KR101186144B1 - Method for providing digital broadcasting - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a digital broadcast providing method. The digital broadcasting providing method includes receiving a viewing request from a beginning while a digital broadcasting providing system provides a specific program, and at least one program connected to the digital broadcasting providing system through a network in response to the received viewing request from the beginning. Receiving content from a storage system that includes the first portion of the particular program, and controlling the playback of the received content so that the specific program is played from the beginning.

Description

Method for providing digital broadcasting

The present invention relates to a digital broadcast providing method, and more particularly, to a method of allowing a user to watch a specific broadcast program and then view a specific other part of the broadcast program or view the specific part (eg, from the beginning).

As digital broadcasting starts, a broadcasting method in which various information desired by a user is transmitted in both directions has been introduced in the conventional broadcasting method in which only simple broadcasting image information is transmitted in one direction. In addition, digital broadcasting systems (eg, digital broadcasting set-top boxes, IPTV, etc.) may be connected to a network (eg, the Internet) to actively search for information or perform data operations to provide various and valuable information to users. It became.

On the other hand, when a user turns on the digital broadcasting system to watch a specific broadcast program, the broadcast has already begun. Alternatively, even when a channel program is broadcasted while the channel is desired, the user may want to watch the program from the beginning.

As such, the user may want to watch another part of the broadcast while viewing the currently broadcast program. In some cases, the user may want to see the specific part of the program that he / she wants, not from the beginning. Or, you may want to view only the broadcast program from a specific part to another specific part. For example, the user has already watched the first half of a particular program, and there may be a rebroadcast of the particular program currently being aired. By the way, the re-broadcast may not be yet the first half. The user may then want to see from the back of the part he has already seen. Alternatively, when a broadcast program that is currently being broadcast live is already about 60% of the running time, the user may want to view or replay from a specific time point before the 60%.

As a result, when a particular program is being broadcast, the user needs a technical idea of selecting and viewing a desired part of the specific program.

Accordingly, a technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is when a user wants to view a specific broadcast program from a specific part or a user wants to view from a specific part to a specific part while the digital broadcasting system provides a specific broadcast program to the user. By providing a portion desired by the user, the user can watch a specific broadcast program and provide a method of selecting only the portion desired by the user or viewing it in the order desired by the user.

In addition, the digital broadcasting system may bring a portion desired by the user from another digital broadcasting system connected to the digital broadcasting system or from a specific recording system, thereby reproducing not only the re-broadcast but also the currently live broadcast program. It provides a way to make it visible at any time.

In addition, by providing a specific broadcast portion desired by the user in a system close to the digital broadcast system used by the network path, the user can receive a desired broadcast portion within a short time and provide a method for providing the user.

In addition, the present invention provides a method for providing a new business model by allowing a user to play a predetermined advertisement or other content for a time required to play a specific part desired.

In addition, a specific portion desired by the user is also divided into partial contents in a predetermined manner so that the partial contents can be reproduced in an order other than the order in which they originally belonged to the specific portion. It is to provide a method for enabling playback according to the preference.

The digital broadcast providing method for achieving the technical problem comprises the step of receiving a viewing request from the beginning while the digital broadcasting providing system provides a specific program, the digital broadcasting providing system and the network in response to the received viewing request from the beginning; Receiving a content including the first portion of the specific program from at least one program storage system connected through, and controlling the reproduction of the received content to play the specific program from the beginning.

The at least one program storage system may include at least one of another digital broadcast providing system and a server system for recording the specific program.

The content may be from the first part of the specific program to a part corresponding to the time when the viewing request is received from the beginning.

Receiving the content including the first portion of the specific program from the at least one program storage system comprises: searching for a corresponding storage system storing at least a portion of the specific program of the at least one program storage system; Receiving the content from at least one of the searched corresponding storage system.

Receiving the content comprising the first portion of the particular program from the at least one program storage system comprises the content from a plurality of corresponding storage systems storing at least a portion of the particular program of the at least one program storage system. Receiving at least a portion of each and generating the content based on at least a portion of each of the received content.

Receiving the content including the first portion of the specific program from the at least one program storage system comprises storing at least a portion of the specific program of the at least one program storage system and a network path. Searching for the nearest nearest storage system and receiving the content from the searched nearest corresponding storage system.

The digital broadcasting providing method further includes the step of recording, by the digital broadcasting providing system, the specific program after the event part corresponding to the time when the viewing request is received from the beginning to a predetermined storage device provided in the digital broadcasting providing system. It may include.

In the digital broadcasting providing method, the specific program after the event portion is reproduced based on the information recorded in the predetermined storage device while the specific program is reproduced from the beginning.

The digital broadcasting providing method includes receiving a specific partial view request of the specific program while the digital broadcasting providing system provides a specific program, and in response to the received specific partial view request, the digital broadcasting providing system determines the specific part of the specific program. And reproducing the specific part by receiving data corresponding to the specific part from at least one program storage system connected through the network with the digital broadcast providing system. It is done.

The digital broadcasting providing method includes a step in which a digital broadcasting providing system checks whether a specific program is being stored in a program storage system connected to the digital broadcasting providing system through a network, and according to the confirmation result, the specific storage already stored in the program storage system. Receiving at least a portion of the program.

The digital broadcasting providing method includes a step of confirming information of contents stored in another digital broadcasting providing system or stored in a program storage system by a digital broadcasting providing system connected to the digital broadcasting providing system through a network, and according to a result of the checking. Receiving at least a portion of the portion already stored in the storage system.

The digital broadcasting providing method includes receiving a specific partial view request while a digital broadcasting providing system provides a specific program, and storing at least one program connected to the digital broadcasting providing system through a network in response to the updated specific partial view request. Receiving content from the system that includes the specific portion of the particular program, and playing the received content, wherein the content may be divided into a plurality of partial contents, the content being played back; In the step, the specific partial content of the plurality of partial contents is played first, and then the remaining partial contents are reproduced.

The content may be divided into the plurality of partial contents by a predetermined bookmark, or divided into the specific program and at least one advertisement.

The digital broadcasting providing system may receive the specific partial content to be played first from the at least one program storage system before the remaining partial content.

The digital broadcasting providing method includes receiving a specific partial view request while a digital broadcasting providing system provides a specific program, and at least one program connected to the digital broadcasting providing system through a network in response to the received specific partial viewing request. Starting a process for receiving content from the storage system that includes the particular portion of the particular program, and for at least some time until the process starts and playback of the content begins, the predetermined second content is The step of being reproduced.

The second content may be another program or advertisement content previously stored in the digital broadcasting providing system.

The digital broadcast providing method may be stored in a computer readable recording medium recording a program.

In the digital broadcasting providing method according to the present invention, when the user wants to view the specific broadcast program from a specific part or while the digital broadcasting system provides a specific broadcast program to the user, or from another specific part to a specific part, By providing the part that the user wants, the user is able to see the part he has not seen from the beginning or at a specific point even if the user is currently live and the live broadcast is not finished. Therefore, at any point in time, the user is guaranteed to be able to see a particular program from the beginning. In addition, there is no need to look again and again to the part that you have already seen, it is possible to reduce the hassle of waiting to see the part you want and save time.

In addition, the digital broadcasting system allows the user to bring the desired part from the digital broadcasting system of another user connected to the digital broadcasting system or to automatically bring it from a specific recording system, so that the user does not need to know the source or location of the source to be imported. There is an effect, and the system of bringing a source is also brought from a system close to the digital broadcasting system and the network path, so that the user can receive the desired broadcasting part and provide it to the user in a short time.

In addition, it is possible to provide a new business model for an advertisement provider or a content provider that provides advertisements or other content by allowing the user to play a predetermined advertisement or other content for a time taken until the user plays a specific portion desired. Accordingly, there is an effect that a predetermined compensation may be provided to a source providing system of a specific broadcasting part desired by a user in consideration of parameters such as a data transmission amount or a transmission speed.

In addition, a specific portion desired by the user is also divided into partial contents in a predetermined manner so that the partial contents can be reproduced in an order other than the order in which they originally belonged to the specific portion. There is an effect that can be reproduced according to the preference.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to better understand the drawings cited in the detailed description of the invention, a brief description of each drawing is provided.
1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a digital broadcasting system for explaining a digital broadcasting providing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram for describing a method of reproducing a broadcast program in the digital broadcast providing system when a user wants to view a specific broadcast program from the beginning according to the digital broadcast providing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a diagram for describing systems existing on a network to implement a digital broadcasting providing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram for describing a method of transmitting a specific portion desired by a user according to a digital broadcasting providing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram for describing a process of searching for a program storage system in which a specific part desired by a user exists according to a digital broadcasting providing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a function of a digital broadcasting providing system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a diagram for explaining a source of data reproduced when a digital broadcasting providing system reproduces a program according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a diagram for describing a method of reproducing a specific portion desired by a user according to a digital broadcasting providing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a UI of a remote controller for using a digital broadcast providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a diagram for describing a method of reproducing a portion desired by a user in a digital broadcasting providing system according to a digital broadcasting providing method according to another exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 11 is a diagram to explain that an advertisement or other content may be played for a time until a portion desired by a user is played according to a digital broadcasting providing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In order to fully understand the present invention, operational advantages of the present invention, and objects achieved by the practice of the present invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention.

Also, in this specification, when any one element 'transmits' data to another element, the element may transmit the data directly to the other element, or may be transmitted through at least one other element And may transmit the data to the other component.

Conversely, when one element 'directly transmits' data to another element, it means that the data is transmitted to the other element without passing through another element in the element.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference symbols in the drawings denote like elements.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a digital broadcasting system for explaining a digital broadcasting providing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the digital broadcast providing system 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention receives a broadcast program from a broadcast station 200 transmitting a broadcast program and provides the received broadcast program to a user (viewer). . For example, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may be implemented in various forms such as a digital broadcast set-top box, a TV with a digital broadcast set-top box, and an IPTV. The digital broadcast program may be received by the digital broadcast providing system 100 in various forms according to a broadcast method or standard. For example, the broadcast station 200 may transmit the broadcast program to the digital broadcast providing system 100 using satellite, cable, or terrestrial wave, and the digital broadcast providing system 100 may receive the broadcast program. May include a broadcast reception device such as a tuner suitable for each broadcast scheme. In addition, when the digital broadcast providing system 100 is a system (eg, IPTV) for receiving the broadcast program using an IP protocol, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may include a broadcast receiving module using a predetermined network. In addition, the digital broadcast providing system 100 provides the digital broadcast providing system 100 or the received broadcast program with a predetermined demodulator, demultiplexer, audio processor, video processor, etc. to provide the user with the received broadcast program. It may include a variety of configurations for providing to the output device (eg, monitor, speaker, etc.) connected to the digital broadcast providing system 100, these general configurations are well known to the average expert in the technical field of the present invention Detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

Meanwhile, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may include a predetermined network module (eg, 120 of FIG. 6) to implement the technical idea of the present invention. The digital broadcasting providing system 100 may communicate with another digital broadcasting providing system or a predetermined server system connected to a network by using the network module (eg, 120 of FIG. 6). Through such communication, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may implement a technical idea of the present invention by receiving a specific portion desired by a user among broadcast programs and providing the specific portion to the user. This will be described later.

2 is a diagram for describing a method of reproducing a broadcast program in the digital broadcast providing system when a user wants to view a specific broadcast program from the beginning according to the digital broadcast providing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, a specific broadcast program 10 may be broadcasted starting from the time t1 in the broadcast station 200. A user may turn on the digital broadcast providing system 100 or turn on the TV at any time after the specific broadcast program 10 starts. The TV may be connected to the digital broadcast providing system 100. have. Alternatively, at some point after the start of the specific broadcast program 10, the broadcast channel may be converted into a channel on which the specific broadcast program 10 is being broadcast. A user may watch the specific broadcast program 10 for a while and may desire to watch the specific broadcast program 10 from the beginning. Then, the user may control a predetermined UI or the digital broadcast providing system 100 provided in the digital broadcast providing system 100 at a specific time t2 during which the specific broadcast program 10 is being broadcast. By using the remote controller of the digital broadcast providing system 100 can output a view request from the beginning. The request for viewing from the beginning means that when the predetermined input is transmitted to the digital broadcasting providing system 100 through a specific button or a specific UI regardless of the name, the digital broadcasting providing system 100 is broadcasting on the current channel. This may mean a request for replaying the specific broadcast program 10 from the beginning.

The beginning of the specific broadcast program 10 may not necessarily mean the beginning of the specific broadcast program 10 itself being broadcast. For example, the digital broadcasting providing system combines a predetermined advertisement with the first portion of the specific broadcast program 10 in a broadcasting station to generate a data set (file or stream, etc.) in which the advertisement and the specific broadcast program 10 are combined. In the case of providing it to 100, an advertisement combined with the first part of the specific broadcast program 10 may be the first part of the specific broadcast program 10. In any case, the digital broadcast providing system 100 plays the first part of the specific broadcast program 10 itself in response to a view request from the beginning of the reception regardless of whether a predetermined advertisement is played or immediately afterwards. You can do that. That is, when the viewing request is input from the beginning, the digital broadcasting providing system 100 may play the content 11 including the first portion of the specific broadcast program 10 itself. 11, a predetermined advertisement may be included in the first part or any part of the content 11, and of course, no advertisement may be included. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the user outputs a viewing request from the beginning at time t2, the digital broadcasting providing system 100 is already broadcasted before the time t2 of the specific broadcast program 10. Part 11, that is, content 11 including the first part of the specific broadcast program 10, is received and reproduced from a predetermined other system connected to the digital broadcast providing system 100 through a network, that is, at least one program storage system. Do it. Of course, even if the view request is input at the time t2 from the beginning, the content 11 may not be played immediately. The digital broadcast providing system 100 searches for a program storage system that is recording or storing the content 11 or is currently being recorded in response to a view request from the beginning, and searches for the content 11 from the searched program storage system. You need to get some (the amount of data to start playing), because this may take a while. Such a time period may be defined as a delay period in the present specification, and the technical concept of the present invention provides a technical idea that can be used in any other manner instead of simply wasting the delay period. This will be described later.

Meanwhile, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may receive the content 11 from at least one program storage system connected to the digital broadcast providing system 100 by a network. It may mean a portion substantially corresponding to the time t2 from t1). That is, the content 11 is not exactly content starting from the first part of the specific broadcast program 10 at a time t1, but according to an embodiment, the content 11 has a predetermined time (eg, 1 second) than the time t1. 3 seconds) may further include the content of the preceding portion. In addition, since the content 11 includes the specific broadcast program 10 only up to a time t2, the content 11 may further include content of the back part for a predetermined time (for example, 1 to 3 seconds). Therefore, by further including the content for a certain amount of time, it is possible to reduce the risk that the user's desired part may not be included in the content 11 according to the processing time of the viewing request, the movement time of the data, and the like from the beginning.

Thus, according to the digital broadcasting providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention, not only when the specific broadcast program 10 is currently being re-broadcasted, but also when the specific broadcast program 10 is live and the live broadcast is not finished yet. The user who did not watch has the effect of viewing the live broadcast from the beginning. The digital broadcasting providing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention uploads the specific broadcast program 10 to a predetermined web server after a specific subject (for example, a broadcaster) finishes the specific broadcast program 10, or pays a fee. Rather than providing it to users free of charge, if the general users (viewers) are recording the specific broadcast program 10 that is currently being broadcast using the digital broadcast providing system 100 which the user has, the specific broadcast program ( 10) You can retrieve the recorded system by searching the system that is recording. In addition, according to an embodiment, in order to prepare for a case in which no user records the specific broadcast program 10, a predetermined service provider providing a digital broadcast providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention provides a live broadcast program in real time. It is also possible to operate a predetermined server system for recording.

A schematic configuration of a network constituted by such digital broadcast providing systems and / or a predetermined server system is shown in FIG. 3.

3 is a diagram for describing systems existing on a network to implement a digital broadcasting providing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may be connected to another digital broadcast providing system (eg, 310, 320, etc.) through a predetermined network (eg, the Internet, wireless Internet, etc.). In addition, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may be connected to a predetermined server system 330 through the network. The server system 330 may record a program being broadcast and store the recorded broadcast program. By operating the server system 330, even if no user records the specific broadcast program 10, the server system 330 records the specific broadcast program 10, so that the type and popularity of the broadcast program, etc. Regardless of the technical spirit of the present invention can be implemented. In the present specification, such other digital broadcasting providing systems 310 and 320 and the server system 330 are collectively referred to as at least one program storage system 300.

The digital broadcast providing system 100 and the at least one program storage system 300 may establish, for example, a peer 2 peer overlay network. As a result, each system included in the digital broadcasting providing system 100 and the at least one program storage system 300 may effectively perform communication, resource distribution, and exchange between nodes.

In addition, each of the digital broadcast providing system 100 and the program storage system 300 may maintain a list of broadcast programs currently recorded by the user or a program list recorded and stored by the digital broadcast providing system 100 and the program storage system 300. The list includes identification information of a broadcast program, information that may indicate a recorded portion of the broadcast program (for example, a channel, a recording start time, a recording end time, or a recorded portion of the broadcast program (for example, first to 30%), etc.). ) May be included. Then, when the digital broadcasting providing system 100 accesses the program storage system 300 through a network, the content (eg , 11) may be already stored in the program storage system 300 or currently being recorded. According to an implementation example, it may be determined whether the content (eg, 11) is being stored in the program storage system 300 to which the content (eg, 11) is connected by referring to the owned program list and the EPG. For example, when a channel, a recording start time, and a recording end time are recorded in the reserved program list, the digital broadcast providing system 100 identifies a broadcast program that was broadcast on the channel at the recording start time and the recording end time through an EPG. It may be possible to know up to what part of the identified broadcast program.

As such, the digital broadcasting providing system 100 searches for a system storing content (eg, 11) desired by the at least one program storage system 300, that is, a corresponding storage system (eg, 320), The content (eg, 11) may be received from a corresponding storage system (eg, 320). According to an embodiment of the present invention, when there are a plurality of systems storing the contents (eg, 11) (eg, 310 and 320), the contents (eg, 11) may be transferred from the plurality of corresponding storage systems. , 310, 320 may be distributed and received. That is, when a plurality of program storage system 300 stores the same content, by receiving a portion of the content (eg, 11) from the plurality of program storage system 300 in a well-known peer-to-peer manner, respectively It is also possible to speed up the reception of the content (eg, 11).

4 is a diagram for describing a method of transmitting a specific portion desired by a user according to a digital broadcasting providing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 4A, the digital broadcasting providing system 100 may search the at least one program storage system 300 for a corresponding storage system storing content (eg, 11). When at least one corresponding storage system is found as a result of the search, the digital broadcasting providing system 100 may receive the content (eg, 11) from a specific one of the searched corresponding storage systems. Alternatively, when a plurality of corresponding storage systems are searched as shown in FIG. 4C, a portion of the content (eg, 11) may be distributed and received from each of the plurality of corresponding storage systems. For example, one half of the content (eg, 11) is received from one corresponding storage system, and the other half (11-2) of the content (eg, 11) is received from another corresponding storage system. ) May be received.

In addition, according to an implementation example, the digital broadcasting providing system 100 may include only the specific portion (eg, 11) requested by the user in the specific broadcasting program 10 as shown in FIG. 4B. The specific broadcast program 10 may be received from the at least one program storage system 300 instead of the reception from the at least one program storage system 300. Accordingly, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may receive the entirety of the specific broadcast program 10 that is currently being broadcast from the at least one program storage system 300, and play the received specific broadcast program 10. It may be. In addition, according to the exemplary embodiment, a specific part (eg, 11) is received from the at least one program storage system 300 and played back, and the other rear part 12 is recorded after the digital broadcasting providing system 100 is recorded. You can also play the recorded part. This is illustrated in FIG. 7.

7 is a diagram for explaining a source of data reproduced when a digital broadcasting providing system reproduces a program according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

2 and 7, at time t2, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may receive a viewing request from a user. Then, after the time t2, the digital broadcast providing system 100 starts recording, and the broadcast program portion 12 may be stored in a predetermined storage device (eg, 130 of FIG. 6). While recording the broadcast program portion 12, the digital broadcast providing system 100 retrieves from the at least one program storage system 300 a corresponding storage system storing the contents (e.g., 11) as described above. The content (eg, 11) is received from the searched corresponding storage system and played back. When playback of the content (eg, 11) received from the corresponding storage system is completed at time t3, the subsequent broadcast program portion 12 is stored in the digital broadcast providing system 100. The storage device 130 ) Can be played using the recorded information. Of course, when the entire broadcast program 10 is received from the corresponding storage system as described with reference to FIG. 4, the broadcast program portion 12 is also based on the information received from the at least one program storage system 300. May be reproduced. That is, the content (eg, 11) may play information received from the corresponding storage system, and the broadcast program portion 12 may play information recorded in the storage device 130 according to an embodiment. Information received from the corresponding storage system may be reproduced.

Referring back to FIG. 4, as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C, the digital broadcasting providing system 100 may include a corresponding storage system storing content (eg, 11) to be received, including at least one program storage system ( 300, where multiple corresponding storage systems may be retrieved. In this case, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may include at least a portion of the content (eg, 11) or the specific broadcast program 10 in order of proximity between the digital broadcast providing system 100 and a network path among a plurality of corresponding storage systems. Can be received.

For example, the order in which the network paths are in close proximity may depend on the number of hops of a network (eg, a P2P overlay network, etc.) configured by the digital broadcasting providing system 100 and the at least one program storage system 300. . For example, the digital broadcast providing system 100 and another digital broadcast providing system or server system 330 located at one hop node may be corresponding storage systems that exist in the nearest path. The system present in the nearest path may then be a system corresponding to a two hop node.

As such, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may receive the desired content (eg, 11) in a short time by allowing the content (eg, 11) to be received from the nearest corresponding storage system using the proximity of a network.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for describing a process of searching for a program storage system in which a specific part desired by a user exists according to a digital broadcasting providing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the digital broadcast providing system 100 and the at least one program storage system 300 may establish a predetermined network as shown in FIG. 5, and the network may be a P2P according to an embodiment. It is also possible to implement an overlay network. 5 illustrates an example of a network constructed in a hybrid P2P scheme, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and the technical spirit of the present invention may be implemented in any network other than a pure P2P scheme or a P2P scheme. If it can be implemented will be said to belong to the scope of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, each digital broadcast providing system (eg, 100, 341 to 343, and 351 to 353) may establish a node of a network, respectively. In addition, certain servers 340 and 350 may maintain a list of programs owned by their subordinate nodes. Therefore, when the digital broadcasting providing system 100 searches only the servers 340 and 350, it can know which node (eg, 11) exists in which node. Of course, as mentioned above, each node has a holding program list, and each node may be searched.

Therefore, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may determine the proximity of a network path by the number of hops between the digital broadcast providing system 100 and the servers 340 and 350. Of course, at this time, it is preferable that each server and all nodes managed by each server have the same hop number. Of course, according to an embodiment, the servers having the contents (eg, 11) are searched using the servers 340 and 350, and network proximity is actually found with the digital broadcasting providing system 100 and the searched nodes (corresponding storage). It may be determined by the number of hops between systems). In addition, the technical idea of measuring network proximity in various manners is known, and the known technical idea may be applied to the technical idea of the present invention.

6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a function of a digital broadcasting providing system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the digital broadcast providing system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a control module 110, a network module 120, and a storage device 130.

Herein, a module may mean a functional and structural combination of hardware for carrying out the technical idea of the present invention and software for driving the hardware. For example, the module may mean a logical unit of a predetermined code and a hardware resource for performing the predetermined code, and means a code that is not necessarily physically connected or does not mean a kind of hardware. It can be easily inferred by the average expert in the art.

The control module 110 receives the specific part view request from the user according to the technical spirit of the present invention, and provides the network module 120 and / or the storage device 130 to provide the requested specific part to the user. Can be controlled. In addition, the control module 110 may perform a function for recording a certain portion of the specific broadcast program 10. In addition, the control module 110 maintains a list of broadcast programs being recorded by the digital broadcast providing system 100 or broadcast programs already held, and another digital broadcast providing system is connected to the digital broadcast providing system 100. In the case of access, a list of retained programs may be provided to the other digital broadcasting providing system. According to an embodiment, when the digital broadcasting providing system 100 is implemented by any node of the network as shown in FIG. 5, the holding program list may be transmitted and synchronized to an upper server of the digital broadcasting providing system 100. have. In addition, the control module 110 may control various devices for reproducing information received from the broadcast station 200 or the at least one program storage system 300, so that the broadcast program is provided to the user. In addition, the control module 110 may perform a function of extracting only a specific part from specific broadcast program data and providing it to another system. In addition, predetermined contents stored in the storage device 130 of the digital broadcast providing system 100 may be played for a specific time (for example, a delay period). This will be described later.

The network module 120 may transmit and receive predetermined data for implementing the technical idea of the present invention by connecting the digital broadcasting providing system 100 and the at least one program storage system 300.

The storage device 130 may store a broadcast program recorded by the control module 110 or recorded by a predetermined recording device controlled by the control module 110. In addition, at least a part of the broadcast program received from the at least one program storage system 300 may be temporarily stored.

The digital broadcast providing system 100 may further include at least one of a broadcast receiver, an encoder, a decoder, a video processor, an audio processor, a multiplexer, a demultiplexer, a display device, or an audio output device for receiving a broadcast. to be.

8 is a diagram for describing a method of reproducing a specific portion desired by a user according to a digital broadcasting providing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a UI of a remote controller for using a digital broadcast providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the above description, a case in which the user requests to view the specific broadcast program 10 from the beginning has been described as an example. Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, the technical idea of the present invention is that the specific broadcast program 10 must be viewed from the beginning. In addition to showing to the user, it can be seen that the present invention can be applied as it is to show any section or any section desired by the user.

For example, the remote controller 400 as shown in FIG. 9 may be provided to a user to implement the technical idea of the present invention. The remote controller 400 may include a predetermined display device, and a predetermined UI may be provided for a user to control the digital broadcast providing system 100 through the display device. In addition, the remote controller 400 may display information on a channel and / or a broadcast program displayed by the digital broadcast providing system 100 (eg, "CH.11 news broadcast").

An example of such a remote controller 400 is a Korean patent registered by the present applicant as a registered right holder (Registration No. 10-0857508, "Set-top box control device for digital broadcasting, its driving method and digital broadcasting system", "Registered Patent") Since it is disclosed in detail in the present specification, a detailed description thereof will be omitted. The technical spirit disclosed in the registered patent and the description thereof are considered to be included in the description of the present specification when included as a reference of the present invention.

As described in detail in the registered patent, the remote controller 400 may receive and display a predetermined UI 410 as shown in FIG. 9 from the digital broadcast providing system 100. In the UI 410, it can be seen that the broadcast program currently being displayed is a program that is broadcast from 9:00 to 10:00, and the display for the part (hatched portion) that has been broadcast so far is displayed in the UI 410. May appear in the Then, the user may select a specific part desired by the UI 410. For example, when the user selects a specific position 411 in the UI 410, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may play a broadcast program from a portion corresponding to the specific position 411. Since the specific location 411 is a part that has already been broadcast, even if the broadcast program is a live program, the broadcast can be viewed from the part corresponding to the specific location 411. If the user selects a specific location 412, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may play the broadcast program from a portion corresponding to the specific location 412. At this time, since the broadcast program currently displayed by the digital broadcast providing system 100 has not been broadcasted to the specific location 412, the broadcast program has been previously broadcasted to the at least one program storage system 300. Preferably, the broadcast program is stored (e.g., rebroadcast).

If the user selects two positions of the specific position 412 and the specific position 413, the digital broadcasting providing system 100 may include a broadcast program portion corresponding to the specific position 412 and the specific position 413. Can play. As such, the search for the broadcast program part corresponding to the specific location is performed by the UI 410 in the relative location of the specific location and the at least one program storage system 300 or the server (for example, 340 and 350 of FIG. 5). This is possible by comparing the information stored in the list of retained programs contained in the.

This is illustrated in FIG. 8.

The broadcast program currently being displayed by the digital broadcast providing system 100 may start at time t4 and may be currently being broadcast. In this case, the user may request the specific part 13 at a time t5 by a predetermined method as described with reference to FIG. 9. The specific part 13 requested may be a part that has already been broadcast before time t5 or a part that has been broadcast after time t5.

Then, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may search for a corresponding storage system in which the specific portion 13 of the at least one program storage system 300 is stored. In this case, the search may be performed by searching the program storage system 300 in which the broadcast program is stored first, and then searching whether the specific part 13 of the broadcast program is stored in the corresponding corresponding storage system. When the search is completed, the content containing the specific portion 13 can be received from the corresponding storage system. The received content may be reproduced by the digital broadcast providing system 100.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for describing a method of reproducing a portion desired by a user in a digital broadcasting providing system according to a digital broadcasting providing method according to another exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 10, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may receive a request for a specific portion 14 of a broadcast program currently being broadcast from a user. Then, the digital broadcasting providing system 100 may search for the corresponding storage system in which the specific portion 14 is stored. Then, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may receive the specific portion 14 from the corresponding storage system. In this case, the specific part 14 may be divided into parts by a predetermined criterion. For example, a portion (eg, 14-2) of the specific portion 14 may be an intermediate advertisement that is not related to the broadcast program. Alternatively, the user of the corresponding storage system may have marked the specific portion 14 as a predetermined bookmark. As such, the specific portion 14 may be divided into predetermined partial contents 14-1, 14-2, and 14-3. The partial contents 14-1, 14-2, and 14-3 that can be divided in this way may be useful to change the playback order in a predetermined manner. Alternatively, only the specific partial content (eg, 14-1) may be played and the remaining partial content (eg, 14-2 and 14-3) may be omitted. That is, the specific part 14 was a part of a broadcast program that was originally broadcast in the order of 14-1, 14-2, 14-3, and 14-2, 14 when reproduced by the digital broadcast providing system 100. It may be reproduced in the order of -1 and 14-3. Alternatively, reproduction of the predetermined partial content (eg, at least one of 14-1, 14-2, or 14-3) of the specific portion 14 may be omitted. Alternatively, the reproduction of some partial contents may be omitted while the reproduction order of predetermined partial contents is changed.

For example, the partial content 14-2 may be an advertisement. The user may assume that the broadcast program is interrupted in the middle of the broadcast program and that advertisements are provided to prevent the user from enjoying the broadcast program. Alternatively, it may be desirable for the advertisement company or the advertiser to expose the advertisement first. This is because if an advertisement is in the middle of a broadcast program, there may not be a guarantee that the advertisement is exposed. As such, in the case of an advertisement, the digital broadcasting providing system 100 may first play the partial content 14-2 corresponding to the advertisement of the specific portion 14 and then play the remaining content. In addition, only a part of the specific portion 14 may be played back, and the rest may be skipped. Therefore, the user can see only the important part (eg, the part which can show the plot) among the specific part 14 which he wants, and may not see the remaining part. For this purpose, a bookmark inserted by a user of another digital broadcasting providing system or a bookmark inserted by a service provider for providing the technical idea of the present invention may be used for an important part or a part of the plot. Alternatively, the broadcaster may include the predetermined tag or the segmentation information in the stream itself of the broadcast program to provide the specific portion 14 or the plot or the specific important portion of the entire broadcast program.

In addition, whether or not the particular portion 14 includes any other content of a kind different from the advertisement or the broadcast program may be various. For example, a broadcaster may separately provide a broadcast program and an advertisement through a predetermined tag in the stream itself of the broadcast program. Alternatively, an image identification number may be assigned to each image by using a predetermined image recognition technology, and the image identification number for each advertisement may be stored in advance in the digital broadcasting providing system 100 or another digital broadcasting providing system. Then, the digital broadcasting providing system 100 or another digital broadcasting providing system may determine whether there is an image part corresponding to the image identification number stored in the specific part 14, and classify the identified image part into partial contents. . Various other embodiments may be possible.

As such, the reason for changing the playback order of the partial contents 14-1, 14-2, and 14-3 of the specific portion 14 or omitting a part of the reproduction may be various reasons as well as an advertisement. . For example, there may be a case where another user using another digital broadcasting providing system makes a meaningful bookmark while recording a broadcast program. For example, the part where the whole story is known or the most important part may be marked by a predetermined bookmark. Then, the bookmarked portion can be played first. And the rest of the contents may be omitted playback.

In addition, when the specific part 14 can be divided into partial contents 14-1, 14-2, and 14-3, the digital broadcasting providing system 100 may first reproduce the partial contents (eg, 14). -2) may first be received from the corresponding storage system. Therefore, since the partial content to be reproduced first (eg, 14-2) is first received, the time required to reproduce the specific portion 14, that is, the delay period, can be shortened.

FIG. 11 is a diagram to explain that an advertisement or other content may be played for a time until a portion desired by a user is played according to a digital broadcasting providing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 11, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may receive a request for a specific portion 14 of a broadcast program currently being broadcast from a user. The specific part 14 may be a view request from the beginning, a view request from a specific part, or may request to view a part corresponding to a specific section. Then, it can begin to play the requested specific part 14. The specific portion 14 may be reproduced in the order in which it was originally broadcasted, or may be divided into predetermined partial contents as described above so that the reproduction order of the partial contents may be different from that in the original broadcast program.

In any case, a predetermined delay period Δt may exist at a time t2 when the user makes a request for viewing the specific portion 14 and a time t3 at which the actual specific portion 14 starts to be reproduced. This is because it may take some time to search the at least one program storage system 300 for a specific portion 14 requested by the user through the network. Also, a predetermined amount of data is required for playback to start even after the search. It may also be necessary to buffer the time it takes to receive the data required for such playback. Therefore, a delay period in which all of these times are combined is inevitably occurring, and this delay period is not specified in the proximity of the network between the digital broadcasting providing system 100 and the corresponding storage system, or is not a request for viewing from the beginning of a broadcast program. It may be longer in the case of a view request for a portion corresponding to an intermediate point or a portion corresponding to a specific section.

It is very inconvenient for the user to waste the delay section like this, and wastes time for the user's attention. Accordingly, the digital broadcast providing system 100 may play predetermined content in the delay period. Preferably, the content is content previously stored in the digital broadcast providing system 100. The content may be another broadcast program or predetermined advertisement content stored in the digital broadcast providing system 100. The digital broadcasting providing system 100 may start playing the specific portion 14 after the playing of the content played in the delay section is completed, or immediately after the playing of the specific portion 14 is ready to start. Playback of the content may be terminated and the specific portion 14 may be played back. Alternatively, if the content is not ready to start playing after the content is completed, the idle screen may be displayed or another content may be played until the preparation is completed.

The digital broadcast providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention may be implemented as computer readable codes on a computer readable recording medium. A computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording apparatuses in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of computer-readable recording media include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, hard disk, floppy disk, optical data storage, and the like, and also in the form of carrier waves (e.g., transmission over the Internet). It also includes implementations. In addition, the computer-readable recording medium may be distributed over network-connected computer systems so that computer readable codes can be stored and executed in a distributed manner. And functional programs, codes, and code segments for implementing the present invention can be easily inferred by programmers skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

Claims (17)

Receiving a request for viewing from the beginning of the specific program while the digital broadcasting providing system plays the specific program;
And a portion corresponding to the time at which the viewing request was received from the beginning of the specific program from at least one program storage system connected through the network with the digital broadcasting providing system in response to the received viewing request from the beginning. Receiving, by the digital broadcasting providing system, the content;
Recording, by the digital broadcasting providing system, the specific program after the event portion corresponding to the time at which the viewing request is received from the beginning to a predetermined storage device provided in the digital broadcasting providing system; And
And reproducing the received content while reproducing the specific program from the beginning, and reproducing the specific program after the event portion based on the information recorded in the predetermined storage device.
The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one program storage system comprises:
And at least one of another digital broadcasting providing system and a server system for recording the specific program. delete delete The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the content by the digital broadcasting providing system comprises:
Receiving, by the digital broadcasting providing system, at least some of the contents from a plurality of corresponding storage systems storing at least a portion of the specific program among the at least one program storage system; And
And generating the content based on at least some of the received content.
The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the content by the digital broadcasting providing system comprises:
Searching for a nearest corresponding storage system storing at least a part of the specific program among the at least one program storage system and having a network path closest to the digital broadcast providing system; And
And receiving, by the digital broadcasting providing system, the content from the searched closest corresponding storage system.
delete delete delete delete delete delete delete Receiving a request to view a specific part of the specific program while the digital broadcasting providing system plays the specific program;
Receiving, by the digital broadcasting providing system, content including the specific portion of the specific program from at least one program storage system connected through the network with the digital broadcasting providing system in response to the received request of viewing the specific portion; And
Playing at least some of the received content;
The content includes a plurality of partial contents,
Reproducing at least some of the content,
The reproduction order of the plurality of partial contents may be reproduced differently from the reproduction order of the specific program, or may be reproduced by omitting at least one of the plurality of partial contents.
The digital broadcast providing system,
And receiving the partial content to be reproduced first in the digital broadcasting providing system among the plurality of partial contents from the at least one program storage system before the remaining partial contents.
delete delete A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for performing the method according to any one of claims 1, 2, 5, 6, or 14.

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