JP2003143573A - Meta-data transmission method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a meta-data transmission method which enables efficient reception of meta-data on the reception side. SOLUTION: A plurality of meta-data streams having contents described are transmitted, and information related to each meta-data stream is transmitted as each meta-data stream information, and each meta-data stream information includes at least one of information related to the data volume of the corresponding meta-data stream and information related to description contents of the corresponding meta-data stream.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of transmitting metadata that describes the contents of contents. It is an object of the present invention to provide a metadata transmission method that enables efficient reception processing of metadata on the receiving side, and further provides a metadata transmission method that enables efficient transmission of metadata. There is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, metadata for describing the content has been added to the content for the purpose of content management, search, and efficient processing. In addition, standards for metadata have been established. For example, in digital broadcasting, EPG
(Electronic Program Guid
Program guide information called e) is distributed. Also,
MPEG is used as an international standard for the description of AV content.
-7 standardization is in progress.

As a technique relating to the transmission of metadata, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-4272 “data distribution method,
And a data structure used in the transmitting device, the receiving device, and the data distribution system to which the present data distribution method is applied, and the data structure used in the present data distribution system ”, while the information providing source transmits the metadata through the information transmission medium , A data distribution method of acquiring content data corresponding to the metadata based on the metadata received by the information receiving side. According to this data distribution method, the information receiving side selectively receives the content data based on the metadata, so that data distribution with high transmission efficiency and filtering efficiency can be realized.

[0004]

In the conventional metadata transmission method, when transmitting the metadata corresponding to a certain content, the metadata is converted into a transmission format suitable for the transmission and then transmitted. All corresponding metadata was transmitted. Therefore, even if the metadata to be transmitted contains unnecessary metadata for the receiving side, the receiving side cannot receive and process only the necessary metadata, and the receiving processing efficiency of the metadata is improved. It was difficult to raise. In particular, when the amount of metadata is large, it is difficult to further improve the reception processing efficiency. In addition, transmitting unnecessary metadata to the receiving side has a problem in terms of transmission efficiency.

The present invention provides a metadata transmission method that enables a receiving side to selectively receive and process necessary data in metadata, and further enables efficient transmission of metadata. It is an object of the present invention to provide a metadata transmission method for performing the same.

[0006]

Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides the following transmission method. (1) A plurality of metadata streams divided from the metadata describing the contents of the content are transmitted, and information regarding each of the metadata streams is transmitted as each metadata stream information, and the metadata. The metadata transmission method, wherein the stream information includes at least one of information regarding a data amount of each corresponding metadata stream and information regarding a description content of each corresponding metadata stream. . (2) While transmitting a plurality of metadata streams describing the content of the content,
Information about each stream is transmitted as each metadata stream information, and each metadata stream information includes information about a data amount of each corresponding metadata stream and each corresponding metadata.
A metadata transmission method comprising at least one of information about description contents of a stream. (3) In the metadata transmission method according to (1) or (2), at least one piece of metadata stream information among the pieces of metadata stream information is:
A metadata transmission method, comprising: dependency information that is information specifying another metadata stream associated with the corresponding metadata stream. (4) In the metadata transmission method according to any one of (1) to (3), each of the metadata streams and the metadata stream information is packetized and transmitted, and the metadata is transmitted. An identifier indicating that the metadata stream is included is added to each packet including the data stream, and an identifier indicating that the metadata stream information is included in each packet including the metadata stream information. Is added, and each packet including the metadata stream information is transmitted prior to the transmission of each packet including the metadata stream. (5) In the metadata transmission method according to any one of (1) to (3) above, the metadata streams and the metadata stream information are respectively packetized and transmitted, and the metadata is transmitted. An identifier indicating that the metadata stream is included and an identifier for identifying the metadata stream are added to each packet that includes the data stream, and each packet that includes the metadata stream information is added to the packet. Is added with an identifier indicating that the metadata stream information is included, and the packets including the metadata stream information are transmitted prior to the transmission of the packets including the metadata stream. A metadata transmission method characterized by the following. (6) In a metadata transmission method for transmitting a metadata stream describing the content of content and metadata stream information that is information related to the metadata stream in response to a request from the receiving side, the receiving side In response to a request from, first, the metadata stream information including at least one of information regarding the data amount of the metadata stream and information regarding the description content of the metadata stream is transmitted, Next, the metadata transmission method, characterized in that the metadata stream requested by the receiving side is transmitted based on the transmitted metadata stream information. (7) In a metadata transmission method for transmitting a metadata stream describing the content of content and metadata stream information that is information about the metadata stream in response to a request from the receiving side, the receiving side In response to the request from the user, first, the metadata stream information including at least one of the information about the data amount of the metadata stream and the information about the description content of the metadata stream is packetized. A method of transmitting metadata, comprising: transmitting, and then packetizing and transmitting the metadata stream requested by the receiving side based on the transmitted metadata stream information.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A metadata transmission / reception system using the present invention transmits metadata in a plurality of streams (metadata stream) in the transmission of metadata describing the contents of contents. Prior to the transmission of the metadata stream, each metadata
By transmitting information about the stream (metadata stream information), the receiving side can selectively receive and process the metadata stream based on the metadata stream information. In selective reception of a metadata stream, only a metadata stream including metadata required by a receiving side is received, or only a metadata stream that can be received and processed by a receiving device is received. In addition, the metadata stream information includes information necessary for such selective reception.

A first embodiment of a metadata transmission / reception system using the present invention is a push-type data transmission / reception system for digital broadcasting and the like. In transmission, transmission by a plurality of streams of metadata and a plurality of metadata streams are performed. Transmits information.

First, the flow of the metadata transmission processing in the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, a session is established between the sender and the receiver. The metadata stream information is then transmitted from the sender to the receiver. The metadata stream information exists for each of a plurality of metadata streams, and all metadata
Stream information is transmitted. The receiving side interprets the received metadata stream information and determines the necessity of each corresponding metadata stream.

Next, a plurality of metadata streams are transmitted from the transmitting side to the receiving side. The receiving side selects the received metadata stream based on the above necessity judgment. Furthermore, only the necessary metadata streams are integrated and output as metadata.

Next, the content data and metadata transmitting apparatus and the content data and metadata receiving apparatus in the first embodiment will be described. The transmitting device and the receiving device transmit and receive data via broadcasting.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the content data and metadata transmitting apparatus in the first embodiment. The content data storage unit 1 stores content data such as programs in digital broadcasting. The metadata storage unit 2 stores the metadata corresponding to the content stored in the content data storage unit 1 in a form of being divided into a plurality of streams (metadata stream). Furthermore, the metadata storage unit 2 also stores each metadata stream information regarding each metadata stream.

The metadata transmission control unit 3 arranges a plurality of metadata streams and a plurality of metadata stream information stored in the metadata storage unit 2 into one stream, packetizes them, and sends them to the transmission unit 4. Output. At this time, an identifier indicating that the metadata stream is included is added to the packet including the metadata stream, and an identifier indicating that the metadata stream information is included is added to the packet including the metadata stream information. . The content transmission control unit 5 packetizes the content data stored in the content data storage unit 1 and outputs it to the transmission unit 4. At this time, an identifier indicating that the packet includes content data is added to the packet. The transmitting unit 4 multiplexes the packet output from the metadata transmission control unit 3 and the packet output from the content data transmission control unit 5 and transmits the multiplexed packet. <MPEG-2 TS Packet> As the packet transmission system, for example, the MPEG-2 system is used. MPE
In the G-2 system, a plurality of types of TS packets are time division multiplexed and transmitted in one transport stream (TS). When the MPEG-2 system is used in the present invention, the above-mentioned packet is T in the MPEG-2 system.
It corresponds to an S packet. The TS packet includes a packet identifier (PID) in the TS header. The PID is used as an identifier to indicate that the packet contains a metadata stream, metadata stream information or content data. << Explanation of Metadata Stream >> Next, the metadata stream stored in the metadata storage unit 3 will be described in more detail. <Contents of metadata> Metadata includes (1) basic information such as content title, creator, and copyright information, and (2)
It includes summary information that describes the outline of the content, and (3) segment information that describes the structure of the content. The summary information of (2) is for the viewer to know the outline of the content in a short time, and is composed of a key image, a key sound, and the like.
The segment information of (3) is for dividing the content into segments in the spatiotemporal direction and structuring, and (3-
1) segment basic information such as start / end time and area of the segment, (3-2) segment annotation information describing the content of the segment in text, (3-3) various types of audio signal or video signal characteristic of the segment It consists of the descriptor of. <Method of dividing into metadata stream> Metadata
The stream is generated by dividing the metadata for each of these classifications. Alternatively, a metadata stream is generated from the metadata already created for each classification. Here, (1) basic information, (2) summary information, (3-1) segment basic information, (3-2) segment annotation information,
It is assumed that the stream is divided into six streams of (3-3a) segment audio descriptor group and (3-3v) segment video descriptor group. Of course, you may divide | segment based on another classification | category, and you may classify | categorize it more finely. <Information for reintegration> When the metadata is structured by a tree structure, in order for the receiving side to integrate the plurality of metadata streams and generate the original metadata,
Information for integration needs to be embedded in the metadata stream. Each metadata stream includes one or more subtree data generated by dividing structured metadata. For each of these subtree data, reference information to the lower subtree data is embedded in the connection node of the divided upper subtree data. The reference information is an ID or URI (Uniform Resource Id) that indicates a metadata stream that includes the lower-order subtree data.
(entifier) and an integer value that identifies one subtree data from a plurality of subtree data included in the metadata stream. << Contents of Metadata Stream Information >> Next, the contents of the metadata stream information will be described. The metadata stream information includes (1) an ID for identifying the metadata stream, (2) a URI indicating the location of the metadata stream, and (3) the size of the metadata stream in bytes (metadata stream Information on the amount of data), (4) the last update date and time of the metadata stream, (5) a list of metadata items included in the metadata stream, and (6) metadata items not included in the metadata stream. List, (7) list of other dependent metadata streams (dependency information),
(8) It consists of a list of the highest-level items of the subtree data (only when the metadata is structured by a tree structure).

The information in (4) to (6) above is metadata.
This is information about the description content of the stream. The list of other metadata streams on which (7) depends refers to when the metadata stream depends on other metadata streams and is meaningless unless the other metadata streams are received at the same time. , A list of IDs or URIs pointing to other metadata streams. Dependence on another metadata stream is when a metadata item in the metadata stream references a metadata item contained in another metadata stream, or when the metadata is structured. The case where the upper subtree data of the subtree data in the metadata stream is included in another metadata stream.

Information for reintegrating the metadata stream can also be included in the metadata stream information. In this case, the information for reintegration is the path information of the node in the metadata tree structure generated by reintegration, which corresponds to the top node of the subtree included in the metadata stream. Path information is XPath
(XML Path Language). If the metadata stream information includes information for reintegration of the metadata stream, it is not necessary to embed the information for reintegration in the metadata stream. <Format Example> FIG. 4 shows an example of the format of the metadata stream information of the present invention. This is the data format of the metadata stream information in XML (ExteXt).
XML S of metadata stream information in the case of using (nable markup language)
It is a definition example of an item by chema. FIGS. 5, 6 and 13 respectively show QNameList and DependedStreams appearing in the definition examples of the items by the XML Schema of the metadata stream information of FIG.
Definitions of Type and ConnectionsType. Further, another example of the format of the metadata stream information of the present invention is shown in FIG. This is a definition example of items in the binary format of the metadata stream information when the binary format is used as the data format of the metadata stream information. 8, FIG. 9 and FIG.
QNameLis appearing in the definition examples of items in the binary format of the metadata stream information in FIG. 7, respectively.
t, DependedStreams and Connec
It is the definition of "tions". << Stream Packetization >> Next, the operation of the metadata transmission control unit will be described in more detail. The metadata transmission control unit arranges a plurality of metadata streams and a plurality of metadata stream information in one stream, packetizes the stream, and transmits the packet. <Example of Packetization> FIG. 15 is a conceptual diagram showing a processing flow of an example of packetization of a metadata stream and metadata stream information. First, a plurality of metadata streams and a plurality of metadata stream information are arranged in one stream. Next, each stream is divided into packets of appropriate size. At this time, an identifier indicating that the metadata stream is included is added to the packet including the metadata stream, and an identifier indicating that the metadata stream information is included is added to the packet including the metadata stream information. It Also, the packet size depends on the transmission system and depends on the metadata stream and metadata
It has nothing to do with the size of the stream information. Next, the packets of the respective streams are arranged in the order of the packet containing the metadata stream information and the packet containing the metadata stream. Finally, the arranged packet stream is output to the transmission unit 4 shown in FIG. <Other example of packetization> In addition, FIG.
It is a conceptual diagram which shows the flow of the process of the other example of the packetization of a stream and metadata stream information. In this example, a plurality of pieces of metadata stream information are arranged in one stream and are divided into packets of an appropriate size. At this time, an identifier indicating that the packet includes metadata stream information is added to the packet. on the other hand,
The plurality of metadata streams are divided into appropriately sized packets for each metadata stream. At this time, the packet is indicated to include the metadata stream, and an identifier indicating which metadata stream of the plurality of metadata streams is included is added to the packet (including the metadata stream. , And an identifier indicating which metadata stream is included) may be added). Next, the packets of metadata stream information and the packets of each metadata stream are arranged in one stream. At this time, the packets of the metadata stream information are arranged first, and then the packets of each metadata stream are multiplexed and arranged. In this example as well, the size of the packet depends on the transmission system and is independent of the size of the metadata stream or the metadata stream information. Finally, the packets arranged in one stream are output to the transmission unit 4 shown in FIG. <Example of Receiving Device> FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a content data and metadata receiving device according to the first embodiment. The receiving unit 6 releases the packet of the packet received from the broadcast, and obtains the stream obtained by the metadata.
Separately output the stream information, metadata stream, and content data (separate these three pieces of information based on the identifier added to each packet). The metadata stream information interpretation unit 7 interprets the metadata stream information output from the reception unit 6, determines the necessity of each metadata stream, and notifies the metadata stream selection unit 8 of the necessity. Output. At that time, it is also possible to judge the necessity based on the judgment standard specified by the application or the user 10. The metadata stream selection unit 8 selects the metadata stream output from the reception unit 6 based on the necessity of each metadata stream input from the metadata stream information interpretation unit 7, Only the metadata stream is output to the metadata integration section 9. Discard unnecessary metadata streams. The metadata integration unit 9 integrates the metadata streams output from the metadata stream selection unit 8 and outputs the generated metadata to the application or the user 10. The application or the user 10 uses the metadata output from the metadata integration unit 9 and the content data output from the reception unit 6 for each purpose. <Another Example of Receiving Device> FIG. 17 is another configuration diagram of the content data and metadata receiving device in the first embodiment. With this configuration, in the packetization of the metadata stream and the metadata stream information, as shown in FIG. 16, a plurality of metadata stream information are packetized, and a plurality of metadata streams are provided for each metadata. Used only when packetized for each stream (that is, when an identifier indicating which metadata stream of a plurality of metadata streams is included is added).

The receiving unit 6 includes a packet selecting unit 11.
The packet selection unit 11 separates a packet received from the broadcast into a packet containing metadata stream information, a packet containing a metadata stream, and a packet containing content data (based on the identifier added to each packet. These three pieces of information are separated), and the metadata stream information obtained by releasing the packet of the packet containing the metadata stream information is output to the metadata stream information interpretation unit 12. Further, the packet selection unit 11 outputs the content data obtained by releasing the packet of the packet including the content data to the application or the user 10.

Metadata stream information interpretation unit 12
Interprets the metadata stream information output from the packet selection unit 11 in the reception unit 6, and
The necessity of the stream is determined, and the necessity is output to the packet selection unit 11 in the reception unit 6. At that time, it is also possible to judge the necessity based on the judgment standard specified by the application or the user 10.

The packet selection unit 11 outputs to the metadata integration unit 9 the metadata stream obtained by releasing the packet of the packet including the required metadata stream based on this necessity determination information, and unnecessary Metadata
Discard packets containing streams. The selection of the packet including the required metadata stream and the packet including the unnecessary metadata stream is performed by an identifier indicating which of the plurality of metadata streams attached to each packet is included. Based on.

The metadata integration unit 9 integrates the metadata streams output from the packet selection unit 11 in the reception unit 6 and outputs the generated metadata to the application or the user 10. The application or user 10 uses the metadata output from the metadata integration unit 9 and the packet selection unit 11 in the reception unit 6.
The output content data is used for each purpose. <Selection Method> Next, the metadata of FIG. 3 or FIG.
Metadata in the stream information interpreting units 7 and 12
The determination as to whether or not a stream is necessary will be described in more detail.
FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a flow of processing for determining necessity of the metadata stream. When the necessity determination is started, first, based on the information about the size of the metadata stream (information about the data amount of the metadata stream), it is determined whether the size can be processed by the receiving device. If it can be processed, the process proceeds to the next step.

Next, based on the information of the metadata items included in the metadata stream or the information of the metadata items not included in the metadata stream (information regarding the description content of the metadata stream), the application or the user can Determine if the required metadata items are included. If the required metadata item is included, the process proceeds to the next step. If the required metadata item is not included, it is determined to be unnecessary and the process ends.

Next, based on the list information (dependency information) of other dependent metadata streams, it is determined whether or not there is another dependent metadata stream. There may be multiple other dependent metadata streams. If there is another dependent metadata stream, proceed to the next step, and if there is no other dependent metadata stream, determine that it is necessary and end. Next, of the other dependent metadata streams, it is determined whether or not the metadata stream is not required.

Next, if there are no unreceivable other dependent metadata streams, proceed to the next step,
If there is something that cannot be received, it is determined that it cannot be received and the processing ends. Next, the necessity judgments of all the other streams that are dependent are changed as necessary. Finally, the necessity judgment is necessary and the process is ended. << Second Embodiment >> Next, a second embodiment of the metadata transmission / reception system using the present invention will be described. The second embodiment is a pull-type data transmission / reception system such as the Internet. In the transmission, transmission is performed by a plurality of streams of metadata and transmission of a plurality of metadata / stream information.

First, the flow of metadata transmission processing in the second embodiment will be described. <Obtaining URI of Metadata Stream> It is assumed that the receiving side knows the URI indicating the location of the required metadata stream and content data before transmitting the metadata. The metadata stream and the URI of the content data may be obtained from, for example, the site of the content provider on the Internet, or may be obtained from a medium such as a magazine, a book, or a CD-ROM.
Further, in digital broadcasting, it is possible to obtain the URI of the metadata stream corresponding to each program from the television information magazine and obtain the metadata via the Internet. By the method described above, the receiving side obtains the required one or more metadata streams and the URI of the content data.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flow of processing of metadata transmission in the second embodiment. First, a session is established between the sender and the receiver. The receiver then requests the sender for metadata stream information corresponding to the metadata stream, with a URI pointing to the location of the metadata stream. The sender sends the requested metadata stream information to the receiver.

Next, the receiving side interprets the received metadata stream information, and determines the necessity of the corresponding metadata stream (interpretation / necessity determination is performed, for example, according to the flow shown in FIG. 18. .). As a result of the necessity judgment, if further metadata stream information is required, the receiving side requests the transmitting side for the metadata stream information again. The receiver requests all necessary metadata streams from the sender, if there is no other required metadata stream information. The sender sends all requested metadata streams to the receiver. Then the receiver
Integrates all the received metadata streams and outputs the metadata.

Next, the content data / metadata transmitting apparatus and the content data / metadata receiving apparatus in the second embodiment will be described. The transmitting device and the receiving device transmit data via the network.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a contents data and metadata transmission device in the second embodiment. The content data storage unit 1 stores content data such as a video stream. Metadata storage unit 2
Divides the metadata corresponding to the content stored in the content data storage unit 1 into a plurality of streams and stores the plurality of metadata streams. Furthermore, the metadata storage unit 2 also stores metadata stream information regarding each metadata stream.

Metadata stream information transmitter 21
Is the URI when the metadata stream information is requested by the receiver from the metadata stream URI.
Metadata corresponding to the metadata stream pointed to by
The stream information is read from the metadata storage unit 2 and transmitted to the receiving side (packetization processing suitable for transmission may be performed at the time of transmission). When the metadata stream transmitting unit 22 requests the metadata stream from the receiving side by the URI, the metadata stream transmitting unit 22 reads the metadata stream pointed to by the URI from the metadata storage unit 2 and transmits it to the receiving side (for transmission at the time of transmission). A suitable form of packetization process may be performed).

When the content data transmission unit 23 requests the content data by the URI from the receiving side, the U
The content data pointed to by RI is transmitted to the receiving side (packetization processing suitable for transmission may be performed at the time of transmission).

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a content data and metadata receiving apparatus in the second embodiment of the present invention. The metadata stream information receiving unit 31 receives an instruction from the application or the user (or the metadata.
The instruction of the stream information interpreting unit 32) requests the metadata stream information to the transmitting side by using the URI indicating the location of the metadata stream. Then, the metadata stream information transmitted from the transmission side is received and output to the metadata stream information interpretation unit 32.

Metadata stream information interpretation unit 32
Interprets the metadata stream information output from the metadata stream information receiving unit 31, determines the necessity of the corresponding metadata stream, and further determines the necessity of other metadata stream information. . If there is other necessary metadata stream information, the metadata stream information interpretation unit 32 instructs the metadata stream information reception unit 31 to receive the metadata stream information (for example, the interpretation / necessity determination is This is performed according to the flow shown in FIG. 18). If there is no other necessary metadata stream information, the metadata stream information interpretation unit 32
Instructs the metadata stream receiving unit 33 to receive all necessary metadata streams.

The metadata stream receiving unit 33 requests the transmitting side by the URI for the metadata stream instructed to be received by the metadata stream information interpreting unit 32, and determines the metadata stream transmitted from the transmitting side. The data is received and output to the metadata integration unit 34.

The metadata integration unit 34 integrates the metadata streams output from the metadata stream reception unit 33 and outputs the generated metadata to the application or the user.

The content data receiver 35 sends a URI to the sender according to an application or user's instruction.
Request the content data, receive the content data sent from the sender, and output it to the application or user. The application or the user uses the metadata output from the metadata integration section 34 and the content data output from the content data receiving section 35 for each purpose.

Next, the processes from the request of the metadata stream information by the receiving side to the interpretation of the received metadata stream information and the determination of the necessity of the metadata stream will be collectively described. It is assumed that the receiver has obtained a URI pointing to the location of one or more required metadata streams before establishing a session establishment with the sender. When a session is established between the sender and the receiver, the sender first requests the sender for the metadata stream information corresponding to the required metadata stream by the URI of the metadata stream. . The sender then sends the requested metadata stream information to the receiver. Next, the receiving side interprets the metadata stream information received from the transmitting side and determines again whether or not the corresponding metadata stream is necessary. For details on determining whether or not a metadata stream is required,
It is the same as the processing flow of FIG. 18 described in the first embodiment. However, in the case of determining the necessity of another dependent metadata stream, the corresponding metadata stream information is requested and received.

The details of the contents of the metadata stream in the second embodiment are the same as those in the metadata stream in the first embodiment. The contents of the metadata stream information in the second embodiment are the same as the contents of the metadata stream information in the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0037]

As described above, the present invention has the following effects. (B) On the receiving side, it is possible to selectively receive and process only the required metadata stream based on the metadata stream information, and to enable efficient receiving processing of metadata on the receiving side. . (B) When an identifier for identifying the metadata stream is added to each packet including the metadata stream and transmitted, before receiving each packet of the metadata stream on the receiving side. At the stage, only the packet including the metadata stream determined to be necessary can be selected, and more efficient reception processing of the metadata on the receiving side can be performed. (C) In the case where the metadata stream information is added with the dependency information which is the information for designating the other metadata stream associated with the corresponding metadata stream and transmitted, at the receiving side, It becomes possible to know the other metadata streams needed to utilize the metadata stream containing the required metadata, the required metadata stream and the other metadata streams required to consume it. The stream and the stream can be accurately received, and the receiving side can more efficiently receive the metadata. (D) First, transmitting the metadata stream information to the receiving side, and then transmitting the metadata stream requested by the receiving side based on the transmitted metadata stream information. It enables not only efficient reception processing of metadata on the side, but also more efficient transmission of metadata.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a flow of processing of metadata transmission in a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a content data and metadata transmission device in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a content data and metadata receiving device in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a definition example of items according to XML Schema of metadata stream information used in the present invention.

5 is an XM of the metadata stream information shown in FIG.
QNa that appears in the definition example of the item by L Schema
This is the definition of meList.

6 is an XM of the metadata stream information shown in FIG.
Dep that appears in the definition example of the item by L Schema
This is the definition of the endedStreamsType.

FIG. 7 is a definition example of items in a binary format of metadata stream information used in the present invention.

8 is a QNameL that appears in the definition example of an item in the binary format of the metadata stream information shown in FIG. 7.
This is the definition of ist.

9 is a Depende that appears in a definition example of an item in the binary format of the metadata stream information shown in FIG. 7.
This is the definition of dStreams.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a processing flow of metadata transmission in the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of a content data and metadata transmission device in a second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram of a content data and metadata receiving device according to a second embodiment.

13 is an X of the metadata stream information shown in FIG.
Co that appears in the definition example of the item by ML Schema
It is a definition of connectionsType.

14 is a Connec appearing in the definition example of the item in the binary format of the metadata stream information shown in FIG.
It is the definition of "tions".

FIG. 15 is a conceptual diagram showing a processing flow of an example of packetization of a metadata stream and metadata stream information in the first embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a conceptual diagram showing a processing flow of another example of packetization of a metadata stream and metadata stream information in the first embodiment.

FIG. 17 is another configuration diagram of the content data and metadata receiving device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a flow of processing for determining necessity of a metadata stream in the first and second embodiments.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Content data storage 2 Metadata storage 3 Metadata transmission control unit 4 transmitter 5 Content data transmission control unit

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. Transmitting a plurality of metadata streams divided from metadata describing contents, and transmitting information on each of the metadata streams as each metadata stream information,
Each of the metadata stream information includes at least one of information about a data amount of each corresponding metadata stream and information about a description content of each corresponding metadata stream. Metadata transmission method. 2. A plurality of metadata streams that describe the contents of contents are transmitted, and information regarding each of the metadata streams is transmitted to each metadata.
The metadata stream information is transmitted as stream information, and the metadata stream information is at least one of information about a data amount of each corresponding metadata stream and information about a description content of each corresponding metadata stream. A method for transmitting metadata, comprising: 3. The metadata transmission method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the pieces of metadata stream information is included.
The metadata transmission method, wherein one piece of metadata stream information includes dependency information that is information that specifies another metadata stream associated with the corresponding metadata stream. 4. The metadata transmission method according to claim 1, wherein each of the metadata streams and each of the metadata
The stream information is respectively packetized and transmitted, and an identifier indicating that the metadata stream is included is added to each packet including the metadata stream, and each packet including the metadata stream information is added to the packet including the metadata stream information. Is added with an identifier indicating that the packet includes the metadata stream information, and the packets including the metadata stream information are transmitted prior to the transmission of the packets including the metadata stream. A metadata transmission method characterized by the following. 5. The metadata transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the metadata streams and the metadata
The stream information is packetized and transmitted, and each packet including the metadata stream is added with an identifier indicating that the metadata stream is included and an identifier for specifying the metadata stream. Each packet including the metadata stream information is added with an identifier indicating that the metadata stream information is included, and prior to transmission of each packet including the metadata stream, A method for transmitting metadata, wherein each packet including metadata stream information is transmitted. 6. A metadata transmission method for transmitting, in response to a request from a receiving side, a metadata stream describing the contents of content and metadata stream information which is information about the metadata stream, In response to a request from the receiving side, first, the metadata stream information including at least one of information regarding the data amount of the metadata stream and information regarding the description content of the metadata stream is transmitted. Then, the metadata transmission method characterized in that the metadata stream requested by the receiving side is transmitted based on the transmitted metadata stream information. 7. A metadata transmission method for transmitting, in response to a request from a receiving side, a metadata stream describing the contents of content and metadata stream information which is information relating to the metadata stream, In response to a request from the receiving side, first, the metadata stream information including at least one of information regarding the data amount of the metadata stream and information regarding the description content of the metadata stream is packetized. A method of transmitting metadata, which comprises converting the metadata stream requested by the receiving side based on the transmitted metadata stream information, and transmitting the packetized packet.