible to make available to a user, without his intervention, on his local network, video content not requested by this user but nevertheless likely to interest him. These contents are stored at the level of the service gateway equipping the home of the user. Thus, they are accessible locally, which allows to view them without causing bandwidth consumption in the external communication network. In this way, while the user is viewing a video thus made available, other services requiring access to the external communication network, and likely to be used by other people in the home using the same service gateway, are not impacted (unlike watching video on demand in streaming mode which consumes a lot of bandwidth and is likely to cause a deterioration in the quality of other services that rely on access to the external communication network, for example a slowdown in Internet browsing). The fact that these contents are stored locally also makes it possible to access content of better quality than that which could have been proposed in a streaming mode of consumption directly from the content server. In addition, this offers more flexibility as to the possibilities for viewing these contents (the multi-screen is possible for example). Moreover, according to its different embodiments, the invention makes it possible to ensure that the downloading of these recommended contents and their registration within a storage space of the service gateway are made outside the time ranges of strong demands on the external network and the content server. These contents likely to interest the user (who would potentially have been the subject of a request for streaming access from the user if the process had not been implemented) are therefore directly accessible in local by the user. In other words, the party is determined to take advantage of the time slots of lesser solicitation of the external network for the implementation of the video-on-demand service to pre-download, within a storage space of a service gateway associated with a user, video content likely to interest him. In this way, the method described here makes it possible to better distribute the consumption of the network bandwidth over the day, by proposing to anticipate (and eventually to orient) the choices of a user as to the video content that he will order. video-on-demand service. This allows the operator in charge to provide access to the external communication network, as well as to the content provider in charge of the content server, to better optimize the use of their resources. According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the download time range is predefined, by at least one piece of information representative of a time slot, within said service gateway and / or delivered by a dedicated service accessible by the intermediate of said external communication network, upon request of said service gateway. Thus, it is possible to store within the service gateway information representative of the time ranges during which video-on-demand services are typically less busy (for example night after midnight or in the morning). These time periods are preferred download areas for the anticipated download of video content likely to be of interest to a user, insofar as they are outside known consumption peaks. Alternatively, the download time range can be provided by a dedicated service accessible via the external communication network, and thus be dynamically modified, so as to adapt to any type of event (modification of video consumption habits). users during certain periods (eg school period vs. holiday period), temporary deactivation following a scheduled maintenance operation on the network, reaction to an unforeseen network incident, etc.). The intelligence of the choice of download time ranges is thus deported to the operator, which allows to offer more flexibility because they can thus be regularly updated. According to another particular embodiment of the invention, said step of obtaining at least one video content is implemented as a function of the space available on said storage space and / or according to preferences previously defined by the user. In this way, the selection and the number of video contents to be downloaded from the plurality of recommended video contents take into account the disk space still available on the storage space, but also preferences previously defined by the user. These preferences previously defined by the user can be used in particular to establish a download order within the plurality of recommended contents, on the basis of any criterion likely to characterize a video content (for example to privilege video contents whose duration does not exceed 1h30, or "series" video content rather than "film"). According to one particular characteristic of the invention, said recommended video contents can be obtained, via said content server, in different viewing formats, and said method comprises, prior to the step of obtaining at least one video content, a step of selecting the display format of said at least one video content not required by the user, as a function of: the space available on said storage space; and / or - preferences previously defined by the user; and / or - technical characteristics of at least one communication terminal used by said user to display video contents. Thus, the viewing format - in other words the quality (its definition, the way it is encoded, etc.) - video content downloaded to the storage space associated with the service gateway is adapted according to user-defined preferences as to the desired video quality, but also according to the terminal generally used by this user to view video contents and / or depending on the space still available on the storage space reserved for that video. download service for recommended video content. In another particular embodiment of the invention, said recording method comprises a step of automatically deleting at least one video content stored within said storage space, said previously recorded video content, when at least one of the following conditions is verified: - said previously recorded video content has been viewed in its entirety by said user; a predetermined maximum duration of storage, within said storage space, of said previously recorded video content is reached; said previously recorded video content is not present in said plurality of recommended video contents. Thus, by deleting content that is no longer recommended, that has been viewed, or that is too old and obviously not of interest to the user, it is possible to automatically free up disk space on the storage space associated with the storage gateway. This step can be performed prior to the step of obtaining new recommended content, which allows to immediately make room to allow the renewal of content available on the storage space. This step can also be carried out after the step of obtaining the recommended contents, for example to prepare the next implementation of the method. In another aspect, the invention also relates to a service gateway type device comprising: a module for obtaining from a content server at least one video content that is not required by one of a plurality of users; recommended video content for that user, and offered by a content recommendation service; and a recording module within a storage space associated with said service gateway, or video content thus obtained. According to a preferred implementation, the various steps of the method according to the invention are implemented by one or more software or computer programs, comprising software instructions intended to be executed by a data processor of a service gateway according to the invention. invention and being designed to control the execution of the different steps of the process. Accordingly, the invention is also directed to a program that can be executed by a computer or a data processor, which program includes instructions for controlling the execution of the steps of a method as mentioned above. This program can use any programming language, and be in the form of source code, object code, or intermediate code between source code and object code, such as in a partially compiled form, or in any other form desirable shape.

The invention also provides a data carrier readable by a data processor, and including instructions of a program as mentioned above. The information carrier may be any entity or device capable of storing the program. For example, the medium may comprise storage means, such as a ROM, for example a CD ROM or a microelectronic circuit ROM, or a magnetic recording medium, for example a diskette (floppy disc) or a disk hard. On the other hand, the information medium may be a transmissible medium such as an electrical or optical signal, which may be conveyed via an electrical or optical cable, by radio or by other means. The program according to the invention can be downloaded in particular on an Internet type network.

Alternatively, the information carrier may be an integrated circuit in which the program is incorporated, the circuit being adapted to execute or to be used in the execution of the method in question.

According to one embodiment, the invention is implemented by means of software and / or hardware components. A software component corresponds to one or more computer programs, one or more subroutines of a program, or more generally to any element of a program or software capable of implementing a function or a program. set of functions. Such a software component is executed by a data processor of a physical entity (terminal, server, gateway, router, etc.) and is capable of accessing the hardware resources of this physical entity (memories, recording media, bus communication cards, input / output electronic cards, user interfaces, etc.).

In the same way, a hardware component corresponds to any element of a hardware set (or hardware) able to implement a function or a set of functions. It may be a hardware component that is programmable or has an integrated processor for executing software, for example an integrated circuit, a smart card, a memory card, an electronic card for executing a firmware ( firmware), etc.

The various embodiments mentioned above are combinable with each other for the implementation of the invention. 4. List of Figures Other features and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, given as a simple illustrative and non-limiting example, and attached drawings among which: Figure 1 illustrates the main steps implemented by the recording method of the invention, in a particular embodiment; FIG. 2a shows an example of a typical daily profile of bandwidth consumption for the implementation of a video-on-demand service, as generally found before generalization of the invention; FIG. 2b presents a goal of daily bandwidth consumption profile for the implementation of a video-on-demand service, which the invention aims to approach; FIG. 3 describes a simplified architecture of a service gateway according to the invention. 5. Detailed Description 5.1 General Principle The invention therefore proposes to perform, during a predetermined time range called the download time range, an automatic recording of video content on a storage space associated with a service gateway. This service gateway, generally provided by a telecommunications operator, is for example installed in the home of a user, and provides all members of the household with access to an external communication network, the best known being the Internet network. Also, the service gateway and all the communication terminals that can connect to it within the home form a local communication network. The external communication network is the transmission medium of the video content, which is delivered by a content server managed by a provider of a video-on-demand service. In the field of video-on-demand services, two main ways of accessing video content present on a content server coexist. The first, usually called "streaming", consists of playing the content continuously as it is transmitted over the network. The access to the content is then immediate, and only the part of the video being viewed is temporarily stored at the client. The user's connection must support good data rates, and the content server to which he connects must be of good quality so that the video stream can be routed correctly, and the content viewed in good conditions (avoid cuts or offsets between the sound and the image for example). The second way to access video content on a content server is to download it: a multimedia file corresponding to the entire video content is then copied locally to the user. The latter must wait until the download is complete to start viewing the chosen content. Throughout the rest of the document, the term "streaming" will be used to refer to this first way of accessing content, and the term "downloading" to refer to the second way of accessing content. By definition, a video-on-demand service allows a user to access the video content they want, whenever they want. Neither the content provider, nor the operator who delivers them, therefore have the opportunity to master with certainty this information, which nevertheless has a significant impact on their activity. As already detailed in the description of the prior art, the sizing of their network infrastructure is particularly closely related to peaks of service solicitation, and therefore to the times when users choose to view content.

Also, the general principle of the invention consists in relying on existing content recommendation services in order to identify video contents likely to interest a user, and to allow the service gateway used by the user to download, at a convenient time, within a storage space associated with it, at least a portion of these recommended contents. In other words, the idea is to try to anticipate the possible choices of the users as to the video contents that they will be likely to require during their next use of a video-on-demand service, and to make these contents available within the local network of the user even before the latter realizes a possible request for viewing. Thus, the moment of transmission of the content of the moment of its display is decorrelated, by switching from a streaming mode to a download mode for at least a portion of the contents displayed, which makes it possible, in particular, thanks to the method according to the invention, to better spread the bandwidth consumption over the entire day. It is important to note here that this process is performed automatically, without user intervention either at the time of execution or prior to execution. The content downloaded and stored locally at the user's service gateway was not chosen by this user, and the user has not expressly requested or programmed their registration. However, these contents were not selected at random: there are indeed content recommendation services (we can cite as examples SpideoTM, or ReddiscoverTM) which rely on algorithms able to produce suggestions for content. relevant to the user from different types of information. By way of illustration, such algorithms may be based on a user's declared preferences (a predilection for Scandinavian thrillers for example), on his recent activity (his consumption history), or on the contents viewed by his friends. or relationships (recommendations based on social networks).

By thus anticipating a user's choice in terms of video content and by pre-downloading, within his local network, these video contents likely to please him, the method according to the invention makes it possible to cumulate the advantages offered by each of the two traditional modes of access to content such as streaming or a download request: content immediately available when the user wants to view it, in a higher quality than that potentially delivered in streaming, and whose visualization is independent conditions of connection to the external communication network. This method is implemented within a service gateway (or "box" or ("gateway"), to which is associated a storage space, such as a hard disk or flash memory (for example a SSD "Solid State Drive") This storage space may be internal to the service gateway or external In a particular embodiment, the storage space is external to the service gateway, for example a hard disk connected via a USB socket The service gateway is used to interface a local area network (LAN) at the user's home address (or at the premises of a company for example) , and an external communication network, typically a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet network ("external" means here a network that is not limited to the home of the user or local of the company, to use the previous examples). Throughout the rest of the document, the external communication network is the Internet network, but this example is not limiting. The main steps that are carried out as part of the implementation of the recording method according to the invention are presented in relation to FIG. 1. This method comprises: a step of obtaining (10), from a content server, at least one video content not required by the user among a plurality of video contents that are recommended by a content recommendation service; a step of recording (11) this or these contents obtained within the storage space associated with the service gateway.

These steps are performed automatically during a predetermined download time range according to a profile of use of the bandwidth provided by the external communication network for the implementation of the video-on-demand service. This characteristic is detailed in the rest of the document. The content recommendation service may be internal or external to the video-on-demand service. The video content recommended for the user and offered by the recommendation service is available within at least one content server constituting the heart of the video-on-demand service. According to a particular characteristic, the storage space associated with the service gateway can be entirely dedicated to the storage of recommended videos. Alternatively, only part of this space can be used in the context of the implementation of the present method, the remainder being allocated to other functionalities possibly offered by the gateway. In a particular embodiment of the invention, the step of obtaining (10) at least one video content among a plurality of recommended contents is performed according to the available space remaining on the reserved storage space for the implementation of the method. The service gateway is thus able to download a number of recommended contents adapted to this remaining available space. Preferences previously defined by the user can also be taken into account to establish or modify a download order within the plurality of recommended contents, on the basis of any criterion likely to characterize a video content (for example privileging video content whose duration does not exceed 1h30, or "series" video content rather than "film"). Thus, the proposed method makes it possible to make available to a user, without his intervention, on his local network, video contents not requested by this user but nevertheless likely to interest him. This content can therefore be viewed immediately without this visualization having any influence (especially negative) on activities requiring access to the Internet that could lead at the same time other members of the household (navigation, telephony, IPTV). The pre-download and the local storage also allow a better quality of visualization of the contents, compared to that which could have been proposed in a streaming mode of consumption directly from the server of contents, subjected to the constraints of bandwidth network available when viewing. Indeed, unlike the streaming mode where the content is read in real time as it is transmitted, the actual duration of this pre-download of the content may exceed the duration of the content itself. Finally, local access offers more flexibility as to the possibilities for viewing content: by means of a single gateway, the different members of the household can consume, simultaneously or not, on the screen of their choice (television, smartphone, tablet, ...), video content from a video-on-demand service and pre-downloaded (multi-screens). The users of the same gateway also have the possibility of sharing the recommended contents thus downloaded together: a recommended content for one thus becomes accessible to others. The download time range is predetermined according to a profile of use of the bandwidth provided by the external communication network for the delivery, to viewing terminals, of video content from the content server. Such a usage profile is easily established by the operator, who has all the necessary tools to know at any time the amount of bandwidth consumed on his network. An example of a typical daily profile of bandwidth usage is presented in connection with Figure 2a. In this example, representative of the conventional load to which a video-on-demand service is daily subjected, a peak of consumption (20) is clearly visible over a time range ranging generally from 20:00 to midnight. It corresponds to the time of day on which the video-on-demand service is the most heavily requested by its users. Other periods of significant solicitation of service, but of less importance, are also visible around noon (21) and 18h (22). The operator must size his network in order to be able to respond to the peak consumption (20) larger. The same goes for the service provider, who must ensure that his content servers will be able to absorb this relatively short but heavy load. This results in significant costs in terms of network infrastructure (server redundancy, load balancing devices, etc.). In addition, if the resources are sized to cope with this peak consumption, it follows that they are oversized the rest of the time: the use of resources is not optimized. The proposed technique described here is intended to attenuate this phenomenon of peak consumption: in fact, it is made that the download time ranges, during which the steps of obtaining and recording recommended contents are performed, correspond to periods of time. traditionally empty use of the video-on-demand service, so outside these peak consumption known (eg night or morning (23)). The idea is to better distribute the bandwidth consumption. Thus, the video content that has been recorded within the storage spaces of the service gateways of users of a video-on-demand service are all content that can be viewed, locally, by these users thereafter without this visualization, at the moment when it takes place, leads to a consumption of the bandwidth supplied to the video-on-demand service by the external communication network (these contents being indeed already available at the level of the local network of the user). Thus, even if a user chooses to view one of these contents at the traditional busy times (for example the period (20) of FIG. 2a), this action will not contribute to the formation of a spike in band usage. passerby, the bandwidth consumption related to the transfer of this video content to the user who has already been absorbed in off-peak period (the period (23) of Figure 2a) when downloading said content according to the method of the invention. The method described thus makes it possible to contribute to the smoothing of the daily bandwidth utilization profile: this use is better distributed over the whole day, the consumption peaks are lower, and the load dips are lower. Network sizing no longer needs to be so important, and the use of existing resources is better optimized. FIG. 2b shows an example of a daily bandwidth utilization profile thus smoothed, which the present method aims to achieve. There is still a peak of consumption in the early evening (20 '), but it is clearly attenuated. Moreover, the period (23 '), which corresponds to a period of less solicitation of the video-on-demand service by users, is now exploited for the automatic downloading of recommended contents to the residential gateways of the users, according to the different modes. embodiment of the invention. 5.2 Obtaining the download time range In a particular embodiment, the download time range is defined by information representative of a time range, said information being predefined internally within the service gateway. On the basis of this information, the gateway is able to determine, autonomously, download time ranges during which it can implement the method of automatic recording of video content recommended according to the invention. These ranges are defined on a cyclical time basis, typically one day. For example, as already detailed above, the download time ranges obtained correspond to traditionally empty periods of use of the video-on-demand service, typically at night and in the morning. The precise definition of these time ranges can be refined according to various elements: thus, it is possible to make sure that the download time period starts later on Saturday and Sunday than the other days of the week, to take into account the fact that the majority of consumers do not work on weekends and is therefore likely to extend their use of a video-on-demand service later. In another particular embodiment, the service gateway periodically interrogates (for example at midnight every day) a service proposed by the operator and accessible via the external communication network (implemented for example in the form of a web service ) which returns information representative of the next download time range during which it can download recommended content. This embodiment offers more flexibility than the previous one in that the intelligence is deported at the network level. It thus becomes possible to dynamically, regularly and remotely modify the download time range so as to adapt to any type of planned or unforeseen event: taking into account the modification of the video consumption habits of users on certain special periods (eg school period vs. holiday period), a measure of temporarily disabling the automatic download of recommended video content when a maintenance operation is scheduled on the network, postponement of the downloading phase in response to a network incident, etc. 5.3 Selection of the quality of the transmitted video content In another particular embodiment, the proposed technique allows the service gateway to automatically download content whose quality is optimized to best meet the expectations of the user. Current content servers are already able to deliver the same video content in several different visualization formats, representative of a quality. They are thus able to offer the same video content in different definitions (SD for "Standard Definition" or HD for "High Definition" for example) or different encodings. The method described here therefore comprises a step of selecting the viewing format of the recommended video content to be downloaded, which selection is made according to different criteria. Thus, it is possible to take into account preferences previously defined by a user of the service (a user can thus for example choose to give priority to the amount of recommended video content thus downloaded to their quality). The remaining available space on the storage space allocated to the service can also have an impact: if it is insufficient to allow the storage of high definition content, the gateway can make the decision to download this content in simple definition , the corresponding file then being much less bulky. Finally, the recommended contents are automatically downloaded in formats adapted to the viewing screens commonly used by the user (this information is known either by analyzing the user's content viewing history or by means of its declared preferences). Thus, a user who views the content exclusively from a tablet will be offered content adapted to the technical characteristics of his tablet. Alternatively, if a user regularly uses several types of terminals (tablet, smartphone, television) to view the video content obtained from the video-on-demand service, the content is transmitted in a quality adapted to the screen with the best definition. Since the content is downloaded locally in its entirety upstream of its visualization, and this during off-peak periods, the proposed method therefore allows users to benefit from a rendering quality which is generally greater than the quality of reproduction obtained via video servers when the content is delivered in streaming mode (dependent on bandwidth distribution constraints). 5.4 Management of Contents and Disk Space In another particular embodiment, the recording method comprises an additional step of automatically deleting at least one video content stored within the storage space associated with the gateway. on duty. This mechanism allows automatic management of available disk space on this storage space. It should be noted here that deleting a content does not pose any particular problem with regard to the user: the targeted video content has indeed been downloaded transparently for the user, without his intervention. In addition, its removal of the storage volume does not make it inaccessible so far: the video content can still be delivered by the content server of the video-on-demand service, in streaming mode. Different strategies can be implemented to delete one or more video contents and thus free space on the storage space so that the storage space is able to store one or more new recommended contents. For example, video content previously recorded using the described method, which has been viewed in its entirety by the user to whom it was recommended, may be deleted (possibly after a certain delay) from the storage space in the as the user is unlikely to want to access it again in the short or medium term (and even if it does, the content can still be streamed from the video-on-demand platform). The list of recommended contents is regularly updated, for example based on new preferences defined by a user, or a change in its consumption history. Thus, content that may have been recommended at a given time to a user, and stored on the storage volume associated with its service gateway as such, may no longer be part of the contents recommended for that user to another moment. Also, content that meets these criteria can also be removed from the storage volume.

It is also possible to delete previously saved content, which is always recommended, but for which a predefined retention period (for example one or two weeks) has elapsed since the date of registration. Indeed, it can be considered that such content, although it is part of the recommended content for a user, probably does not interest this user. It is also possible to systematically delete the oldest downloaded content, that is to say the one for which the date of registration is the oldest, to ensure that disk space will be released each time the application is implemented. proposed technique. These different strategies for managing disk space, given purely for illustrative and non-limiting purposes, can moreover be combined with one another. According to one particular characteristic, this step of removing at least one previously downloaded video content can be carried out before the step of obtaining new recommended contents, which makes it possible to immediately make room to allow the renewal of the contents available on the storage space. Alternatively, it can also be performed after the step of obtaining the recommended contents, for example to prepare the next implementation of the method. 5.5 User Configuration and Visualization of Contents As already presented above, the automatic recording method according to the invention is implemented by the service gateway in full transparency with respect to the user. According to particular embodiments of the invention, the user nevertheless has the possibility of accessing a configuration interface of certain parameters related to the implementation of the method. Thus, according to a particular characteristic, the functionality offered by the proposed technique, allowing the pre-download of video content recommended at the level of the service gateway, is disengageable: the user has the possibility to activate it or not. If he chooses to activate it, he has access to additional parameters. For example, it can define itself a quantity of storage reserved for this functionality within a larger storage space (for example, choose to reserve 50 or 100 GB of a 1 TB hard disk for this functionality) This will allow him to have local access to more or less recommended content. In the event that several users share the same service gateway, each user thus has the possibility of defining a size of storage space reserved for his personal use within the storage space associated with the gateway, for this functionality ( a limit may nevertheless be imposed, in order to keep available disk space for other functions potentially proposed by the gateway). According to another particular characteristic, the user has the possibility of declaring additional preferences which, for example, will make it possible, if necessary, to define a preferential download order among the video contents recommended by the recommendation service (prefer short contents for example). ). It can also define within this interface a desired quality, as well as a preferred viewing terminal. Once downloaded to the storage space associated with the service gateway, the service gateway exposes the recommended video content to the user, for example when accessing a video-on-demand partner service. These contents can be presented so that it is not possible for a user to distinguish them from other content, for their part available in streaming. According to another approach, they can instead be put forward, for example by means of a dedicated pictogram or by being gathered in an area of the screen or on a special page. This last approach is particularly interesting: indeed, all the actors in the chain of use of the video-on-demand service (the user who visualizes the video content, the operator who carries it, and the supplier who delivers it ) win the user to choose recommended video content so pre-downloaded on his local network rather than streaming content. These advantages, already detailed in the present description of the invention, are briefly recalled below. For the user, on the one hand, the fact that the content is available within his local network ensures that its visualization will not affect the activities of other members of the household that require access to the external network (navigation on the Internet, viewing an IPTV program, for example). Conversely, the online activities of other members of the household are no longer likely to affect the smooth playback of video content, unlike what can happen when viewing content broadcast streaming. The content is available locally, it can also be relayed on multiple screens. Finally, the content having been obtained by downloading, it could be delivered in a quality superior to that of the contents transmitted in streaming and subjected to network bandwidth constraints available at the time of the visualization. The operator and the provider of the video-on-demand service, on the other hand, also have the advantage that as many users as possible can choose recommended video content thus pre-downloaded rather than streaming video content. It is in fact only on this condition that a satisfactory smoothing of the daily profile of bandwidth consumption will be obtained, which will allow a more reasoned sizing of the infrastructures necessary for the implementation of such a video on demand service. , and better optimization of their use. 5.6 Device for Implementing the Invention With reference to FIG. 3, a service gateway device comprising modules for executing the previously described recording method is described. Thus, such a gateway comprises: a module for obtaining from a content server at least one video content not required by a user from among a plurality of video contents recommended for this user, and proposed by a service of recommendation of contents; and a recording module within a storage space associated with the service gateway, or video content thus obtained.

For example, the gateway comprises a memory 31 constituted by a buffer memory, a processing unit 32, equipped for example with a microprocessor, and driven by the computer program 33, implementing the recording method according to the invention. 'invention. At initialization, the code instructions of the computer program 33 are for example loaded into a memory before being executed by the processor of the processing unit 32.

The processing unit 32 receives at input (E), for example, a signal for implementing the method, transmitted during a predetermined time range called the download time range. The microprocessor of the processing unit 32 performs the steps of the recording method, according to the instructions of the computer program 33 to obtain and record recommended video contents, and to notify at the output (S) the success or failure of these recordings.

For this, the gateway comprises, in addition to the buffer memory 31, data transmission / reception modules which can be embodied in the form of a connection interface to one or more communication networks, these modules possibly making it possible to establish a linking with a content recommendation service and one or more content servers of an on-demand video provider. They may be software interfaces or hardware interfaces (network card type or network communication hardware modules). According to the invention, such a gateway furthermore comprises storage modules which can take the form of a hard disk, flash memory, or access to such external storage modules at the gateway (via a USB link via example). These storage modules allow the recording of video contents, which thus become available locally for a user.

Claims (7)

REVENDICATIONS1. A method for automatically recording video content on a storage space associated with a service gateway, said gateway being for the exchange of data flows between an external communication network and at least one terminal of a connected user a local communication network, said video content being accessible via a content server connected to said service gateway via said external communication network, said method being characterized in that it implements, during a time span predetermined download according to a profile of use of the bandwidth provided by said external communication network for obtaining, by a plurality of terminals, video contents from said content server: a step of obtaining (10 ), from said content server, at least one video content not required by said user from among a plurality of video contents eo recommended for said user, and proposed by a content recommendation service; a recording step (11), within said storage space, of said at least one video content obtained. 2. The recording method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said download time range is predefined, by at least one piece of information representative of a time range, within said service gateway and / or delivered by an accessible dedicated service. via said external communication network, upon request of said service gateway. 3. Recording method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that said step of obtaining at least one video content is implemented according to the available space on said storage space and / or according to preferences previously defined by the user. A method of recording video content according to any one of claims 1 to 3, said recommended video content being obtainable via said content server in different display formats, said method being characterized by comprises, prior to the step of obtaining at least one video content, a step of selecting the viewing format of said at least one video content that is not required by the user, as a function of: the space available on said space storage; and / or - preferences previously defined by the user; and / or - technical characteristics of at least one communication terminal used by said user to display video contents. 5. Recording method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises a step of automatically removing at least one video content stored within said storage space, said video content previously recorded, when at least one of the following conditions is satisfied: said previously recorded video content has been viewed in its entirety by said user; a predetermined maximum duration of storage, within said storage space, of said previously recorded video content is reached; said previously recorded video content is not present in said plurality of recommended video contents. 6. Device for automatically recording video content on a storage space associated with a service gateway, said gateway being for the exchange of data flows between an external communication network and at least one terminal of a user connected to a local communication network, said video content being accessible via a content server connected to said service gateway via said external communication network, said device being characterized in that it comprises the following modules, activated during a predetermined download time range according to a profile of use of the bandwidth provided by said external communication network for obtaining, by a plurality of terminals, video contents from said content server: a module of obtaining, from said content server, at least one video content that is not required by said user from among a urality of video content recommended for said user, and proposed by a content recommendation service; a recording module, within said storage space, of said at least one video content obtained. 7. Computer program product downloadable from a communication network and / or stored on a computer readable medium and / or executable by a microprocessor, characterized in that it comprises program code instructions for the execution of the method recording device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 when executed on a computer.