JP2003009113A - Contents reproducing equipment, and method and program thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable reproduction of a plurality of multimedia contents which are distributed via a network based on a scenario document described with scenario describing language like XML, by synchronizing the contents in parallel faithfully to the scenario on terminal equipment. SOLUTION: In the terminal equipment C, a scenario Sa is received from a server S1 and analyzed in a scenario analysis part 5. Based on the scenario analysis result, distribution request of multimedia contents is sent from a distribution request part 6 to servers S2-S5, distributed multimedia contents are received with a contents receiving part 7, and displayed on a reproduction display part 9. At this time, in accordance with the scenario and data type of the multimedia contents, pre-read receiving of contents data is started from a specified time before reproduction display is started. Consequently, synchronized reproduction display is enabled in parallel on the terminal equipment, and scenario can be reproduced faithfully.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to XML (extensib).
The present invention relates to a content reproduction device and method for synchronously reproducing a plurality of multimedia contents in parallel based on a scenario document described in a description language such as a le markup language).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, HTML (hypertext markup language) has been used as a language for describing pages of the World Wide Web (WWW) as contents distributed via a network such as the Internet.
Are used. The specifications of the current common platform are the WWW Consortium (W3C: World W), which is a WWW standardization organization.
XML (extensible m) in ide Web Consortium
arkup language) or its subset as SMIL (sy
Description languages such as nchronized multimedia integration language) are recommended as standards. A real player developed in response to this recommendation is said to be effective for a system that realizes a scenario by SMIL on a network as a streaming content application that plays downloaded content data on the spot. ing. JP-A-11-
Japanese Patent No. 219313 discloses a content prefetching method for allowing a client to browse hypertext in HTML or the like efficiently.

[0003]

However, not only the time cannot be described in the conventional HTML, but
The content is nothing more than still images, and video and
It has been impossible to distribute a plurality of multimedia contents including voices via a network and reproduce and display them in parallel. Further, even in the above-mentioned real player or the like, when a plurality of multimedia contents are reproduced and displayed in parallel by a scenario using a description language such as SMIL, it may not be possible to describe a scenario such as synchronous reproduction.

To faithfully realize a scenario described in a description language such as SMIL on a network system,
In order to synchronize and play multiple multimedia contents in parallel according to the scenario, very advanced technology is required. Such parallel synchronous display of a plurality of multimedia contents has problems that it is difficult to realize on a wide area network such as the Internet, and the cost of commercialization increases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a plurality of multimedia contents distributed via a network based on a scenario document described in a scenario description language such as XML are paralleled on a terminal device. It is an object of the present invention to provide a content reproduction apparatus and method, and a program, which can be reproduced in synchronism with each other and can reproduce a scenario faithfully and quickly.

[0006]

A content reproducing apparatus of the present invention is a content reproducing apparatus for reproducing a plurality of multimedia contents distributed via a network based on a scenario document described in a scenario description language. , A pre-reading means for pre-reading the plurality of multimedia contents when the plurality of multimedia contents are delivered and synchronized and reproduced in parallel.

[0007] With the above configuration, a plurality of multimedia contents distributed via the network can be reproduced in parallel faster and surely in synchronization by prefetching, so that the scenario described in the scenario description language can be used. Based on the above, it is possible to reproduce a scenario faithfully and quickly by synchronizing a plurality of multimedia contents including moving images and audio on a terminal device in parallel.

Further, as the prefetching means, a scenario analyzing means for analyzing the scenario document and a distribution request for distribution to a server for distributing a plurality of multimedia contents based on the result of the scenario analysis are distributed prior to the reproduction time. It is configured to include a network-connectable terminal device having requesting means and content receiving / reproducing means for receiving distributed content data and performing reproduction control based on the scenario document.

[0009] With the above configuration, by prefetching multimedia contents in the terminal device and holding them by buffering or the like, the distributed contents data can be quickly reproduced and displayed. For this reason,
Multiple multimedia contents including video and audio can be displayed in parallel and synchronously, and the waiting time at this time can be reduced so that they can be played back at an earlier timing, and the scenario can be played back faithfully and quickly on the terminal device. Is possible.

Further, the distribution requesting means makes a prefetch request to the server before the reproduction time for reproducing the plurality of multimedia contents based on the scenario analysis result, and the content receiving / reproducing means, The content data distributed in response to the prefetch request is configured to start prefetch reception before the playback time and hold the content data in parallel synchronous playback.

With the above-described configuration, it is possible to avoid delivery delay by starting prefetching before the playback time, so that the delivered content data can be played back and displayed with little waiting time, and a plurality of multimedia including moving images and voices can be displayed. It becomes possible to realize the parallel synchronous reproduction display of contents more faithfully and quickly.

Further, as the prefetching means, a delivery control means for receiving the delivery request from the terminal device for reproducing the plurality of multimedia contents and delivering the prefetched content data before the reproduction time to the terminal device. It is configured to have a network-connectable server.

With the above-described configuration, the server can receive the prefetching distribution request from the terminal device and distribute the prefetched content data, so that the distributed content data can be reproduced and displayed with little waiting time. It is possible to reproduce and display the multimedia contents in parallel synchronously and faithfully and quickly reproduce the scenario on the terminal device.

Further, the pre-reading means is configured to determine the priority order of the pre-reading according to the data type of the multimedia content, and pre-read the corresponding content data in the order according to the priority order. is there.

With the above configuration, prefetching is performed in the order in accordance with the priority order based on the priority order of prefetching set in accordance with the data type of the multimedia content, so that the efficiency of the prefetching process can be improved and the parallel synchronous reproduction display can be performed. In this case, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the user has to wait, and it is possible to reproduce the scenario faithfully and quickly.

Further, the pre-reading means is configured to pre-read the multimedia content based on the scenario branch prediction when the scenario document has a scenario branch based on the analysis result of the scenario document. Is.

With the above configuration, by performing prefetching based on the branch prediction of the scenario, it becomes possible to faithfully and smoothly display the parallel and synchronized reproduction of the multimedia contents even when the scenario of the branch destination is entered.

Further, the prefetching means is configured to prefetch the multimedia contents described in the branch destination scenario based on the branch prediction of the scenario.

With the above configuration, by pre-reading the multimedia contents described in the branch destination scenario, the pre-reading effect can be obtained even when the scenario is switched to the branch destination scenario, and the smooth parallel synchronization of multimedia contents is achieved. Playback display is possible.

Further, as the scenario document, for the definition of the multimedia content including the streaming content having at least a sound or a moving image for the reproduction of the multimedia content, the time-varying multimedia content is recorded on the web. It is configured to use a scenario document described as a scenario description language using a tag for synchronizing with a page.

With the above configuration, for example, it can be applied to a scenario document using a scenario description language based on SMIL, which is XML or a subset thereof, and multimedia content such as streaming content can be easily displayed in parallel and synchronously.

The program of the present invention is for realizing the function of the content reproducing apparatus described in any one of the above in a computer.

With the above configuration, when multimedia contents are distributed via a network based on a scenario document described in a scenario description language and reproduced and displayed on a terminal device, pre-reading can avoid a distribution delay, etc. The parallel synchronous reproduction display of multimedia contents can be executed with little waiting time, and the scenario can be reproduced faithfully and quickly on the terminal device.

The content reproduction method of the present invention is a content reproduction method for reproducing a plurality of multimedia contents distributed via a network based on a scenario document described in a scenario description language, wherein the plurality of multimedia contents are reproduced. It is configured to have a pre-reading step of pre-reading the plurality of multimedia contents when receiving the distribution of the contents and reproducing them synchronously in parallel.

With the above configuration, a plurality of multimedia contents distributed via the network can be reproduced in parallel faster and more reliably in synchronization by pre-reading. Therefore, the scenario described in the scenario description language can be used. Based on the above, it is possible to reproduce a scenario faithfully and quickly by synchronizing a plurality of multimedia contents including moving images and audio on a terminal device in parallel.

In the prefetch step, a distribution request is issued to a server that distributes a plurality of multimedia contents on the basis of the analysis result of the scenario document prior to the reproduction time, and the distribution request is distributed before the reproduction time. The pre-reading reception of the content data is started and held so that parallel synchronous reproduction is possible.

With the above configuration, the multimedia contents are prefetched in the terminal device and held by buffering or the like, whereby the distributed contents data can be quickly reproduced and displayed. For this reason,
Multiple multimedia contents including video / audio can be displayed in parallel and synchronously, and the waiting time at this time can be reduced to play at an earlier timing, and the scenario can be faithfully and quickly played on the terminal device. Is possible.

In the pre-reading step, the pre-reading priority is determined according to the data type of the multimedia content, and the corresponding content data is pre-read in the order of the priority. is there.

With the above configuration, the prefetching is performed in order according to the priority order based on the priority order of the prefetching set according to the data type of the multimedia contents, so that the efficiency of the prefetching process can be improved and the parallel synchronous reproduction display can be performed. In this case, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the user has to wait, and it is possible to reproduce the scenario faithfully and quickly.

Further, in the prefetch step, if the scenario document has a scenario branch based on the analysis result of the scenario document, the multimedia content is prefetched based on the scenario branch prediction. Is.

With the above configuration, when the scenario document has a branch, by performing the prefetch based on the branch prediction of the scenario, the prefetch effect can be obtained even when the scenario of the branch destination is obtained, and the smooth multimedia content parallelism can be achieved. Synchronous playback display is possible.

[0032]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The description of the content reproduction apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a content reproduction method, a communication protocol used for content reproduction, and a program for executing content reproduction by a computer.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a network configuration including a content reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The network 1 is connected to servers S1 to S5 for distributing multimedia contents and terminal devices C1 and C2 for reproducing multimedia contents to form a network system 2, for example, an internet system. This network system 2
Then, S is defined as a subset of the XML scenario description language (extensible markup language) for defining a plurality of multimedia contents including streaming contents.
MIL (synchronized multimedia integration langua
ge) is used as a scenario description language to deliver and reproduce and display multimedia contents.

The servers S1 to S5 are provided with the SMIL scenario document, content storage means for storing each content data described in the scenario document, and distribution control means for controlling distribution of the content data. The terminal devices C1 and C2 receive scenario content analyzing means for analyzing the scenario document, delivery requesting means for requesting delivery of multimedia contents, content receiving for receiving distributed content data and controlling playback and display of the scenario document. Equipped with playback means.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the content reproduction apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The operation description of FIG. 2 is shown corresponding to the configuration in FIG.
When performing parallel synchronous reproduction display of multimedia contents in the network system 2, the terminal device C1
First, the scenario Sa is received from the server S1 and the scenario Sa is analyzed.

Next, based on the scenario analysis result, the terminal device C1 receives the moving image Ma from the server S2, the voice Wa from the server S3, and the still image Ga from the server S4.
Is received, and the text Ta is received from the server S5. Then, based on the description of the scenario Sa, the received contents are displayed in parallel in synchronization with each other.

FIG. 3 is a configuration explanatory view more specifically showing the configuration and function of the content reproduction apparatus in the first embodiment. The terminal device C includes a scenario analysis unit 5 that functions as a scenario analysis unit, a distribution request unit 6 that functions as a distribution request unit, and a reproduction control unit 8 that includes a content reception unit 7 that functions as a content reception / reproduction unit.
A reproduction display unit 9 including a display for displaying contents and a buffer 10 for temporarily storing received contents data are provided. The reproduction display unit 9 may include a speaker for audio reproduction. Then, in the network system 2 including the terminal device C, a pre-reading means for pre-reading in the distribution of multimedia contents is configured. Note that some functions such as the scenario analysis unit 5 in the terminal device C may be provided on the server side.

In FIG. 3, the terminal device C receives the scenario Sa from the server S1 and analyzes the scenario document described in the XML scenario description language such as SMIL by the scenario analysis unit 5 of the reproduction control unit 8. Then, based on the analysis result of the scenario document, the distribution request unit 6 sends the contents data M to the servers S2 to S5.
Send a, Wa, Ga, Ta delivery request.

Here, FIG. 4 shows an example of a scenario document for performing parallel synchronous reproduction display. The scenario document 20 includes PA
It is assumed that the R tag (<PAR>, </ PAR>) describes that a plurality of multimedia contents, that is, a moving image Ma, a sound Wa, a still image Ga, and a text Ta are reproduced and displayed in synchronization with each other. The terminal device C transmits a prefetch request as the distribution request from the distribution request unit 6, and in response thereto, the content data Ma, W distributed from each of the servers S2 to S5.
a, Ga, Ta are received by the content receiving unit 7,
A plurality of contents are synchronously displayed in parallel on the reproduction display unit 9.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for more specifically explaining the operation of the content reproduction apparatus in the first embodiment. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the terminal device C starts prefetch reception of the moving image Ma from the server S2 at time T1 prior to time T0 at which reproduction and display are performed. Next, time T0 at which playback display is performed
At a time T2 earlier than the time T3, the pre-reading reception of the audio Wa is started from the server S3, and the time T3 before the time T0 at which the reproduction display is performed.
The pre-reading reception of the still image Ga is started from the server S4.
Finally, at the time T4 before the time T0 at which the playback display is performed,
The prefetch reception of the text Ta is started from the server S5.
As a result, at time T0, these moving image Ma and audio W
It is possible to reproduce and display a, the still image Ga, and the text Ta in synchronization with each other.

As described above, in this embodiment, the terminal device C
When the multimedia content is received from the server and played back based on the analysis result of the scenario document, if the scenario is written to display multiple multimedia contents in parallel, the playback display is Before doing so, the content data is pre-read to the server and data reception is started. By such processing, at the start of reproduction, a predetermined amount of content data sufficient to be synchronized with other content is distributed, and reception is completed.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, for a scenario in which a plurality of multimedia contents are synchronously reproduced and displayed in parallel, parallel synchronous reproduction and display are faithfully and quickly performed in accordance with the scenario. It becomes possible.

[Second Embodiment] FIGS. 6 to 9 are explanatory views for explaining the operation of the content reproducing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The content reproduction apparatus according to the second embodiment sets the priority order of prefetching according to the data type of multimedia content, and performs prefetching.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a scenario analysis result. This scenario document includes text A, text B,
Video A, Audio A, Text C, Text D, Still Image A,
It is composed of moving picture B, sound B, sound C, moving picture C, moving picture D, moving picture E, sound D, and moving picture F, and the time axis expression when performing parallel synchronous playback display of a plurality of these multimedia contents is It is shown.

In this case, first, the text A and the text B are displayed at the time 3:00, and at the same time, the moving image A, the voice A, the text C, the text D, and the still image A are reproduced and displayed. Next, the reproduction display of the moving image A, the sound A, the text C, the text D, and the still image A ends 20 minutes later (3:20), and immediately thereafter, the moving image B and the sound B are simultaneously reproduced and displayed. Then, when the reproduction of the voice B ends 10 minutes later (3:30),
10 minutes later (3:40), the audio C and the moving image C are simultaneously reproduced and displayed. 10 minutes later (3:50), the reproduction of the moving image B and the audio C ends. And 10 minutes later (4: 0
The reproduction of the moving image C ends at 0). Simultaneously with the end of the reproduction of the moving image C, the moving image D, the moving image E, the sound D, and the moving image F are simultaneously reproduced and displayed. Ten minutes later (4:10), the reproduction and display of all the contents being reproduced and displayed, that is, the text A, the text B, the moving image D, the moving image E, the sound D, and the moving image F is completed.

FIG. 7 shows the priority order of prefetch according to the data type in a plurality of multimedia contents. In order to synchronously reproduce and display a plurality of multimedia contents based on the scenario document as described above, in the present embodiment, the prefetching is executed by changing the prefetching order according to the priority order as shown in FIG. . In this case, first, the text 31 which seems to have the smallest data amount is read ahead with the highest priority, and the moving image 34 having the largest data amount is lowered in the priority order of the read-ahead so as to be the last. That is, the text 31,
The still image 32, the sound 33, and the moving image 34 are read in order in descending order of the data amount.

FIG. 8 shows a group for performing parallel reproduction in a plurality of multimedia contents. If the plurality of multimedia contents shown in FIG. 6 are reproduced in parallel as a group, the first group (Par-1) 41 and the second group (Par-2) 4 are grouped.
It can be classified into four groups: second group 3, third group (Par-3) 43, and fourth group (Par-4) 44. For each group, the order of prefetching the content data is switched based on the priority order shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 shows the prefetching process on the time axis when the prefetching order is changed according to the priority order for a plurality of multimedia contents. As shown in FIG. 9, for each group 41 to 44, the order is changed according to the data type to perform prefetching, and these multimedia contents are reproduced and displayed in parallel in synchronization. That is, in the first group 41, prefetching is performed in the order of text A, text B, text C, text D, still image A, voice A, and moving image A, and in the second group 42, prefetching is performed in the order of voice B and moving image B. The third group 43 performs prefetching in the order of voice C and moving image C, and the fourth group 44 performs prefetching in the order of voice D, moving image D, moving image E, and moving image F. As a result, pre-reading can be performed for a plurality of multimedia contents in accordance with the data type, and parallel synchronous reproduction can be performed more smoothly.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the prefetching is performed by setting the priorities according to the data type of the multimedia content, so that the prefetching process is made efficient. As a result, it is possible to avoid as much as possible the state in which the user waits for the reproduction display on the terminal device C, and the waiting time during parallel synchronous reproduction can be shortened and shortened. Therefore, it is possible to perform parallel synchronous playback display more faithfully to the description of the scenario.

[Third Embodiment] FIGS. 10 and 11 are explanatory views for explaining the operation of the content reproducing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The third embodiment shows an example of processing when there is a branch in the scenario document.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a scenario configuration having branches. In the above-described embodiments, the scenario document has been described as describing only a method of reproducing and displaying a series of multimedia contents.
However, the XML scenario description language generally takes a hierarchical structure such as a scenario A to I shown in FIG. 10 that describes a branch from one scenario in the description of the scenario document to another scenario. Forgiven. in this case,
After moving to another scenario, the look-ahead feature cannot be put to good use. Therefore, in the present embodiment, in the course of analysis of the scenario document, the scenario branch is also extracted, the scenario branch is predicted, and then described in the branch destination scenario when the scenario is reproduced. Look ahead for multimedia content.

In the example of FIG. 10, when the scenario is analyzed, the scenario A branches to the scenarios B and C, the scenario B branches to the scenarios D to F, and the scenario C to the scenarios G to I.
Each branch is extracted to perform branch prediction, and the same prefetching process as in the above embodiment is also performed on the content data described in the branch destination scenario.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart for explaining the operation in the case of performing the parallel synchronous reproduction display in the content reproducing apparatus of the third embodiment more concretely. The operation description of FIG. 11 is shown corresponding to the functional configuration in the first embodiment shown in FIG.

First, in step ST11, the terminal device C receives the scenario A distributed from the server S1. Then, in step ST12, the terminal device C analyzes the received scenario A. Based on this scenario analysis result, the scenario A is executed in step ST13, and in parallel with this, the terminal device C receives the branch destination scenarios B and C from the server S1 in step S14. Next, in step S15, the terminal device C analyzes the received branch destination scenarios B and C. Then, based on the scenario analysis result, step ST16
At, the terminal device C performs prefetching of content data such as moving images and sounds described in scenarios B and C.

As described above, in the present embodiment, based on the analysis result of the scenario document, the scenario at the branch destination is also acquired from the server side in advance and the scenario analysis is performed, and the multimedia contents described in the scenario are also obtained. By writing to the prefetch list, prefetch can be performed prior to the branch of the scenario. This makes it possible to realize smooth synchronized playback display of multimedia contents even when the scenario currently being executed is shifted to the branch destination scenario.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, even for a scenario document in which a branch to another scenario is described,
Since the pre-reading process of the content data described in the branch destination scenario can be executed, multiple multimedia contents can be played back in synchronization in parallel regardless of the scenario branch, and the scenario description can be faithfully and smoothly performed. Can be played.

[0058]

As described above, according to the present invention, X
It is possible to reproduce a plurality of multimedia contents distributed via a network based on a scenario document described in a scenario description language such as ML in parallel in a terminal device, and reproduce the scenario faithfully and quickly. The effect that can be obtained is obtained.

In addition, since a plurality of multimedia contents distributed via the network can be reproduced in parallel faster and surely in synchronization by prefetching, it is based on the scenario described in the scenario description language. Thus, it becomes possible to reproduce a scenario faithfully and quickly by synchronizing a plurality of multimedia contents including moving images and audio on a terminal device in parallel.

Further, based on the priority order of prefetching set in accordance with the data type of the multimedia contents, prefetching is performed in the order in accordance with the priority order, so that the efficiency of prefetching process can be improved and the parallel synchronous reproduction display can be achieved. It is possible to avoid a situation where the user is kept waiting with a high probability, and to faithfully and swiftly reproduce the scenario.

Further, when the scenario document has a branch, by performing the pre-reading based on the branch prediction of the scenario, the pre-reading effect can be obtained even when the scenario of the branch destination is obtained, and the smooth synchronous reproduction of the multimedia contents is performed in parallel. The display can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a network configuration including a content reproduction device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of the content reproduction device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a configuration explanatory diagram more specifically showing the configuration and function of the content reproduction apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a scenario document for performing parallel synchronous reproduction display.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram more specifically explaining the operation of the content reproduction device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a scenario analysis result according to the second embodiment.

[Fig. 7] Fig. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the priority order of prefetching according to data types in a plurality of multimedia contents.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a group for performing parallel reproduction in a plurality of multimedia contents.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing, on the time axis, the prefetching process when the prefetching order is switched according to the priority order for a plurality of multimedia contents.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a scenario configuration having a branch according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart more specifically explaining an operation when performing parallel synchronous reproduction display in the content reproduction device of the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 network 2 network system 5 Scenario analysis section 6 Delivery request section 7 Content receiver 8 Playback control section 9 Playback display section 10 buffers 20 Scenario Document 31 text 32 still images 33 voice 34 videos 41 First Group 42 Second Group 43 Third Group 44th group C, C1, C2 terminal device S1-S5 server

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A content reproducing apparatus for reproducing a plurality of multimedia contents distributed via a network based on a scenario document described in a scenario description language, the distribution device receiving the plurality of multimedia contents. A content reproduction apparatus comprising a pre-reading unit for pre-reading the plurality of multimedia contents when these are synchronously reproduced in parallel. 2. A distribution for requesting a distribution to a server for distributing a plurality of multimedia contents based on the result of the scenario analysis, as a prefetching means, and a scenario analysis means for analyzing the scenario document. 2. A network-connectable terminal device comprising requesting means and content receiving / reproducing means for receiving distributed content data and performing reproduction control based on the scenario document. The described content playback device. 3. The distribution requesting means makes a prefetch request to the server before a reproduction time for reproducing the plurality of multimedia contents based on the scenario analysis result, and the content receiving / reproducing means, 3. The content reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the content data distributed in response to the prefetch request is prefetched and received before the reproduction time, and held in parallel and synchronously reproducible. 4. As the prefetching unit, a distribution control unit that receives a distribution request from a terminal device that reproduces the plurality of multimedia contents and distributes the prefetched content data before the reproduction time to the terminal device. The content reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a server capable of being connected to the network. 5. The read-ahead means determines a read-ahead priority order according to the data type of the multimedia content, and reads the corresponding content data in an order according to the priority order. Items 1 to 4
The content reproduction device described in any one of 1. 6. The pre-reading means pre-reads the multimedia content based on a scenario branch prediction when the scenario document has a scenario branch based on the analysis result of the scenario document. The content reproducing apparatus according to claim 1. 7. The content reproducing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the prefetching unit prefetches the multimedia content described in the scenario of the branch destination based on the branch prediction of the scenario. 8. The time-varying multimedia content is defined as the scenario document for defining the multimedia content including the streaming content having at least audio or moving images for the reproduction of the multimedia content. The scenario document described as a scenario description language using a tag for synchronizing with a page is used.
The content reproduction device described in any one of 1. 9. A program for realizing the function of the content reproduction apparatus according to claim 1 in a computer. 10. A content reproduction method for reproducing a plurality of multimedia contents distributed via a network based on a scenario document described in a scenario description language, the method comprising receiving distribution of the plurality of multimedia contents. A content reproducing method comprising a pre-reading step of pre-reading the plurality of multimedia contents when these are synchronously reproduced in parallel. 11. In the prefetch step, a distribution request is issued prior to a reproduction time to a server that distributes a plurality of multimedia contents based on the analysis result of the scenario document, and is distributed before the reproduction time. 11. The content reproducing method according to claim 10, wherein the pre-reading reception of the content data is started and held so that parallel synchronous reproduction is possible. 12. The pre-reading step determines priorities of pre-reading according to the data type of the multimedia contents, and pre-reads corresponding content data in an order according to the priorities. Item 10. The content reproduction method according to Item 10. 13. The prefetch step is characterized in that, in the case where the scenario document has a scenario branch based on the analysis result of the scenario document, the multimedia content is prefetched based on the scenario branch prediction. The content reproduction method according to claim 10.