KR20120088072A

KR20120088072A - Multimedia streaming service method

Info

Publication number: KR20120088072A
Application number: KR1020110009143A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 김규헌; 서덕영; 박광훈; 김정한; 이장원
Original assignee: 경희대학교 산학협력단
Priority date: 2011-01-29
Filing date: 2011-01-29
Publication date: 2012-08-08

Abstract

PURPOSE: A multimedia streaming service method is provided to use the same content from the beginning of the content again or consecutively use the content based on selection of a user. CONSTITUTION: User content consumption information of a first terminal is stored wherein the first terminal stops using content. A query for inquiring whether to continue to watch the content is transmitted to a second terminal. The user content consumption information is transmitted to the second terminal to continue to watch the content. The user content consumption information is transmitted to the second terminal only when the second terminal receives a response for whether to continue to watch the content.

Description

Multimedia streaming service method {Multimedia streaming service method}

The present invention relates to a multimedia service, and more particularly, to a method for providing a multimedia streaming service.

The multimedia streaming service is a service that provides a viewer or listeners with multimedia content such as audio or video. The conventional multimedia streaming service is a one-way broadcasting service in which multimedia contents are provided to each home through airwaves, satellites, and wires. That is, in the conventional one-way broadcast service, there is no communication between the user and the service provider, the service provider simultaneously provides the same multimedia content to a plurality of users, and the user has no choice but to use only the content transmitted by the service provider.

Recently, a two-way broadcast service has been widely used away from the conventional one-way broadcast service. A representative example of the interactive broadcasting service is IPTV, which provides multimedia contents through the Internet. In addition, an IP based Video On Demand (VOD) service, which provides multimedia content through a wired or wireless network connected to the Internet, has recently been widely used. The VOD service is called on demand video service or on demand video service. In addition to the VOD service, an IP-based interactive multimedia streaming service provides various services such as a real-time broadcasting service and a viewer participation service where a viewer can directly participate in broadcasting.

The development of IP-based broadcasting services has been enabled by the development of wired and wireless communication technologies with the digitization of broadcasting equipment and systems. In addition, with the development of information and telecommunication (IT) technology, a variety of terminals that can use IP-based multimedia streaming services are also diversified. Users use IP-based two-way multimedia streaming services using electronic devices such as televisions, computers, and various portable terminals such as smart phones, tablet PCs, and other wireless multimedia players (PMPs) with wireless communication functions. It is available. With the rapid development of information and communication technology, the performance of portable terminals that can use broadcast services is also rapidly improving.

Due to the diversification of user terminals with the change of broadcasting environment such as the digitization of broadcasting equipment and system and the development of wired / wireless communication technology, users can use the multimedia streaming service without time constraints or location constraints. In other words, users can consume the same content through multimedia streaming services in the limited space such as home, office, coffee shop, etc. while moving or changing the terminal.

In the case of consuming the same content with different terminals or consuming the same content at time intervals even when using the same terminal, the user consumes the content again from the beginning or continuously after the portion previously consumed. I would like to. Conventionally, in order to consume content subsequent to a portion previously consumed in a terminal used later, the user has to remember the progress of the content in the terminal used previously, and then find it directly in a new terminal. For example, if a user wants to consume content that was previously consumed and has been interrupted, the user had to directly access the point of time when the content was previously interrupted (the progress of the content) or consume it again from the beginning.

On the other hand, as the types of terminals vary, the performance of a terminal that receives and reproduces the transmitted content also varies according to the user and the type of the terminal using the broadcast service even if the same user is used. However, in the conventional IP-based broadcast service, only the contents of the transport channel are provided in consideration of the service, and the performance of the terminal for receiving and playing the contents is not considered at all. Therefore, in some cases, even if the terminal does not play the received content normally or even if it plays properly, there is a problem that an unnecessary excessive transmission of data (information or data not supported by a specific terminal) occurs, thereby increasing the load on the transmission network. It can happen.

One problem to be solved by the present invention is that it is possible to consume the same content again from the beginning or to consume the content continuously according to the user's choice, such as when the user consumes the same content in different terminals or at intervals of time It is to provide a multimedia streaming service method.

Another problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a multimedia streaming service method that can consider the performance of the terminal consuming content.

The multimedia streaming service method according to an embodiment of the present invention for solving the above problems is the step of storing the user content consumption information of the first terminal interrupted while consuming content and the user to consume the content subsequently Transmitting the content consumption information to the second terminal.

According to an aspect of the embodiment, before transmitting the user content consumption information to the second terminal, further comprising the step of transmitting to the second terminal a query for querying whether to continue the content, The user content consumption information may be transmitted to the second terminal only when the second terminal receives a response that the second terminal will resume the content with respect to the query.

According to another aspect of the embodiment, the user content consumption information may include user identification information, content identification information, and content consumption stop time information. In this case, in the multimedia streaming service method, the content is divided into a plurality of segments and transmitted to the terminal for each segment by a request and a response, and the content consumption stop time information is generated when the consumption of the content is stopped. The first terminal may include information indicating a segment that has been consumed and information indicating a time point at which the consumption is stopped at the first terminal.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multimedia streaming service method, comprising: transmitting a query to a connected first terminal for querying whether to resume content, and continuing from the first terminal. In case of receiving a response indicating that the user will transmit the stored user content consumption information to the first terminal, and receiving a response indicating that the user will not continue watching from the first terminal. Transmitting a list of the content present.

The multimedia streaming service method according to another embodiment of the present invention for solving the above problems is to receive a service request for the content selected by the user from the terminal and to access and play the content requested for the service request And transmitting necessary content information to the terminal, wherein the content information may include terminal performance information indicating the performance of the terminal required for playing the content.

According to an aspect of the embodiment, in the transmitting of the content information, a plurality of pieces of content information including different terminal capability information may be transmitted.

According to another aspect of the embodiment, the terminal performance information may include at least one of CPU information, memory information, graphics memory information, and monitor format information.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in a multimedia streaming service, particularly an IP-based adaptive streaming service such as DASH, a user may change a terminal and continuously consume content previously consumed. In addition, by transmitting the performance information of the terminal required when providing access information on the content, it is possible to provide a service considering the performance of the terminal as well as the state of the transmission channel.

1 is a diagram illustrating a problem of a conventional multimedia streaming service method.
2 is a diagram illustrating a multimedia streaming service method according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of user content consumption information expressed in xml.
4A and 4B are diagrams showing an example of signaling according to a multimedia streaming service method according to the present invention.
5 is a diagram showing an example of actually created MPDL.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The terms used are terms selected in consideration of the functions in the embodiments, and the meaning of the terms may vary depending on the user, the intention or custom of the operator, and the like. Therefore, the meaning of the terms used in the following embodiments is defined according to the definition when specifically defined in this specification, and unless otherwise defined, it should be interpreted in a sense generally recognized by those skilled in the art.

In the embodiments of the present invention described below, a user who has consumed a specific content in a broadcast service based on an IP (Internet Protocol, IP) can continuously consume the corresponding content even after changing the terminal, or can perform the consumption of the content. It describes a multimedia streaming service method that can consider. However, the embodiment of the present invention does not need to be limited to such an IP-based broadcast service, and may be applied to multimedia streaming services of all fields that allow the same content to be consumed by various types of terminals or terminals having various capabilities. .

1 illustrates a process of consuming content consumed by a first terminal in a second terminal according to a conventional multimedia streaming service method in a hyper text transport protocol (HTTP) broadcasting streaming service, and in this case, It is a figure for demonstrating a problem.

In FIG. 1, 'first terminal' may mean a terminal that consumes content before the user changes the terminal, and 'second terminal' may mean a terminal that consumes content after the user changes the terminal. . In addition, if the user has the same terminal and consumes specific content continuously at a certain time interval from the time of interruption, the 'first terminal' and 'second terminal' may be the same terminal. In addition, in FIG. 1, the letter 'T' represents time, and 'T + T1', 'T + T2', 'T + T3', and 'T + T4' also represent time after time 'T'. , The progress of time is T1 <T2 <T3 <T4.

Referring to FIG. 1, the first terminal 110 receives and displays multimedia content from the HTTP server 100 at a time T through a request / response process with the HTTP server 100 (S130). Thereafter, the first terminal 110 continuously displays the corresponding content while displaying the content and consumes the content (S140). Subsequently, the first terminal 110 terminates the consumption of the corresponding content at time T + T1 (S145). There is no particular limitation on the cause of the first terminal 110 terminating the content consumption on the way.

The user then wants to consume the same content again using the second terminal 120 at time T + T2. Thus, the second terminal 120 again receives the multimedia content from the HTTP server 100 at the time T + T3 again through the request / response process with the HTTP server 100 and displays it. In this case, the image displayed on the second terminal 120 is the first image of the corresponding content and is the same image as the image displayed on the first terminal 110 at the time T + T1. Therefore, the user must consume the same content again from the beginning using the second terminal 120. If the user wants to consume the corresponding content from the point where the user stops while consuming the first terminal 110, the user must go directly to the desired scene by any method. As a result, at time T + T4, the user can find a point where the user stopped spending and then consume the content using the second terminal 120.

As described above, in the conventional multimedia streaming method, even if the first terminal 110 stops while consuming content and wants to consume the same content in the second terminal 120 which is another terminal, no information is received from the HTTP server 120. Because it is not provided, you never know what kind of content you were consuming or when it was stopped. The user can only remember the type of content or the point of interruption depending on his memory. Therefore, in order to create the same environment in the second terminal 120 that can subsequently consume the content consumed by the first terminal 110, the user randomly selects a scene from the time point at which the first terminal 110 ends by selecting a scene. There is a problem that requires random access.

Accordingly, in the present invention, when the user terminates the consumption while the content is being consumed by the terminal, the user can generate the information for knowing the content consumption, and transmit and store the information to the service server. If the user wants to consume the same content again, the content consumption information can be shared with each other regardless of the type of the terminal, so that the same content can be continuously transmitted from different terminals or even after the predetermined time has elapsed. It provides a way to maintain an environment that can be consumed.

2 is a view for explaining a multimedia streaming service method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a user content consumption profile generated in the first terminal 110 and transmitted to the user data manager server 130 and applied to the second terminal 120 to the second terminal 120. The process of continually consuming in the second terminal 120 from the end of the content of FIG.

In FIG. 2, as in FIG. 1, 'first terminal' refers to a terminal that consumes content before the user changes the terminal, and 'second terminal' refers to a terminal that consumes content after the user changes the terminal. Can mean. In addition, if the user has the same terminal and consumes specific content continuously at a certain time interval from the time of interruption, the 'first terminal' and 'second terminal' may be the same terminal. In addition, in FIG. 2, the letter 'T' indicates time, and also 'T + T1', 'T + T2', 'T + T3', and 'T + T4' also indicate time after time 'T'. , The progress of time is T1 <T2 <T3 <T4.

Referring to FIG. 2, the first terminal 110 receives a multimedia content from the HTTP server 100 at a time T through a request / response process with the HTTP server 100 and displays it (S210). Subsequently, the first terminal 110 continuously receives and displays the corresponding content, displays the content, consumes the content, and terminates the consumption of the corresponding content at time T + T1 (S220). There is no particular limitation on the cause of the first terminal 110 terminating the content consumption on the way.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the first terminal 110 consuming content and ending on the way generates user content consumption information on the corresponding content. Alternatively, according to an embodiment, the user may request generation and storage of user content consumption information at any time, and in this case, the first terminal 110 may generate user content consumption information at the corresponding time. The generated user content consumption information may be stored in a service server, for example, the user data manager server 130. To this end, the user content consumption information may be first transmitted to the HTTP server 100, and then transferred to the user data manager server 130 through the HTTP server 100 and stored. The user content consumption information generated by the first terminal 110 may be stored in a user content consumption profile in the HTTP adaptive streaming service and transmitted to the HTTP server 100, for example.

The user content consumption information may include at least user identification information for identifying a user, content identification information for identifying content, and content consumption stop timing information for indicating when content consumption is stopped. More specifically, the user content consumption information may include user identification information, content streaming service URL (URL), user media request time, information on when content consumption is stopped, and the like.

The user then wants to consume the same content again using the second terminal 120 at time T + T2. Thus, the second terminal 120 again transmits a request to continuously consume the corresponding content to the HTTP server 100. The HTTP server 100 receiving the continuous consumption request of the content from the second terminal 120 receives the user content consumption information from the user data manager server 130 and transmits it to the second terminal 120. In this case, the user content consumption information may be stored in the user consumption profile and transmitted from the HTTP server 100 to the second terminal 120. After receiving the user content consumption information, the second terminal 120 may request media content from the time point at which the first terminal 110 terminates, and continuously consume the corresponding content.

In operation S320 of FIG. 2, the second terminal 120 continuously displays the corresponding content from the time when the first terminal 110 is stopped. In addition, in FIG. 2, the HTTP server 100 and the user data management server 130 are illustrated as independent, and the communication with the terminals 110 and 120 is also performed separately, but this is merely exemplary. For example, the user data manager server 130 may be a storage server installed in the HTTP server 100. In addition, even if the user data manager server 130 is a separate server from the HTTP server 100, communication with the terminals 110 and 120 may be performed only through the HTTP server 110.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of user content consumption information expressed in xml. As described above, the user content consumption information may be generated when a content consumption information storage request event occurs, such as when the terminal terminates consumption of content in the terminal or when a user request occurs.

In FIG. 3, UserID represents information for identifying a user, that is, a user ID, and PinNumber represents an access password or a user password. Title is the title of the content, which can identify the content, TargetMedia is the first service request URL (URL), UserRequestTime is the request time value for the fragment included in the sample at the end of the media, and UserPlayStopTime is the user. Indicates the time at which the consumption of the content is terminated or stopped.

As described above, the user content consumption information should include user identification information, content identification information for identifying content, and content consumption stop time information for indicating when content consumption has been stopped. In FIG. 3, UserID and PinNumber are disclosed as examples of user identification information. These information are examples of information for identifying or distinguishing a subject who accesses a user's content. Title and TargetMedia are disclosed as examples of content identification information, which are also examples of information for identifying the content or register information in which the content is stored. In addition, UserRequestTime and UserPlayStopTime are disclosed as examples of content consumption stop timing information, which is also an example of information indicating when the content is stopped while consuming content.

In particular, TargetMedia may include all the information necessary for playing the content. For example, in the case of the Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) service being standardized by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), an international standardization organization, TargetMedia includes and initializes a Media Presentation Description (MPD) file. It may contain a segmentation file. Here, the MPD file is an additional data providing file for the DASH service, and the initialization segment file is a media segment initialization information providing file.

The content consumption stop time information is defined by using UserRequestTime and UserPlayStopTime in a case where the DASH service divides one content into a plurality of media segments and stores the content in segments. More specifically, UserRequestTime is information indicating a segment stopped while consuming (that is, information indicating a start time of the segment to identify the segment), and UserPlayStopTime is information indicating a point in time at which the segment was stopped after consuming the segment. Can be. Alternatively, the content consumption stop time information may be expressed using other data (eg, the total time spent), in which case, when the service server transmits only the content after the stop time or when the user randomly accesses the content. You can also use this information.

Meanwhile, in the above-described HTTP adaptive streaming service, a user directly selects and requests a media sequence appropriate for a transport channel, thereby allowing seamless video service without buffering due to transmission delay even in a flexible IP environment. However, the current HTTP adaptive streaming service only reflects the user's transmission environment and does not provide a service considering the performance of the terminal that the user consumes the content. As described above, in the HTTP adaptive streaming service, the user directly requests to select the appropriate media for his transport channel. However, in this case, the terminal has only the resolution information provided by the HTTP adaptive streaming service and the user has no choice but to select a media sequence suitable for the performance of the terminal.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the metadata defining the performance information of the terminal required to play the content is defined, and the file describing the information on the content, for example, in the case of an HTTP adaptive streaming service, may include additional data. It is included in the index file to be described and provided to the user so that the user can select and consume the content suitable for the performance of the terminal to consume the content. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the DASH service. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments of the present invention can be applied to other types of multimedia streaming services.

The DASH service provides a service through an HTTP communication method consisting of a user request and a server response thereto. This pattern of communication breaks down on changing transport channels by providing a way for the user to directly select the appropriate media sequence for their transport channel over IP (IP) transport channels that do not guarantee quality of service (QoS). It is possible to provide a video service without. Currently, the DASH service provides a streaming service through a static page that requests data through an absolute address in the form of a page for providing a service.

In the DASH service, three service files, that is, a media presentation description (MPD), an initialization segment, and a media segment are defined. Table 1 describes the form and characteristics of these three DASH service files.

In the DASH service, the first file requested by the user at the start of the service is MPD. The MPD file provides access information and other additional information for the initial license segment, including media segments of various qualities stored on the server and the initialization information needed to encode them, thereby providing the user with the appropriate media segments and initials for his transport channel. Provide the required information to select and request a license segment.

Table 2 describes the elements and attributes required for describing additional information of the media sequence in the MPD. MPD uses these elements and attributes to describe the access information and other additional information of various quality media segments and initialization segments stored on the server.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the terminal capability information required for playing the media segment is described in the MPD. Table 3 discloses an example of describing performance information of the terminal in the MPD. Referring to Table 3, add an element called 'RequireCondition' in the existing MPD. This 'RequireCondition' element contains a 'CPU' attribute representing the CPU performance required by the terminal, a 'Memory' attribute representing the memory capability required by the terminal, and a 'GMemory' attribute representing the memory capability of the graphics device required by the terminal. , And 'Type' attributes indicating the type of content supported by the terminal (eg, 2D content or 3D content, etc.). Herein, the names of the elements and the attributes are arbitrary and may be changed to other names indicating the same information. The 'RequireCondition' element does not necessarily need to include all four attributes, and only some attributes may be included according to the type of content or service policy.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention described with reference to FIG. 2, information necessary for performing the content retrieval may be described in a user profile. The user profile may use the elements and attributes defined in Table 4 below to describe information necessary to enable the user to continuously consume the same content at predetermined time intervals, such as between heterogeneous terminals. The user profile may include performance information (UserDeviceProfile) of the terminal in addition to user identification information, content identification information, and content consumption stop information.

Next, a multimedia streaming service method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B. 4A and 4B illustrate signaling according to a multimedia streaming service method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4B is a view following FIG. 4A, but is shown separately in this specification for convenience of illustration. 4A and 4B illustrate a procedure for continuously consuming content in different terminals and a procedure for providing a service in consideration of the performance of the terminal, which is for convenience of description only. That is, a multimedia streaming service may be provided so that contents can be viewed without considering the performance of the terminal using only a part of the signaling shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. In order to consume content, a multimedia streaming service may be provided. Of course, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that signaling may be configured to provide a multimedia streaming service so as to provide a service of both functions described above.

In the following embodiment, a multimedia streaming service (for example, HTTP adaptive streaming) that divides and stores a single content into a plurality of segments in a service server and provides the same to a user is described. However, the present embodiment is not limited thereto, and the service server transmits the content at an arbitrary location of the content (that is, it is not necessarily transmitted from the beginning of the content but may be transmitted from the moment when a subsequent request is requested). This can also apply to service methods that can be done.

Referring to FIG. 4A, first, a first terminal Client # 1 establishes a session with a service server ([1] to [3]). Here, establishing a session may include an environment in which a multimedia streaming service may be used between the first terminal and the service server (a call connection may be performed to communicate with each other and a user authentication procedure and a billing procedure may be necessary if necessary). It means to build. For example, the first terminal first requests a call connection to the service server [1]. In response to the call connection request, the service server requests user identification information for connection, such as an ID and password, to the first terminal [2]. In contrast, the first terminal transmits user profile data including a user ID and a password to the server [3]. According to an embodiment, the user profile data may also include information indicating device performance of the device (first terminal). The service server may approve the connection through the data included in the received user profile, and describe the performance of the currently connected first terminal in the user profile of the service server.

The service server transmits a query to the first terminal inquiring the user of whether to resume the content [4]. The user selects either Yes or No for the query according to his / her choice, and the first terminal transmits a signal including the selected information to the service server [5]. In FIG. 4A, the first terminal transmits a 'No' signal to the service server, which is a case where a user selects and consumes new content. Steps [4] and [5] are not essential steps, and if a predetermined condition is satisfied (for example, if there is a record of receiving a user profile of step [13] described later from the user or if the user has a predetermined time) May be performed only in case of reconnection).

To the user who wants to consume the new content, the service server transmits a list of contents provided by the multimedia streaming service, that is, a list of contents prepared in the service server to the first terminal [6]. For example, the service server may transmit an MPD list (MPD List, MPDL) to the first terminal. Table 5 shows an example of elements and attributes for describing the MPDL, and FIG. 5 shows an example of the actual creation of the MPDL. Referring to FIG. 5, it is understood that the content prepared in the service server has four titles (Spring ',' Summer ',' Fall ', and' Winter '(it is obvious that this is merely exemplary). In addition, the URL (URL) indicating the location where each content is stored (access path of the MPD file) is also described.

4A, the user selects content to be used from the received MPD list, and the first terminal transmits a signal for requesting the MPD of the selected content to the service server [7]. As will be described later, the user has selected the content whose title is 'Avatar' in this step.

In response to the request of step [7], the service server transmits the MPD file of the corresponding content to the first terminal [8]. As described above, the MPD file includes access information and other additional information of the initial license segment including media segments of various qualities stored in the server and initialization information necessary for encoding the segment. The MPD file is an example of various pieces of information needed to consume the content. In some embodiments, the transmitted MPD file is one file considering the performance of the first terminal (for example, when the terminal performance information is transmitted to the service server in step [3]) or the terminal capability requested for the MPD file. Information (see Table 3) may be included. In the latter case, the service server may transmit a plurality of MPD files with different capabilities of the required terminal to the first terminal.

The first terminal receiving the MPD file parses the received file, requests, downloads and consumes the media sequence according to the information described in the MPD file ([9] to [12]). At this time, the first terminal may request an appropriate media sequence that satisfies the device performance requirements in consideration of the state of the transport channel and the performance of the device. For example, the first terminal may request the media sequence sequentially from the media sequence 'Avarta_10Mbps_1.3gs'. After the predetermined content consumption period has elapsed, the first terminal requests the media sequence 'Avarta_10 Mbps_10.3gs', and terminates the consumption of the media sequence while receiving and consuming the media sequence [12].

When the user finishes consuming the content, the service server describes in the user profile the access information for the last transmitted media sequence [13]. The user profile may also describe a time at which the user stops consuming the media sequence, that is, an end time of consumption of the media sequence. Information described in the user profile, such as a consumption end time, may be described by the service server and / or may be described by receiving the corresponding information from the first terminal. This user profile may be stored in its own memory in the service server or in another server such as a user data management server.

An example of such a user profile is shown in FIG. 4A with signaling. Referring to FIG. 4A, user identification information (UserID and PinNumber), content identification information (Title and Indexfile), and information indicating when to stop consumption of content (UserRequestTimeOrUrl and UserPlayStopTime) are described in the user profile. In addition, the user profile may describe performance information (UserDiviceProfile, ie, DevProfile, CPU, Memory, Gmemory, MonitorType) of the device consuming the content, that is, the first terminal.

Subsequently, the user wants to consume content that has been suspended while using the second terminal (Client # 2), which is another terminal (or may be the same terminal), and the content is suspended. To this end, first, the second terminal establishes a session with a service server ([14] to [16]). More specifically, the second terminal first requests a call connection to the service server [14]. In response to the call connection request, the service server requests user identification information, such as an ID and password (ID / Password), for the connection to the second terminal [15]. In contrast, the second terminal transmits user profile data including the user ID and the password to the server [16]. According to an embodiment, the user profile data may also include information indicating device performance of the device (second terminal). The service server compares the received user profile with the stored user profile. When the existing terminal (the first terminal) and another terminal (the second terminal) are connected, the service server determines the user profile of the new terminal (the second terminal). Describe performance.

The service server transmits a query to the second terminal inquiring the user of whether to resume the content [17]. The user selects either Yes or No for the query according to his or her choice, and the second terminal transmits a signal including the selected information to the service server [18]. In FIG. 4A, the second terminal transmits a 'Yes' signal to the service server, which is a case where a user wants to continuously consume existing content.

If the user wants to continue the existing content, the service server transmits the stored user profile file to the second terminal [19]. Here, the user profile is a file generated and stored in the above-described step [13]. Therefore, the user profile includes user identification information (UserID and PinNumber), content identification information (Title and Indexfile), information indicating when to stop the consumption of the content (UserRequestTimeOrUrl and UserPlayStopTime) and the like. Accordingly, the second terminal can grasp the information necessary for performing the acquiring, the MPD access address, the request address of the media sequence at the time spent by the previous terminal, the time information at the end time, and the like.

Subsequently, the user transmits a signal for requesting the MPD of the content (the content whose title is 'Avarta'), to the service server using the identified MPD access address [20]. In response to the request of step [20], the service server transmits the MPD file of the corresponding content to the second terminal [21]. As described above, the MPD file includes access information and other additional information of the initial license segment including media segments of various qualities stored in the server and initialization information necessary for encoding the segment. The MPD file is an example of various pieces of information needed to consume the content. According to the embodiment, the MPD file to be transmitted is one file considering the performance of the second terminal (eg, when the terminal performance information is transmitted to the service server in step [16]) or the terminal capability requested for the MPD file. Information (see Table 3) may be included. In the latter case, the service server may transmit a plurality of MPD files with different capabilities of the required terminal to the second terminal.

The second terminal receiving the MPD file parses the received file, requests, downloads and consumes the media sequence according to the information described in the MPD file ([22] to [25]). At this time, the second terminal may request an appropriate media sequence that satisfies the device performance requirements in consideration of the state of the transport channel and the performance of the device. For example, the second terminal may request the media sequence sequentially from the media sequence 'Avarta_200k_10.3gs' previously consumed and stopped, and after consuming the content for a predetermined time, the second terminal receives the media sequence 'Avarta_200k_20.3gs' The consumption of the media sequence is terminated during the consumption [25].

Referring to FIG. 4B, when the user finishes consuming content, the service server describes in the user profile the access information for the last transmitted media sequence [26]. The user profile may also describe a time at which the user stops consuming the media sequence, that is, an end time of consumption of the media sequence. Information described in the user profile, such as a consumption end time, may be described by the service server and / or may be described by receiving the corresponding information from the first terminal. This user profile may be stored in its own memory in the service server or in another server such as a user data management server.

An example of such a user profile is shown in FIG. 4B with signaling. Referring to FIG. 4B, the user profile describes user identification information (UserID and PinNumber), content identification information (Title and Indexfile), and information indicating when to stop consumption of content (UserRequestTimeOrUrl and UserPlayStopTime). In addition, the user profile may further describe performance information (UserDiviceProfile, ie, DevProfile, CPU, Memory, Gmemory, MonitorType) of the device consuming the content, that is, the second terminal.

Subsequently, the user wants to consume content that has been suspended while using another terminal (content whose title is 'Avarta'). Here, the other terminal may be a terminal (eg, a first terminal (Client # 1) or a second terminal (Client # 2)) or a third terminal that previously consumed the corresponding content. 1 terminal (Client # 1). To this end, the first terminal establishes a session with a service server ([27] to [29]). More specifically, the first terminal first requests a call connection to a service server [27]. In response to the call connection request, the service server requests user identification information, for example, ID and password (ID / Password), from the first terminal for connection [28]. In contrast, the first terminal transmits user profile data including a user ID and a password to the server [29]. According to an embodiment, the user profile data may also include information indicating device performance of the device (second terminal).

The service server transmits a query to the first terminal inquiring the user of whether to resume the content [30]. The user selects either Yes or No for the query according to his or her choice, and the first terminal transmits a signal including the selected information to the service server [31]. In FIG. 4B, the first terminal transmits a 'Yes' signal to the service server, which is a case where a user wants to continuously consume existing content.

If the user wants to resume the existing content, the service server transmits the stored user profile to the first terminal [32]. Here, the user profile is a file generated and stored in the above-described step [26]. Therefore, the user profile includes user identification information (UserID and PinNumber), content identification information (Title and Indexfile), information indicating when to stop the consumption of the content (UserRequestTimeOrUrl and UserPlayStopTime) and the like. Accordingly, the first terminal can grasp the information necessary for performing the acquiring, the MPD access address, the request address of the media sequence at the time spent by the previous terminal, the time information at the end time, and the like.

Subsequently, the user transmits a signal for requesting the MPD of the corresponding content (the content whose title is 'Avarta' previously used) to the service server using the identified MPD access address [33]. In response to the request of step [33], the service server transmits the MPD file of the corresponding content to the first terminal [34]. As described above, the MPD file includes access information and other additional information of the initial license segment including media segments of various qualities stored in the server and initialization information necessary for encoding the segment. The MPD file is an example of various pieces of information needed to consume the content. According to the embodiment, the MPD file to be transmitted is one file considering the performance of the first terminal (for example, when the terminal performance information is transmitted to the service server in step [3] or [29]) or the corresponding MPD file. May include the requested terminal capability information (see Table 3). In the latter case, the service server may transmit a plurality of MPD files with different capabilities of the required terminal to the first terminal.

The second terminal receiving the MPD file parses the received file, requests, downloads and consumes the media sequence according to the information described in the MPD file ([35] to [40]). At this time, the first terminal may request an appropriate media sequence that satisfies the device performance requirements in consideration of the state of the transport channel and the performance of the device. For example, the first terminal may sequentially request the media sequence from the media sequence 'Avarta_10Mbps_20.3gs' that was previously consumed and stopped. 4B illustrates a process in which the first terminal receives and consumes up to the media sequence 'Avarta_10Mbps_27.3gs' according to the state of the same transmission channel as before.

When the state of the transport channel is changed, for example, when the channel state is not good (for example, when the transport channel speed is reduced from 10 Mbps to 200 kbps), the first terminal has a lower quality (eg, 200 kbps quality) media sequence. Request (Avarta_200k_27.3gs) [41]. In response, the service server transmits the media sequence 'Avarta_200k_27.3gs' to the first terminal [42]. The process of requesting, receiving and consuming a media sequence of the same quality may continue for a predetermined period of time (this process is illustrated in steps [43] and [44] in FIG. 4B).

When the state of the transmission channel is changed, for example, when the channel state is improved (the transmission channel speed is increased from 200 kbps to 10 Mbps), the first terminal has a higher quality (eg, 10 Mbps) media sequence (Avarta_10 Mbps_29). .3gs) [45]. In response, the service server transmits the media sequence 'Avarta_10Mbps_29.3gs' to the first terminal [46]. The process of requesting, receiving and consuming a media sequence of the same quality may continue for a predetermined period of time (this process is indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 4B).

As described in detail above, according to an embodiment of the present invention, in a multimedia streaming service, particularly an IP-based adaptive streaming service such as DASH, a user may change a terminal and continuously consume content previously consumed. In addition, by transmitting the performance information of the terminal required when providing access information on the content, it is possible to provide a service considering the performance of the terminal as well as the state of the transmission channel.

The above description is only an embodiment of the present invention, and the technical idea of the present invention should not be construed as being limited by this embodiment. The technical idea of the present invention should be specified only by the invention described in the claims. Therefore, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the above-described embodiments may be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

100: HTTP server
110, 120: terminal

Claims

In the multimedia streaming service method,
Storing user content consumption information of the first terminal which is interrupted while consuming content; And
And transmitting the user content consumption information to a second terminal so that the content can be subsequently consumed.

The method of claim 1,
Before transmitting the user content consumption information to the second terminal, transmitting a query to the second terminal inquiring whether to resume the content,
And transmitting the user content consumption information to the second terminal only when the second terminal receives a response that the second terminal will resume the content in response to the query.

The method of claim 1,
The user content consumption information includes a user identification information, content identification information, and content consumption stop time information.

The method of claim 3,
In the multimedia streaming service method, the content is divided into a plurality of segments and transmitted to the terminal for each segment by a request and a response.
The content consumption stop timing information includes a multimedia streaming service including information indicating a segment that was consumed by the first terminal when the consumption of the content was stopped and information indicating when the consumption was stopped by the first terminal. Way.

In the multimedia streaming service method,
Transmitting a query to the connected first terminal inquiring whether to resume the contents; And
In response to receiving a response from the first terminal, the response indicates that the user content consumption information stored is transmitted to the first terminal, and indicates that the user will not resume from the first terminal. And transmitting a list of the contents which are being serviced when receiving.

In the multimedia streaming service method,
Receiving a service request for the content selected by the user from the terminal; And
Transmitting content information necessary for accessing and playing content requested for the service request to the terminal;
And the content information includes terminal capability information indicating the capability of the terminal required for playing the content.

The method of claim 6,
In the transmitting of the content information, the multimedia streaming service method, characterized in that for transmitting a plurality of content information, each of which contains different terminal capability information.

The method of claim 6,
The terminal performance information includes at least one of CPU information, memory information, graphics memory information, and monitor format information.