WO2015183060A1

WO2015183060A1 - Method, apparatus, and computer-readable recording medium for providing audio content using audio object

Info

Publication number: WO2015183060A1
Application number: PCT/KR2015/005488
Authority: WO
Inventors: 전상배; 김선민
Original assignee: 삼성전자 주식회사
Priority date: 2014-05-30
Filing date: 2015-06-01
Publication date: 2015-12-03

Abstract

A method for providing an audio content according to an embodiment of the present invention for solving the technical problem comprises the steps of: encoding one or more audio objects for each of one or more audio contents; encoding object region information including region information on one or more audio objects; and transmitting one or more bitstreams generated as a result of encoding of the one or more audio objects and the object region information.

Description

Method, apparatus and computer readable recording medium for providing audio content using audio object

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for providing audio content using an audio object. More particularly, the present invention provides a method for providing audio content using audio objects, and more specifically, configures audio content as an audio object and provides the audio content with local information to be provided. The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for providing content specialized in a region where a user who is provided with the user is located.

Audio content is often provided to the user in the form of radio broadcasting or music streaming.

In the radio broadcasting using airwaves, the contents of audio contents are changed and distinguished only by the carrier frequency. In the case of internet broadcasting or streaming services, the audio contents are provided based on the approximate location information of the user which can be identified by the Internet address band.

However, in the case of localized content such as advertising content, if the advertising area is further divided and set, more efficient advertising effect can be obtained and various business models can be presented to content providers.

Disclosure of Invention The present invention solves the problems of the prior art described above, and aims to provide more effectively the audio content by setting the advertising area more finely and providing the audio content specialized for the segmented area.

Representative configuration of the present invention for achieving the above object is as follows.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing audio content, the method comprising: encoding at least one audio object for each of at least one audio content; Encoding object region information including region information for at least one audio object; And transmitting at least one bitstream generated as a result of encoding at least one audio object and object region information.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the audio content includes additional information related to the advertisement information.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the object region information includes information about a region where each of the at least one audio content is provided.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the information on the region where each of the at least one audio content is provided includes latitude information and longitude information.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing audio content, the object including at least one audio object for each of the at least one audio content and local information about the at least one audio object. Receiving at least one bitstream, the result of encoding local information; Decoding at least one audio object and object region information from the received bitstream; And selectively playing audio content for at least one decoded audio object based on the decoded object region information.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the selectively reproducing may include obtaining reception location information on a location where at least one bitstream has been received; And selecting an audio object to be reproduced from at least one decoded audio object based on a result of comparing the received location information with the decoded object region information.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the reception location information is obtained based on at least one of Global Positioning System (GPS) positioning, cell positioning and Wi-Fi positioning, and Internet Protocol (IP) positioning. do.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the reception location information is obtained based on a user input.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the step of selecting an audio object to be reproduced selects the audio object based on the distance between the obtained reception position information and the reference position included in the object region information.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the reception location information includes information on a plurality of reception locations obtained at a plurality of time points.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for providing audio content includes encoding at least one audio content into at least one audio object, and including local information on at least one audio content. An encoder for encoding object region information; And a transmitter configured to transmit at least one bitstream generated as a result of encoding at least one audio object and object region information.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the audio content includes additional information related to advertisement information.

An apparatus for providing audio content according to an embodiment of the present invention for solving the technical problem, an object including at least one audio object for each of the at least one audio content and local information about the at least one audio object A receiving unit for receiving at least one bitstream generated as a result of encoding local information; A decoder for decoding at least one audio object and object region information from the received bitstream; And a playback unit for selectively playing back audio content of at least one decoded audio object based on the decoded object region information.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the playback unit includes: an acquisition unit for acquiring reception location information on a location where at least one bitstream is received; And a selector configured to select an audio object to be reproduced among at least one decoded audio object based on a result of comparing the received location information with the decoded object region information.

Information about a region where each of the at least one audio content is provided includes latitude information and longitude information.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the selector selects the audio object based on the distance between the obtained reception position information and the reference position included in the object region information.

On the other hand, according to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium recording a program for executing the above-described method.

In addition, there is further provided a computer readable recording medium for recording another method for implementing the present invention, another system, and a computer program for executing the method.

According to the present invention, in the case of region-specific audio content, if the area in which the audio content is provided is set in more detail, the audio content can be provided to the user more efficiently, and various business models can be presented to the content provider.

1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method of providing audio content.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment in which a frequency channel and transmission power are determined according to a transmission station and a relay station within a transmission zone.

3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of providing content using an audio object.

4 is a view for explaining a method for providing content according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart of a method for providing content according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a detailed block diagram of an apparatus for providing audio content according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a flowchart of a method for providing content according to an embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a detailed configuration diagram of an apparatus for providing content according to an embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a detailed configuration diagram of an apparatus for providing content according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is content region information according to an embodiment of the present invention and indicates syntax of mae_ContentData when content region information is included in an MPEG-H MAE.

FIG. 11 is content region information according to an embodiment of the present invention and indicates a mae_ContentKind field when content region information is included in an MPEG-H MAE.

12 is a diagram for describing a method of providing content based on a location of a user, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for describing a method of providing content based on a location of a user, according to an exemplary embodiment.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing audio content, the method comprising: encoding at least one audio object for each of at least one audio content into a bitstream; Encoding the object region information including the region information of the at least one audio object into a bitstream; And transmitting a bitstream in which at least one audio object and object region information are encoded.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings that show, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. It should be understood that the various embodiments of the present invention are different but need not be mutually exclusive.

For example, certain shapes, structures, and characteristics described herein may be implemented with changes from one embodiment to another without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In addition, it is to be understood that the location or arrangement of individual components within each embodiment may be changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the following detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention should be taken as encompassing the scope of the claims of the claims and all equivalents thereto.

Like reference numerals in the drawings indicate the same or similar elements throughout the several aspects. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention, and like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the specification.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily implement the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

Throughout the specification, when a part is "connected" to another part, this includes not only "directly connected" but also "electrically connected" with another element in between. . In addition, when a part is said to "include" a certain component, which means that it may further include other components, except to exclude other components unless otherwise stated.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Although a content provider provides audio content and a user is provided with audio content in various ways, the embodiment of FIG. 1 is an embodiment in which a broadcast station provides radio broadcast over airwaves. Radio broadcasting over the air waves transmits a radio signal at a transmitting station or a relay station of a broadcasting station, and a user receives and reproduces a radio signal through a radio receiver or the like so that the user can hear the content, that is, audio content.

Since the airwaves are propagated in a straight line, the station or relay station of the broadcasting station is located as high as possible, and the broadcasting area is divided according to the range that the radio waves of the station or relay station can reach based on the output size of the transmission signal and the layout of the feature. Provide service. At this time, the transmission power is determined according to the frequency channels arranged for each region, and the broadcasting zone is set so that signals of each broadcasting zone do not interfere with each other.

In addition, even in one zone, each carrier frequency and transmission power are determined according to the position of each transmitting station or relay station.

In the embodiment of Fig. 1, in the transmission zone 110 of the first transmission station 111, the transmission zone 120 of the second frequency transmission station 120 transmits the broadcast signal of the second frequency. At this time, the frequency 1 and the frequency 2 means a carrier frequency.

Since the user (receiver) is in the transmission area of the first transmission station, in order to receive the radio broadcast, the user (receiver) must set the carrier frequency of the receiver to the first frequency and receive the radio broadcast signal. If moving from the transmission area of the first transmission station to the transmission area of the second transmission station during broadcast reception, the carrier frequency of the receiver must be reset to the second frequency to correctly receive the same radio broadcast signal.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, assume that there are three receivers in the transmission zone of the first transmission station. In this case, the first receiver 112, the second receiver 113, and the third receiver 114 must all set the same reception frequency and all receive the same audio content.

In FIG. 2, the carrier frequency 230 and the signal output 240 used to transmit KBS (Korea Broadcasting System) first radio broadcast signal at each transmitting station and relay station 220 in the broadcasting region of the metropolitan area are shown in FIG. Appear. In the broadcasting region of the metropolitan area, the KBS first radio broadcasting channel outputs corresponding broadcasting signals through 11 transmitting stations and repeaters according to each carrier frequency and output.

In FIG. 2, it can be seen that the Sorae transmitting station and the Gwanaksan transmitting station having wide coverage cover the transmission of a signal having a higher output than other transmitting stations having the same modulation scheme.

In addition, in FIG. 2, the FM broadcast signal is transmitted through a channel having a high carrier frequency in an urban area with a lot of users and obstacles such as a building, and the AM broadcast is performed through a channel having a low carrier frequency in a rural area where there are few users and a barrier is low. You can confirm that you are sending a signal.

The division of broadcast domains was introduced by the technical need to receive high quality signals, but at present only technical problems are not involved. In the case of terrestrial broadcasting and cable TV, broadcasting zones are divided and operated, but programs and channels are almost the same throughout the country, and only regionally operate.

Local broadcasting and advertising are an important part of broadcasting operations, and advertising plays an important role in financial support of commercial broadcasting.

The transmission / reception characteristic of a broadcast signal is a carousel method, that is, the transmitting end periodically transmits the same signal, and the receiving end receives and reproduces such a signal. As such, the broadcast signal has a feature of unidirectional communication for an unspecified number.

At present, advertisements over the air radio broadcasting are different for each transmission station or relay station, and the same advertisements are transmitted to the same carrier use area, and all users in the transmission area or relay area of each transmission station or relay station are provided with the same advertisement.

The radius of the transmission zone at each station or the relay zone at each relay station can range from a few kilometers to a few hundred kilometers. As such, because a single area is considerably wider, there is a need to provide a more suitable advertisement according to the user's location by subdividing a single area.

Most broadcasters offer radio broadcasts over the Internet, along with airwaves. The advertisement provided in the radio broadcast through the Internet may be composed of a separate advertisement from the advertisement provided in the radio broadcast through the airwaves.

In addition to providing the over-the-air broadcasting provided by a broadcasting station on the Internet, there are many broadcasting stations dedicated to Internet broadcasting. In Internet broadcasting, an individual can become a DJ to open and service a broadcast, and in most cases, profits are generated through advertisements.

In addition to such a live audio service, there is a case in which audio content is provided through the Internet in the form of on demand, and a spotify service is representative. The user may access the Spotify service page by using the Spotify application on a terminal such as a smartphone or by using an Internet browser on a terminal such as a PC. Spotify offers streaming music licensed by record labels, while users of the free service can display ads in Spotify applications or insert audio ads between songs.

In the case of an audio service through the Internet network, it may basically have a bidirectional communication feature, but such a feature is limited to a general communication protocol. By analyzing the Internet Protocol (IP) of the user connected to the audio service providing server, the approximate location of the user can be known.

Therefore, in the case of the Internet audio service, the same advertisement is provided to all the listeners connected from the specific IP band by analyzing the Internet access address of the user connected to the corresponding server. However, the IP band only provides approximate information about the location of the user (receiver) and it is difficult to know the exact location. Therefore, similarly to audio services such as radio broadcasting using airwaves, users existing in a wide range of regions are all provided with the same advertisement.

According to a method for providing content according to an embodiment of the present invention, by providing audio content using an audio object, audio content specialized for the user's current location, more specifically, based on the user's location information, is provided. can do.

An audio object is a specific object that composes an audio signal. For example, dialogue, effects, and background music (BGM) that constitute the audio sound of each instrument or movie constituting music. ), Etc. By applying object-based signal processing and encoding techniques, each audio object constituting the scene of the audio content can be extracted and reconstructed as needed.

Taking the audio sound of music as an example, the general music content records each instrument constituting the music individually and mixes the tracks of each instrument appropriately through mixing. If the track of each instrument is composed of objects, the user can control each object independently, so that the sound volume of a specific object (instrument) can be adjusted and the spatial position of the object can be changed.

For example, the audio sound of a movie may be reproduced in various countries, and the effect sound and the background music may be independent of the country, but in the case of dialogue, it may be reproduced in a language desired by a user. Therefore, the dialogue audio sound dubbed in various languages such as Korean, Japanese, and English can be processed as an audio object and included in the audio signal. In this case, when the user selects a desired language as Korean, an audio object corresponding to Korean is selected to be included in the audio signal so that the Korean dialogue is played.

In the past, over-the-air broadcasts were provided only with analog radio broadcasts, but now with analog broadcasts, digital radio broadcasts are also being provided, and digital-only audio content, such as DAB, is increasing. In addition, streaming services such as Spotify are based on digital content and use codecs for digital content such as Ogg Vorbis q5.

Recently developed codec uses object-based audio coding technology to express sound signal more richly. In MPEG, SOC (Spatial Audio Object Coding) is standardized as a parametric object coding method with high compression efficiency. .

3 is a block diagram of an MPEG SAOC codec for processing MPEG audio objects. MPEG SAOC is an object-based audio encoding technique proposed by MPEG to improve encoding efficiency or spatial rendering efficiency. In SAOC, a plurality of audio objects are downmixed and transmitted as mono or stereo signals, so that encoding efficiency is good, flexible, and user-controllable rendering features.

SAOC is an extension of the MPEG Surround standard that takes advantage of the spatial rendering of MPEG Surround. However, the MEPG SAOC codec is taken as an example to describe an object-based audio encoding technique, but the present invention is not limited to a technique using an audio object using the MPEG SAOC codec.

The MPEG SAOC codec is largely composed of an object encoder 310, an object decoder 320, and a mixer / renderer 330. In this case, the SAOC decoder is separated from the object decoder 320 and the mixer / renderer 330. However, in the integrated type, the SAOC decoder may be composed of one block in which the object decoder and the mixer / renderer are integrated.

The object encoder 310 generates the downmix signal 302 by inputting N object signals 301, Obj. # 1, Obj. # 2, ..., Obj. #N. The output signal of the object encoder 310 is a bitstream consisting of the downmix signal 302 of the audio object and the metadata 303 of the audio object.

The bitstream of the encoded audio signal is transmitted to the object decoder 320 through a communication network. The object decoder 320 decodes the bitstream 302 of the input downmix signal and restores the N object signals 304, Obj. # 1, Obj. # 2,..., Obj. # N. At this time, the metadata 303 of the object signal is used to restore the object signal.

The mixer / renderer 330 mixes / renders the N audio objects based on the rendering information 305 to generate an output channel signal 306 to be reproduced with the M output channels.

As described with reference to FIG. 3, even if the content is provided through unidirectional communication, such as broadcasting, content specific to each region may be provided according to the region where the user is located.

If content is distinguished according to carrier frequencies as shown in FIG. 1, all users in one transmission area using the same carrier frequency may be provided with the same content. Thus, regardless of the location of the user, the first user, the second user, and the third user all receive and play the same content.

However, if you construct an audio object that includes audio content to be provided specifically for the user's location, and configure metadata for the audio object that contains information about the region in which the content included in the audio object is provided to the user, As shown in FIG. 4, the user-specific content may be provided according to the region where each user is located. In this case, different (independent) content may be provided to the first user, the second user, and the third user at different locations.

Similarly, in the case of receiving audio content using a data network such as IP, the user's location that can analyze and understand the IP band as in the current range is quite wide. However, as described above, the user configures an audio object that includes audio content to be provided specifically for the user's location, and configures metadata about the audio object including information about a region where the content included in the audio object is provided. If provided to the user, not only the area where specific audio content is provided can be managed more finely, but also the content provider or the content provider can set the range of the area where the specific audio content is provided.

If the specialized content can be provided according to the location of the person receiving the content, both the person providing the content and the person receiving the content can be more convenient and the satisfaction can be improved.

Advertisements are paid by advertisers and targeted through a variety of audiences, either through human or non-human media, where advertising to a specific target audience is more effective. Therefore, the use of direct advertising or database marketing is increasing recently. Thus, if such content is advertising content, such utility becomes even higher.

From the advertiser's point of view, in conjunction with the user's local information, the advertiser can more accurately target potential customers and provide specialized advertising. As a result, more effective marketing and customer induction effects can be expected.

From the perspective of the user (user) who is provided with the content, the user can be provided with more accurate and useful advertisements associated with the local information.

In addition, from the perspective of the broadcaster (content provider), it has the advantage that the revenue model can be newly configured by diversifying the sales strategy of the advertising slot (slot). The advertising slot determines the selling price according to the effects of the advertising slot and is the main source of revenue for commercial broadcasters.

The advertisement including the video content or the graphic content may be variously configured by all of the screen configurations as well as the time slots. However, the advertisement including only the audio content is limited in configuration. In the case of a conventional over-the-air radio, all the same advertisements must be transmitted in the same carrier transmission area, so that the advertisement slots can be distributed only for each time.

According to the method for providing content using an audio object according to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to determine a region where each audio object is provided. Can be distributed according to.

In addition, it is possible to configure a variety of advertising slots by varying the distribution of the advertising slots according to the region. For example, ad slots can be constructed by dividing each region into uniform sizes, but depending on the characteristics of each region, it can be classified more granularly in areas with a large flow population and more widely in areas with a small flow population. Can be.

As such, by segmenting the ad slots according to regions and setting the prices in consideration of the effects of each ad slot, broadcasters can create more diverse profit models, and advertisers can expect higher advertising effects.

Positioning technology may be used to obtain a location of a user terminal providing audio content to a user. Positioning technology is a positioning method using proximity, a positioning method using triangulation and a positioning method using scene analysis according to the basic principle of location recognition, and the terminal according to the location signal receiving subject MS based positioning method, network based positioning method, and hybrid positioning method can be distinguished.

In addition, it can be classified into indoor positioning and outdoor positioning according to the position of the positioning target, and can be classified into global position positioning and near position positioning according to the position positioning range.

Wide-area positioning technology typically includes cell-based positioning method and global positioning system (GPS), and short-range positioning technology includes wireless LAN, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and UWB (Ultra WideBand). ) How to use techniques.

The cell-based positioning method is a positioning technology based on a base station signal of a mobile communication company, a cell ID method using an ID (ID, IDentification) of the base station, and an enhanced cell ID method using additional distance information of the terminal in addition to the cell ID method. As a triangulation method using a plurality of base station signals, there are an Angle of Arrival (AOA), a Time of Arrival (TOA), and a Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) method.

Such a cell-based positioning method has the advantage that it is possible to receive positioning signals even in urban environments or indoors where GPS and Line of Sight (GOS) are not guaranteed, but a GPS range is not guaranteed. Is large.

The GPS positioning method is a satellite signal-based positioning method, and measures the position of a receiving terminal using a time difference of arrival of signals received from four or more GPS satellites among 24 GPS satellites. It is known to have an error range of about 10 meters to 100 meters.

In addition to GPS, satellite positioning is based on GLONASS in Russia and Galileo in Europe. In addition, GPS system, such as DGPS (Differential GPS), which processes location information in conjunction with additional facilities or servers in order to improve the location accuracy of satellite alone There is this. DGPS technology corrects the position by receiving satellite position measurement errors from a reference station within 100 kilometers of which the exact position is known, and can maintain an error range of approximately 5 meters to 10 meters.

Recently, a mobile terminal such as a smart phone is equipped with a GPS module, which is used as the most common positioning method, but in order to receive satellite signals, the LOS between the satellite and the transmitting terminal must be guaranteed.

In the case of wireless LAN (WLAN) signal-based positioning techniques, WLAN-based positioning techniques generally determine and position propagation delays between wireless nodes to triangulate and position relative positions. WLAN-based location technology is an indoor positioning technology, and has an advantage of being cost effective since it can use an existing WLAN infrastructure.

The positioning technology using near field communication such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, RFID, WLAN, UWB, etc. has much smaller coverage than the mobile communication network or GPS, thereby improving the accuracy of indoor positioning.

Positioning technology using WLAN (WLAN, wi-fi), like GPS or cell-based wireless positioning technology can obtain the position of the receiver using algorithms such as TOA, AOA, TDOA or Received Signal Strength (RSS).

A specific positioning technology using a wireless LAN is RADAR, which is a radio frequency (RF) based system for recognizing and tracking a user's location in a building based on 802.11 wireless networking technology. In addition to the triangulation method using the WLAN signal, RADAR applies a scene analysis method for estimating the location by comparing the characteristics of the currently received signal with a database storing the properties of the WLAN signal for each location.

The result of the triangulation method for the signal strength of the WLAN has an average distance error of 4.3 meters, and when using the scene analysis method has an average distance error of about 3 meters.

Positioning technology based on Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) is difficult to pinpoint the exact location information according to the characteristics using a wide range of frequencies from 60kHz to 5.8GHz depending on the application. I can figure out the location. However, even in this case, defects with the real-time positioning system can improve accuracy and enable real-time positioning.

As mentioned above, recently developed audio codecs are applied with object-based audio encoding technology. Therefore, content to be provided differently according to a region is provided in the form of an audio object and information about the region is transmitted together.

The embodiment of FIG. 5 discloses a method in which an audio content provider generates and transmits audio content as an audio object.

When audio content to be provided differently is determined according to each region, the audio content providing apparatus generates an audio object based on the audio content (510).

As mentioned above, the audio object is a specific object constituting the audio signal, for example, dialogue, effect sound and background music constituting the audio sound of each instrument or movie constituting the music. Or, it may mean each advertisement content. By applying object-based signal processing and encoding techniques, each audio object constituting the scene of the audio content can be extracted and reconstructed as needed.

When the audio object corresponding to each region is generated, content region information for each audio object is generated (520). The content area information includes information about the area where each audio object is to be provided. For example, information about 'region A' to be provided with 'audio object A' includes information such as reference point and radius of 'region A'.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the content area information may be composed of each content area information for each audio object. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the content area information may be composed of one content area information that collects and manages a plurality of audio objects. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the content area information may be included in metadata of the audio object.

The audio object and the content region information generated through

steps

510 and 520 are encoded to generate a bitstream (530). Generating the audio object into the bitstream is performed at the encoder end of the audio codec.

In more detail, the N audio objects are downmixed into M signals satisfying M <N, and a bitstream in which such downmix signals are encoded is generated. In general, the downmix signal is a mono or stereo signal, but is not limited thereto. Although omitted in FIG. 5, if it corresponds to a codec that performs spatial encoding, the spatial parameter is also encoded into the bitstream. Such spatial information is included in the audio object metadata or parameter.

Meanwhile, according to another exemplary embodiment, the user terminal or the transmitting terminal may encode system data related to a system engine such as MPEG Media Transport (MMT) and / or Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH). Here, the system data may be included in the audio content or provided as additional information separate from the audio content. The system data may be used to provide an interface for interaction with the system engine at the receiving terminal or decoder. When the transmitting terminal encodes the system data, the location information where the system data is located, for example, the URL address, may be encoded and included in the bitstream.

The encoded bitstream is transmitted 540 over the network. In this case, the network includes a dedicated line, LAN, VAN, intranet, private telephone network, public telephone network, PSTN network, and a combination thereof, and is a comprehensive data communication network that enables each network component to communicate smoothly with each other. , Wired internet, wireless internet and mobile wireless networks. In addition, the transmission method follows a transmission method unique to each network.

The apparatus 600 for providing audio content according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 6 operates according to the method for providing audio content according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. The channel audio object generator 610, the content location information generator 620, the bitstream generator 630, and the transmitter 640 are included.

The audio object generator 610 generates an audio object based on content to be provided using an audio object among contents provided by the content providing device.

An audio object is a specific object constituting an audio signal, and means, for example, dialogue, effect sounds, and background music constituting an audio sound of each instrument or movie constituting music. By applying object-based signal processing and encoding techniques, each audio object constituting the scene of the audio content can be extracted and reconstructed as needed. In one embodiment of the present invention, advertisement content may be provided through an audio object.

The content location information generator 620 generates information about a location where a content generated as an audio object is to be provided.

The content area information includes information about the area where each audio object is to be provided. For example, information about 'region A' to be provided with 'audio object A' includes information such as reference point and radius of 'region A'.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the content area information may be composed of each content area information for each audio object. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the content area information may be composed of one content area information that integrates and manages a plurality of audio objects. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the content area information may be included in metadata of the audio object.

The bitstream generator 630 generates a bitstream by encoding the audio object and the content region information. Generating the audio object into the bitstream is performed at the encoder end of the audio codec.

In more detail, the N audio objects are downmixed into M signals satisfying M <N, and a bitstream in which such downmix signals are encoded is generated. In general, the downmix signal is a mono or stereo signal, but is not limited thereto.

The transmitter 640 transmits the bitstream generated by the bitstream generator through the network.

A network is a comprehensive data communication network that includes dedicated lines, LANs, VANs, intranets, private telephone networks, public telephone networks, PSTN networks, and a combination of these, and enables each network component to communicate with each other smoothly. Internet, wireless internet and mobile wireless communications networks. In addition, the transmission method follows a transmission method unique to each network.

If audio content according to an embodiment of the present invention is provided through a broadcast medium such as a radio broadcast, the content provider broadcasts a broadcast signal for an unspecified number, and the user terminal transmits a specific carrier frequency band signal according to the content provider. Receives a corresponding broadcast signal by connecting to a specific server according to the content provider.

The apparatus 600 for providing audio content according to the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 6 may further include a channel audio signal generator, a storage unit, and a controller in addition to the above configuration. The channel audio signal is distinguished from the audio object and means a general audio signal rather than an object signal.

The embodiment of FIG. 7 discloses a method for providing audio content to a user by an apparatus for providing audio content. More specifically, a method for receiving an encoded audio object and providing audio content to a user in a terminal capable of playing audio content is disclosed.

The apparatus for providing audio content according to the embodiment of FIG. 7 receives 710 a bitstream of an encoded audio signal transmitted through a network.

Upon receiving (710) a bitstream of the encoded audio signal, the user terminal decodes the received bitstream to obtain an audio object (720).

Acquiring an audio object by decoding the received bitstream is a process of restoring the original plurality of audio objects as the received bitstream is a signal in which the plurality of audio objects are downmixed. At this time, metadata of the object signal is used to restore the object signal.

The user terminal also obtains 730 content area information from the received bitstream.

Meanwhile, according to another exemplary embodiment, the user terminal or the receiving terminal may receive a bitstream including encoded system data and location information where the system data is located. System data may be included in the encoded audio content, or may be included in the bitstream as additional information separate from the encoded audio content. The receiving terminal may obtain location information related to system data by decoding the bitstream. The receiving terminal can transmit the system data present in the URL address to the corresponding system engine by providing an interface capable of fetching the corresponding system data based on the location information, for example, the URL address.

The user terminal also obtains information about the location where the user terminal received the corresponding content (740).

In order to obtain the location of the user terminal, a positioning technology may be used. Positioning technology is largely based on the basic principle of location recognition, positioning method using proximity, positioning method using triangulation and positioning method using scene analysis, terminal-based positioning method, network-based positioning method according to the location signal receiver and It can be distinguished by a hybrid positioning method.

Representative technologies for wide area positioning include cell-based positioning and GPS, and short-range positioning includes wireless LAN, Bluetooth, Zigbee, and UWB.

Recently, a mobile terminal such as a smartphone is equipped with a GPS module, which is used as the most common positioning method, and when the DGPS technology using additional information is applied, an error range of about 5 meters to 10 meters can be maintained.

In this way, the content receiving location may be obtained by using the location of the user terminal using a positioning technique, but according to another embodiment of the present invention, the content receiving location may be set by the user. For example, if the user is present in the 'B-zone' but wants to receive audio content provided in the 'A-zone', the user terminal sets the content reception position to the 'A-zone'. When the content receiving location is set by the user, the method of providing the audio content may include a step of receiving a user input in addition to the step of FIG. 7.

When both the content area information and the content reception location are obtained, the user terminal selects 750 an audio object to play based on the content area information and the reception location. The criteria for selecting an audio object may be determined by a user's setting or a content provider's setting.

For example, if the content constituting the audio object is advertising content, each area can be divided into uniform sizes to form an ad slot, but according to the characteristics of each area, it can be classified more finely in areas with a large floating population. Areas with a small floating population can be further classified.

Or, if there is a difference in each advertising cost, the advertising area can be set wider for the advertiser who paid more.

Alternatively, if only one company's advertisement is to be played in an advertisement slot in a specific time zone, an advertisement of a company that is closest to the user's location among the same companies may be played. Alternatively, even when advertisements of various companies may be played, the first and second companies may be played in the order based on the distance starting from the company located at the closest distance.

If an audio object to play is selected, the user terminal plays 760 the selected audio object. The mixer / renderer of the audio object decoder mixes / renders the audio object based on the rendering information to generate an output channel signal to be reproduced as an output channel.

At this time, it is possible to reduce the load on the audio playback system by activating only the selected audio object and deactivating other audio objects.

The apparatus 800 for providing audio content according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 8 operates according to the method for providing audio content according to an embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIG. Includes a receiving unit 810, an audio object obtaining unit 820, a content area information obtaining unit 830, a receiving location obtaining unit 840, a selecting unit 850, and a reproducing unit 860.

An apparatus for providing audio content according to an embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 8 typically includes a user terminal capable of playing and providing audio content to a user, based on which one embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIG. Explain the example.

The receiver 810 receives a bitstream encoded with an audio object transmitted through a network.

The audio object obtainer 820 extracts data corresponding to the audio object from the bitstream received through the receiver 810, decodes the extracted data, and mixes / renders the downmixed signal again to obtain the audio object. .

The content area information acquisition unit 830 extracts data corresponding to the content area information from the bitstream received through the reception unit 810, and obtains the content area information by decoding the extracted data.

The receiving location obtaining unit 840 obtains the location of the user terminal providing the audio content to the user by using the positioning technology.

Positioning technology is a positioning method using proximity, a positioning method using triangulation and a positioning method using scene analysis according to the basic principle of location recognition, and the terminal according to the location signal receiving subject MS based positioning method, network based positioning method, and hybrid positioning method can be distinguished.

In this way, the content receiving location may be obtained by using the location of the user terminal using a positioning technique, but according to another embodiment of the present invention, the content receiving location may be set by the user. For example, if the user is present in the 'B-zone' but wants to receive audio content provided in the 'A-zone', the user terminal sets the content reception position to the 'A-zone'. When the content receiving location is set by the user, the apparatus for providing audio content may further include a user input unit for receiving user input in addition to the configuration of FIG. 8.

The selector 850 selects an audio object to be provided to the user among the received audio objects based on the acquired content region information and the acquired location of the user terminal.

The criteria for selecting an audio object may be determined by a user's setting or a content provider's setting.

As such, when there are a plurality of advertisement domains, the selector 850 may select an audio object corresponding to the advertisement domain having the closest distance by comparing the distance between the reference point of each advertisement domain and the user terminal.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the reference point of each advertising domain may be the center of each advertising domain. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the reference point of each advertising domain may be the largest floating population in each advertising domain. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the reference point of each advertising area may be a terrain, a feature that is a landmark in each advertising area.

The playback unit 860 plays the audio object selected by the selection unit 850. The mixer / renderer of the audio object decoder mixes / renders the audio object based on the rendering information to generate an output channel signal to be reproduced as an output channel.

The apparatus 800 for providing audio content according to the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 8 may further include a channel audio signal acquisition unit, a storage unit, and a controller in addition to the above configuration. The channel audio signal is distinguished from the audio object and means a general audio signal rather than an object signal.

An apparatus for providing audio content according to an embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 9 may be a partial configuration of an apparatus for providing audio content illustrated in FIG. 8, and in FIG. 9, operations and transmission / reception data of each component are illustrated. It is.

The audio object decoder 821 of the apparatus for providing audio content according to an embodiment of the present invention transmits the content location information included in the metadata of the audio object to the audio object selector 841.

The audio object selecting unit 841 selects an audio object based on the content position information delivered from the audio object decoder 821 and the content receiving position delivered from the receiving position obtaining unit 831, and outputs the audio object selection result again. Pass it to the object decoder.

The audio object decoder 821 activates the selected audio object based on the audio object selection result delivered from the audio object selecting unit 841, and deactivates the remaining unselected audio objects.

The audio object decoder 821 transfers the selected audio object to the playback unit 851, and the playback unit 851 plays the selected audio object and provides the same to the user.

MPEG-H is the next generation codec for efficient digital broadcasting in broadband networks. Part 3 of MPEG-H addresses the next generation of audio compression standards. In MPEG-H, technology for processing audio sources constituting each audio scene as audio objects for 3D audio is included.

Additional information for processing such an audio object is managed as metadata for each group of elements, which corresponds to a MetE Audio Element (MAE).

FIG. 10 illustrates a syntax 1000 of MAE mae_ContentData () for implementing a method of providing audio content according to an embodiment of the present invention, and mae_hasContentLocation 1010 is added to implement an embodiment of the present invention. Corresponding field

The mae_hasContentLocation 1010 may include latitude information (mae_contentLatitude) and longitude information (mae_contentLongitude) as local information of the content data for each content data block.

In the syntax 1000 of mae_ContentData () shown in FIG. 10, the mae_ContentKind field 1100 indicates a content type of a metadata element group. If the value of the mae_ContentKind field is 2, it indicates that the corresponding content is dialogue. If 3, the content is music.

Therefore, if the corresponding content is the advertisement content 1110 in the mae_ContentKind field, the advertisement content specialized for a specific region may be provided.

However, if the content is not limited to the advertisement content and needs to provide content specific to a specific region in a specific kind of content, the mae_hasContentLocation 1010 field may be defined for the corresponding kind of content to use the region information.

FIG. 12 is a map of the Las Vegas region of the United States, where the regions shown in the map of FIG. 12 include the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel, The Venetian Hotel and The Palazzo Hotel. If the Wynn Las Vegas hotel and The Venetian hotel both advertise on the radio, let us call the advertising area of each hotel area A advertising area (1210) and B advertising area (1220).

According to one embodiment of the invention, if a listener receiving a radio broadcast in the area is traveling by car along South Las Vegas Boulevard and only one advertisement for one hotel is to be provided in one time slot, the hotel closer to the listener To provide advertising.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, if there is a difference in each advertisement cost according to the broadcaster's business model, the advertisement domain may be set wider for the advertiser who has paid more. For example, if the Wynn Las Vegas hotel paid more advertising, set the advertising area (510, A advertising area) of the Wynn Las Vegas hotel wider.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the advertisements of the two hotels may be provided in chronological order according to the business model of the broadcasting company, but the advertisements of the closer hotels may be provided first. For example, the user first listens to the advertisement of the Wynn Las Vegas hotel when in the advertising area 1210 and the user listens to the advertisement of the The Venetian hotel when the user is in the advertising area B1220.

FIG. 13 is a map of Seoul Gangnam Station, in which a plurality of stores of the same A coffee shop chain exist in the area indicated on the map. In the region shown in the map of FIG. 13, there are four coffee shop stores, Coffee Shop 1 (1310), Coffee Shop 2 (1320), Coffee Shop 3 (1330), and Coffee Shop 4 (1340).

Suppose that the area 1300 displayed on the map of FIG. 13 is the same advertisement area, and the advertisement of A coffee shop is provided in the corresponding advertisement area. A user in the area shown on the map of FIG. 13 receives and is provided with an advertisement of A coffee shop.

However, if only the same advertisements, especially those provided by the headquarters, are provided in the wide-area advertising area, the user who received the advertisements has a menu which the store is close to or wants to drink coffee of A coffee shop. You don't know where a store is.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the user-specific content may be provided even within one advertisement domain. More specifically, according to an embodiment of the present invention, even if it is in one advertisement area 1300 where an advertisement of A coffee shop is provided, since information about the user's location is known, the nearest A to the user's location is known. Ads including information such as the location of the coffee shop store, a phone number and a menu may be provided.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, an advertisement including information about the A coffee shop store closest to the user's location may be provided after the advertisement of the A coffee shop provided by the head office.

Embodiments according to the present invention described above can be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed by various computer components and recorded in a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. Program instructions recorded on the computer-readable recording medium may be specially designed and configured for the present invention, or may be known and available to those skilled in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tape, optical recording media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, and magneto-optical media such as floptical disks. medium) and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include not only machine code generated by a compiler, but also high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. The hardware device may be modified with one or more software modules to perform the processing according to the present invention, and vice versa.

Although the present invention has been described by specific matters such as specific components and limited embodiments and drawings, it is provided only to help a more general understanding of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Those skilled in the art may make various modifications and changes from this description.

Therefore, the spirit of the present invention should not be limited to the above-described embodiments, and the scope of the spirit of the present invention is defined not only in the claims below, but also in the ranges equivalent to or equivalent to the claims. Will belong to.

Claims

In the method for providing audio content,

Encoding at least one audio object for each of the at least one audio content;

Encoding object region information including region information about the at least one audio object; And

Transmitting at least one bitstream, the result of encoding the at least one audio object and the object region information;

A method of providing audio content.
The method of claim 1,

The audio content includes additional information related to advertisement information.

A method of providing audio content.
The method of claim 1,

The object region information includes information about a region where each of the at least one audio content is provided.

A method of providing audio content.
The method of claim 3, wherein

Information about a region where each of the at least one audio content is provided includes latitude information and longitude information.

A method of providing audio content.
In the method for providing audio content,

Receiving at least one bitstream generated as a result of encoding object region information including at least one audio object for each of the at least one audio content and the region information for the at least one audio object;

Decoding the at least one audio object and the object region information from the received at least one bitstream; And

Selectively playing audio content for the decoded at least one audio object based on the decoded object region information;

A method of providing audio content.
The method of claim 5,

The selectively reproducing step,

Acquiring reception location information on a location at which the at least one bitstream is received; And

Selecting an audio object to be reproduced from the decoded at least one audio object based on a result of comparing the received reception position information with the decoded object region information.

A method of providing audio content.
The method of claim 5,

The audio content includes additional information related to advertisement information.

A method of providing audio content.
The method of claim 5,

The object region information includes information about a region where each of the at least one audio content is provided.

A method of providing audio content.
The method of claim 8,

Information about a region where each of the at least one audio content is provided includes latitude information and longitude information.

A method of providing audio content.
The method of claim 6,

The reception location information is obtained based on at least one of GPS (Global Positioning System) positioning, cell positioning, Wi-Fi positioning, and IP (Internet Protocol) positioning.

A method of providing audio content.
The method of claim 6,

The reception location information is obtained based on a user input,

A method of providing audio content.
The method of claim 6,

Selecting the audio object to be played,

Selecting an audio object based on a distance between the obtained received location information and a reference location included in the object area information;

A method of providing audio content.
The method of claim 6,

The reception location information includes information on a plurality of reception locations obtained at a plurality of time points.

A method of providing audio content.
An apparatus for providing audio content,

An encoder for encoding each of at least one audio content into at least one audio object and encoding object region information including region information for the at least one audio content; And

And a transmitter configured to transmit at least one bitstream generated as a result of encoding the at least one audio object and the object region information.

Device for providing audio content.
The method of claim 13,

The audio content includes additional information related to advertisement information.

Device for providing audio content.
The method of claim 13,

The object region information includes information about a region where each of the at least one audio content is provided.

Device for providing audio content.
The method of claim 15,

Information about a region where each of the at least one audio content is provided includes latitude information and longitude information.

Device for providing audio content.
An apparatus for providing audio content,

A receiver configured to receive at least one bitstream generated as a result of encoding object region information including at least one audio object for each of at least one audio content and region information for the at least one audio object;

A decoder for decoding the at least one audio object and the object region information from the received at least one bitstream; And

And a playback unit for selectively playing back audio content for the decoded at least one audio object based on the decoded object region information.

Device for providing audio content.
The method of claim 18,

The regeneration unit,

An acquisition unit for acquiring reception location information on a location of receiving the at least one bitstream; And

And a selecting unit to select an audio object to be played among the decoded at least one audio object based on a result of the comparison of the received reception position information and the decoded object region information.

Device for providing audio content.
The method of claim 17,

The audio content includes additional information related to advertisement information.

Device for providing audio content.
The method of claim 17,

The object region information includes information about a region where each of the at least one audio content is provided.

Device for providing audio content.
The method of claim 19,

Information about a region where each of the at least one audio content is provided includes latitude information and longitude information.

Device for providing audio content.
The method of claim 19,

The reception location information is obtained based on at least one of GPS (Global Positioning System) positioning, cell positioning, Wi-Fi positioning, and IP (Internet Protocol) positioning.

Device for providing audio content.
The method of claim 19,

The reception location information is obtained based on a user input,

Device for providing audio content.
The method of claim 19,

The selection unit,

Selecting an audio object based on a distance between the obtained received location information and a reference location included in the object area information;

Device for providing audio content.
The method of claim 19,

The reception location information includes information on a plurality of reception locations obtained at a plurality of time points.

Device for providing audio content.
A computer-readable recording medium for recording a computer program for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.