JP2006005725A - Device and method for providing program digest information - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem wherein a content producer does not generally and positively provide an end user with digest information that allows only a portion of such a program to be viewed and listened to even though the content producer can produce data that is the most various and precise in composition information of a program including CM section information and in highlight information showing significance. <P>SOLUTION: This content producer produces CM content that meets personal preference on the basis of profile information of the end user requesting digest information and further produces digest information a program main part following personal profile information. The end user is provided with the CM content before being provided with the digest information. The end user is provided with the digest information of the program main part after it is confirmed that the end user watches the CM information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus or method for providing digest information of program content via a computer network.

  Content information such as commercial section information and highlight information indicating importance can be created by the content creator with the most diverse and highly accurate data. However, in general, content creators do not actively provide content consumers with digest information that allows only a portion of such programs to be viewed. Therefore, conventionally, the digest information of the program as described above has been calculated at the playback terminal on the end user side using the content data image, audio feature amount, and the like.

  In order to realize such a purpose, in order to detect the CM section in the program content at the playback terminal on the end user side, the switching portion of the program is detected by the change of the audio signal level of the program content data, and this switching is further performed. Some time intervals are determined to determine a CM section when the time interval is a specific time interval (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In addition, in order to enable special playback such as quick-play and head-to-head playback according to the importance of the program content, the amount of change in the image data of the program content data is detected to estimate the importance of the program content. There are some (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

In addition, in order to create summary data of program content data, there is one that enables the creation of summary content at an arbitrary summary rate by detecting an emphasis section of audio data (see, for example, Patent Document 3).
Japanese Patent No. 2858758 JP 2002-125199 A JP 2003-259111 A

  However, the digest information that can be calculated by the playback terminal is limited in the type and accuracy of information that can be calculated by the playback terminal, and it is basically impossible to calculate digest information equivalent to that created by the content creator. It was.

  On the other hand, as mentioned before, for example, in a terrestrial television, a television station that earns revenue from advertising revenue for CMs provided to end users accompanying the main program content, for example, it is possible to skip CMs, for example. It is almost impossible for a broadcast station as a content creator to simply provide such program digest information.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems. In particular, a business model, such as the current terrestrial television, that earns revenue from advertising revenue for commercials and provides content free to end users. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus or method that can provide end users with various and highly accurate program digest information created by a content creator.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, a program digest information providing apparatus according to the present invention is a program digest information providing apparatus that distributes digest information of a program content to a user terminal via a network. Digest information having a main content server having a main content storage unit for storing the digest, a digest information creating unit for creating digest information of the main data, and a digest information storing unit for storing the digest information created by the digest information creating unit A CM content server having a server, a CM distribution table management unit for managing data related to distribution conditions of CM data, a CM content storage unit for storing CM data to be distributed, and a user's professional who requests provision of the digest information Application having a user information creating unit for creating file information, a user information server having a user information accumulating unit for accumulating the user profile information, and a distribution content creating unit for creating CM data and digest information data to be distributed to user terminals A server, a content distribution server including a content distribution processing unit that performs data processing for distributing output data of the distribution content creation unit to a network, a terminal request processing unit that processes a response request from the user terminal, and the user And an access server having a terminal status authenticating unit for authenticating the operation status of the terminal.

  In the program digest information providing apparatus according to the present invention, the application server includes a user information analysis unit that analyzes information related to user preferences, and the distribution content creation unit is configured to analyze user preferences of the user information analysis unit. Based on the analysis result, at least one of CM data and digest information data distributed to the user terminal is created.

  The program digest information providing method of the present invention is a program digest information providing method for distributing digest information of a program content to a user terminal via a network, the main content data of the program content being stored in a main content server, The digest information of the main data is created and stored in the digest information server, and the CM content server stores management data related to the distribution conditions of the CM data and CM data to be distributed, and further provides the digest information of the user who provides the digest information After the profile information is created and stored in the user information server, in response to a request for providing digest information from the user, the application server first determines CM data to be delivered to the user terminal, and the delivery is determined. The data is read from the CM content server at the content distribution server, processed for distribution to the network, and then distributed to the user terminal. Next, it is authenticated that the distributed CM data is reproduced on the user terminal. In the above, after the digest information to be distributed to the user terminal is determined in the application server, the digest information determined to be distributed is read from the digest information server in the content distribution server, and the data processing for distributing to the network is performed. It is characterized by being delivered to a terminal.

  The program digest information providing method of the present invention is characterized in that at least one of CM data and digest information data to be distributed to a user terminal is created based on a result of analyzing information related to user preferences.

  According to the program digest information providing apparatus and method of the present invention, the end user cannot obtain the requested digest information without providing the personal profile information and viewing the distributed CM. Since the content takes into account individual preferences, it is considered that the CM is viewed with high interest as useful information for the end user, and in addition, digest information of the main part of the program that takes into account its own preferences can be obtained. There is an advantage.

  In addition, since it is a method of providing advertising information with high advertising efficiency for sponsors who provide CM content, it is considered that the advertising fee is paid for the digest information provided by the content creator. This is also the digest information for the content provider. It can be expected as a revenue source for new advertising fees.

  Therefore, a business model with reasonable advantages is established between the end user who provides personal profile information, the sponsor who pays the advertising fee, and the content creator who distributes the content, and is represented by the current terrestrial television. In such a business model that earns revenue from advertising revenue from commercials and provides content to end users free of charge, it is possible to provide end users with a variety of highly accurate program digest information created by content creators. An apparatus or method can be provided.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a program digest information providing apparatus and a user terminal according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 101 is a program digest information providing device, 102 is a public or dedicated network, 103 is a user terminal, and the program digest information providing device 101 and the user terminal 103 transmit data via the network 102. It shall be able to communicate.

  Further, the program digest information providing apparatus 101 includes a main content server 110 having a main content storage unit 117, a digest information server 111 having a digest information creation unit 118 and a digest information storage unit 119, a CM distribution table management unit 120, and a CM. CM content server 112 having content storage unit 121, user information server 113 having user information creation unit 124 and user information storage unit 123, application server 115 having distribution content creation unit 126 and user information analysis unit 127, content The content distribution server 114 includes a distribution processing unit 125, and the access server 116 includes a terminal request processing unit 128 and a terminal status authentication unit 129.

  The user terminal 103 includes a system control unit 130, a content reproduction unit 131, a content storage unit 132, a user operation information processing unit 133, and a network IF unit 134.

  The outline of the operation is that the network IF unit 134 has a communication function that allows the network IF unit 134 to transmit and receive content data, processing commands, and the like with the external device via the network 102 under the control of the system control unit 130. A content playback unit 131 that performs video display and audio playback for playback of CM and main content data received from the content, and a content storage unit 132 that stores CM and main content data in the user terminal 103 as necessary. I have. In addition, for user input for command input and content playback operation control, user operation information is input in a user operation information processing unit 133 having an appropriate user interface, and data processing is performed under the control of the system control unit 130. It is what is done. The user terminal 103 may have functions other than those described above that do not hinder the operation of the present invention described below.

  Next, the operation of the program digest information providing apparatus of the present invention will be described according to the operation flow shown in FIG.

  First, the main content data is stored in the main content storage unit 117 and registered in the main content server 110 (S31). The main content data is produced by a program content producer by a normal means and method, and the production means and production method are not limited in the configuration of the present invention.

  Next, the CM content data is stored in the CM content storage unit 121 and registered in the CM content server 112 (S32). As with the main content data, the production means and production method of the CM content data are not limited in the configuration of the present invention.

  Next, for each registered CM content data, a CM distribution table is created and stored and managed in the CM distribution table management unit 120 (S33).

  The CM distribution table describes data related to CM distribution conditions such as main content data to which a CM is attached, CM product genre and sponsor name. FIG. 4 shows an example of a CM distribution table. In FIG. 4, a CM having a CMID CM001 for identifying a CM is distributed along with the main contents with content IDs Cnt0001 and Cnt0002, and the genre of a product advertised by the CM is a car, and the sponsor who provides this CM Is shown to be Company A. The data described in the CM distribution table is not limited to the item contents shown in FIG. 4, and data other than the above may be described.

  Furthermore, a user who uses the program digest information providing apparatus of the present invention needs to create information related to the user's own profile in advance in the user information creation unit 124 as a user information table (S34) and register it in the user information server 113. is there. FIG. 5 shows an example of the user information table. In FIG. 5, a user whose user ID is Usr001 identifies a user authentication password of XXX, interested product genres are cars and cigarettes, and desired program genres are economic news and sports. The performer is shown to be player A of team A. Although not shown in FIG. 5, the degree of preference is recorded for each preference data, and it may be used as weighting data for selection when finalizing CM content and digest information to be described later. It ’s good.

  Note that the data described in the user information table is not limited to the contents of the items shown in FIG. 5, and data other than the above may be described.

  Next, the digest information creating unit 118 of the digest information server 111 creates digest information of the main content (S35). The digest information in the present invention is corner information related to the program structure as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, and information related to highlight scenes that are important in terms of content. In general, program content producers have enough information to create these types of information, so by using the program composition table used when creating program content, various and high-precision digests can be made manually. Information can be created. Accordingly, in the program digest information providing apparatus of the present invention, the digest information of the main content is produced by a program content creator by any appropriate means and method, and the production means and production method are described in the configuration of the present invention. There are no restrictions. FIG. 6 shows a first example of digest information. In FIG. 6, the content ID of the main content that is the subject of the digest information is Cnt0001, the title of the program is “XXX News”, and the news program such as each news item, CM, weather corner, sports corner, etc. Data of each start and end time is described in time series for each configuration content. FIG. 8 shows a second example of digest information. In FIG. 8, the content ID of the main content to be digest information is Cnt0002, and the title of the program is “Professional Baseball Relay Team A vs. Team C”. Time data of important scenes during the game are described in chronological order.

  The steps from S31 to S35 described above are preliminary operations for performing the main operation of the program digest information providing apparatus of the present invention, and the order of the operations is not necessarily shown in FIG.

  By completing these operations in advance, the user terminal 103 can make a digest information acquisition request, and after performing necessary operations in the program digest information providing apparatus 101, the digest information is distributed to the user terminal 103 (S36). ). However, since this operation involves a plurality of servers in the program digest information providing apparatus 101, it will be described later with reference to another drawing.

  Finally, the digest information distributed to the user terminal 103 is utilized in the digest playback of the main content on the user terminal 103 (S37), and it is possible to select and play back a specific section in the program content or to play a cue to an important scene. Become. In the present embodiment, the operation is not particularly limited, but the content data of the main program that is the source of the distributed digest information is distributed from the main content server 110 to the user terminal 103 separately from the distribution of the digest information. Alternatively, either may be separately transmitted to the user terminal by broadcast radio waves without going through the network 102.

  FIG. 3 shows the flow of data and commands between a plurality of servers in the detailed operation of the step (S36) from the request to distribution of the digest information in the operation flow of the program digest information providing apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. Is.

  The detailed operation will be described below with reference to FIG.

  First, a login request to the digest information providing apparatus 101 of the present invention is sent from the user terminal 103 to the access server 116 by transmitting a user ID and a password (S01). The access server 116 receives the login request at the terminal request processing unit 128, and inquires of the user information server 113 whether the user ID and password for which the login request has been registered are registered (S02). The user information server 113 performs user authentication by referring to the user information table shown in FIG. 5 stored in the user information storage unit 123, and if the login request is from a registered user, the access server 116 sends a login permission response. (S03). The access server 116 sends a login permission response to the user terminal 103 that has made the login request (S04), and subsequent processing becomes possible when the above user authentication is established.

  Next, the user terminal 103 provides the digest information by transmitting the content ID of the corresponding main content to the access server 116 (S05). Then, the access server 116 first requests the application server 115 to perform processing for distributing the CM to the user terminal 103 that requested the digest information (S06). Therefore, the user information analysis unit 127 of the application server 115 sends a user information acquisition request to the user information server 113 for the user ID for which there was a digest information request in order to distribute a CM that suits the user's preference (S07). .

  In response to the request, the user information server 113 transmits the user information of the corresponding user ID from the user information table shown in FIG. 5 stored in the user information storage unit 123 to the application server 115 (S08). For the following explanation, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the user ID that requested the digest information is “Usr001” in the user information table of FIG. 5, the preferred product genre is car and cigarette, and the preferred program genre is economic news. It is assumed that the information that the favorite performers in the sport are team A and player B is transmitted to the user information analysis unit 127 of the application server 115.

  Next, in the distribution content creation unit 126, the application server 115 requests the CM content server 112 to acquire a CM distribution table related to the content ID for which a digest information request has been made (S09). In response to the request, the CM content server 112 uses the CM ID in which the corresponding content ID is registered as accompanying content in the CM distribution table shown in FIG. It is transmitted to the distribution content creation unit 126 of the server 115 (S10). In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the content ID for which the digest information request is made is “Cnt0001” in the user information table of FIG. 5, and the corresponding CMID and each product genre are “CM001: car”, “CM002: cosmetic”. , “CM003: candy” and “CM004: cigarette” are transmitted to the distribution content creation unit 126 of the application server 115.

  The distribution content creation unit 126 of the application server 115 determines the CMID to be distributed to the user terminal from the response information of the above two inquiry requests (S11). In this embodiment, the favorite product genres of the user ID “Usr001” are cars and cigarettes, and the corresponding CMIDs are “CM001” and “CM004”.

  When the CMID to be distributed is determined, the distribution content creation unit 126 of the application server 115 transmits the corresponding CMID and the user ID to be distributed to the CM content server 112 and makes a CM content distribution request (S12). The CM content server 112 reads the CM content data corresponding to the received CMID from the CM content storage unit 121, transmits it to the content distribution server 114 together with the user ID, and makes a distribution processing request to the user terminal 103 (S13).

  The content distribution server 114 performs data encoding and encryption processing necessary for distributing the received CM content data to the user terminal 103 via the network 102 in the content distribution processing unit 125, and then CM content data is distributed to the terminal 103 (S14).

  In particular, it is an important point for the establishment of the business model according to the configuration of the present invention that the program digest information providing apparatus 101 accurately grasps whether or not the CM content is reproduced on the user terminal 103.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the content distribution processing unit 125 performs processing for embedding digital watermark information at an arbitrary time position in the CM content data distributed.

  As the information to be embedded, in addition to the CMID of the CM data to be distributed and the user ID of the user to be distributed, at least one of terminal information, date / time information, session information, etc. relating to communication with the user terminal 103, or any one or more of them It shall be created with a combination of

  Alternatively, instead of the digital watermark information, data for inputting the user's interest level and evaluation regarding the CM contents may be added at the end of the CM content data to be distributed.

  The user terminal 103 reproduces the received CM content data (S15), and when the reproduction is completed, transmits a CM reproduction completion notification to the access server 116 (S16).

  The CM playback completion notification is the result of reading the above-described digital watermark information by the user terminal 103 or the response data from the user regarding the CM content data, and certifies whether the CM data has been correctly played back by the user terminal 103 And

  When the terminal status authenticating unit 129 authenticates the CM playback completion notification transmitted from the user terminal 103, the access server 116 transmits a digest information creation request to be transmitted to the user terminal 103 following the CM to the application server 115. (S17).

  Then, the application server 115 sends a digest information acquisition request for the content ID requested for the digest information to the digest information server 111 in order to distribute the digest information suitable for the user's preference (S18). In response to the request, the digest information server 111 reads the digest information of the corresponding content ID from the digest information table shown in FIGS. 6 and 8 stored in the digest information storage unit 119, and transmits it to the application server 115 (S19). . In the present embodiment, when the content ID for which the digest information is requested is “Cnt0001”, the digest information shown in FIG. 6 is transmitted, and when the content ID is “Cnt0003”, the digest shown in FIG. Information is transmitted (S19).

  Next, the application server 115 determines digest information to be distributed to the user terminal from the user information received in S18 and the digest information received in S19 (S20). In the present embodiment, considering that the favorite program genre of the user ID “Usr001” is economic news and sports, and the favorite performers are the team A and the player B, the content ID requested for the digest information is “Cnt0001”. In the case of "", only digest information relating to economic news and sports news is extracted from the digest information shown in FIG. 6 as shown in FIG. If the content ID for which the digest information is requested is “Cnt0003”, only digest information relating to the attack scene of Team A and the scene where Player B hit the home run as shown in FIG. 9 is obtained from the digest information shown in FIG. Extract.

  When the digest information to be distributed is determined, the application server 115 transmits the corresponding digest information and the user ID to be distributed to the content distribution server 114, and makes a distribution processing request to the user terminal 103 (S21).

  In the above description, digest information to be distributed to the user terminal 103 is created after a notice of completion of CM playback at the user terminal 103, but in order to speed up the response after CM content playback at the user terminal 103. In addition, the distribution content creation unit 126 of the application server 115 requests digest information (S18) immediately after the distribution CM is determined (S11), performs the operations up to distribution digest information determination (S20), and waits for a CM playback completion notification. It is also possible to make a distribution processing request to the content distribution server 114 (S21).

  The content distribution server 114 performs data encoding, encryption processing, and the like necessary for distributing the received digest information to the user terminal 103 via the network 102 in the content distribution processing unit 125, and then the user terminal The digest information is distributed to 103 (S22).

  The above is a detailed description of the operation flow from requesting digest information to distribution.

  Finally, a business model by the program digest information providing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 10, a company A is a content creator, operates seven servers including a main content server 110 constituting the program digest information providing apparatus 101 of the present invention, and distributes program content and CM content to end users. It plays a central role in the business model of the present invention. Company B is a plurality of companies that are sponsors of program content produced by Company A, and the advertising fee is paid as a consideration for Company A to distribute promotional information about its products and services as CM content to end users. Paying A.

  As described above with reference to FIG. 3, the end user cannot obtain the requested digest information without viewing the provided CM content, but the provided CM content is based on personal preferences. Therefore, it is considered that the end user can view the CM with high interest as useful information, and further, there is an advantage that digest information of the main part of the program can be obtained in consideration of own preference.

  In addition, this is a method of providing advertising information with high advertising efficiency for the company group B, which is a sponsor who provides CM content, so it is considered that the advertising fee is paid for the provision of digest information. For a certain company A, the digest information itself can be expected as a source of income for a new advertising fee.

  Therefore, it is considered that a business model having a reasonable advantage is established between the end user that provides personal profile information, the company group B that pays the advertising fee, and the company A that produces and provides the content.

  The above is the outline of the business model by the apparatus for providing program digest information of the present invention.

  The apparatus for providing program digest information according to the present invention is a diverse and high-precision program digest created by a content creator in a business model in which revenue is obtained from advertising revenue from commercials and content is provided to end users free of charge. It is useful as an apparatus or method that can provide information to an end user.

Block diagram of program digest information providing apparatus and user terminal according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention Operation flow chart of program digest information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention Flowchart of operation from request to distribution of digest information of program digest information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention The figure which shows the content of CM delivery table in Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure which shows the content of the user information table in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the content of the 1st example of the digest information in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the content of the 1st example of the digest information delivered to the user terminal in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the content of the 2nd example of the digest information in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the content of the 2nd example of the digest information delivered to the user terminal in Embodiment 1 of this invention. Business model relationship diagram for Embodiment 1 of the present invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Program digest information provision apparatus 102 Network by public line or dedicated line 103 User terminal 110 Main content server 111 Digest information server 112 CM content server 113 User information server 114 Content distribution server 115 Application server 116 Access server 117 Main content storage unit 118 Digest information creation unit 119 Digest information accumulation unit 120 CM distribution table management unit 121 CM content accumulation unit 123 User information accumulation unit 124 User information creation unit 125 Content distribution processing unit 126 Distribution content creation unit 127 User information analysis unit 128 Terminal request processing unit 129 Terminal status authentication unit 130 System control unit 131 Contents Raw unit 132 content storage unit 133 the user operation information processing unit 134 network IF

Claims (8)

A program digest information providing device that distributes digest information of program content to a user terminal via a network,
A main content server having a main content storage unit for storing main data of program content;
A digest information server having a digest information creation unit that creates digest information of the main data and a digest information accumulation unit that accumulates digest information created by the digest information creation unit;
A CM content server having a CM distribution table management unit for managing data relating to CM data distribution conditions and a CM content storage unit for storing CM data to be distributed;
A user information server having a user information creation unit for creating profile information of a user who requests provision of the digest information, and a user information storage unit for storing the profile information of the user;
An application server having a delivery content creation unit for creating CM data and digest information data to be delivered to a user terminal;
A content distribution server having a content distribution processing unit for performing data processing for distributing output data of the distribution content creation unit to a network;
An apparatus for providing program digest information, comprising: a terminal request processing unit for processing a response request from the user terminal; and an access server having a terminal status authentication unit for authenticating an operation status of the user terminal. The application server includes a user information analysis unit that analyzes information related to user preferences, and the distribution content creation unit distributes CM data to a user terminal based on a user preference analysis result of the user information analysis unit. 2. The program digest information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the digest information data and the digest information data is created. 2. The program digest information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the content distribution processing unit of the content distribution server embeds digital watermark information at an arbitrary time position of the CM content data to be distributed. 2. The program digest information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the content distribution processing unit of the content distribution server creates data for inputting a user response regarding the content of the CM content data to be distributed. A program digest information providing method for distributing digest information of a program content to a user terminal via a network,
Store the main data of the program content on the main content server,
Create digest information of the main data and store it in the digest information server.
In addition, management data related to CM data distribution conditions and CM data to be distributed are stored in the CM content server.
Furthermore, after creating the profile information of the user who provides the digest information and storing it in the user information server,
In response to a user's request to provide digest information, the application server first determines CM data to be delivered to the user terminal,
The CM data determined to be distributed is read from the CM content server at the content distribution server, processed for distribution to the network, and then distributed to the user terminal.
Next, after authenticating that the distributed CM data has been reproduced on the user terminal, the digest information read from the digest information server is used to determine digest information to be distributed to the user terminal on the application server,
A program digest information providing method, wherein the digest information determined to be distributed is distributed to a user terminal after data processing for distributing to a network in a content distribution server. 6. The program digest information providing method according to claim 5, wherein at least one of CM data and digest information data distributed to the user terminal is created based on a result of analyzing information relating to user preferences. 6. The program digest information providing method according to claim 5, wherein the content distribution processing unit of the content distribution server embeds digital watermark information at an arbitrary time position of the CM content data to be distributed. 6. The program digest information providing method according to claim 5, wherein the content distribution processing unit of the content distribution server creates data for inputting a user response regarding the content of the CM content data to be distributed.

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