JP2006236002A - Content distribution device, content distribution program and content distribution method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To select a proper content according to a terminal from a plurality of related contents each having different contents, and to distribute it. <P>SOLUTION: In this content distribution device, one or more contents comprising the plurality of related element contents, and relation information related to the kind and quality (a satisfaction degree) of each of the element content and communication capability necessary for distribution are stored, content requirement including a function ID necessary for specification of the kind of the content reproduced by the portable terminal 4 is received from the portable terminal 4 (S22, S25), and the communication capability with the portable terminal 4 is evaluated on the basis of communication results of content requirement reception (S24). The element content to be distributed to the portable terminal 4 is selected on the basis of the content requirement, a communication capability evaluation result and the relation information (S26), and element content (main content) output to a specific destination and element content (sub content) output to the portable terminal 4 are synchronized. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a content distribution apparatus, a content distribution program, and a content distribution method for distributing content to one or a plurality of terminals.

Currently, the development of ubiquitous network environment is progressing, and it is possible to provide various services using this.
For example, a content output device (hereinafter referred to as a specific output device) such as a large screen projector installed in a specific place such as a hall or a salon reproduces content such as a movie or a sports broadcast, and the people gathered there Suppose that the user is referred to).
In such a case, there are a mixture of users who are interested in the content to be played and users who are not, so that only specific content such as video content is output (played back) to the specific output device, and related to the specific content. Other content (elemental content) such as audio content (audio information) and text content (character information) is distributed (transmitted) to a terminal such as a PDA used by each user via a wireless LAN, etc., and played back on that terminal. It is possible.
On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses a content distribution system that specifies the capability based on the IP address of a terminal and distributes content that matches the terminal capability (screen size, number of pixels, etc.).
JP 2001-236288 A

However, the bandwidth available for terminal communication, the capabilities (communication speed, calculation speed, etc.) and functions of each terminal are various, and the types of content that can be received and played back are different. For this reason, there is a problem that if the same content is distributed uniformly, there may be a terminal that cannot reproduce the content or the satisfaction of the terminal user cannot be obtained.
For example, when “audio content” synchronized with video output to a specific output device is distributed uniformly, it cannot be played back on a terminal having no speaker output function. Similarly, when “Japanese text content” (such as subtitle supermarket) synchronized with video is distributed uniformly, users who can understand only English, speaker output function and processing capacity sufficient for playback (communication speed and CPU Sufficient satisfaction cannot be obtained for a user of a terminal having a calculation speed or the like.
Each terminal may have different contents to be reproduced depending on the user's preference. For example, there may be a case where it is desired to receive distribution of detailed performance information (contents) of a specific favorite player when baseball broadcast content is output to the specific output device. Also in this case, if the same type of content (the difference in only the data format is the same type) is distributed, the satisfaction of each terminal user cannot be obtained.
On the other hand, Patent Document 1 shows that content requested from a terminal is distributed in a format suitable for the capability of the terminal, but the contents are different but related contents (Japanese and English). , Voice and text, patron information, etc.) and selecting appropriate content for distribution is not shown.
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to select an appropriate content according to a terminal and an available communication band from a plurality of related contents which are different in content. It is to provide a content distribution apparatus, a content distribution program, and a content distribution method that can be distributed.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a content distribution device for distributing content to one or a plurality of terminals, a content storage means for storing one or a plurality of the contents including a plurality of related element contents, Including related information storage means for storing related information regarding the type and quality of each element content and / or communication capability necessary for distribution, and type specifying information necessary for specifying the type of content to be reproduced by the terminal from the terminal Content request receiving means for receiving a content request, communication capability evaluating means for evaluating communication capability with the terminal based on communication performance by the content request receiving means, evaluation results of the content request and the communication capability evaluating means And a distribution container for selecting the element content to be distributed to the terminal based on the related information. And a content distribution unit that distributes the element content selected by the content selection unit to the terminal that is a transmission source of the content request. Is.
This makes it possible to select appropriate element contents according to requests such as terminal capabilities, functions, and user preferences based on the types, quality, and communication capabilities required for distribution, from multiple related element contents that differ in content. And can be delivered.
Here, as the distribution content selection means, for the element content, an index relating to the degree of adaptation of the element content type to the type of content to be reproduced on the terminal (hereinafter referred to as type adaptation degree), and the communication capability evaluation means An integrated index for the degree of adaptability of the communication capability necessary for the delivery of the evaluation results (hereinafter referred to as communication adaptability) and an index for the quality of the elemental content (hereinafter referred to as quality) It is conceivable to obtain an index and select the element content based on the size of the comprehensive index.
Furthermore, it comprises a specific destination content output means for outputting the element content to a predetermined specific output destination, and the distribution content selection means is related to the element content output by the specific destination content output means. The element content to be selected is selected, and the output of the element content by the specified destination content output unit and the distribution of the element content by the content distribution unit can be considered in synchronization.
Accordingly, the user can use the content suitable for his / her terminal in addition to the content (for example, the content of the baseball broadcast) output to the specific output destination (a projector installed in a specific location, etc.) or the user's preference. Related contents (such as audio contents) can be viewed at the same time.
Further, the present invention may be one in which the process executed by the content distribution apparatus is regarded as a content distribution program for causing a computer to execute or as a content distribution method for performing the same process.

According to the present invention, an appropriate element content is selected from a plurality of related element contents based on the type, quality, communication capability required for distribution, and in response to a request for terminal capability, function, user preference, and the like. Can be delivered.
Further, with respect to the element content, it relates to a degree of conformity relating to the degree of conformity of the kind of element content with respect to a kind of content to be reproduced on the terminal, and a degree of conformity of the communication ability necessary for the delivery to the evaluation result of the communication ability evaluating means By obtaining a comprehensive index that integrates the communication suitability and the quality related to the quality of the element content, and selecting the element content based on the size of the comprehensive index, the function of the terminal and the terminal It is possible to select a higher-quality element content from the types of element contents suitable for the user's request and the communication capability of the terminal, and it is possible to distribute the element contents with higher user satisfaction.
In addition, by outputting the element content to a predetermined specific output destination and performing the output and the distribution of the element content in synchronization, the user can specify the specific output destination (to a specific location). Along with content (for example, baseball broadcast content) output to a projector installed), related content (audio content, etc.) that is suitable for the terminal or according to the user's preference is simultaneously viewed. Can do.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings so that the present invention can be understood. The following embodiment is an example embodying the present invention, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.
Here, FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a content distribution system Z including a server X as an example of a content distribution apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a content distribution process by the server X and a mobile terminal. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of an element content related database in which related element contents and related information are stored, and FIG. 4 is for specifying the type of content. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the master database related to the function ID of FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a list of file IDs (element content identification information) extracted from the content-related database using the data format (type) corresponding to the function ID as a search key. Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example, and Fig. 6 shows the degree of conformity obtained for element content and communication. FIG. 7 schematically shows an example of the relationship between the distribution of the actual communication speed between the server X and the mobile terminal and the reference band (reference speed). FIG.

First, a configuration of a content distribution system Z including a server X as an example of a content distribution apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described using the schematic configuration diagram of FIG.
The content distribution system Z includes a server X (content distribution device) that distributes content, and a large projector that outputs content output from the server X that is installed in a specific place such as a hall or a salon and connected via LAN3. An area including a specific playback device 1 (an example of the specific output destination) and an area where the content output from the specific playback device 1 can be viewed is defined as an area capable of wireless communication, and the mobile terminal 4 existing in the area An access point 2 (wireless access point) that relays wireless LAN communication with the LAN 3 and wireless LAN communication means with the access point 2 are provided, and communicates with the server X via the access point 2 and the LAN 3. One or a plurality of portable terminals 4 such as a mobile phone or a PDA that performs distribution of contents from the server X The it has.
The server X includes storage means 5 such as a hard disk for storing content, and distributes the content in the storage means 5 to one or a plurality of the mobile terminals 4 existing in the communicable area of the access point 2.
FIG. 1 shows the case where content is stored in the storage means 5 (an example of the content storage means) such as a hard disk provided in the server X. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The configuration may be such that the content is requested to another content server connected to a higher-order network such as the LAN 3 or the Internet, and the returned content is distributed.
As the LAN 3 and the access point 2, for example, it is conceivable to use a communication medium and a communication device compliant with the IEEE 802.3 standard and IEEE 802.11b, respectively.
The server X is composed of a known computer (information processing apparatus) such as a personal computer. The server X outputs a content to the specific playback device 1 by executing a content distribution program stored in advance in its storage means 5 (hard disk or the like) by a calculation means comprising a CPU, a RAM and other peripheral devices. Each process such as content distribution to the portable terminal is executed.
On the other hand, the portable terminal 4 is a wireless communication that performs wireless communication with the access point 2, arithmetic means comprising a CPU, RAM and other peripheral devices, display / operation means such as a liquid crystal touch panel, data storage means such as flash memory, and the like. The content receiving / reproducing program stored in advance in the ROM or the like is executed by the calculating means, thereby receiving the content from the server X and reproducing the content.

Next, the data structure of the content stored in the server X will be described.
Each of the plurality of contents stored in the storage unit 5 (an example of the content storage unit) of the server X is an aggregate of a plurality of related element contents. Among the element contents, a part of element contents determined in advance is output to the specific playback device 1, and element contents selected from the remaining related element contents are distributed to the mobile terminal 4. Hereinafter, for the sake of convenience, among the content contents, the content output to the specific playback device 1 is referred to as main content, and the remaining content that is distributed to the mobile terminal 4 is referred to as sub-content.
The group of related element contents are associated with each other by a predetermined data structure such as an association by a tree structure, and are stored in the storage unit 5 such as a hard disk provided in the server X.
Furthermore, each element content is associated with related information and stored in the storage means 5.
FIG. 3 shows an example of the data configuration of an element content related database (hereinafter referred to as content related DB) in which related element contents and related information are stored.
Each material content is identified by the file ID (d4) which is the identification information, and the file ID (d4) and the entity (data file) of the element content are associated with a database (not shown) and stored in the storage means 5. Has been.
Further, as shown in FIG. 3, each of the file ID (d4) is associated with related information d1 to d4, d5 to d8, whereby the element content and the related information are associated with each other in the storage. Stored in the means 5.
The related information includes a material ID (d1) for identifying the content (example of type) of the element content corresponding to the file ID (d4), and data format information for identifying the data format (example of type) of the element content. d2, description information d3 of the element content, satisfaction d5 that is an index indicating the quality of the element content, reference band d6 that is an index of communication capability necessary for distribution of the element content, and a distribution form of the element content Distribution form information d7, distribution time d8 representing the time required for distributing the element content, and the like are included.
The material ID (d1) identifies the content of the information reproduced by the element content. For example, the moving image information is “material 1”, the character information (document) in the PDF format is “material 2”, and the text format. Character information (document) by is set as “material 3” or the like.
The data format d2 is information for identifying the data format of the element content. For example, “MPEG2” or “MPEG4” is set for a moving image, and “PDF” or “TXT” is set for a document.
The explanation information d3 is information that simply represents the content of the element content.
The satisfaction level d5 is a relative evaluation index among element contents (that is, element contents having the same basic contents) in which the same material ID (d1) is set as an index indicating the quality of element contents. For example, it is set in advance by a five-step evaluation of “1” to “5”. In the example shown in FIG. 3, among the element contents whose type is a moving image (material ID = “material 1”), the “MPEG2” format which is a high-quality moving image has a lower image quality than that. Satisfaction d5 higher than that of the “MPEG4” format is set. However, the satisfaction level d5 cannot be compared between element contents of different types (different settings of the material ID (d1)).
In the reference band d6, a reference value of the communication speed (bps) between the server X and the portable terminal 4 is set as an index of communication capability necessary for distribution of elemental content. In the example shown in FIG. 3, a minimum communication speed necessary for distributing the element content is set. In addition, it is possible to set both a minimum communication speed and a recommended communication speed.
In the distribution form information d7, for example, forms such as streaming and download are set as the distribution forms of the element contents.
The distribution time d8 represents the time required for distribution when the element content is distributed at the communication speed set in the reference band d6.

Next, procedures of content distribution processing by the server X and content reception / playback processing by the mobile terminal 4 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. The server X performs the processing on the server X side shown in FIG. 2 by executing the content distribution program by the calculation means. Further, the portable terminal 4 performs the processing on the portable terminal 4 side shown in FIG. 2 by executing the content reception / playback program stored in the ROM or the like by the calculation means. Hereinafter, S11, S12,... Represent processing procedure (step) numbers.
In the server X, when the execution of the content distribution program is started, the specific reproduction is performed with respect to the element content (main content) set in the schedule at the time set in the schedule with reference to the predetermined schedule. Output to the apparatus 1 (an example of the specified destination) is started (S11), and the output of the main content is continued until the end (S11, S12, an example of processing of the specified destination content output unit). As a result, the specific reproduction apparatus 1 outputs (reproduces) until the main content (for example, video content) ends.
Further, the server X executes the following processes of S21 to S28 in parallel with the output of the main content.
First, it is checked through the access point 2 whether or not the presence of a new portable terminal 4 has been detected in an area where wireless communication is possible (S21). The access point 2 periodically transmits a radio wave requesting a response, and when there is a response (reply) requesting establishment of communication in response to the response request, the new portable terminal 4 is detected. It is determined that Here, the response requesting establishment of communication is, for example, a request for allocating a terminal ID (for example, an IP address) used as a communication address.
On the other hand, the portable terminal 4 continues to check whether or not a response request (wireless radio wave) transmitted from the access point 2 is detected via the wireless communication means (S31). When a response request from point 2 is detected, a response requesting communication establishment is returned, and communication establishment processing is executed (S32).
On the other hand, when a new portable terminal 4 is detected, the server X also executes communication establishment processing with the portable terminal 4 (S22). Thereby, a terminal ID (IP address or the like) is dynamically allocated to the mobile terminal 4, and the terminal ID is stored in the mobile terminal 4. Thereafter, communication based on a predetermined protocol (for example, TCP / IP protocol) is performed between the server X and the portable terminal 4 using the terminal ID as communication address information (destination information). That is, in the communication data transmitted from the portable terminal 4 to the server X, the terminal ID is set as a transmission source, and in the communication data transmitted from the server X to the portable terminal 4, the transmission destination The terminal ID is set as (destination). Thereby, when the mobile terminal 4 receives the communication data, the mobile terminal 4 takes in the communication data when the terminal ID set as the transmission destination matches the terminal ID stored in the self-device.

When communication between the server X and the portable terminal 4 is established, the portable terminal 4 transmits a first request to the server X as an initial request for content distribution (S33). This first request includes a function ID that identifies a function of the mobile terminal 4. Further, the terminal ID is included as identification information of the transmission source.
On the other hand, the server X receives the first request via the access point 2 (S23, an example of processing of the content request receiving means). The function ID included in the first request is information (an example of the type specifying information) necessary for specifying the type of content that can be played back (played back) by the mobile terminal 4 that transmitted the function ID.
FIG. 4 shows an example of the data structure of a master database (hereinafter referred to as function master DB) related to the function ID, which is stored in advance in the storage means 5 of the server X.
As shown in FIG. 4, the server X includes, for each function ID (d11), a data format d2 (an example of types) of one or more element contents that can be reproduced by the mobile terminal 4, and a type suitability d12. Are stored in association with each other. In the example of FIG. 4, the type adaptability d12 is set to “5” for all cases where playback is possible, but the type adaptability d12 in the case where it can be recommended from the viewpoint of processing speed, resolution of display means, and the like. If the reproduction is possible but cannot be recommended in terms of processing speed, the type suitability d12 may be set to “4” or less depending on the degree. For those not registered in this database, it is determined that the type adaptability d12 is “0”.

Further, the server X evaluates the communication capability with the form terminal 4 based on the communication performance at the time of receiving the first request (S24, an example of processing of the communication capability evaluation means). In this communication capability evaluation, the average value and standard deviation of the received data amount per unit time obtained by dividing the data amount of the first request by the time required for the reception are obtained as evaluation indexes.
On the other hand, after the transmission of the first request, if the “preference information” is set in advance by the user, the portable terminal 4 transmits the “preference information” to the server X as a second request (S34). As the “preference information”, for example, the material ID (d1), the description information d3 or the identification information thereof, the upper limit value of the delivery time d8, or the like is designated. If "Preference information" is not set, the process of S34 is skipped.
In contrast, when the second request is received, the server X acquires the preference information (S25).

Next, the server X obtains the information acquired by the first request and the second request (an example of the content request, but only when the second request is received), and the evaluation result of the communication capability in S24. Is compared with the related information d1 to d3, d5 to d8 of the content related DB (FIG. 3) to select the element content (sub content) to be delivered to the mobile terminal 4 (S26).
At that time, for the element content related to the main content, the following three indexes (kind suitability, communication suitability, and satisfaction) are obtained, and a comprehensive indicator that integrates the three indicators is obtained. Based on this, the element content (that is, sub-content) to be delivered to the portable terminal 4 is selected (D26).
FIG. 6 shows an example of the type suitability d12, the communication suitability d21, the satisfaction d5, and their overall index d30 obtained for the element content. In FIG. 6, the notation of the type adaptability d12 being “0” is omitted.
Here, the type adaptability is an index representing the adaptability of the element content type to the content type reproduced by the mobile terminal 4. Specifically, for example, the following procedure is used.
First, by referring to the function master DB (FIG. 4), the data format d2 and the type suitability d12 corresponding to the function ID d4 designated by the first request are extracted. Further, the file ID (d4) having the extracted data format d2 is extracted by referring to the content related DB (FIG. 3).

FIG. 5 shows the file ID (d4) extracted from the content-related DB (FIG. 3), its related information (d1, d6), and the data format d2 corresponding to the function ID (d11) as a search key. It represents an example of a list of type suitability d12.
The example of FIG. 5 is an example when “PCType1” is specified as the function ID (d11) in the first request. Here, since the data format d2 corresponding to the function ID (d11) = “PCType1” is “MPEG1”, “MPEG4”, and “PDF” (see FIG. 4), these elements are used as the data format d2. The file ID (d4) of content (“F1”, “F2”, “D1”, “D2”: see FIG. 3) is extracted.
As a result, element contents in a data format (type) that can be played back by the portable terminal 4 that has transmitted the first request are extracted.
Further, when there is the second request, the type (for example, for example) specified in the second request from the element contents (file ID (d4)) extracted based on the function ID (d11). Only those that match (match) the material ID (d1) etc. are further extracted.
For each element content (file ID (d4) extracted in this way, the type suitability d12 set in the function master DB (FIG. 4) is extracted and set (obtained).

The communication capability adaptability d21 represents the adaptability of the communication capability (the reference band d6) necessary for distributing the element contents with respect to the evaluation result of the communication capability evaluation (an example of the processing of the communication capability evaluation unit) in S24. It is an indicator.
Specifically, for example, when the average value and standard deviation of the communication speed obtained in the communication capability evaluation of S24 are Uave and σ, respectively, and the reference band d6 (reference speed) set in the element content is U0, It is conceivable that the communication capability suitability d21 is ranked in five stages with respect to the value of V obtained by the following equation (1).
V = (Uave−U0−σ) / σ (1)
FIG. 7 schematically shows an example of the relationship between the distribution of the actual communication speed between the server X and the portable terminal 4 and the value U0 of the reference band d6 (reference speed).
FIG. 7 shows a state where the value V = 0 of the communication capability fitness d21. In this case (when V = 0), if the actual communication speed distribution is, for example, a normal distribution, communication at a speed of the reference band d6 or higher can be performed with a probability of about 68%. The larger the value of V, the more stable communication can be performed. The communication suitability d21 shown in FIG. 6 represents an example of an evaluation value obtained by dividing the value of V into five levels (non-dimensional). Of course, in addition to such an evaluation method, other evaluation methods such as simply evaluating based on the difference or ratio between the average actual speed and the reference band d22, or replacing σ in equation (1) with 2σ, etc. Is also possible.

In addition, the satisfaction level d5 is information on the quality set in advance for each element content, as described above (see FIG. 3).
Further, the server X uses, for example, an average value, a weighted average value, a minimum value, and the like, for example, an integrated index d30 obtained by integrating the three indexes of the type adaptability d12, the communication adaptability d21, and the satisfaction d5. It is obtained by a predetermined integration function such as a value. The example shown in FIG. 6 is an example in which a value obtained by multiplying the product of the three indices to the 1/3 power is obtained as the comprehensive index d30.
Then, the server X selects the element content corresponding to the largest overall index d30 as the sub-content to be distributed to the mobile terminal 4.
The processes of S22 to S26 described above are performed for all the mobile terminals 4 newly detected in S21.

Next, the server X sends the access point 2 to the corresponding mobile terminal 4 (that is, the transmission source of the first request (content request)) for the sub-content (element content) selected in S26. (S27, an example of processing of the content distribution means). The distribution of the sub-content is performed in synchronization with the output of the main content (element content) in S11 (an example of processing of the specified content output means). For example, if the main content is video content and the sub-content is audio content or subtitle document content, the position corresponding to the current output position of the main content (the playback time from the beginning) is cued, Deliver in sync so that audio or subtitles are supported. At that time, the distribution destination of the sub-content is specified by adding the terminal ID of the mobile terminal 4 to the sub-content selected for each mobile terminal 4.
On the other hand, the portable terminal 4 receives the sub content (element content) distributed from the server X (S35), and sequentially reproduces the received sub content (S36).
As a result, the user of the portable terminal 4 can combine the main content (for example, the content of the baseball broadcast) output to the specific playback device 1 with the relevant content suitable for his / her own portable terminal 4 or according to the user's preference. Sub-content (such as audio content) can be viewed at the same time.

Then, the server X checks the end of the output of the main content (S28), and repeats the processes from S21 to S27 described above until the end. Here, when the first request or the second request is not newly received from the mobile terminal 4, the evaluation of the comprehensive index d30 and the sub-content selection process (S26) are skipped, and the new first request is received. Alternatively, only when the second request is received, re-evaluation of the comprehensive index and re-selection of sub-content (S26) are performed for the portable terminal 4 that is the transmission source.
Then, when the output of the main content ends (Yes in S12 and S28), the server X ends the content distribution process.
On the other hand, the portable terminal 4 checks whether or not the user has made an input to change the setting of the “preference information” (S37), and if an input to change the setting is made, After the “preference information” input process (S38) is executed, the process proceeds to S34, where the second request transmission process for transmitting new “preference information” is executed. Thereby, the sub-content corresponding to the new “preference information” is distributed from the server X.
The portable terminal 4 checks the end of the sub-content distribution (S38), repeats the processes of S34 to S38 as described above until the sub-content distribution ends, and the sub-content distribution ends. Then, the reception / playback processing of the content ends.
As described above, the server X can select an appropriate element from a plurality of related element contents based on the type, quality, and communication capability required for distribution, according to requests such as terminal capabilities, functions, and user preferences. Content can be selected and distributed.
In the embodiment described above, the satisfaction level d5, which is an index indicating the quality of element content, and the reference band d6, which is an index of communication capability necessary for the distribution of element content, are individually set. Since these are highly correlated, both indicators may be represented by either one of the indicators.

  The present invention can be used for a content distribution apparatus or the like.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a content distribution system Z including a server X as an example of a content distribution apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart showing the procedure of the content delivery process by the server X, and the content reception and reproduction | regeneration processing by a portable terminal. The figure showing the example of a data structure of the element content related database in which the related element content and its related information are stored. The figure showing the example of the data structure of the master database regarding the function ID for specifying the kind of content. The figure showing an example of lists, such as file ID (element content identification information) extracted from a content related database using the data format (type) corresponding to function ID as a search key. The figure showing an example of the kind conformity calculated | required about the element content, communication conformity, satisfaction, and those comprehensive indexes. The figure which represented typically an example of the relationship between distribution of the performance communication speed between the server X and a portable terminal, and a reference zone | band (reference speed).

Explanation of symbols

1 ... Specific playback device (specific output destination)
2 ... Wireless access point 3 ... LAN
4 ... mobile terminal 5 ... storage means X for content, etc .... server (content distribution device)
Z ... Content distribution system S11, S12, ... Processing procedure (step)

Claims (5)

In a content distribution device that distributes content to one or more terminals,
Content storage means for storing one or a plurality of the contents including a plurality of related element contents;
Related information storage means for storing related information regarding the type and quality of each element content and / or communication capability required for distribution;
Content request receiving means for receiving from the terminal a content request including type specifying information necessary for specifying the type of content to be played by the terminal;
Communication capability evaluation means for evaluating communication capability with the terminal based on communication results by the content request reception means;
Distribution content selection means for selecting the element content to be distributed to the terminal based on the content request, the evaluation result of the communication capability evaluation means, and the related information;
Content distribution means for distributing the element content selected by the content selection means to the terminal that is the transmission source of the content request;
A content distribution apparatus comprising: The delivery content selection means is
About the element content, the communication conformity relating to the degree of conformity of the element content type with respect to the type of content reproduced by the terminal, and the conformity of the communication ability necessary for the delivery to the evaluation result of the communication ability evaluating means 2. A content distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a total index is obtained by integrating a degree and a quality level related to the quality of the element content, and the element content is selected based on the size of the total index. . A specific destination content output means for outputting the element content to a predetermined specific output destination;
The delivery content selection means selects the element content related to the element content output by the specified destination content output means;
The content delivery apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the output of the element content by the specified destination content output unit and the delivery of the element content by the content delivery unit are performed in synchronization. In a content distribution program for causing a computer to execute processing for distributing content to one or more terminals,
One or more of the contents including a plurality of related element contents, and related information regarding the type and quality of each element content and / or communication capability required for distribution are stored in the storage means,
A content request receiving step for receiving a content request including type specifying information necessary for specifying the type of content to be played back by the terminal;
A communication capability evaluation step of evaluating the communication capability with the terminal based on the communication performance by the content request receiving means;
A distribution content selection step of selecting the element content to be distributed to the terminal based on the content request, the evaluation result of the communication capability evaluation means, and the related information;
A content distribution step of distributing the element content selected by the content selection means to the terminal that is the transmission source of the content request;
Distribution program for causing a computer to execute In a content distribution method for distributing content to one or more terminals,
One or more of the contents including a plurality of related element contents, and related information regarding the type and quality of each element content and / or communication capability required for distribution are stored in the storage means,
A content request receiving step for receiving a content request including type specifying information necessary for specifying the type of content to be played back by the terminal;
A communication capability evaluation step of evaluating the communication capability with the terminal based on the communication performance by the content request receiving means;
A distribution content selection step of selecting the element content to be distributed to the terminal based on the content request, the evaluation result of the communication capability evaluation means, and the related information;
A content distribution step of distributing the element content selected by the content selection means to the terminal that is the transmission source of the content request;
A content distribution method characterized by comprising:

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