JP2002215664A - Digital data distribution system, data receiving terminal unit, data distribution device and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital data distribution system allowing each terminal unit to take in digital contents suited to itself according to locality, a class of customers, and the like. SOLUTION: A central management device 1 stores a plurality of digital contents and distributes digital data containing a plurality of digital contents. At this time, the central management device 1 originates the digital data including an area code indicating an area, and a commercial area code indicating a commercially characterized division, in each digital contents. Each terminal unit 3, when receiving the digital data from the central management device 1 through a satellite line, refers to the area code and commercial area code included in each digital contents, to extract the digital contents corresponding to the area where the terminal unit exists, and the division to which the terminal unit belongs, out of a plurality of digital contents, and stores the extracted digital contents in a second contents storage means 33.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital data distribution system for distributing digital contents such as digitized music data, video data, game software, application software, or multimedia data in which these are combined. In particular, digital data in which digital contents are distributed to terminal devices distributed in a large number of sales offices (stores) and the like, so that a user (consumer) can obtain desired digital contents at each terminal device Regarding the distribution system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, digitalization of contents such as music, videos, books and the like to be distributed and distributed has been progressing. For example, the distribution media for music contents has been switched from conventional analog LP records to CDs (Compact Discs). Conventionally, analog video has been the mainstream distribution media for video content, but now DVD (Digi
tal Versatile Disc) has also been put to practical use. Also, books that have been conventionally printed on paper have begun to be distributed on CD-ROMs. On the other hand, game software for home computer game machines and application software for personal computers have been distributed as digital data from the beginning. So-called multimedia data is
It is assumed that all different types of content are in digital form. In an online database service or the like, information is individually distributed via a digital network.

In this specification, digital contents to be distributed or distributed are collectively referred to as digital contents. Regarding digital content, as long as the data format is digital, it does not matter what the content is. Music, movies (moving images), still images, documents, game programs, database data, application software, and the like correspond to digital contents if the recording, distribution, and distribution form is digital.
Even if the original recording method is analog, it is digital content if it is finally digitized. For example, analog recordings of music performances are also available on CDs.
If it is distributed as, it is digital content.

[0004] When selling music, video, game software or multimedia digital contents in which these are combined, freshness as information is often regarded as important, and new contents are delivered to consumers as soon as possible. There is a need. For this reason, recently, a business form of selling digital contents using a digital data distribution system using a satellite line has come to be seen. In such a digital data distribution system, a plurality of digital contents are distributed from a central management device to terminal devices located in various places via a satellite line. Using satellite communication has the advantage that digital content can be broadcast to a wide area. Each terminal device stores the digital content distributed from the central management device in the storage unit. Then, the consumer purchases the desired digital content using each terminal device.

[0005]

In each terminal device, since the capacity of the storage means is limited, it is necessary to select digital contents to be stored in the storage means. In fact, the sales of products vary greatly depending on the regionality of the store where the terminal device is installed, the customer class of the store, and the like. For this reason, there is a possibility that some of the digital contents distributed by the broadcast have no commercial merit depending on the terminal device. Conventionally, for example, an area code is included in digital content to be distributed, and each terminal device selects only digital content corresponding to the area where the terminal device is located by referring to the area code, and stores the digital content in a storage unit. A method of doing so has been proposed. However, in practice,
At present, things that represent prefectures, Kansai, Kanto, etc. are used.
It has been difficult to capture only digital contents suitable for oneself according to the customer group.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and provides a digital data distribution system in which each terminal device can take in digital contents suitable for itself according to the regional characteristics and customer layer. It is the purpose.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a central management apparatus for accumulating a plurality of digital contents and distributing digital data including the plurality of digital contents. A digital data distribution system comprising: a plurality of terminal devices that receive digital data distributed from a central management device, store a plurality of digital contents in a storage unit, and individually distribute the stored digital contents to users. In the system, the central management device creates, as digital data, a digital content including a region code indicating a region and a trade area code indicating a commercially characterized section, and each of the terminal devices includes: When receiving the digital data, the area code and the trade area code included in each digital content are received. And extracting the digital content corresponding to the area where the terminal device is present and the division to which the terminal device belongs from among the plurality of digital contents, and storing the extracted digital content in the storage unit. It is characterized by the following.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data receiving terminal device for receiving digital data including digital contents and distributing the digital data to users.
When digital data is received, by referring to the area code and the trade area code included in each digital content, the area where the data receiving terminal device is present and the classification to which the data receiving terminal device belongs from among the plurality of digital contents. Is extracted, and the extracted digital content is stored in a storage means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data distribution apparatus for accumulating a plurality of digital contents and distributing digital data including the plurality of digital contents to a data receiving terminal device, Digital data is created and distributed to each digital content including an area code indicating an area and a commercial area code indicating a commercially characterized section.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium.
A program for operating a computer as each of the above-mentioned devices according to claim 1, 3 or 4 is recorded.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of a digital data distribution system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the digital data distribution system of this embodiment includes a central management device (data distribution device) 1, a plurality of terminal devices (data receiving terminal devices) 3,
3,... Central management device 1
Is a distribution source of digital data and plays a role as a center device that controls the entire system. The central management device 1 is typically provided at one location. Are arranged in a wide area (for example, the whole country). For example, they are arranged in video software shops, game software shops, record stores, game centers, convenience stores, department stores, stations, airport terminals, and the like.

In such a digital data distribution system,
By distributing digital data from the central management device 1 to each terminal device 3, each terminal device 3 sells digital contents to a user (consumer). Further, marketing information, which is one of the business information, can be exchanged between the central management device 1 and each terminal device 3. The digital contents are sold to the user at the terminal device 3 by using an optical recording medium or a magnetic recording medium such as a magneto-optical disk, a phase-change optical disk, an MD (Mini Disc), a rewritable DVD, and a recordable compact disk (CD).
-R), by recording digital content data on a removable recording medium 9 such as a removable hard disk or a semiconductor memory. Then, the user brings back the recording medium 9 on which the digital content is recorded to home or the like, and uses the purchased digital content.

The central management unit 1 and each terminal device 3 are connected by a satellite line via a communication satellite (CS) 5 and also by a terrestrial digital network 7 consisting of a digital line laid on the ground. I have. The satellite line has a data bandwidth of, for example, 1.5 Mbit / s, and is used for distributing digital data from the central management apparatus 1 to each terminal device 3 simultaneously and simultaneously, that is, in a form close to broadcasting. A satellite line can also be used to distribute digital data individually to the terminal device 3. For this reason, the central management device 1 is provided with a transmission facility for satellites, and each terminal device 3 is provided with a reception facility for receiving radio waves from satellites. Digital data distribution using the satellite line 5 is performed, for example, at night, so that the channel of the communication satellite can be used for other purposes in a time zone other than this distribution.

On the other hand, the terrestrial digital network 7 is mainly used for exchanging marketing information and sales data between each terminal device 3 and the central management device 1. Also,
The terrestrial digital network 7 is also used as a backup for a satellite line, and is also used to individually distribute specific digital contents to a specific terminal device 3.
As the terrestrial digital network 7, for example, 6
ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) which transfers data at 4 kbit / s is used. Of course, a dedicated line connection or the like may be used.

As described above, in the digital data distribution system of the present embodiment, digital content data having a large data amount and one-way transmission is transmitted through a satellite line, and the data amount is small and some real-time performance is required. Marketing information and the like are transmitted on the terrestrial digital network 7 in principle. By using a satellite line, regional differences in distribution cost and distribution time can be completely eliminated. Hereinafter, as a direction in which data and information flow, a direction from the central management device 1 to each terminal device 3 is referred to as “down”, and a direction from each terminal device 3 to the central management device 1 is referred to as “up”. To

Next, the configuration of the central management device 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the central management device 1 includes a first content storage unit 11, a content transmission unit 12,
Interface unit 13, first marketing information transmitting means 14, first marketing information receiving means 15
Marketing information storage means 16, account information calculation means 17, account information storage means 18, central management device 1
A control unit 19 for performing overall control.

The first content storage means 11 is a huge server, and a large amount of digital content is stored in the first content storage means 11. The content transmission unit 12 extracts a digital content stored in the first content storage unit 11 to be distributed to each terminal device 3 and transmits the digital content to each terminal device 3. The content transmitting means 12 and the satellite line and the terrestrial digital network 7 are connected via an interface unit 13. The interface unit 13 includes a satellite transmission unit 13a that is a transmission facility for the communication satellite 5, and a terrestrial line connection unit 13b that interfaces with the terrestrial digital network 7.

When digital contents are simultaneously distributed to each terminal device 3, the digital contents should be transmitted via the communication satellite 5 in principle. However, when the satellite line becomes unavailable for some reason, the terrestrial digital network 7 is connected. To send via. The digital terrestrial network 7 is used when digital contents are individually distributed to the terminal device 3 or when it is necessary to hurry, but a satellite line is used when the communication satellite 5 can be idle. It is desirable that the satellite transmitting section 13a has a scramble function as in the case of general pay satellite television broadcasting.

The first marketing information transmitting means 14, the first marketing information receiving means 15, and the account information calculating means 17 are all connected to the terrestrial digital network 7 via the terrestrial line connection section 13b. The first marketing information transmitting means 14 transmits downstream marketing information sent from the central management device 1 to each terminal device 3 side. Here, the downstream marketing information includes hot selling information (hit chart), new work information, upcoming information, catalog data of digital contents, and the like. The first marketing information receiving means 15
It receives upstream marketing information sent from each terminal device 3 to the central management device 1. The received upstream marketing information is stored in the marketing information storage unit 16. Account information calculation means 1
Numeral 7 is for receiving the sales data sent from each terminal device 3 and calculating account information for each terminal device 3 based on the sales data. The calculated account information is stored in the account information storage unit 18.

Next, the configuration of each terminal device 3 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, each terminal device 3 includes an interface unit 31, a content receiving unit 32, a second content storing unit 33, a second marketing information receiving unit 34, a presenting unit 35, and a recording unit. 36, a second marketing information transmitting unit 37, a sales data creating unit 38, a sales data transmitting unit 39, and a control unit 41 for controlling the entire terminal device 3.

The interface section 31 includes a satellite receiving section 31a which is a receiving facility for the communication satellite 5, and a terrestrial line connection section 31b which interfaces with the terrestrial digital network 7. The content receiving unit 32 is connected to the satellite line and the terrestrial digital network 7 via the interface unit 31. The second marketing information receiving means 34, the second marketing information transmitting means 37, and the sales data transmitting means 39 are connected to the terrestrial digital network 7 via the terrestrial line connection unit 31b.

The content receiving means 32 receives digital content sent from the central management device 1 via a satellite line or a terrestrial digital network 7. The received digital content is stored in the second content storage means 33. The second content storage unit 33 is a server device having a smaller capacity than the first content storage unit 11 in the central management device 1, and a large amount of digital content stored in the first content storage unit 11. Is for storing contents frequently used at that time.

Second marketing information receiving means 34
Is for receiving downstream marketing information transmitted from the central management device 1. The presenting means 35 presents to the user a part of the downstream marketing information received by the second marketing information receiving means 34 and a part of the digital contents stored in the second content storing means 33. . The recording unit 36 reads the digital content selected by the user from the second content storage unit 33 and records the digital content on the writable recording medium 9.

More specifically, the presentation means 35 comprises, for example, a display, a speaker, an input pad, etc., displays down-marketing information such as hot-selling information and new information on the display, and displays preview data for sales promotion. Is reproduced and presented to the user. The preview data is, for example, data of a touch portion of a digital content, a promotion video, or the like, and is delivered to each terminal device 3 in combination with the digital content. The input pad of the presenting means 35 can be used not only for selecting information to be presented, for example, for selecting a preview target, but also for inputting, for example, a store questionnaire to a user. . Further, this input pad can be shared with the input means when selecting the digital content to be purchased by the recording means 36.

Second marketing information transmitting means 37
Is for creating and transmitting upstream marketing information sent from the terminal device 3 to the central management device 1.
The upstream marketing information created by the second marketing information transmitting means 37 includes information on which digital content has been sold by the recording means 36 (recorded on the recording medium 9), and the presentation means 35 Contains information about the action taken. "Presentation means 35
The “information on the action taken by the user in response to” is, for example, information such as how long the user has viewed the preview data of which content by the presentation unit 35 and how many users have viewed the preview data. Such information is considered to be information indicating the degree of interest of the user in the content. Therefore, if such information is collected by the central management device 1 and analyzed by an appropriate method, it is considered that a very effective hint for business development and creation of new digital content can be obtained. Moreover, the central management device 1 can acquire such information from each terminal device 3 almost in real time.

The sales data creating means 38 creates information on sales (sales data) when digital contents are recorded on the recording medium 9 by the recording means 36 (ie, sales of digital contents). is there. The sales data transmission means 39 transmits the sales data to the account information calculation means 17 of the central management device 1. When sales of digital contents occur, the occurrence of sales is reflected in upstream marketing information and sales data is generated. This is because a business management system of a company generally handles so-called information-based data and account-based data separately.

As a method of charging a user for sales,
A method of processing individually at each terminal device 3 using a prepaid card, a method of using a credit card, a method of collecting cash at a store where the terminal device 3 is installed, or an amount previously deposited by a user as a membership system There is a method of deducting the sales price equivalent from. Even if the charging process for the user is completed on the terminal device 3 side, it is considered that the sales management for each terminal device 3 is often performed on the central management device 1 side. It is configured to transmit.

When data is distributed using a satellite line, the terminal device 3 may not be able to receive digital data satisfactorily due to the influence of the weather or a malfunction of the antenna of the terminal device 3. is there. For this reason, the control unit 41 of the terminal device 3 determines whether or not the digital data has been successfully received at the time of data distribution. When the reception is not successful, the control unit 41
It analyzes which part could not be received and creates retransmission request data based on the result. When the retransmission request data is transmitted to the central management device 1 via the terrestrial digital network 7, the central management device 1 sends the data of the content that could not be successfully received to the terminal device 3 based on the retransmission request data. The data is transmitted again via the satellite line or the terrestrial digital network 7.

Next, in the digital data distribution system of the present embodiment, the data structure of digital data distributed from the central management device 1 to each terminal device 3 via a satellite line will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating the data structure of the digital data, and FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating the data structure of the additional information included in the digital data.

As shown in FIG. 2, digital data distributed from the central management device 1 to each terminal device 3 via a satellite line mainly includes an additional information file group 60, an actual data file group 70, a preview data It consists of a file group 80. The actual data file group 70 is a group of files including actual data of each content, and the additional information file group 60 is a group of files including additional information on each actual data. Here, a combination of real data and additional information on the real data is digital content. Therefore, the distributed digital data includes a plurality of digital contents.
The preview data file group 80 is a group of files including preview data reproduced by the presentation unit 35.

As shown in FIG. 3, the additional information includes a content ID 61, an area code 62, a trade area code 63, sales data 64, and the like. Content ID 61
Is a code for uniquely specifying digital content. Therefore, by referring to the content ID 61, each terminal device 3 can easily find a real data file including real data related to the additional information. The format of the code system for the content ID 61 is basically arbitrary as long as it can uniquely specify digital content, and may be text data or the like. The sales data 64 includes
The information includes information on the selling price and selling time of the content, information on the title of the content, and the like. Thus, when receiving the digital content via the satellite line, each terminal device 3 can easily recognize, for example, when and how much the digital content will be sold based on the sales data 64. .

The area code 62 and the trade area code 63 indicate the distribution destination of the digital content. Among them, the area code 62 is a code representing the area where the digital content is distributed. As the area code 62, for example, a code assigned to each area when the whole country is divided into several areas without overlapping is used. Specifically, it is a code indicating a prefecture or a code indicating Tohoku, Kanto, Kansai, or the like. Each terminal device 3
Is pre-assigned an area code corresponding to the area where the user is located. Normally, each terminal device 3 can have only one area code.

The trade area code 63 is a code representing a commercially characterized regional division, that is, a trade area. In fact, the trend of selling products at a certain store is often determined by the customer demographics and location conditions. “Commercially characterized” means that the geographical segment shows a general trend with respect to product sales due to customer demographics and location conditions. Specifically, young people around the age of 20 who are attending the university are the main purchasers of the contents, so it is said that the contents for young people sell well. There is a tendency for enka to sell well. For example, as the trade area data 63, a code indicating the vicinity of a university, along a national road, along a railway, a coast, or the like can be used.
A trade area code corresponding to the trade area to which the terminal device 3 belongs is assigned to each terminal device 3 in advance. Each terminal device 3 can have a plurality of trade area codes, different from the above-mentioned area codes. Further, in the case where the surrounding environment or the customer class of the terminal device 3 changes, the trade area code of the terminal device 3 can be changed or added.

By including the business area code 63 in addition to the area code 62 in the additional information of the digital content, the digital content can be distributed to, for example, a terminal device near a university in the Kansai region or a terminal device along a national road in the Tohoku region. It is possible to specify a device or the like. The distribution destination of this digital content is determined by the control unit 19 of the central management device 1. That is, when distributing digital data through a satellite line, the control unit 19 determines, for each digital content, which digital content should be transmitted to the terminal device 3 belonging to which trade area in which region, and the determination is made. According to the result, the area code 62 and the trade area code 63 are added to the additional information of the digital content. For example, when a certain digital content is for a young person, a code of a business area in which the young person is a main customer layer is added to the additional information of the digital content as the business area code 63. As described above, by using the area code 62 and the trade area code 63, the distribution destination of the digital content can be specified in detail.

On the other hand, when receiving a plurality of digital contents, the content receiving means 32 of each terminal device 3
With reference to the area code 62 and the trade area code 63 included in the received digital contents, only the digital contents corresponding to the area where the terminal device is present and the trade area to which the terminal device belongs are selected from the plurality of digital contents. Is extracted. Then, the extracted digital content is stored in the second content storage means 33. This allows each terminal device 3 to capture only the content that is appropriate for its own area and commercial area, so that the second content storage unit 33 having a small storage capacity can be effectively used.

It is also possible to specify all areas as the area code 62 of the additional information. in this case,
This is the same result as specifying the distribution destination of digital content using only the trade area code 63. Actually, even in the same trade area, the selling trend of goods may differ depending on each region (for example, Kanto and Kansai). Therefore, usually, the distribution destination of the digital content is designated using both the area code 62 and the trade area code 63.

The digital content distribution destination can also be obtained by using only the area code 62 representing a regional range obtained by subdividing the whole country, for example, near a university in Tokyo without using the trade area code 63. Can be specified in detail. However, in this case, since the number of the region codes 62 is very large, for each of the sub-regions, its commercial characteristics are analyzed to determine in which region the digital contents are to be distributed. Must be
That process takes time. On the other hand, when the area code 62 and the trade area code 63 are used, the commercial characteristic of each area and the commercial characteristic of each trade area are individually analyzed, and the analysis results are combined to determine which area of which area. Since it is only necessary to determine whether to distribute the digital content to the trade area, there is an advantage that the process of determining the distribution destination can be performed relatively easily.

Next, how the digital data is distributed to each terminal device 3 will be specifically described. FIG.
FIG. 4A shows an example of an additional information file group 60 included in the digital data. FIG. 4B shows a region code 62 and a trade area code 63 included in the additional information file group 60.
It is a figure for explaining the area and trade area corresponding to. Here, in FIG. 4A, each additional information file group 60 is shown in a table format for easy understanding.

In the example of FIG. 4A, the content ID “0”
The additional information having “001” is provided with “A” as an area code and “X” as a trade area code.
The additional information having the content ID “0002” is given “A, B, D” as the area code and “Y, W” as the trade area code.
The additional information having “0003” is provided with “C” as an area code and “Y, Z” as a trade area code. In FIG. 4B, the areas surrounded by solid lines indicate areas corresponding to the area codes A, B, C, and D, respectively. In this example, the areas corresponding to the area codes A, B, C, and D do not overlap. In FIG. 4B, each area surrounded by a broken line is a trade area code X,
The trade areas corresponding to Y, Z, and W are shown. For example, it is assumed that the trade area corresponding to the trade area code X is along a national highway. The business area corresponding to the business area code Y is near the university, the business area corresponding to the business area code Z is around the station, and the business area corresponding to the business area code W is around the amusement park. Each trade area may be an enclave, such as a trade area Y representing the vicinity of a university.

When the digital data including the additional information file group 60 shown in FIG. 4A is distributed to each terminal device 3, the digital content having the content ID "0001" has the area code "A", the trade area code Is “X”, so that it is fetched only by the terminal devices 3 that exist in the area A and belong to the commercial area X along the national highway. Also, the content ID
Since the digital content of “0002” has the area code “A, B, D” and the trade area code “Y, W”,
It is fetched only by the terminal device 3 which exists in any of the areas A, B, and D and belongs to the commercial area Y near the university or the commercial area W near the amusement park. Then, the content ID "000
Since the digital content of “3” has the area code “C” and the trade area code “Y, Z”, only the terminal device 3 which exists in the area D and belongs to the trade area Y near the university or the trade area Z near the station is used. It is captured.

As described above, in the digital data distribution system according to the present embodiment, the digital data includes the trade area code in addition to the area code. The device 3 can take in only the content appropriate for its area and trade area. For this reason, for example, the terminal device 3 near the university
Can extract a lot of content for students simply by extracting the content corresponding to its own business area. As a result, the terminal device 3 can prepare a product that meets the student's taste. When the content is music, the terminal device 3 on the coast can store a large number of music contents on the theme of, for example, “sea”. Of course, if a specific area is specified as the area code 62 of the additional information, only the terminal device 3 in the “coastal area of the Tohoku region”, for example, takes in the music content.

Note that even in the conventional digital data distribution system in which the distribution destination of contents is specified only by the area code, only the terminal devices 3 existing in the prefecture having the coastline are used by using the area code for each prefecture. "Ocean"
It is possible to take in music contents with the theme of "." However, in this case, in areas such as Hokkaido, Iwate, and Fukushima that have not only coastal areas but also mountainous areas,
If the terminal device 3 is disposed even in the mountainous area, the terminal device 3 in the mountainous area has also taken in the music content on the theme of "sea". On the other hand, in the digital data distribution system of the present embodiment, even if a plurality of terminal devices 3 exist in the same area, each terminal device 3 can capture only the content that matches the commercial area to which the terminal device 3 belongs. .

Next, the operation of the digital data distribution system of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a processing procedure of the central management device 1 when distributing digital data. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a processing procedure of each terminal device 3 when receiving digital data. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a processing procedure of each terminal device 3 when purchasing and previewing digital content.

First, processing for distributing digital data will be described. Since the capacity of the second content storage means 35 provided in each terminal device 3 is smaller than the capacity of the first content storage means 11 provided in the central management device 1, the capacity of the second content storage means 35 is small. We need to consider what digital content will be stored in the Internet. In addition, it is necessary to distribute contents corresponding to the tastes of the customers to each terminal device 3. In the digital data distribution system of the present embodiment, the central management device 1
, The user's response to the preview data, the degree of interest of the user, the sales status of the digital content, and the like can be obtained in almost real time from each terminal device 3 as upstream marketing information. Therefore, the central management device 1 first analyzes upstream marketing information according to the flowchart of FIG. 5 (S11), and determines digital content to be distributed this time based on the analysis result (S12). Here, as a method of analyzing this type of marketing information, a method that has been almost established can be used. Next, the central management device 1
Determines the distribution destination of the digital content, that is, the area code 62 and the trade area code 63, for each digital content determined in step S12 (S13).

Thereafter, the central management unit 1 executes step S1
Each digital content determined in step 2 is read out from the first content storage means 11, and the additional information of each read digital content is provided with the area code 62 and the trade area code 63 determined in step S13, thereby distributing the digital content this time. Digital data to be created (S1
4). The central management device 1 broadcasts the digital data thus created to all the terminal devices 3 using a satellite line, for example, every day at night (S15).

Next, processing when digital data is received will be described. When the terminal device 3 receives the digital data distributed from the central management device 1 via the satellite line according to the flowchart of FIG. 6 (S21),
The area where you are and the trade area to which you belong
Additional information file group 60 included in the digital data
It is checked whether or not each additional information is described in the area code 62 and the trade area code 63. And the terminal device 3
Acquires the content ID 61 of the additional information in which the area where the user is and the commercial area to which the user belongs are described in the area code 62 and the commercial area code 63 (S2).
2). Next, the terminal device 3 extracts only the digital content having the content ID 61 obtained in step S22 from the plurality of digital contents included in the digital data received this time, and stores the digital content in the second content storage unit 33. (S23).

In addition, the terminal device 3 is now affected by the weather or has a defect in its own antenna.
It is determined whether the digital data has not been successfully received. If the digital data has not been successfully received, the terminal device 3 transmits the retransmission request data to the central management device 1 (S24). In this case, the central management device 1
Will transmit the data of the content that could not be successfully received to the terminal device 3 again based on the retransmission request data.

Next, the processing at the time of purchasing and previewing the content will be described. When the user starts accessing the terminal device 3, first, the user selects whether to perform a preview on the presentation means 35 or to purchase digital content. When the purchase is selected according to the flow of FIG. 7 (S31), the terminal device 3 inquires of the user whether to select the content including the meaning of the reconfirmation (S32). If the answer is no, the process returns to step S31. If the answer is yes, the process proceeds to step S33. In step S33, the content to be purchased is selected by the user, and thereafter the digital content is recorded on the recording medium 9 by the recording means 36 (S34).

When the recording on the recording medium 9 in step S34 is completed, the terminal device 3 checks (verifies) whether the recording has been correctly performed on the recording medium 9 (S35). Then, a billing process is performed for the user, and sales data is accumulated / transmitted (S36). It is possible to arbitrarily set whether to transmit the sales data in real time from the central management apparatus 1 or to periodically collect, for example, one day's sales data and transmit it once a day for each sales.
If transmission is not performed in real time, sales data is accumulated in step S36. In addition, the terminal device 3 creates upstream marketing information about the sale of the digital content at the same time as creating the sales data. If the upstream marketing information is to be transmitted in real time, the generated upstream marketing information is also transmitted. When the processing in step S36 is completed,
The processing flow of FIG. 7 ends.

On the other hand, if the preview is selected in step S31, as in step S32, the terminal device 3 inquires of the user whether to select a content (S37). If the answer is no, the process returns to step S31. If the answer is yes, the process proceeds to step S38. Step S3
At 8, the user selects a preview target.
The preview target here includes information such as a hit chart transmitted as downstream marketing information, in addition to data of the promotion video and the like.

When the selection of the preview target in step S38 is completed, the presentation means 37 starts presentation of the contents of the preview. At this time, the preview time is integrated in order to determine what and how long the user has viewed the preview as marketing information (S39). After the presentation of the preview target is completed, the terminal device 3 inquires of the user whether to preview another content (S40). If the answer is that another content is to be previewed, the process returns to step S38; otherwise, the terminal device 3 accumulates / transmits upstream marketing information based on information on the history of previews by the user ( Step S41). If the upstream marketing information is to be transmitted in real time, it is transmitted together with the creation, otherwise, it is stored and transmitted to the central management device 1 at a predetermined timing. . In the case of storing the information, information on how many users previewed the content is also included in the upstream marketing information.

After the creation of the upstream marketing information, the terminal device 3 inquires of the user whether to purchase digital contents (S42). If the user answers to purchase, the process moves to step S33, and if not, the processing flow in FIG. 7 ends.

In the digital data distribution system of this embodiment, the distribution destination of the digital content can be specified in detail by including the trade area code in addition to the area code in the digital content. Also, each terminal device:
When a plurality of digital contents are received, by referring to a region code and a trade area code included in each of the received digital contents, an area where the terminal device is located and the terminal device are selected from the plurality of digital contents. Only the digital contents corresponding to the business area to which the user belongs is extracted and stored in the second content storage means. For this reason, each terminal device can take in only the content suitable for its own area and trade area, even though the same data is broadcasted, and thus, for example, can prepare the content according to the taste of the customer group. It is possible. Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where digital data is distributed from the central management device to each terminal device using a satellite line has been described. For example, the present invention can be applied to a case where digital data is distributed by using such methods.

In the above embodiment, a code obtained by combining a plurality of trade areas may be used as the trade area code. This makes it easy to specify, for example, a terminal device “on the coast and along a national road” as the distribution destination of the digital content. Further, a code represented by a NOT condition may be used as the trade area code. As a result, it is possible to designate a terminal device belonging to another commercial area excluding a specific commercial area as a distribution destination of the digital content.

The present invention can also be realized by causing a computer to perform the above-described operations. That is, a computer program written so that a computer operates as a central management device or a terminal device is stored on a CD-ROM.
By recording the data on a recording medium such as a ROM, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a DVD, or a semiconductor memory, and reading the recording medium into a computer, or reading the computer program through a communication line into the computer. Thus, the computer can be operated as each of the above devices.

[0058]

As described above, according to the digital data distribution system of the present invention, the distribution destination of the digital content can be specified in detail by including the trade area code in addition to the area code in the digital content. .
Also, when each terminal device receives a plurality of digital contents, by referring to the area code and the trade area code included in each received digital content,
From the plurality of digital contents, only the digital contents corresponding to the area where the terminal device is present and the commercial area to which the terminal device belongs are extracted and stored in the storage unit. For this reason, each terminal device can take in only the content suitable for its own area and trade area, even though the same data is broadcasted, and thus, for example, can prepare the content according to the taste of the customer group. It is possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital data distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a data structure of digital data distributed from a central management device to each terminal device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a data structure of additional information included in the digital data.

FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating an example of a group of additional information files included in digital data, and FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating a region and a trade area corresponding to a region code and a trade area code included in the additional information file group; FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of a central management device when distributing digital data.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of each terminal device when receiving digital data.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of each terminal device when purchasing and previewing digital content.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Central management device 3 Terminal device 5 Communication satellite 7 Terrestrial digital network 9 Recording medium 11 First content storage means 12 Content transmission means 13 Interface part 13a Satellite transmission part 13b Terrestrial line connection part 14 First marketing information transmission means 15 One marketing information receiving means 16 Marketing information storing means 17 Account information calculating means 18 Account information storing means 19 Control section 31 Interface section 31a Satellite receiving section 31b Terrestrial line connection section 32 Content receiving section 33 Second content storage section 34 Second Marketing information receiving means 35 presenting means 36 recording means 37 second marketing information transmitting means 38 sales data creating means 39 sales data transmitting means 41 control unit 60 additional information file group 61 content ID 62 regional code C 63 Trade area code 64 Sales data 70 Actual data file group 80 Preview data file group

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Tatsuya Saito 2-6-3 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo New Nippon Steel Corporation (72) Inventor Norunori Tsuda 5-4-1 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo No. 29 F-term in Medialag Co., Ltd. (reference) 5B075 KK02 ND16

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A central management device for accumulating a plurality of digital contents and distributing digital data including the plurality of digital contents, receiving the digital data distributed from the central management device, and storing the plurality of digital contents A digital data distribution system comprising: a plurality of terminal devices for storing the digital content stored therein in the means and individually distributing the stored digital content to the user. Create a terminal code including a regional code indicating and a commercial area code indicating a commercially characterized segment, the terminal device, when receiving digital data,
By referring to the area code and the trade area code included in each digital content, a digital content corresponding to an area where the terminal device is present and a section to which the terminal device belongs is extracted from the plurality of digital contents, A digital data distribution system storing the extracted digital contents in the storage means. 2. The digital data distribution system according to claim 1, wherein said central management device broadcasts digital data to said plurality of terminal devices using a satellite line. 3. A data receiving terminal device for receiving digital data including digital content and distributing the digital data to a user, wherein when receiving the digital data, refer to an area code and a trade area code included in each digital content. Extracting the digital content corresponding to the area where the data receiving terminal device is present and the division to which the data receiving terminal device belongs from among the plurality of digital contents, and storing the extracted digital content in storage means. Data receiving terminal device. 4. A data distribution device for accumulating a plurality of digital contents and distributing digital data including the plurality of digital contents to a data receiving terminal device, wherein each digital content has a region code indicating a region as digital data. And a data distribution device for producing and distributing the data including a business area code indicating a commercially characterized category. 5. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to operate as each of the devices according to claim 1 is recorded.