TWI507023B - Synchronous playback system and its method - Google Patents

Description

Synchronous playback system and method thereof

The present invention relates to a synchronous playback system and method thereof, and more particularly to a system and method for instantly synchronizing user viewing content on a network television.

At present, the existing Internet TV only emphasizes the single directionality different from the traditional TV viewing, and generally cannot simultaneously watch the content to friends when watching TV. Moreover, some users who are not familiar with the interactive TV viewing service cannot operate skillfully. Synchronize user viewing content. This patent covers the important function of Internet TV in socialization, and increases the interactivity. It also emphasizes that in addition to interacting with the server, it can interact with other users, that is, the trend of community. Therefore, unlike Internet TV, which emphasizes on-demand, and emphasizes the interaction with people, it makes Internet TV a higher level, and thus has the invention that can develop into a market competitive potential.

In view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the object of the present invention is to provide a synchronous playback system and a method thereof for solving the problem that the viewing content cannot be instantly synchronized to a friend when watching television.

According to the purpose of the present invention, a synchronous playback system is provided, including a first interactive playback device, a second interactive playback device, and a server. The first interactive playing device sends a synchronous invitation command, and the second interactive playing device receives the synchronous invitation command, and performs synchronous play according to the synchronous invitation command, and the server receives and parses the synchronous invitation command to forward the synchronous invitation command. To the second interactive playback device.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the sync invitation command includes a recipient code, a content code, and an auto-follow field. The server parses the receiver code to forward the synchronization invitation command to the second interactive playback device, and the second interactive playback device synchronizes the content corresponding to the first interactive playback device according to the content code.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the content code comprises a channel code, a program code, an on-demand movie code or a service code. The automatic following field includes a Boolean value. If the Boolean value is true, the first interactive playing device automatically follows the playing content of the second interactive playing device.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first interactive playback device includes a first transfer instruction module, a first receive command module, and a first monitor view module. The first transmission instruction module is configured to send a synchronization invitation command, and the first reception instruction module is configured to receive one of the switching synchronization commands sent by the second interactive playback device, and the first monitoring and viewing module is configured to monitor the first The content played by the interactive playback device controls the first transfer instruction module to transmit a switch synchronization command when the first interactive playback device changes the play content.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second interactive playback device includes a second transfer instruction module, a second receive command module, and a second monitor view module. The second transmission instruction module is configured to transmit a synchronization synchronization instruction, the second reception instruction module is configured to receive the synchronization invitation instruction, and perform synchronous play according to the synchronization invitation instruction, and the second monitoring instruction module is used to Monitoring the content played by the second interactive playing device, and controlling the second transmitting instruction module to transmit the switching synchronization instruction when the second interactive playing device changes the playing content.

According to the purpose of the present invention, a synchronous playback method is further provided, which comprises the steps of: sending a synchronization invitation instruction by a first interactive playback device; receiving and parsing a synchronization invitation instruction by a server to forward the synchronization invitation instruction; A second interactive playback device receives the synchronization invitation command forwarded by the server, and performs synchronous playback according to the synchronization invitation instruction.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the synchronization invitation instruction comprises a recipient code list, a content code and an automatic following field, the method further comprises the steps of: parsing the recipient code list by the server to forward the synchronization invitation instruction to a second interactive playing device; and the second interactive playing device synchronously plays the content corresponding to the first interactive playing device according to the content code.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the content code includes a channel code, a program code, an on-demand movie code or a service code, and the automatic follow field includes a Boolean value, and if the Boolean value is true, the first interactive playback device Automatically follow the playback content of the second interactive playback device.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the first interactive play device The method includes a first transmission instruction module, a first reception instruction module and a first monitoring instruction module, and the method further comprises the steps of: sending a synchronization invitation instruction by using the first transmission instruction module; The module receives one of the switching synchronization commands sent by the second interactive playing device, and monitors the content played by the first interactive playing device with the first monitoring and viewing module, and controls the first transmission when the first interactive playing device changes the playing content. The command module transmits a switching synchronization command.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second interactive playback device includes a second transfer instruction module, a second receive command module, and a second monitor view module. The method further includes the following steps: wherein the second interaction The playing device comprises: transmitting a switching synchronization instruction by using the second transmission instruction module; receiving the synchronization invitation instruction by the second receiving instruction module, and performing synchronous playback according to the synchronization invitation instruction; and monitoring the second interaction by the second monitoring and viewing module Playing the content played by the device, and controlling the second transfer instruction module to transmit the switch synchronization command when the second interactive playback device changes the play content.

As described above, the synchronized playback system and method thereof according to the present invention may have one or more of the following advantages:

(1) The present invention utilizes a central server to solve the traditional problem of synchronizing various users, and can set whether to automatically follow in the synchronization command, and cooperate with the monitoring module to achieve automatic synchronization following.

(2) The present invention also has a proxy synchronization function, and by means of an authorized agent, an agent can be assisted to make a synchronization invitation.

(3) The system and method for instantly synchronizing user viewing content of the present invention It is used on various Internet TV platforms.

1‧‧‧Server

2‧‧‧Moderator's set-top box

3, 4‧‧‧Recipient set-top box

21‧‧‧ function module

22‧‧‧Transfer command module

23‧‧‧ receiving command module

24‧‧‧Monitor viewing module

220, 230‧‧‧ Synchronous invitation instructions

221, 231‧‧‧Switch synchronization instructions

31‧‧‧ Synchronous Instructions

311‧‧‧Recipient code

312‧‧‧ content code

313‧‧‧Automatically follow the field

41~43‧‧‧Steps

Figure 1 is a block diagram of a synchronized playback system of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a block diagram of various functional modules of the synchronous playback system of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a synchronous instruction of the synchronous playback system and the method thereof.

Figure 4 is a flow chart of the synchronous playback method of the present invention.

The invention provides a synchronous playing system and method, which refers to (1) a user terminal: a digital machine upper box, a transfer instruction module, an accepting instruction module, a monitoring viewing status module, and (2) a server end: It consists of a transfer command and access data server, a user account and current status database, and a user-server and server-side command transfer process. The synchronized content host can start to send a synchronous invitation to the designated recipient under the current TV broadcast content, and the manner of selecting the recipient can be performed by accessing the friend list on the server or directly inputting the friend code. Then, the synchronization command is sent to the transfer instruction server through the transfer module, and after the transfer command server receives the synchronization command sent by the user, the specified receiver is parsed, and the command is forwarded to the designated receiver. The receiver receives the synchronization command through the receiving module, and parses and processes it. The processing method is to ask whether to accept the synchronization invitation, and if yes, switch to the content specified by the synchronization instruction. In addition, if the synchronization command contains the auto-following settings, it will be transferred to the monitoring module for additional processing. The monitoring module will save the host and other connections. The recipient, and when the recipient switches the viewing content, automatically issues a synchronization command to other recipients.

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is an architectural diagram of the synchronous playback system of the present invention. The present invention provides a synchronous playback system comprising a first interactive playback device (such as the host set-top box 2 of FIG. 1) and a second interactive playback device (such as the receiver set-top box 3, 4 of FIG. 1). And a server 1. The first interactive playing device sends a synchronous invitation command, and the second interactive playing device receives the synchronous invitation command, and performs synchronous play according to the synchronous invitation command, and the server receives and parses the synchronous invitation command to forward the synchronous invitation command. To the second interactive playback device. As can be seen from the figure, the server 1 provides a synchronization command issued by the box on the user terminal (the host's set-top box 2) to the set-top box of the user end of the designated receiver (receiver on the receiver) Box 3, 4). In addition, the user who issued the synchronization instruction is also referred to as the moderator of the synchronization activity.

Please refer to FIG. 2 together, which is a function module 21 included in the host box 2 of the synchronous playback system of the present invention. As can be seen from the figure, the function module 21 included in the host's set-top box 2 is transmitted. The command module 22, the receiving command module 23, and the monitoring and viewing module 24 are composed. The transfer command module 22 is responsible for transmitting the user's synchronization invitation command 220 to the server 1. After receiving the synchronization invitation command 220 issued by the host, the server 1 parses and forwards the command to the designated recipient. The receiving command module 23 in the set-top box (receiver set-top box 3, 4) of the user end of the receiver end is responsible for receiving and processing the synchronization invitation command 230 (transferred), and if this time If the automatic instruction is set in the synchronization command, the monitoring and viewing module 24 in the set-top box (receiver set-top box 3, 4) of the user end of the receiver side will also start monitoring the content of the recipient's viewing, when the recipient (Receiver set-top box 3, 4) When switching to other viewing content, it will automatically issue the switching synchronization command 221 to the host (host set-top box 2) and other recipients of this synchronization (receiver set-top box) 3 or 4), relative The receiving command module 23 of the host set-top box 2 or other receiver set-top box 3 or 4 receives and processes the switching synchronization command 231.

Please refer to FIG. 3 together, which is a schematic diagram of a synchronous instruction format of the synchronous playback system of the present invention. As can be seen from the figure, a synchronization instruction 31 (such as the synchronization invitation instruction 220 or 230 in FIG. 2, and the switching synchronization instruction 221 or 231) The system consists of three parts, which are the receiver code 311, the content code 312, and the automatic follow field 313. The receiver code 311 can be a list, which is composed of a receiver selected by the host. The host can directly input the receiver code, or the server 1 obtains its friend list for selection to form a recipient user. Code list. The content code 312 part is the content code on the network television platform, which may be a channel code, a program code, an on-demand movie code or a service code. The auto-follow field 313 is a Boolean value. If set to true, the host will automatically follow the content of all the recipients that receive the sync.

Please refer to FIG. 4 together, which is a main flowchart of the synchronous playing method of the present invention. It can be seen from the figure that the main method is composed of three steps. At the beginning, the host selects the synchronous command receiver 41, and the process can be directly input and used. The code or the server 1 obtains its buddy list for selection. Then, the host sends a synchronization invitation command 220 through the transmission command module 22, and the synchronization invitation command 220 is sent to the server 1, and the server 1 will parse the synchronization invitation command 220 (ie, the synchronization instruction in FIG. 3). The recipient code 311 in the first field in 31) is then distributed to the designated recipients one by one. When the receiving instruction module 23 of the receiver (such as the receiver set-top box 3 or 4) receives the synchronization invitation command 230 (that is, the result of the synchronization invitation command 220 being forwarded by the server 1), the content is parsed to find out the content. The code 312, and jumps out of the screen to ask the user whether to receive the synchronization. If the user accepts the synchronization, the screen is switched to the content represented by the content code 312 specified in the received synchronization invitation instruction 230. Then, if the automatic follow field 313 in the sync invitation command 230 is found to be set to True, the instructions will be handed over to the monitoring and viewing module 24 for processing. The monitoring and viewing module 24 records all the recipients in the synchronization command, and starts to monitor whether the user's viewing content changes. If the user's viewing content changes, the new content synchronization will be automatically sent through the transmission command module 22. The command (switching sync command 221) is sent to all recipients, while the other recipients or moderators correspondingly receive the switch sync command 231. In detail, the synchronous playing method of the present invention comprises the steps of: sending a synchronization invitation instruction by a first interactive playback device; receiving and parsing a synchronization invitation instruction by a server to forward the synchronization invitation instruction; and The interactive playback device receives the synchronization invitation command forwarded by the server, and performs synchronous playback according to the synchronization invitation instruction. However, the detailed description and embodiments of the synchronous playback method of the present invention have been described in the foregoing description of the synchronous playback system of the present invention, and will not be described again for the sake of brevity.

In summary, the present invention solves the problem that the viewing content cannot be instantly synchronized to a friend when watching TV, and the system and method can conveniently operate on the TV screen, so that the information of the current viewing content can be synchronized to the friend. In addition, after receiving the synchronization information, the friend can also conveniently switch to the specified content. Furthermore, the present invention also solves a problem that a user who is not familiar with such an interactive television viewing service can authorize another authorized friend to assist the user in performing the synchronization function, and the authorized user can act as an authorized user. Issue a synchronization command to solve the problem that some users of the interactive TV viewing platform can use this function when they are less familiar with the operation.

The above is intended to be illustrative only and not limiting. Any equivalent modifications or alterations to the spirit and scope of the invention are intended to be included in the scope of the appended claims.

1‧‧‧Server

2‧‧‧Moderator's set-top box

3, 4‧‧‧Recipient set-top box

Claims (6)

A synchronous playing system, comprising: a first interactive playing device, sending a synchronous invitation command; a second interactive playing device receiving the synchronous invitation command, and performing synchronous play according to the synchronous invitation command; a server, Receiving and parsing the synchronization invitation instruction to forward the synchronization invitation instruction to the second interactive playback device; wherein the synchronization invitation instruction includes a receiver code, a content code, and an automatic following field, and the server parses The recipient code forwards the synchronization invitation command to the second interactive playback device, and the second interactive playback device synchronizes the content corresponding to the first interactive playback device according to the content code; and wherein the content code includes a channel code, a program code, an on-demand movie code or a service code, and the automatic follow-up field includes a Boolean value, and if the Boolean value is true, the first interactive playback device automatically follows the second interactive playback device Play content. The synchronous playback system of claim 1, wherein the first interactive playback device comprises: a first transfer instruction module for transmitting the synchronization invitation command; and a first receiving command module for Receiving a switching synchronization command sent by the second interactive playing device; and a first monitoring and viewing module, configured to monitor the content played by the first interactive playing device, and change the playing of the first interactive playing device When the content is controlled, the first transfer instruction module transmits the switch synchronization instruction. The synchronous playback system of claim 1, wherein the second interactive playback device comprises: a second transfer command module for transmitting a switch synchronization command; and a second receive command module for Receiving the synchronization invitation command, and performing synchronous play according to the synchronization invitation instruction; and a second monitoring and viewing module for monitoring content played by the second interactive playback device, and changing the second interactive playback device The second transfer instruction module is controlled to transmit the switch synchronization instruction when the content is played. A synchronous playing method, comprising the steps of: sending a synchronization invitation instruction by a first interactive playback device; receiving and parsing the synchronization invitation instruction by a server to forward the synchronization invitation instruction; receiving the synchronization by a second interactive playback device The synchronization invitation instruction forwarded by the server, and synchronously playing according to the synchronization invitation instruction; wherein the synchronization invitation instruction includes a receiver code, a content code, and an automatic following field, and the server parses the receiver code Transmitting the synchronization invitation command to the second interactive playback device, and playing the corresponding content synchronously with the first interactive playback device according to the content code by the second interactive playback device; and wherein the content code includes a channel code, a program The code, the on-demand movie code or the service code, and the automatic follow-up field includes a Boolean value. If the Boolean value is true, the first interactive playback device automatically follows the playback content of the second interactive playback device. The method for synchronous playback according to item 4 of the patent application, wherein the An interactive playback device includes a first transfer command module, a first receive command module, and a first monitor view module, the method further comprising: transmitting the sync invitation command by the first transfer command module; The first receiving instruction module receives one of the switching synchronization commands sent by the second interactive playing device, and monitors the content played by the first interactive playing device by using the first monitoring and viewing module, and the first interactive playing device The first transfer instruction module is controlled to transmit the switch synchronization instruction when the play content is changed. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the second interactive playback device comprises a second transfer command module, a second receive command module, and a second monitor view module, the method further comprises The second interactive playing device includes: transmitting, by the second transmitting instruction module, a switching synchronization instruction; receiving, by the second receiving instruction module, the synchronization invitation instruction, and performing synchronous playback according to the synchronization invitation instruction; The second monitoring and viewing module monitors the content played by the second interactive playing device, and controls the second transmitting command module to transmit the switching synchronization command when the second interactive playing device changes the playing content.