KR20080039171A - Method for virtual program channel service based on user editing metadata and server and terminal therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for providing a virtual program channel service based on user-edited metadata, and a server and a terminal for the same are provided to enable a user to organize segments of a desired program on a desired time directly by enabling the user to collect/utilize EPG(Electronic Program Guide) metadata and segment metadata for various contents through the virtual program channel service. A metadata/contents collector(210) collects EPG metadata and contents from the outside. A metadata maker(220) generates EPG metadata and segment metadata by analyzing the metadata and the collected contents. A metadata analyzing/generating part(240) transmits the generated EPG and segment metadata to a user terminal(300), and analyzes schedule metadata of virtual programs by receiving the schedule metadata from the user terminal. A metadata analyzing/reconfiguring part(250) reconfigures the EPG metadata by reconfiguring the analyzed schedule metadata from an original program based on the EPG and segment metadata. A two-way metadata transceiver(260) transceives the metadata between the metadata analyzing/generating part and the user terminal. A VOD(Video On-Demand) service part(270) provides the virtual program and the EPG metadata to the user terminal.

Description

Method for virtual program channel service based on user editing metadata and server and terminal therefor}

1 is a configuration diagram of a system for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata according to the present invention;

2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a service providing server according to the present invention;

3 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a broadcast terminal according to the present invention;

4 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a metadata editing function by a user terminal according to the present invention;

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata according to the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawing

100: broadcaster

110: Content Creator

200: service providing server

300: user terminal

The present invention relates to a method for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata, and a server and a terminal therefor. More specifically, the present invention relates to a content collected from the outside, an EPG metadata for the content, and a segment metadata. Transmitting to the terminal and reconstructing the virtual program and the EPG metadata accordingly based on the schedule metadata organized into some segments of the desired program at a desired time by the user transmitted from the user terminal and providing the same to the user terminal. A method of providing a virtual program channel service based on editing metadata, and a server and a terminal therefor.

Recently, as the digital system is applied, the broadcasting system has been transformed into a multi-channel broadcasting channel, a multi-media broadcasting receiver terminal, and a high quality image and sound of a program provided by a broadcasting company.

In addition, the broadcast system is being transformed into a complex bidirectional broadcast era in the existing unidirectional broadcast era by interworking with a mobile communication network. That is, the broadcast system provides an in-band channel for providing a program and an out-of-band channel used for transmitting and receiving data, thereby enabling bidirectional broadcasting.

As the broadcasting system is transformed as described above, a user needs an active viewing method of directly participating in a program or receiving a desired program at a desired time, instead of a passive viewing method of receiving a program according to limited channel selection. In response to these demands, a TV portal service has recently emerged that provides an on-demand TV service in which a user designates and watches a desired program at a desired time.

Conventional on-demand TV services, including the TV portal service as described above, limit the minimum unit of an order to one program. The conventional approach is that time-saving users, such as busy office workers or high school students, who are busy with their studies, can spend time in check for other scenes that are not so important to see a particular scene that is part of the entire program in their spare time. There is a drawback to wasting.

For example, a high school student, "A," is an average user who can spend more than an hour or two on holidays and an average of three or four hours on holidays. The "A" wants to watch the soccer player "A" 's goal scene by ordering the Premier League relay content played by the soccer player "A". However, the conventional method wastes time by manually checking 90 extra entire game scenes in order to see the goal scene of the soccer player "just" which is only a few minutes.

In another example, an office worker "Bottle" wants to see only news scenes on important international issues, such as North Korea's nuclear test. However, the office worker "bottle" orders the entire news content, and wastes time checking even uninterested scenes such as accidents.

As mentioned above, the conventional method wasted time by checking contents that users are not interested in.

On the other hand, in order to prevent users from wasting time while checking the content that is not interested, the on-demand TV service provider may collect the user's interests and provide it as a separate program.

The above-described method is a case in which TV service providers construct a program by inferring a scene that may be of interest to a user. That is, the conventional method is not only difficult to construct a program that can satisfy all the individual users, but also provides a large number of programs suitable for each individual user's preference.

The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the above problems, the content collected from the outside, and EPG metadata and segment metadata for the content is generated and transmitted to the user terminal, the desired time by the user transmitted from the user terminal And a method for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata for reconfiguring a virtual program and EPG metadata according to schedule metadata organized into some segments of a desired program to the user terminal and providing the same to the user terminal. The purpose is to provide a terminal.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention can be understood by the following description, and will be more clearly understood by the embodiments of the present invention. Also, it will be readily appreciated that the objects and advantages of the present invention may be realized by the means and combinations thereof indicated in the claims.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a server for providing a virtual program channel service based on user editing metadata, comprising: metadata and content collecting means for collecting EPG metadata and content from the outside; Metadata authoring means for analyzing the content collected from the metadata and content collecting means to generate EPG metadata and segment metadata; Metadata analyzing and generating means for transmitting the EPG metadata and the segment metadata generated by the metadata authoring means to the user terminal and interpreting the schedule metadata of the virtual programs transmitted from the user terminal; And metadata analysis and reconstruction means for reconstructing the schedule metadata of the virtual programs interpreted by the metadata analyzing and generating means from the original program based on the EPG metadata and the segment metadata, and thus reconstructing the EPG metadata. And a service providing server for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata.

In addition, the present invention further includes a means for transmitting and receiving metadata for transmitting and receiving metadata between the metadata analyzing and generating means and the user terminal.

The present invention further includes a VOD service means for providing the user terminal with the virtual program reconstructed by the metadata analysis and reconstruction means and the corresponding EPG metadata.

In addition, the present invention is the content and EPG metadata collected by the metadata and the content collecting means and the EPG metadata and segment metadata generated by the metadata authoring means and the metadata interpreted and generated by the means Metadata and content storage means for storing the schedule metadata of the virtual programs further.

In addition, the present invention is a terminal for providing a user-edited metadata-based virtual program channel service, for interpreting the EPG metadata and segment metadata transmitted from the outside, and for transmitting the schedule metadata of the virtual programs to the outside Metadata interpretation and generation means; And metadata editing means for providing EPG metadata and segment metadata delivered from the metadata interpretation and generating means to the user, and generating schedule metadata as virtual programs are organized by the user. It includes a terminal for providing a data-based virtual program channel service.

In addition, the present invention includes a VOD receiving means for receiving the virtual programs reconstructed based on the schedule metadata of the virtual programs from the outside and the corresponding EPG metadata; And content reproducing means for providing the user with the virtual programs received by the VOD receiving means and the corresponding EPG metadata.

The present invention further includes broadcast receiving means for demultiplexing and decoding the content transmitted from the outside and the EPG metadata of the content and transmitting the demultiplexed and decoded data to the metadata analyzing and generating means.

In addition, the present invention transmits the EPG metadata and segment metadata collected from the outside to the metadata analysis and generation means, and bi-directional meta for transmitting the schedule metadata of the virtual programs transferred from the metadata editing means to the outside It further comprises a data transmission and reception means.

In addition, the present invention further includes a user interface means for providing a user with an interface capable of organizing the EPG metadata and the segment metadata provided from the metadata editing means into a virtual program which is a part of a desired program at a desired time. .

In addition, the present invention is a method for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata, when the content and EPG metadata for the content is collected from the outside, the collected content is analyzed to analyze the EPG metadata and segment metadata. Generating a first step; Transmitting the EPG metadata and the segment metadata to the outside, wherein the schedule metadata including the organization information of the virtual programs which are some segments of the desired program is transmitted from the outside at a desired time by the user; Reconstructing virtual programs from an original program using the schedule metadata and reconstructing EPG metadata accordingly; And a fourth step of transmitting the reconstructed virtual programs and the reconstructed EPG metadata to the outside through a virtual program channel.

The above objects, features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, whereby those skilled in the art may easily implement the technical idea of the present invention. There will be. In addition, in describing the present invention, when it is determined that the detailed description of the known technology related to the present invention may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a system for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata according to the present invention (hereinafter, referred to as a "service providing system").

As shown in FIG. 1, the service providing system according to the present invention includes at least one broadcaster (hereinafter referred to as "broadcaster", 100), at least one content producer (hereinafter referred to as "content producer", 110), one The above-described virtual program channel service providing server (hereinafter referred to as a "service providing server") 200 and a user terminal 300 are included.

The broadcaster 100 multiplexes the contents and the electronic program guide (EPG) metadata of the contents and provides them to the user terminal 300 in an MPE-2 TS format. In this case, the broadcaster 100 performs a function of a service providing server by itself, or enters a contract of supplying content and EPG metadata with a third service providing server and broadcasts it through a broadcasting channel such as terrestrial / satellite / cable. And EPG metadata of the content.

The content producer 110 enters into a content supply contract with the service providing server 200 and provides the content. Here, the content producer 110 may be a main content production company that produced and distributed the content and movies.

The service providing server 200 collects and stores contents provided through a broadcasting channel and EPG metadata of the contents from the broadcasting company 100. In addition, the service providing server 200 collects and stores various contents from the content producer 110. Here, the service providing server 200 analyzes the content collected from the content producer 110 to generate EPG metadata.

In addition, the service providing server 200 analyzes the characteristics of all the content collected from the broadcaster 100 and the content producer 110 to produce and manage segment metadata.

Meanwhile, the service providing server 200 transmits the aforementioned EPG metadata and segment metadata to the user terminal 300. As described above, the service providing server 200 transmits the EPG metadata collected from the broadcaster 100 and the EPG metadata collected by collecting the content from the content producer 110 to the user terminal 300. In addition, the service providing server 200 transmits segment metadata analyzing the characteristics of the content collected from the broadcaster 100 and the content producer 110 to the user terminal 300.

The user terminal 300 transmits content and EPG metadata of the content from the broadcaster 100. In addition, the user terminal 300 also transmits segment metadata and EPG metadata from the service providing server 200.

Meanwhile, the user terminal 300 provides the user with an interface for organizing some segments of a desired program at a desired time. Here, some segments newly organized by the user are referred to as "virtual programs" hereinafter. At this time, the user terminal 300 generates the schedule metadata including the organization information for the virtual program and transmits it to the service providing server 200.

In particular, when the schedule metadata of the above-described virtual program is transmitted from the user terminal 300, the service providing server 200 reconfigures the virtual programs from the original program based on the schedule metadata. Accordingly, the service providing server 200 also reconstructs the EPG metadata.

Thereafter, the service providing server 200 transmits the reconfigured virtual program and EPG metadata to the user terminal 300 through a virtual program channel and broadcasts the same.

2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a service providing server 200 according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the service providing server 200 according to the present invention includes a metadata and content collector 210, a metadata authoring unit 220, a metadata and content storage unit 230, and metadata. It includes an analysis and generation unit 240, metadata analysis and reconstruction unit 250, bi-directional metadata transmission and reception unit 260, VOD service unit 270.

The metadata and content collecting unit 210 collects the content that was broadcast through the broadcasting channel from the broadcaster 100 and EPG metadata for the content, and stores the content in the metadata and the content storage unit 230. At the same time, the metadata and content collector 210 collects various contents from the content producer 110 and stores the various contents in the metadata and content storage 230.

The metadata authoring unit 220 analyzes content collected from the content producer 110 to generate EPG metadata and stores the metadata in the metadata and content storage 230. In particular, the metadata authoring unit 220 analyzes the characteristics of all content collected from the broadcaster 100 and the content producer 110 to author segment metadata and store the metadata in the metadata and the content storage unit 230. .

The metadata interpreting and generating unit 240 stores the EPG metadata and segment metadata previously stored in the metadata and content storage unit 230 as an eXtensible Markup Languag (XML) document. To create. At this time, the metadata analysis and generation unit 240 transmits the generated XML document to the user terminal 300 through the bi-directional metadata transmission and reception unit 260.

Meanwhile, the metadata analyzing and generating unit 240 interprets (or parses) schedule metadata of virtual programs transmitted from the user terminal 300 through the bidirectional metadata transmitting and receiving unit 260 to obtain metadata and The content storage unit 230 stores the content.

The metadata analysis and reconstruction unit 250 reconstructs virtual programs to be broadcast through the virtual program channel from the original program based on the schedule metadata, the EPG metadata, and the segment metadata of the virtual programs stored as described above. Reconstruct EPG metadata. Thereafter, the metadata analysis and reconstruction unit 250 provides the reconstructed virtual programs and the reconstructed EPG metadata to the user terminal 300 through the VOD service unit 270.

3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a user terminal 300 according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the user terminal 300 according to the present invention includes a broadcast receiving unit 310, a content reproducing unit 320, a user interface unit 330, a bidirectional metadata transmitting and receiving unit 340, and metadata. An analysis and generation unit 350, a metadata editing unit 370, a VOD receiving unit 380, and a metadata storage unit 360 are included.

The broadcast receiver 310 obtains an XML document by demultiplexing and decoding a stream transmitted from the broadcaster 100 and an MPE-2 TS format stream in which EPG metadata of the content is multiplexed.

The metadata analysis and generation unit 350 interprets (or parses) the XML document obtained by the broadcast receiving unit 310 and stores the XML document in the metadata storage unit 360.

In addition, the metadata interpreting and generating unit 350 interprets (or parses) the EPG metadata and the segment metadata collected through the bidirectional metadata transmitting and receiving unit 340 from the service providing server 200 into an XML document to metadata. The storage unit 360 stores the result.

In addition, the metadata analysis and generation unit 350 generates the schedule metadata of the virtual programs transmitted from the metadata editing unit 370 to be described later as an XML document and provides the service providing server 200 through the bidirectional metadata transmission / reception unit 340. To send).

The metadata editor 370 generates schedule metadata of virtual programs in cooperation with the user interface 330 and the metadata storage 360.

In other words, the metadata editing unit 370 provides the metadata stored in the metadata storage unit 360 to the user interface unit 330. The user organizes some segments (ie, virtual programs) of a desired program at a desired time through the user interface unit 330. In this case, when the virtual programs are organized by the user through the user interface unit 330, the metadata editing unit 370 generates schedule metadata including organizational information about the virtual programs.

Thereafter, the metadata editing unit 370 transmits the schedule metadata of the generated virtual programs to the metadata analyzing and generating unit 350. As described above, the metadata analyzing and generating unit 350 transmits schedule metadata of virtual programs to the service providing server 200 through the bidirectional metadata transmitting and receiving unit 340.

The VOD receiving unit 380 receives the reconfigured virtual programs and the EPG metadata according to the virtual program channel based on the schedule metadata of the virtual programs previously transmitted by the user terminal 300 from the service providing server 200 through the virtual program channel. The VOD receiving unit 380 provides the above-mentioned virtual programs and the corresponding EPG metadata to the content reproducing unit 320, and thus, the above-mentioned virtual programs and the corresponding EPG metadata through the user interface unit 330. To the user.

4 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a metadata editing function by the user terminal 300 according to the present invention.

As mentioned above, the metadata editing unit 370 of the user terminal 300 provides EPG metadata and segment metadata stored in the metadata storage 360 to the user through the user interface 330. Here, the EPG metadata includes program information (ProgramInformation, 401) and program schedule information (ProgramLocation, 402) for the individual program. The segment metadata 403 collectively refers to a plurality of segment information constituting individual programs.

Thereafter, the metadata editing unit 370 of the user terminal 300 generates schedule metadata of virtual programs including organization information about the virtual program organized by the user.

Here, the schedule metadata includes a plurality of individual schedule events (ScheduleEvent) of the program schedule information 402. The individual schedule event includes a program element (Program, 404), a program URL element (Program URL, 405), a broadcast start time element (PublishedStartTime, 406), a broadcast end time element (PublishedEndTime, 406), a broadcast section element (PublishedDuration, 407). ).

The program element 404 represents a Content Reference IDentification (CRID) of the original program. The program URL element 405 represents a segment identifier (segmentId). The broadcast start time element 406 represents the start time of the newly organized segment. The broadcast end time element 406 represents the end time of the newly organized segment. The broadcast section element 407 represents section information of a newly organized segment.

Meanwhile, the service providing server 200 analyzes metadata based on schedule metadata, metadata, and EPG metadata and segment metadata stored in the content storage unit 230 of the virtual programs transmitted from the user terminal 300. The reconstruction unit 240 reconstructs the virtual programs from the original program and reconstructs the EPG metadata accordingly.

In particular, the reconstructed EPG metadata is composed of program information (ProgramInformation) and program schedule information (ProgramLocation) for the virtual program.

The program information is used by connecting index information (eg, segment identifier (SegmentId)) for identifying a segment to a content reference identifier (CRID) of the original program in the case of a program identifier (ProgramId) attribute. BasicDescription for a virtual program expresses information about an individual segment (title, synopsis, keyword, genre, etc.), making the virtual program different from the original program. By providing it as a separate independent program, virtual program unit can be played and recorded.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5, the service providing server 200 according to the present invention collects content and EPG metadata for the content from the outside (S501). In this case, the service providing server 200 analyzes the collected content as described above to generate EPG metadata and segment metadata (S502).

Thereafter, the service providing server 200 transmits the EPG metadata and the segment metadata to the user terminal 300 (S503).

In the user terminal 300, the transmitted segment metadata and the EPG metadata are organized into some segments of a desired program at a desired time by the user (S504). That is, in the user terminal 300, virtual programs by the user are organized. In this case, when the virtual programs are organized by the user, the user terminal 300 generates schedule metadata including organization information about the virtual program (S505).

Then, the user terminal 300 transmits the schedule metadata to the service providing server 200 (S506).

On the other hand, the service providing server 200 reconstructs the virtual programs from the original program based on the schedule metadata (S507). In this case, the service providing server 200 also reconfigures the EPG metadata according to the reconstructed virtual programs.

Then, the service providing server 200 transmits the reconstructed virtual program and EPG metadata to the user terminal 300 through the virtual program channel (S508). Thereafter, when the reconfigured virtual program and EPG metadata are transmitted from the service providing server 200, the user terminal 300 provides the same to the user (S509). Through this, the user consumes the virtual program and EPG metadata transmitted from the service providing server 200 through the user terminal 300.

As described above, the method of the present invention may be implemented as a program and stored in a recording medium (CD-ROM, RAM, ROM, floppy disk, hard disk, magneto-optical disk, etc.) in a computer-readable form. Since this process can be easily implemented by those skilled in the art will not be described in more detail.

The present invention described above is capable of various substitutions, modifications, and changes without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention for those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. It is not limited by the drawings.

As described above, the present invention collects and utilizes EPG metadata and segment metadata for various contents through user edit metadata-based virtual program channel service providing service to organize some segments of a desired program at a user's desired time. It can work.

In addition, the present invention transmits the schedule metadata of the virtual programs to the service providing server to provide a virtual program channel service for an individual user, so that the user can watch only some segments of the desired program anytime and anywhere.

In addition, the present invention has an effect that can help the activation of digital broadcasting by allowing viewers who can not afford time to watch a desired program utilizing a few spare time.

Claims (15)

A server for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata, Metadata and content collecting means for collecting EPG metadata and content from the outside; Metadata authoring means for analyzing the content collected from the metadata and content collecting means to generate EPG metadata and segment metadata; Metadata analyzing and generating means for transmitting the EPG metadata and the segment metadata generated by the metadata authoring means to the user terminal and interpreting the schedule metadata of the virtual programs transmitted from the user terminal; And Schedule metadata of the virtual programs interpreted by the metadata analyzing and generating means is reconstructed from the original program based on EPG metadata and segment metadata, and accordingly metadata analysis and reconstruction means for reconstructing the EPG metadata. The service providing server for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata. According to claim 1, Bidirectional metadata transceiving means for transmitting and receiving metadata between the metadata analyzing and generating means and the user terminal Service providing server for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata further comprising. According to claim 1, VOD service means for providing a virtual program reconstructed by the metadata analysis and reconstruction means and the corresponding EPG metadata to the user terminal Service providing server for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata further comprising. According to claim 1, Schedule metadata of the contents and EPG metadata collected by the metadata and content collecting means, EPG metadata and segment metadata generated by the metadata authoring means, and virtual programs interpreted by the metadata interpreting and generating means. Metadata and content storage means for storing data Service providing server for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata further comprising. According to claim 1, The metadata authoring means, A service providing server for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata, wherein the EPG metadata and segment metadata are generated as an extensible markup language (XML) document. A terminal for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata, Metadata analysis and generating means for analyzing EPG metadata and segment metadata transmitted from the outside and delivering schedule metadata of the virtual programs to the outside; And Metadata editing means for providing EPG metadata and segment metadata delivered from the metadata analyzing and generating means to a user, and generating schedule metadata as virtual programs are organized by the user. Terminal for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata comprising a. The method of claim 6, VOD receiving means for receiving virtual programs reconfigured based on schedule metadata of virtual programs from the outside and corresponding EPG metadata; And Content playback means for providing the user with the virtual programs received by the VOD receiving means and the corresponding EPG metadata Terminal for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata further comprising. The method of claim 6, Broadcast receiving means for demultiplexing and decoding the content transmitted from the outside and EPG metadata of the content to the metadata analysis and generating means Terminal for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata further comprising. The method of claim 6, Two-way metadata transmission and reception means for transmitting EPG metadata and segment metadata collected from the outside to the metadata interpretation and generation means, and transmitting schedule metadata of virtual programs transferred from the metadata editing means to the outside. Terminal for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata further comprising. The method of claim 6, User interface means for providing a user with an interface for organizing the EPG metadata and segment metadata provided from the metadata editing means into a virtual program which is a part of a desired program at a desired time. Terminal for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata further comprising. The method of claim 6, The metadata editing means, A terminal for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata, characterized in that the schedule metadata are generated by including a content reference identifier, a segment identifier, a segment start and end time, and segment section information of the original program. In the virtual program channel service providing method based on user edit metadata, A first step of generating EPG metadata and segment metadata by analyzing the collected content when content and EPG metadata for the content are collected from the outside; Transmitting the EPG metadata and the segment metadata to the outside, wherein the schedule metadata including the organization information of the virtual programs which are some segments of the desired program is transmitted from the outside at a desired time by the user; Reconstructing virtual programs from an original program using the schedule metadata and reconstructing EPG metadata accordingly; And A fourth step of transmitting the reconstructed virtual programs and the reconstructed EPG metadata to the outside through a virtual program channel Method of providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata. The method of claim 12, In the first step, And the EPG metadata and the segment metadata are generated as an Extensibility Markup Language (XML) document. The method of claim 12, In the second step, A method for providing a virtual program channel service based on user edit metadata, wherein the schedule metadata transmitted from the outside includes content reference identifiers, segment identifiers, segment start and end times, and segment section information of the original program. The method of claim 12, In the fourth step, And transmitting the reconstructed virtual programs and the reconstructed EPG metadata to a user terminal external to be consumed.

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