ITMI20111193A1 - SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL VIDEOS IN SYNCHRONOUS MODE. - Google Patents

Description

"SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL VIDEO IN SYNCHRONOUS MODE"

DESCRIPTION

The present invention falls within the field of the use of multimedia contents on the Internet and in particular it is inherent to the tools and methods for administering said multimedia contents in synchronous mode and their interaction with social networking functions in real time.

Over time, websites that offer multimedia content have gradually become more sophisticated, aiming both to capture the attention of users and to give companies the possibility to communicate their messages in an engaging way. Videos have the advantage of immersing visitors in experiences that simple descriptions cannot communicate and consequently have the power to effectively educate, inform, demonstrate and entertain. Users demand to live their experience immediately by not accepting willingly to be forced to download software of significant size or to learn complicated rules of use. These videos also represent a source of ideas, activities and feelings among users who share common interests, such as groups of friends or colleagues at work or school.

Of course, in an age of diffusion of social networking in which the rhythms of communication are extremely fast, users feel the need to instantly communicate their emotions and thoughts.

Sharing videos on the web has become a worldwide phenomenon supported by various websites and in the state of the art there are many services that distribute this type of content. For example, think of the very popular Youtube that allows users from all over the world to independently access videos published by various authors and to publish comments, if properly authenticated. Such systems, although widespread, have the disadvantage that the interaction between those who use the video is not simultaneous: users see the video at different times and communicate their feelings even at different times. In other words, the main problem of these services is that although different users can view the same video and exchange opinions and comments relating to this video, since the use is asynchronous there is no possibility to comment "hot" on the most important aspects. compelling and complex video while viewing. This need is even more pronounced in the case of broadcasts such as international events of global significance or virtual classrooms of working groups that attend refresher lessons.

The aim of the present invention is therefore to overcome the limitations of the prior art highlighted above, proposing a new system and method for administering video contents so that said contents can be used simultaneously by a plurality of users.

Within the scope of this aim, an object of the present invention is to provide a system and a method for generating a timed publication of pre-existing video contents which is synchronized among all spectator users who view it, even if they connect for the vision at different times.

A further object of the invention is to generate schedules comprising a plurality of video contents coming from a plurality of sources so that they can be shared and viewed quickly and easily.

A further object of the invention is to allow spectators to interact with each other during the use of the video contents.

Another aim of the present invention is to allow users to modify the schedules with videos generated and / or proposed by them and / or by inserting advertising messages.

Not least object of the present invention is to provide a system and a method which is practical, easy to use and low implementation costs.

This aim and these and other objects which will become clearer in the following, are achieved by a system according to claim 1 and by a method according to claim 4.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become clearer from the following detailed description, given in the form of an illustrative and non-limiting example, accompanied by the relative figures in which:

Figure 1 is a block diagram relating to a possible architecture of the system according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating a possible embodiment of the method for generating and publishing a schedule according to the present invention;

Figure 3 is a flow chart which illustrates in greater detail a possible embodiment of a step of the method of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a flow chart which illustrates in greater detail a possible embodiment of another step of the method of Figure 2.

An exemplary architecture of the system according to the present invention is summarized in the block diagram of Figure 1.

Figure 1 comprises an aggregation server 100, a publishing server 170, one or more external video sources 150, one or more social networks 230, and a plurality of Client devices 270.

The aggregation server 100 is a known server-type system, suitable for retrieving one or more video contents from one or more sources, on the basis of which to generate a schedule, or a timed publication sequence, as will be illustrated in greater detail below. . The aggregation server 100 comprises or has access to storage means 160, which may comprise for example a data base or any data structure adapted to permanently store information.

The publication server 170 is a known server-type system, in particular a web server, comprising hardware and software dedicated to the delivery of the schedules generated by the aggregation server 100. In one embodiment, the publication server 170 is a dedicated server to this task and includes a web portal suitable for transmitting video content; in an alternative embodiment the publication server 170 is hosted or connected to a social network 230, and the video contents are made available to the users of the social network through methods specific to the social network itself, for example in the case of the well-known social network Facebook, via a Facebook application.

The external video sources 150 are services suitable for storing, making available and / or delivering video content, for example websites, in particular video hosting, video sharing or video directorg sites, such as the well-known Youtube service. Each video source 150 comprises or has access to memory or storage means which, similarly to the storage means 160, comprise a database or other data structure adapted to permanently store information relating to video content.

The social network 230 includes well-known hardware and software systems designed to represent a social structure made up of nodes that correspond to people connected to each other by different social ties, ranging from casual acquaintance, to work relationships, to family ties. In particular, the social network 230 includes a database of personal profiles 240, that is an archive capable of storing personal information for each user, starting from demographic information such as age, sex and nationality, up to their interests and passions (in the case of networks such as Facebook) or their previous and current work experiences (in the case of networks such as Linkedln).

Each of the Client devices 20 is any device configured to communicate with the publication server 170 and / or with the social network 230, for example a personal computer or a smartphone.

The aggregation server 100, the publication server 170, the external video sources 150, the social networks 230, and the Client devices 270 previously described are committed through a telematic network 280: this network is preferably the Internet network, connected where necessary to networks mobile, but it can also be an intranet or any private network capable of implementing a Client server type communication protocol.

A possible embodiment of the architecture of the modules illustrated above is described in greater detail below

The aggregation server 100 comprises four submodules, the Receiver 110, the AdServer 120, the Integrator 130 and the Synchronizer 140.

The Receiver module 110 is configured to retrieve video contents stored in the storage means 160 or in one or more external video sources 150; the receiving module 110 then organizes the contents found in a suitable sequence, thus generating a playlist. In an alternative embodiment, the receiver module 110 retrieves the video contents already organized in the form of playlists from an external video source. In a preferred embodiment, the selection of the videos or playlists is entrusted to an editing operator, who chooses which contents to insert and in which sequence according to certain criteria. In an alternative embodiment, this selection can take place automatically, by means of web search and crawling mechanisms known in the art. For each video content candidate for inclusion in the playlist or belonging to the prepackaged playlist, the Receiver 110 also has the functionality of carrying out preliminary checks relating to the consistency and shareability of the video, as will be illustrated in greater detail below.

Once the playlist has been generated, it is passed to the Integrator module 120, which has the task of integrating the aforementioned playlist with videos containing advertisements and / or videos suggested by the spectators.

In one embodiment, the advertising contents are provided by the Adserver module 130, which, in addition to providing advertising messages, preferably in video format, to the Integrator module 120, is optionally capable of serving different messages for each viewer. To this end, the Adserver 130 module has access to information relating to the credentials and other identification data of the spectators; in one embodiment, such information is stored in the storage means 160 and is stored directly by the aggregation server 100 when viewers register at the publication server 170 associated with it; in an alternative embodiment, in the event that the viewers use the contents published through a social network or access the publication server 170 through single sign on mechanisms known in the art such as FacebookConnect, this information is found in the database of personal profiles 240 associated with the social network 230.

The integrator module 120 is also capable of inserting into the playlist video contents suggested by the users, which can be alternated or placed in a queue with the original video contents, according to a plurality of modalities. By way of non-limiting example, the videos suggested by users can be videos sent or proposed by users and then subjected to scrutiny by an editorial staff, therefore subject to a priori moderation, or videos selected by an editorial staff based on user suggestions and subsequently subject to voting by the users themselves, so that the most voted videos are included in the playlist, or again selected through automatic criteria, for example by publishing the video that maximizes one or more predetermined criteria, such as the most sent, the most shared on a social network, the one that has had the most "like" indications, and so on.

Once the playlist has been integrated with advertising content and / or selected by users, it is passed to the synchronizer module 140. The Synchronizer module 140 has the task of synchronizing the videos that are part of the playlist in order to transform it into a schedule, that is a timed publication of the playlist itself in a one-to-many broadcast stream. The program thus generated is programmed for transmission at a given instant and, once served, is synchronized for viewing by a plurality of users as they connect, as will be illustrated in greater detail below. In this way the goal of a contemporary vision is achieved, that is, all users see substantially the same frames instant by instant.

As previously mentioned, the schedule can be served and published, after synchronization between the various viewers, on a "social portai", which can be the publication server 170 or a site of a social network 230.

Publisher 170 includes a Player module 180, a Chat module 190, a video repository 200, a user repository 210, and a feedback module 220.

The Player module 180 is configured for entire access with the aggregation server 100 and for transmitting the video schedules generated by it.

The chat module 190 is able to publish, in real time, the comments of the spectators who are viewing the same schedule, according to methods known in the art.

The video repository 200 is a database capable of storing multimedia contents; user repository 210 is a database containing the credentials of registered users.

Finally, the feedback module 220 is configured to collect information useful for managing the transmission for each user and to send it to the aggregation server 100, as will be illustrated in greater detail below. This information is essential in order to allow the AdServer 130 module to select advertising messages based on the characteristics of the different users, to also allow the Synchronizer module 140 to synchronize correctly, and finally to allow the Integrator 120 module to modify suitably the playlist sent by the ■ Receiver 110, as will be illustrated in greater detail below.

The social network 230 includes, in addition to the aforementioned database of personal profiles 240, a performer module 250, configured, similarly to the player module 180, to interact with the aggregation server 100 to transmit a video schedule. This schedule can be viewed by users whose credentials are contained in the database of personal profiles 240. In a preferred embodiment, the executor module 250 is a software application created using the "application prograraming interfaces" (API) made available by the social networks, which also perform the task of authenticating viewers in ways known in art.

With reference to the flow chart of Figure 2, a possible embodiment of the method for generating and publishing a program schedule according to the invention will now be illustrated.

The method begins at step 310, in which the receiver module 110 generates a playlist comprising a sequence of videos or playlists stored in the storage media 160 and / or in the video sources 150. The playlist thus generated is suitably formatted in order to make it easy to subsequent operations.

At step 320 the receiver module 110 carries out some preliminary checks on each video inserted in the playlist: these checks include, by way of example and without limitation, checking that the video is readable and available Online, and that it has been published with rights that allow its publication on third party sites (embeddable). Videos that do not meet these requirements are discarded.

At step 325 the Adserver module 130 performs the advertising operation, ie the choice of advertising messages to be included in the playlist.

At step 330 the integrator module 130 then proceeds to the integration, or to the combination of the videos of the playlist with the advertising messages and any new videos proposed by the users. The integration process is not static, but is dynamically updated based on feedback received from users, as will be explained in more detail below.

At step 340 the synchronizer module 140 transforms the playlist generated in the previous steps into a schedule, or into a timed publication suitable for allowing simultaneous viewing by a plurality of users.

At step 350 the schedule generated at step 340 is published on a social portal, such as the publication server 170 or a social network 230 previously illustrated.

At step 355 the player module 180 or the performer module 250 serve the first video of the schedule not yet displayed in synchronous mode to the users who gradually connect. At the end of the transmission of this video, at step 360 the reproducing module 180 or the executing module 250 checks for the presence of a subsequent video. If not, the method ends. If so, at step 375 the feedback form 220 collects feedback information on the basis of the individual connected users; this information is used to carry out the functions of advertising, integration and synchronization; the information collected is sent to the aggregation server 100 which, in step 380, on the basis of the content of such information, can make an on-the-fly modification of the original schedule, a modification that may include the addition of targeted advertising messages or new proposed videos by users, as will be illustrated in greater detail with reference to Figure 4.

After any modification of the schedule, the method returns to step 355 of transmission of the next video in the sequence defined by the schedule; steps from 355 to 380 are then repeated until the videos provided for in the schedule are exhausted.

With reference to the flow chart of Figure 3, a possible embodiment of the synchronization mechanism which is used in the synchronous delivery of the schedule described in Figure 2 is now illustrated in greater detail.

At step 400 a Client 270, connected to the social port 170 or 230, downloads the user interface through telematic communication mechanisms known in the art; the Client 270 then calculates on the basis of temporal information coming from the server extrapolated from the packets it receives, the value of the variable Δ, which represents a time delay between the social porti 170 or 230 and the Client 270, due for example to different geographical locations or to any delays introduced by the network. In a preferred embodiment, this variable Δ is calculated on the basis of the Unix timestamps (uts) of the social port 170 or 230 and of the Client 270.

At step 410 the Client 270 requests a schedule V, consisting of n ordered videos vlrv2, ... vn; in one embodiment the Client makes an asynchronous request to receive the first k videos scheduled in the schedule.

At step 420 the social porti 170 or 230 returns to the Client 270 information relating to the user at the start of each video.

On the basis of these parameters and the Δ value previously calculated, in step 430 the Client 270 determines the video vx currently displayed and calculates the time instant t at which the display of this video should be.

At step 450 the Client 270 downloads the video vx starting from the time instant t identified at step 430.

At step 460 the video vx is performed on Client 270. In case of interruption (step 470), due to various reasons such as, for example, pause by the user of Client 270, buffering or interruption of connectivity, the variable Δ is monitored and its value updated (step 480).

Once the conditions for transmitting have been re-established, the method returns to step 460 and the execution of the video vx resumes starting from the instant indicated by the variable Δ.

Once the execution of the video vx is finished, at step 490 the Client 270 checks if there are further videos in the schedule. If not, the method ends. If so, at step 500 the index of the video to be executed is increased so that the system prepares itself to process the next video, vx + i; this next video will have the starting instant of the previous video. Furthermore, in order to compensate for any connection lag and / or latencies of the hardware of the Client 270, at the beginning of each new video the time synchronization between social porti 170 or 230 and Client 270 is carried out again. The method then returns to step 420 for viewing the new video vx + i, - steps 420 to 550 are thus repeated cyclically until the residual videos in the schedule are exhausted.

With reference to the flow diagram of Figure 4, a possible embodiment of the integration step 330 described in Figure 2 is now illustrated in greater detail.

At step 600 the schedule, called the original schedule, as initially generated by the aggregation server 100 is presented to the Clients 270.

At step 610, a new video v of index x is proposed by a Client 270. At step 620 a video management mode is chosen based on settings configured in the aggregation server 100.

If the mode set is of the "editorial" type, at step 630 the video is subjected to the acceptance of the editorial staff. If the video is accepted, it is selected for integration into the schedule. If, on the other hand, the video is deemed unsuitable, at step 700 it is discarded.

If the mode set in the aggregation server 100 is that of digging, i.e. based on information typically associated with content on social networks (for example the "like" of Facebook, the "vote" of Youtube), then at step 650 they are taken in consideration of all the videos sent and not yet published and the video that obtains a higher classification on the basis of the aforementioned criteria is selected for inclusion in the schedule.

If at step 620 the video selection mode is via the voting system, then at step 670 the editorial staff selects the videos proposed so far by choosing the most suitable ones. At step 680, the system invites users, for example via a video message, to vote for the candidate videos from the editorial staff. At step 690 the video with the highest number of votes is selected for integration into the schedule.

In step 640, the video selected in steps 630, 650 or 690 is integrated into the schedule, as previously described, by adding it at the end of the schedule or by inserting it in special sections within the schedule reserved for user-generated content.

It has thus been shown that the present invention achieves the intended aim and objects. In particular, it has been seen how the system and the method thus conceived make it possible to overcome the qualitative limits of the known art thanks to the fact that they make it possible to make video content available to a community of users, normally accessible on demand and usable by individuals in asynchronous, in a synchronous mode, in which all connected users view the same frame at any time.

The use of video content synchronized in this way makes it possible to integrate with social interaction features in real time, such as chat or contextual comments. The method and the system thus conceived therefore allow to restore the social experience of collective and simultaneous use of video content typical of the television medium, enriching it with the social interaction methods typical of social networks.

Clearly, numerous modifications are evident and can be readily carried out by the person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the claims should not be limited by the illustrations or preferred embodiments illustrated in the description in the form of examples, but rather the claims should encompass all of the patentable novelty features that reside in the present invention, including all features. characteristics that would be treated as equivalent by the person skilled in the art.

Claims (8)

CLAIMS 1. Digital video transmission system comprising: - an aggregation server (100), able to generate, on the basis of one or more video contents stored in one or more video sources (150, 160), a playlist comprising a sequence of said video contents; - means for publishing contents (170, 230), suitable for displaying multimedia contents and making said multimedia contents available to a plurality of users through client devices (270), connected to said means for publishing contents (170, 230); characterized in that said aggregation server (110) is also configured for: - generate, on the basis of said playlist, a schedule; - publish said schedule on content publishing media (170, 230); and by the fact that - said content publishing means (170, 230) are configured to deliver said schedule synchronously to said users. System according to claim 1, wherein said content publishing means (170, 230) comprise a publishing server (170), comprising a website, configured to deliver said schedule to said Client devices (270). System according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said content publishing means comprise a social network (230). 4. System according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said aggregation server (100) comprises an integrating module (130) adapted to dynamically modify said schedule. 5. System according to claim 4, characterized that said content publishing means comprise a feedback module (220) and that said integrating module (130) is able to dynamically modify said schedule on the basis of information relating to said plurality of users , coming from said feedback module (220). 6. Method for the transmission of digital video comprising the steps which consist in: - generating (310), by an aggregation server (100), on the basis of one or more video contents stored in one or more video sources (150, 160), a playlist comprising a sequence of said video contents; - generating (340), by said aggregation server (100), on the basis of said playlist, a schedule; ~ publish (350), by an aggregation server (100), said schedule on content publishing media (170, 230); - delivering, by said content publication means (170, 230), said schedule in synchronous mode to a plurality of connected to said content publication means (170, 230). 7. Method according to claim 6, further comprising the steps which consist in: - collect (375), from said content publication means (170, 230), information relating to said plurality of users, - send, by said content publication means (170, 230), said relative information to said plurality of users to said aggregation server (100), - modify (380), by said aggregation server (100), said schedule on the basis of said information relating to said plurality of users. Method according to one or more of claims 6 to 7, wherein said step of delivering said schedule in synchronous mode to said plurality of Client devices (270) comprises the steps which consist in: - calculating (400) by a Client (270) of said plurality of Client devices, a value representative of a time delay between said content publishing means (170, 230) and said Client (270); - making a request (410), by said Client (270) to said content publishing means (170, 230), said request comprising a video sequence; sending (420), by said content publishing means (170, 230) to said Client (270), information relating to the start out of each video of said video sequence; - calculating (430), by said Client (270), based on said value representative of a time delay and on said information relating to the start output of each video, a video of said video sequence and a time instant of viewing of said video; - downloading (450), by said Client (270), said video starting from said instant in time; - execute (460), by said Client (270), said video.