JP2004341583A - Content delivery system, and content distribution information and delivery quality information acquisition method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable effective promotion to content holders and subscribing users by providing a scheme for notifying content distribution information and delivery quality information to an ISP in content delivery. <P>SOLUTION: When an end user terminal 4 receives content delivery, an application server 1 or the end user terminal 4 notifies content distribution information to a Web server 6 connected to the ISP 50, and the Web server 6 accumulates it in a content distribution information DB 62. The Web server 6 also monitors content delivery quality, and controls routers 500 and 501 according to the content distribution information to control the content delivery quality. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system for distributing content via a network, and more particularly to a system for notifying an ISP (Internet Service Provider) of content distribution information of a client and distribution quality information such as packet loss and packet delay during content reproduction.
[0002]
[Prior art]
FIG. 7 shows a configuration example of a conventional pay content purchase / viewing system. Reference numeral 10 is an application server, 2 is a billing and settlement server, 3 is a media distribution server, 4 is an end user terminal, 5 is the Internet, 50 to 53 are Internet service providers (hereinafter referred to as ISPs), and 54 is a backbone line. Further, in the ISP 50, 500 and 501 are routers, and 502 is an authentication server.
[0003]
The application server 10 has a function of managing purchase of contents and a cooperation function between servers (here, the accounting settlement server 2 and the media distribution server 3). The accounting settlement server 2 has a function of managing the payment of fees for the distribution of contents by the user. The media distribution server 3 stores content for distribution, and the content for distribution is distributed to clients who have purchased the content from the server.
[0004]
FIG. 8 shows a conventional sequence of purchasing and viewing paid content.
(1) The end user makes a purchase request for content desired to be viewed from the end user terminal 4 (S101).
(2) The end user follows the guidance screen of the end user terminal 4 and acknowledges that the user may be charged for the purchase (S102).
(3) The application server 10 requests the accounting settlement server 2 to perform an accounting process (S103).
(4) The accounting process is performed in the accounting settlement server 2 (S104).
(5) The accounting settlement result is notified from the accounting settlement server 2 to the application server 10, and the content contract data / use history 11 of the end user is updated (S105).
(6) The billing result is displayed on the screen of the end user terminal 4 (S106).
(7) A viewing request is received from the end user (S107).
(8) The application server 10 notifies the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the metafile of the content to the end user terminal 4 (S108).
(9) Since the URL and the content type of the content are described in the metafile, the Web browser of the end user terminal 4 determines the necessary reproduction player from the content type and starts up (S109).
(10) The end user terminal 4 issues a reproduction request to the URL storing the content (S110).
(11) The video stream of the content 31 for distribution is distributed from the media distribution server 3 to the end user terminal 4 (S111).
[0005]
As is clear from the above-described conventional sequence, the conventional content distribution system has a mechanism in which the ISP is not notified of the content distribution information of the contract user or the distribution quality information of the content.
[0006]
The conventional paid content purchase / viewing technology is described in, for example, Non-Patent Document 1 below.
[0007]
[Non-patent document 1]
Koji Nada and 5 others, "Development of Video Content Service Software", NTTR & D, Vol. 51, No. 2, 2002, p. 146-154
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Therefore, when the ISP does not know the content of the content used by the contracted user when promoting the expansion of the contracted user or expanding the facilities, it is necessary to secure the content in accordance with the needs of the contracted user, promote the content to the user, and promote the content to the user. There is a problem that it is difficult to make a facility plan according to the schedule.
[0009]
The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and provides a mechanism for notifying the ISP of content distribution information and distribution quality information in content distribution, thereby enabling effective promotion to content holders and contract users. With the goal.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention makes it possible to obtain information related to content contents together with information necessary for distribution control by utilizing the fact that an ISP can control content distribution quality. By presenting the distribution quality to the contract user, it is possible to make the contract user aware of the improvement of the distribution quality.
[0011]
Therefore, the present invention relates to a system in which an application server, a billing settlement server, and a media distribution server are linked, in which the URL of the ISP Web server is stored in the application server, and the distribution quality information and content distribution notified to the Web server are stored. Based on the information, the ISP controls the distribution quality of the network, and also stores the content distribution information.
[0012]
The content distribution information to be notified to the ISP is, for example, the user ID and the content ID of the purchaser, and may include the effective bandwidth or the access area of the user, or a combination thereof. The distribution quality information is, for example, information on a transmission bit rate, a packet loss, a delay, and the like for each distribution source address (URL) registered in a Web server of the ISP.
[0013]
By including information on the effective bandwidth and the access area in addition to the user ID and the content ID as the content distribution information, the ISP can know which content has been viewed in what environment. . In other words, in a situation where the user has a plurality of access environments, even if the user is the same user, it is possible to grasp, for example, whether the user browsed at home or at a company.
[0014]
The notification of the content distribution information and the distribution quality information to the ISP can also be realized by embedding the URL of the Web server of the ISP in a tool installed in the user terminal and accessing the Web server from the user terminal.
[0015]
When the content distribution information and the distribution quality information are notified to the ISP, the content distribution information including other users is returned to the user terminal, so that the contract user is aware of the distribution quality and the promotion effect is enhanced. You can also plan.
[0016]
For example, at each user terminal, the icon representing the purchaser is changed and displayed based on the notified distribution information of each user. Changing the icon means changing the type, size, shape, expression or display location of the icon, or a combination thereof. This allows the user to be conscious of the level of distribution quality at which another user is viewing the content (for example, a movie or a live video) that the user is watching. It can also encourage end users to use quality content, and allow end users to have a culture of paying for quality.
[0017]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an application server, and 6 denotes a Web server managed by the ISP 50. In the embodiment of the present invention, the ISP 50 includes a router 500, a router 501, a router 503, and an authentication server 502. The rest of the system configuration is the same as the conventional system configuration shown in FIG.
[0018]
In the embodiment of the present invention, the Web server 6, which is a feature of the present invention, is connected to the network by the router 503, and a sequence is added by each server, so that the content distribution information of the end user terminal 4 is transmitted to the Web server 6. And delivery quality information.
[0019]
The web server 6 collects content distribution information such as a user ID who purchased the content, the content ID, an effective band, and an access area, and stores the content distribution information in a content distribution information database (DB) 62. A distribution quality control unit 63 that performs distribution quality control by controlling the priority of packet transmission and reception in the routers 500 and 501 based on the distribution quality information and the content distribution information of the content notified to the server 6.
[0020]
FIG. 2 shows a sequence of the first embodiment of the present invention based on the system configuration of FIG. The first embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the processes of S120 and S121 are added to the conventional sequence shown in FIG.
[0021]
When the end user purchases the content desired to be viewed and views it, the end user issues a purchase request for the content desired to be viewed from the end user terminal 4 (S101). At the time of purchase, the end user follows the guidance screen of the end user terminal 4 and acknowledges that charging may be performed (S102).
[0022]
The application server 1 requests the charging and settlement server 2 to perform a charging process (S103). The accounting settlement server 2 performs an accounting process in response to the accounting process request (S104). When the accounting processing result is notified from the accounting settlement server 2 to the application server 1, the content contract data / use history 11 of the end user is updated in the application server 1 (S105). Accordingly, the billing result is displayed on the screen of the end user terminal 4 (S106).
[0023]
When a viewing request is received from the end user terminal 4 to the application server 1 (S107), the application server 1 notifies the end user terminal 4 of the URL of the meta file of the content (S108). At this time, the application server 1 notifies the Web server 6 managed by the ISP 50 of content distribution information such as the user ID of the user who has made the viewing request or the content ID of the content purchased by the user (S120). The Web server 6 accumulates and stores the content distribution information received from the application server 1 in a content distribution information database (DB) 62.
[0024]
As the content distribution information, in addition to the address, the user ID, and the content ID of the media distribution server 3, information such as an effective band or an access area of the content distribution can be included. The effective bandwidth is a connection bit rate when the end user terminal 4 connects to the ISP 50. For example, in dial-up access, the connection bit rate (56 kbps or the like) at the time of line connection, and in the case of ADSL, such information as the maximum bit rate of the uplink or downlink (128 kbps of the uplink, 512 kbps of the downlink, etc.). The access area is information of an access point (telephone number).
[0025]
The Web browser of the end user terminal 4 determines the necessary reproduction player from the content type and activates it, since the URL and the content type of the content are described in the metafile received from the application server 1 (S109). The end user terminal 4 issues a reproduction request to the URL storing the content. As a result, the video stream of the distribution content 31 is distributed from the media distribution server 3 to the end user terminal 4 (S111). At this time, the Web server 6 monitors communication in content distribution. That is, the Web server 6 enters a standby state waiting for the reception of the distribution quality information from the end user terminal 4 (S121). Upon receiving the distribution quality information, distribution control is performed as necessary.
[0026]
As described above, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the URL of the purchase content is notified from the application server 1 to the end user terminal 4 (S108), and at the same time, the purchase is transmitted to the Web server 6 managed by the ISP 50. The content distribution information such as the media distribution server address, user ID, and content ID of the user is notified (S120). The Web server 6 stores the received content distribution information in the content distribution information DB 62. It should be noted that a URL for accessing the Web server 6 is stored in advance in the application server 1 for notification of the content distribution information.
[0027]
Further, the Web server 6 monitors the communication between the end user terminal 4 and the media distribution server 3 based on the notified content distribution information (S121) and performs distribution quality control. The control of the distribution quality by monitoring the communication should be performed by the method described in the literature, for example, in the IEICE National Convention 200303019 "A proposal of NW bandwidth management method in wide area IP network", Iwai et al. That is, the Web server 6 waits for reception of the distribution quality information of the content from the end user terminal 4, and performs distribution quality control based on the received distribution quality information. It is transmitted from the end user terminal 4 periodically, or is notified when the distribution quality has deteriorated and there is a possibility that the desired distribution quality cannot be satisfied.
[0028]
It should be noted that the distribution content 31 is described in, for example, a document such as “NTT Technical Journal October 2002,“ Digital Content Copyright Management and Protection Platform: Copyright Management Platform ”, Omura et al.” In some cases, a system is used to perform processing such as encryption processing and digital watermark processing.
[0029]
In this way, the content distribution information and the distribution quality information can be obtained by the ISP 50 without performing any special operation on the end user terminal 4 in cooperation with the application server 1 and each server including the Web server 6.
[0030]
Here, an example of the network distribution quality control processing flow by the ISP 50 is shown in FIG. First, when the end user terminal 4 detects that the distribution quality of the content has deteriorated (S201), the end user terminal 4 sends distribution quality information indicating that the distribution quality has deteriorated to the Web server 6 (S202).
[0031]
The Web server 6 searches the content distribution information DB 62 for a connection router of the end user terminal 4 (S203). The Web server 6 transmits the priority control information of the transmission packet to the router 501 on the end user terminal 4 side (S204). Thereby, the priority of the packet transmitted from the media distribution server 3 to the end user terminal 4 is increased in the router 500 (S205).
[0032]
Further, the Web server 6 transmits the priority control information of the received packet to the router 500 on the backbone line 54 (S206). Accordingly, in the router 500, the priority of the packet addressed to the end user terminal 4 received from the media distribution server 3 increases (S207). As the control of the distribution quality, the reservation of the band, the priority control of the buffering, the selection of the bypass route with the media distribution server 3, and the like can be performed.
[0033]
When the end user terminal 4 confirms that the quality deterioration has been recovered (S208), the end user terminal 4 transmits distribution quality information indicating that the quality deterioration has been recovered to the Web server 6 (S209). When the distribution of the content is completed, the end notification is made to the Web server 6 (S210). The Web server 6 ends the communication monitoring by the end notification.
[0034]
Note that the distribution quality information is automatically sent to the Web server 6, but whether or not the end user wants to control the distribution quality is determined by the end user at the time of contract with the ISP or each time the content is distributed. May be intentionally selected according to the following. When the end user does not want to control the distribution quality, the Web server 6 collects only the content distribution information and the distribution quality information.
[0035]
In the system configuration of FIG. 1, there is only one content distribution company having the application server 1, the accounting settlement server 2, and the media distribution server 3, but in reality, there are a plurality of content distribution companies and the content distribution In this configuration, an application server 1, a billing settlement server 2, and a media distribution server 3 are installed for each provider, and it is conceivable that an end user purchases content from a plurality of content distributors.
[0036]
Therefore, in order for the ISP 50 to obtain the content distribution information and the distribution quality information of the end user terminal 4, all the application servers 1 of the content distributors that can be accessed by the contractor of the ISP 50 must cooperate with the Web server 6. Needless to say, it must be structured.
[0037]
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a sequence according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the sequence of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the Web server 6 managed by the ISP 50 obtains the purchase information and the distribution quality information of the content in cooperation with the application server 1. The present invention is not limited to the method, and in the second embodiment of the present invention, the end user terminal 4 as a client knows the URL of the Web server 6 of the ISP 50 to which the client is subscribed, and directly Take the method of accessing 6.
[0038]
Specifically, in FIG. 1, the end user terminal 4 accesses the Web server 6 through the route of the end user terminal 4 → the router 501 → the router 503 → the Web server 6. The URL of the Web server 6 is embedded in a content distribution quality measurement tool installed in the end user terminal 4, and the end user terminal 4 accesses the Web server 6 at an appropriate timing, and obtains a user ID, a content ID, and the like. Is transmitted (S122). The transmission of the distribution quality information is the same as in the first embodiment described above.
[0039]
When transmitting information such as an effective band and an access area (access point) as content distribution information, the end user terminal 4 sends a control command (AT command, etc.) to a network device such as an ADSL modem from a distributed dedicated application or the like. By transmitting and performing the ISP connection, information such as the effective bandwidth and the access point can be obtained.
[0040]
The Web server 6 performs distribution quality control (reservation of bandwidth, buffering control, selection of a detour route with the media distribution server 3) and the like using the obtained distribution quality information and the network information that can be obtained by the ISP 50.
[0041]
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a sequence according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The third embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the processing of S123 is added to the sequence of the second embodiment. Others are the same as the second embodiment.
[0042]
As shown in FIG. 5, in the third embodiment of the present invention, the Web server 6 not only receives the notification from the end user terminal 4 but also stores the end user's content stored in the content distribution information DB 62. Using the distribution information, the content distribution information including other users is returned to the end user terminal 4 (S123).
[0043]
At this time, as content distribution information including other users to be transmitted to the end user terminal 4, for example, the content distribution information can be returned in the form of icon as shown in FIG. FIG. 6 shows an example in which information of a person who has purchased and viewed the same content is iconified and displayed on a part of the screen of the end user terminal 4. FIG. 6A shows that only the end user A of the end user terminal 4 is viewing the content. FIG. 6B shows that the end user B is also viewing the same content. In FIG. 6 (C), the other end user C is also viewing the same content, but the distribution quality is worse than the end users A and B, so the icons are displayed smaller.
[0044]
As described above, based on the content distribution information of each user notified to the Web server 6, the icon representing the purchaser can be changed and displayed according to the distribution quality or the like. As a method of changing the icon for display, for example, a method of changing the type, size, shape, expression, display location, or combination thereof of the icon can be used. In addition, information about the access area instead of the distribution quality can be displayed as an icon, and the icon can be changed according to the access area and displayed.
[0045]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the content distribution information and the distribution quality information of the end user terminal are notified to the Web server of the ISP. Promotion to contract users becomes possible. Also, by making the contract user aware of the distribution quality, the promotion effect can be enhanced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a sequence according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network distribution quality control processing flow.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a sequence in the second embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a sequence in the third embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example in which purchaser information of the same content is displayed.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional pay content purchase / viewing system.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a conventional sequence of purchasing and viewing paid content.
[Explanation of symbols]
1, 10 Application server 11 Content contract data / use history 2 Accounting settlement server 3 Media distribution server 31 Distribution contents 4 End user terminal 5 Internet 50, 51, 52, 53 ISP
54 Backbone line 500, 501, 503 Router 502 Authentication server 6 Web server 61 Content distribution information collection unit 62 Content distribution information DB
63 Delivery quality control unit

Claims (7)

A user terminal for receiving content distribution, an application server for receiving a content distribution request from the user terminal, a media distribution server for distributing requested content in cooperation with the application server, and connecting the user terminal to a network In a content distribution system having a network connection carrier device and a network connecting them,
A web server connected to the network connection provider device;
The Web server is:
Means for collecting and storing content distribution information notified from the application server or the user terminal;
Means for receiving the distribution quality information of the content and controlling the distribution quality of the content to be relayed in the network connection provider device based on the content distribution information,
A content distribution system, wherein content distribution information and distribution quality information are notified to the Web server managed by a network connection provider. In the content distribution system according to claim 1,
The content distribution system, wherein the content distribution information includes a user ID and a content ID of a content purchaser, or further includes information on an effective communication band, an access area, or a combination thereof. In the content distribution system according to claim 1 or 2,
The notification of the content distribution information from the application server or the user terminal to the Web server is performed by using a URL of the Web server stored in advance by the application server or a URL of the Web server embedded in a program installed in the user terminal. A content distribution system characterized in that the content distribution system is performed by using the content distribution system. In the content distribution system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The content distribution system, characterized in that the Web server includes means for returning the stored content distribution information to the user terminal including the content distribution information relating to another user terminal. The content distribution system according to claim 4,
The content distribution system wherein the content distribution information returned to the user terminal is information in an icon format representing a purchaser of the content displayed on the user terminal. The content distribution system according to claim 5,
The content distribution system is characterized in that the display in the icon format is a display in which the type, size, shape, facial expression or display location of a person, or a combination thereof is changed according to the distribution quality of the content. A user terminal for receiving content distribution, an application server for receiving a content distribution request from the user terminal, a media distribution server for distributing requested content in cooperation with the application server, and connecting the user terminal to a network A method for acquiring content distribution information and distribution quality information in a content distribution system having a network connection carrier device and a network connecting the network connection carrier devices,
When the user terminal receives the distribution of the content, notifying the application server or the user terminal of the content distribution information to a Web server connected to the network connection provider device;
Accumulating the content distribution information notified in the web server;
The Web server receiving the distribution quality information of the content, and controlling the distribution quality of the content relayed in the network connection provider device based on the content distribution information. Delivery quality information acquisition method.

Images