JP2002314971A - Data transmission system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data transmission system in which efficient delivery of data can be ensured when a program content is transmitted while being added with metadata. SOLUTION: The data transmission system comprises means for dividing metadata 22 related to a program content 21 (metadata dividing section 23), means for sorting divided segmented metadata (metadata sorting section 24), means for synthesizing sorted segmented metadata and the video/audio data of the program content (data synthesizing section 25), and means for converting synthesized data into a specified format (data converting section 26).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data transmission system for adding metadata related to video data or audio data to at least one of video data and audio data and transmitting the data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the number of multimedia program contents has rapidly increased due to the digitization of broadcasting and the spread of the Internet. In order to select or acquire these program contents, data for explaining the program contents is added to the program contents, and the program contents are used in electronic program guides, search engines, and the like. Information related to these program contents is generally called metadata.

[0003] Conventionally, there are a number of techniques for transmitting program content and its metadata together. For example, in digital broadcasting, compressed video and audio are transmitted simultaneously with program information using an MPEG2 multiplexing system. In addition, HTTP (Hyper Text Trans) used on the Internet
fer Protocol), a technique capable of transmitting video, audio, and text data in a complex manner is used.

[0004] In these metadata, the size of the metadata itself increases as the contents of the program content are described in detail. Therefore, a transmitting device and a receiving device for efficiently transmitting metadata are disclosed in
No. 00-224257. This receiving apparatus is said to be able to perform efficient data distribution by fragmenting and associating metadata with program content.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION However, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
In the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 000-224257, metadata to be treated as one piece of information added to a program content unit and metadata that can be added to a shot unit are divided without being classified. Therefore, the fragmented metadata after division has a structure that is difficult to process in the receiving device, and there is a problem that it is difficult to perform efficient data distribution.

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and provides a data transmission system capable of performing efficient data distribution when metadata is added to program contents and transmitted. The purpose is to do.

[0007]

A data transmission system according to the present invention comprises a dividing means for dividing metadata related to program contents, and a classifying means for classifying the fragmented metadata divided by the dividing means. Classifying means, synthesizing means for synthesizing the fragmentation metadata classified by the classifying means and at least one of video data and audio data of the program content, and converting the data synthesized by the synthesizing means into a predetermined format And conversion means for converting the data into

[0008] In the data transmission system,
The classifying unit may be configured to classify the divided fragmented metadata into synchronizable fragmentation metadata and non-synchronizable fragmentation metadata.

[0009] In the data transmission system,
It is possible to have a synchronization unit for synchronizing the fragmentation metadata classified as synchronizable by the classification unit with at least one of video data and audio data of the program content.

[0010] In the data transmission system,
The synchronization unit can synchronize the fragmentation metadata and at least one of the video data and the audio data of the program content so that the data is transmitted simultaneously.

[0011] In the data transmission system,
The synchronization means can synchronize the fragmented metadata with at least one of the video data and the audio data of the program content so that the data is transmitted first.

[0012] In the data transmission system,
Detecting means for detecting a transmission capacity in a network transmission path, and transmission amount grasping means for grasping a data transmission amount per time, and a transmission amount of the fragmented metadata according to a data transmission amount. Can be controlled.

[0013] In the data transmission system,
When the amount of data transmission on the network transmission path is small, it is possible to transmit fragmented metadata preferentially.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a data transmission system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a data transmission system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

<Data Transmission System> A data transmission system according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG.
1, a metadata provider 12 that creates and distributes metadata that is data for program content,
Transmitting device 13 for transmitting program content and metadata, receiving device 16 for receiving program content and metadata, transmitting device 13 and receiving device 16
And a broadcast network 14 and a communication network 15 for connecting

In this data transmission system, a program content provider 11 distributes program content via a transmission device 13. Further, the metadata provider 12 creates metadata, which is information on the program content, and then distributes the metadata via the transmission device 13. The program content provider 11 and the metadata provider 12 may be the same.

The transmitting device 13 converts the program contents and metadata into a form suitable for the broadcast network 14 and the communication network 15 and distributes the program contents and metadata to the receiving device 16. The receiving device 16 can use the program content and the metadata transmitted from the transmitting device 13 via the broadcast network 14 or the communication network 15 to view and search for the program content. .

<Transmission Apparatus> FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the transmission apparatus in detail, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the structure of metadata. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the metadata 22 created from the program content 21 includes a program title 31, a genre 32, shot information 33, a viewpoint shot collection 34 to be included for performing viewpoint viewing, and metadata of the metadata itself. It is composed of various elements such as the schema 35. The metadata 22 is the program content 21
The program contents 21 include those composed of video and audio, those composed only of video, and those composed only of audio.

The metadata 22 is divided by the metadata dividing unit 23 into units that can be easily transmitted. As a method of division, division is performed for each content of the metadata 22,
Examples of the method include division into shot units and division into capacity units. Thus, the fragmentation metadata is created by the metadata division unit 23. In addition, when performing division for each shot, the start time and the end time,
Information such as a start time and an interval for identifying which shot of the program content 21 the metadata 22 corresponds to should be left.

The fragmentation metadata is classified in the metadata classification unit 24 into fragmentation metadata to be transmitted in conjunction with the shot and fragmentation metadata to be transmitted irrespective of the shot, according to the contents. You. Some fragmentation metadata can be added in shot units. For example, detailed information about shots such as "famous player hits a shot" is described, and in a program content of soccer, a collection of shots necessary to view only from the viewpoint of "goal scene only" is described. Are fragmentation metadata that can be added in shot units. As another example, an example including information on the importance of a shot determined by a program content creator or a distributor can be given. Such fragmentation metadata that can be added in shot units can be transmitted in conjunction with the video / audio data of the corresponding shot. The shot may be divided hierarchically or recursively.

[0021] The fragmentation metadata includes program content 2
Some titles cannot be added in units of shots, such as the title 31 and genre 32 of one, and the schema 35 of the metadata 22. Such fragmentation metadata is usually
Since transmission only needs to be performed within a certain period of time, transmission can be performed irrespective of the video and audio of the shot.

The same fragmentation metadata may be classified using a plurality of methods for transmission. That is, the fragmentation metadata that can be added in units of shots may be classified so that at least one of video data or audio data of a shot and fragmentation metadata corresponding to the shot are simultaneously transmitted. May be categorized to transmit fragmentation metadata regardless.

The fragmented metadata classified by the metadata classification unit 24 is sent to the data synthesis unit 25. Further, at least one of the video data and the audio data of the program content 21 is also sent to the data synthesizing unit 25. Then, the data synthesizing unit 25 synthesizes the fragmented metadata with at least one of the video data and the audio data or other data.

With respect to fragmentation metadata that can be added in shot units, data is synthesized in synchronization with at least one of video data or audio data of a shot corresponding to the fragmentation metadata. In addition, data may be synthesized in synchronization with at least one of the video data and the audio data of the corresponding shot while providing a delay time for the fragmentation metadata corresponding to the shot.

In the case of fragmentation metadata that is not related to the video data or audio data of the shot, it is possible to synthesize the fragmentation metadata and at least one of the video data and audio data using various methods. is there. For example, the corresponding fragmented metadata can be periodically inserted into at least one of the video data and the audio data and synthesized. Further, as another example, conditions for the transmission time limit and the number of times of transmission of fragmented metadata are determined, and the fragmented metadata and at least one of video data or audio data are synthesized so as to meet the conditions, or the network transmission is performed. It is possible to combine the fragmented metadata so that the fragmented metadata can be transmitted preferentially when there is enough capacity.

When the fragmented metadata is transmitted preferentially when the transmission capacity of the network has a margin, the data synthesizing unit 25 transmits the data from the data synthesizing unit 25 itself or the data transmitting unit 27 at the subsequent stage to the network. The calculation result regarding the ratio of the actual data amount to the transmission capacity is acquired, and the data transmission interval and frequency are determined and the data is transmitted. The synthesized data is converted into a format suitable for transmission by the data conversion unit 26 and transmitted to the reception device 16 via the broadcast network 14 or the communication network 15 by the data transmission unit 27.

Next, a specific embodiment for transmitting data using the data transmission system according to the present invention will be described.

<Embodiment 1> First, an embodiment 1 in which at least one of video data and audio data is processed in real time on a shot basis will be described. In the data transmission system according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, at least one of video data or audio data of a shot and fragmentation metadata related to the shot can be transmitted simultaneously in synchronization. In the first embodiment, by using such a processing method, in a receiving apparatus capable of simultaneously processing metadata and at least one of video data and audio data or the like, the receiving apparatus performs processing in units of shots according to the metadata. It is possible to process at least one of video data and audio data in real time.

When the receiving device has a data storage device, whether or not to record at least one of video data and audio data in units of shots is determined according to the content of fragmentation metadata relating to shots. Can be determined. It is also possible to control the recording quality of video / audio data in shot units. When these recording methods are determined, further performance improvement can be expected by performing the determination using the user's preference and history information.

<Second Embodiment> Next, a description will be given of a second embodiment in which after fragmentation metadata relating to a shot is transmitted, at least one of video data and audio data relating to an actual shot is transmitted. The second embodiment performs substantially the same processing as the first embodiment, but as shown in FIG.
After the fragmentation metadata associated with the shot has been transmitted, at least one of the video data or audio data associated with the actual shot is transmitted, so that the fragmentation metadata is received at the receiving device before the actual video -At least one of video data and audio data can be processed based on the information of fragmentation metadata by using the delay time 51 until the audio data is transmitted. After receiving at least one of the video data and the audio data, the receiving device determines the processing method and determines the video / audio data.
Performs audio data processing.

<Embodiment 3> Next, a description will be given of Embodiment 3 in which fragmented metadata is transmitted when there is a margin in the transmission capacity on the network transmission path. In the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, fragmentation metadata that is not associated with a shot is transmitted when the transmission of video data, audio data, or fragmentation metadata associated with a shot is small, that is, when a network transmission path is free. This is transmitted when the area 61 is large. By performing such processing, the network transmission path can be used effectively and efficiently.

[0032]

In the transmission system according to the present invention, the divided fragmented metadata is classified, then combined with at least one of the video data and audio data of the program content, converted into a predetermined format, and transmitted. In this case, the divided fragmentation metadata can be classified into synchronizable fragmentation metadata and non-synchronization fragmentation metadata. Further, it is possible to synchronize the fragmented metadata classified as synchronizable with at least one of the video data and the audio data of the program content. Therefore, the fragmented metadata after division has a structure that can be easily processed in the receiving device, and thus it is possible to perform efficient data distribution.

Further, in the data transmission system according to the present invention, the fragmentation metadata and at least one of the video data and the audio data of the program content are synchronized so that the two data are simultaneously transmitted or the video data of the program content are transmitted. Alternatively, both data can be synchronized such that the fragmentation metadata is transmitted first for the audio data. Therefore, in the receiving device, the fragmentation metadata and the video data or the audio data can be sequentially processed, so that the data transmission can be performed more efficiently.

Further, in the data transmission system according to the present invention, the transmission amount of fragmented metadata can be controlled in accordance with the transmission amount of data on the network transmission path.
When the amount of data transmission is small, fragmented metadata can be transmitted preferentially. Therefore, data transfer corresponding to the amount of data transmission on the network transmission path can be performed, so that data transmission can be performed more efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a data transmission system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a transmitting device in detail.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of metadata.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a first embodiment for simultaneously transmitting fragmentation metadata and video / audio data.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a second embodiment in which video / audio data is transmitted first for fragmented metadata.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a third embodiment for transmitting fragmented metadata according to the status of a network transmission path.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Content provider 12 Metadata provider 13 Transmission device 14 Broadcast network 15 Communication network 16 Receiving device 21 Program content 22 Metadata 23 Metadata division unit 24 Metadata classification unit 25 Data synthesis unit 26 Data conversion unit 27 Data transmission unit 31 Title 32 Genre 33 Shot information 34 Viewpoint shot collection 35 Metadata schema 51 Delay time 61 Free area of network transmission path

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. Dividing means for dividing metadata related to program contents; Classifying means for classifying fragmented metadata divided by the dividing means; Fragmentation classified by the classifying means A synthesizing unit for synthesizing the metadata and at least one of the video data and the audio data of the program content; and a converting unit for converting the data synthesized by the synthesizing unit into a predetermined format. And a data transmission system. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the classifying unit classifies the divided fragmented metadata into synchronizable fragmented metadata and non-synchronizable fragmented metadata.
Data transmission system as described. 3. A synchronizing means for synchronizing the fragmentation metadata classified as synchronizable by the classifying means with at least one of video data and audio data of the program content. Data transmission system as described. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the synchronizing means synchronizes the fragmented metadata and at least one of video data and audio data of the program content so that the data is transmitted simultaneously. Data transmission system. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the synchronization unit synchronizes at least one of the video data and the audio data of the program content such that the fragmented metadata is transmitted first. 3. The data transmission system according to 3. 6. A device for detecting a transmission capacity in a network transmission path, and a transmission amount grasping unit for grasping a data transmission amount per time, wherein the fragmentation is performed in accordance with a data transmission amount. The data transmission system according to claim 1, wherein a transmission amount of metadata is controlled. 7. The data transmission system according to claim 6, wherein when the amount of data transmission on the network transmission path is small, the fragmented metadata is transmitted preferentially.