JP2007140847A - Electronic content distribution method and distribution system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To predict demands of electronic contents during an arbitrary period and to disperse loads on distribution of the electronic contents excellently on the basis of the demand prediction. <P>SOLUTION: The electronic content distribution system 101 calculates the popularity of the electronic contents from view achievement of the electronic contents and Web information to predict demands of the respective contents. A content server 115 has a high-speed storage 116 for storing contents of great demand and a low-speed storage 117 for storing contents of small demand and stores contents according to the demand in the respective storages. The electronic content distribution system 101 determines the storage for storing the electronic contents according to the demand predicted for every content and alters storages. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic content distribution method and distribution system, and more particularly to an electronic content distribution method and distribution system for providing a service for distributing electronic content using a storage.

Conventionally, contents such as music, games, personal computer software, and movies are generally provided in a form packaged on a recording medium. In recent years, the distribution of these contents has come to be converted into electronic form and distributed electronically via a communication line. As a conventional technique for electronically distributing content using a communication line, for example, a technique described in Patent Document 1 is known. In the case of large demand for newly announced electronic content, this conventional technology uses a broadcast device to distribute the content all at once. Is to be delivered to.
JP 2001-308807 A

  The prior art described above has a problem that the demand is predicted only before the distribution of the electronic content, and cannot cope with the case where the demand increases after the distribution of the electronic content starts.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, predict demand for electronic content at an arbitrary time, and appropriately distribute the load on distribution of electronic content based on this demand prediction. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic content distribution method and distribution system that can be used.

  According to the present invention, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic content distribution method for distributing electronic content to a user, receiving the user's order, distributing the electronic content stored in one of a plurality of storages, and Based on the information of the distributed content, the popularity of each electronic content is calculated based on a policy that summarizes the conditions and formulas for calculating the popularity, and based on the calculated popularity of each content, This is achieved by determining in which storage of the plurality of storages each content is to be stored and changing the storage for storing the content in accordance with this determination.

  In addition, in the electronic content distribution system for distributing electronic content to a user, the object is to receive a user order and distribute the electronic content, a plurality of storages for storing the electronic content, A content arrangement control unit that controls which storage in the storage stores the electronic content, and a popularity degree that calculates and manages the popularity of the electronic content based on information on the content distributed to the user by the content distribution management unit A management unit, and a policy management unit that manages a policy that summarizes the conditions and formulas for calculating the popularity, and the popularity management unit is based on a policy managed by the policy management unit. The degree of popularity of each content is calculated, and the content arrangement control unit manages the degree of popularity. Based on the popularity of each content calculated by, each content determines and stores a plurality of which storage of storage, is accomplished by performing a storage change of the storage of the content in accordance with this decision.

  According to the present invention, demand for electronic content can be predicted at an arbitrary time, and storage for storing electronic content can be changed based on this demand prediction, so the load on the system for distributing electronic content is reduced. can do.

  Embodiments of an electronic content distribution method and distribution system according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic content distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 101 is an electronic content distribution system, 102 is a Web information collection unit, 103 is a Web information analysis unit, 104 is a content distribution management unit, 105 is a content distribution control unit, 106 is a viewing record collection unit, and 107 is a viewing record. An analysis unit 108 is an attribute analysis unit 109 is a policy management unit 110 is a policy database 110 is a popularity management unit 111 is a content information database 113 is a content placement database 114 is the Internet 115 is a content server 116 High-speed storage, 117 is a low-speed storage, and 118 is a user terminal.

  An electronic content distribution system 101 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a system that distributes to a user any electronic content that is an electronic form of content such as games, personal computer software, and movies, and is described below. As is well known, each functional unit in the embodiment is stored as a program in a hard disk device in a computer typified by a PC including a CPU, a main storage device, a hard disk device, and the like, and is stored in the main memory. After being loaded into the apparatus, it is executed by the CPU under the OS to perform various processes in the embodiment of the present invention.

  The electronic content distribution system 101 includes a Web information collection unit 102 that collects Web information from the Internet 114 and a Web information analysis unit 103 that analyzes the collected Web information. By analyzing Web information, for example, various information provided by the provider, information on the use of information by the user, etc., sales information related to the content provided in the embodiment of the present invention can be obtained, It can be used to calculate the popularity of each content.

  In addition, the electronic content distribution system 101 distributes content information to the user terminal 118 via the Internet 114, stores the content information, and a content distribution management unit 104 as a Web server that handles requests for content distribution. It includes a content information database 112, and includes a viewing record collecting unit 106 that collects the number of times the content has been distributed, and a viewing record analyzing unit 107 that analyzes the viewing record. The viewing result collection unit 106 receives information indicating that the content has been distributed from the content distribution management unit 104 as information, and records the result of collecting data for a certain period in the content information database 112. Based on the viewing record recorded in the content information database 112, the viewing record analysis unit 107 analyzes each feature of the electronic content such as good viewing record only in a certain season, and assigns the feature to the content information database 112 as an attribute. Record as.

  The electronic content distribution system 101 also includes a policy management unit 109 that manages a policy that is a rule for calculating popularity, and a policy database 110 that records the policy. The policy can be created by the system administrator through the policy management unit 109 and can also be created by the attribute analysis unit 108.

  The electronic content distribution system 101 includes an attribute analysis unit 108 that analyzes features of popular content based on analysis of Web information and analysis of viewing results. The attribute analysis unit 108 registers the result of analyzing the characteristics of popular content in the policy database 110 as a policy that is a rule for calculating popularity.

  The electronic content distribution system 101 has a content server 115 that stores electronic content. The content server 115 includes a plurality of storages. In the embodiment described above, the content server 115 includes two types of storages, a high-speed storage 116 and a low-speed storage 117. Electronic content is stored in either the high speed storage 116 or the low speed storage 117. Also, the distribution price of the electronic content can be changed depending on the storage in which the electronic content is stored.

  In the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, the content server 115 is provided separately from the content distribution system 101. However, in the present invention, the storage in the content server 115 is provided in the content distribution system 101. May be. In addition to two types of storage, a larger number of types of storage may be provided.

  The electronic content distribution system 101 also includes a content arrangement control unit 105 that controls the arrangement of electronic contents, and a content arrangement database 113 that records storage in which each electronic content is stored. When receiving a request for electronic content distribution from the content distribution management unit 104, the content arrangement control unit 105 obtains storage information stored in the content arrangement database 113 and distributes the electronic content to the user.

  Furthermore, the electronic content distribution system 101 includes a popularity degree management unit 111 that calculates a popularity degree with a certain opportunity. The popularity management unit 111 receives the policy information from the policy database 110, calculates the popularity of the electronic content, and based on the calculated popularity, considers the preferred placement of the electronic content and needs to change the placement. The content placement control unit 105 is requested to move electronic content between storages. The content placement control unit 105 instructs a storage for placing content in the content server 115.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining processing operations from electronic content information transmission to electronic content distribution order and electronic content distribution. This will be described next. In this process, the content distribution management unit 104 performs transmission of electronic content information and acceptance of an electronic content distribution order.

(1) The content distribution management unit 104 first transmits electronic content information to the user. For this reason, the content distribution management unit 104 receives information about electronic content from the content information database, converts the received electronic content information into a form such as HTML, and converts the converted electronic content information via the Internet 114. To the user terminal 118 (steps 201 and 202).

(2) The user requests the electronic content distribution system 101 to distribute the electronic content based on the received electronic content information. This request is made when the user transmits an electronic content distribution order form 203 from the user terminal 118 through the Internet 114. The content distribution management unit 104 of the electronic content distribution system 101 receives the distribution order form 203 from the user terminal 118, accepts an order if there is no problem, creates order data from the received distribution order form 203, and performs content arrangement control. Order data is transmitted to the unit 105 (steps 204 and 205).

(3) The content arrangement control unit 105 distributes electronic content that has been ordered. For this reason, when receiving the order data, the content arrangement control unit 105 first receives, from the content arrangement database 113, information indicating in which storage of the content server 115 the electronic content for which the order has been received is stored (Step 206, 207).

(4) Next, the content arrangement control unit 105 takes out the electronic content to be distributed from the storage in which the ordered electronic content is stored, and sends the electronic content to the user terminal 118 via the content distribution management unit 104 and the Internet 114. To deliver. At this time, the distribution price is determined by the storage in which the electronic content is stored (step 208).

(5) Since the notification that the distribution of the electronic content is completed is transmitted from the user terminal 118 due to the distribution of the electronic content to the user terminal 118, the content arrangement control unit 105 receives this notification and manages the content distribution The section 104 is notified of the completion of content distribution (steps 209 and 210).

(6) After receiving the notification that the content distribution has been completed, the content distribution management unit 104 notifies the viewing result collection unit 106 of necessary information in order to record the viewing result (steps 211 and 212).

(7) When these are completed, the content distribution management unit 104 sends a notification that the order has been completed to the user terminal, and notifies the charge of the fee based on the price related to the distribution of the content (step 213).

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation until the popularity of electronic content is calculated at a certain opportunity, the storage for storing the electronic content is determined, and the arrangement is changed, which will be described next. The trigger for starting this process may be after a certain period of time or the like, and can be arbitrarily set by the system administrator. For example, it may be every week when the sales ranking is announced, every period when viewing results are gathered, or the like, or may be started by an instruction from the administrator. In addition, the popularity degree management unit 111 calculates the popularity degree by this processing.

(1) When calculating the popularity degree, the popularity degree management unit 111 first acquires the current electronic content arrangement information from the content arrangement database 113 and the previous popularity degree as information used for calculating the popularity degree ( Step 301).

(2) Next, the popularity level management unit 111 receives a policy that summarizes conditions and calculation formulas for calculating the popularity level from the policy database 110, and further includes a Web information analysis unit 103 and a viewing result analysis unit 107. And the information used for calculation of popularity is received from the content information database 112 (steps 302 and 303).

(3) For each of all electronic contents, the popularity is calculated according to the currently effective policy in the policy, and the current popularity is calculated from 0. This determines the popularity of this time for all electronic content. Details of this calculation will be described later with reference to FIG. 7 and an example of the calculation with reference to FIG. 8 (steps 304 and 305).

(4) Based on the determined popularity of each electronic content, the popularity level management unit 111 stores storage storage from this time until the next configuration processing is executed for each electronic content. to decide. At this time, the electronic contents that must be re-arranged are also determined (step 306).

(5) The popularity management unit 111 sends a relocation request to the content arrangement control unit 105 for the electronic content to be rearranged, and the content arrangement control unit 105 rearranges the electronic content. Since the notification of the completion of the arrangement is given, the popularity management unit 111 receives the notification and confirms the completion of the rearrangement (steps 307 and 308).

(6) Finally, the popularity level management unit 111 records the current popularity level and the rearranged content placement information in the content placement database 113, and ends the processing here (step 309).

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a policy table in which conditions and calculation formulas for calculating popularity registered in the policy database 110 are summarized. In the policy table, there is one record for each policy.

  The policy table includes a policy number 401, a valid flag 402, target data 403, target content 404, and added popularity 405. The primary key of this table is the policy number 401 and does not overlap.

  The valid flag 402 is a flag indicating whether or not to apply the policy when calculating the popularity degree. In the embodiment described, calculation is performed when the mark is ◯, and calculation is not performed when the mark is ×. Means that. In addition, for a content having an attribute of increasing popularity in a certain season, this flag is set when the popularity is added only in that season.

  The target data 403 describes the type of information that the policy uses for calculating popularity. In the described embodiment, it is the previous popularity degree, Web information, viewing results, electronic content attribute information, and the like.

  In the target content 404, the type of electronic content to be calculated using the policy is described. In the embodiment described, all electronic content and information on the electronic content match certain conditions. It is the condition of things.

  In the addition popularity degree 405, a calculation formula for the popularity degree to be added to the electronic content is described. As this calculation formula, any calculation formula recognized by the database can be applied, and the calculation result is allowed to be negative.

  The policy as described above can be created by a system administrator, or can be automatically created by the system using Web information, viewing results, and attributes. For example, when it is determined that the popularity of electronic content having a certain attribute from the Web information and the viewing performance is high, it is possible to create a policy of adding popularity to all the electronic content having the attribute.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of a table of electronic content information to be distributed registered in the content information database 112. In the electronic content information table, there is one record for each electronic content.

  The electronic content information table includes a content number 501, content information 502, an attribute 503, and a viewing record 504. The primary key of this table is the content number 501 and does not overlap.

  The content information 502 of the table shown in FIG. 5 describes the specifications possessed by the electronic content. This content information 502 is mainly used by the content distribution management unit 104 to transmit electronic content information to the user, and includes, for example, information such as the title, artist name, and release date of the electronic content. Content price information is also included. The price information may be determined by a method for setting a price for each storage serving as a distribution source, a basic price for a specific storage, and a method for calculating other storage based on the basic price.

  The attribute 503 describes the characteristics of the electronic content. The content may be, for example, the season in which the electronic content grows every year, a specific genre, a drama performer, or the like. These attributes can be created by a system administrator, or can be automatically created by the system using viewing results. For example, when it is determined that the popularity will increase in a certain season based on the viewing performance, an attribute of the season can be created for the electronic content.

  In the viewing record 504, the viewing record (the number of viewings) distributed by the electronic content distribution system 101 is described as a viewing record for each period of a plurality of periods, which are collected every certain period. This viewing record 504 is described by the viewing record collection unit 106.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a table in which information of storage storing electronic contents to be distributed registered in the content arrangement database 113 is recorded. In this table, there is one record for each electronic content.

  The table shown in FIG. 6 includes an electronic content number 601, popularity 602, and storage storage 603. The primary key of this table is the content number 601 and does not overlap. In addition, the content number 501 of the content information database 112 is the same as the number of records, and it must correspond one-to-one. Moreover, the order described may be any order. In the illustrated example, the order of popularity 602 is descending. The popularity 602 describes the popularity calculated for the electronic content last time. This popularity degree 602 is used as information when the popularity degree is calculated next time.

  The storage storage 603 describes in which storage in the content server 115 the electronic content is stored. In the embodiment of the present invention, since the content server 115 is composed of the high-speed storage 116 and the low-speed storage 117, one of the storage names is described in the storage storage 603. This storage storage 603 is used as information when distributing content and when calculating the degree of popularity and considering rearrangement next.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the details of the processing operation for calculating the degree of popularity using a policy for all electronic contents. Next, this will be described. The process described here corresponds to the process of calculating the degree of popularity for the policy in step 304 shown in FIG. 3 and the process of adding the degree of popularity 305 in step 305.

(1) The popularity management unit 111 calculates the popularity of the target electronic content for all effective policies. In this calculation, the popularity of all electronic contents is calculated from the value 0. For this reason, first, in order to confirm all policies, a variable X indicating the policy number 401 is defined, and 1 which is the first number of the policy number 401 is substituted into the stiffness variable X (step 701).

(2) Next, it is determined whether there is a policy whose policy number 401 is X (hereinafter referred to as policy X), that is, whether processing for all policies has been completed. If not, the calculation of popularity is terminated (step 702).

(3) If it is determined in step 702 that the policy X exists, it is determined whether or not the policy X is valid by checking the valid flag 402 for the policy X. If the valid flag 402 indicates invalid, Without executing the process of adding popularity, 1 is added to the policy X, the process returns to the process from step 702, and the process for the next policy is continued (steps 703 and 709).

(4) If the validity flag 402 for the policy X indicates that the policy X is valid in the determination in step 703, in order to add popularity to the electronic content, first, the content number 501 is set to confirm all the electronic content. The variable Y shown is defined, and 1 which is the first number of the content number 501 is substituted into the variable Y (step 704).

(5) Next, it is determined whether or not there is content whose content number 501 is Y (hereinafter referred to as content Y), that is, whether or not the processing for all content has been completed. If not, the calculation of the popularity for the policy X is terminated, 1 is added to the policy X, the processing returns to the processing from the step 702, and the processing for the next policy is continued (steps 705 and 709).

(6) If it is determined in step 705 that the content Y exists, whether the content Y is the target of the policy X satisfies the target data 403 and the target content 404 of the policy X with respect to the content Y. If the content Y is not the target of the policy X, 1 is added to the content Y without performing the processing for adding the popularity to the content Y, and the processing returns to the processing from step 705 Then, the process for the next content is continued (steps 706 and 708).

(7) If it is determined in step 706 that the content Y is the target of the policy X, the value obtained by calculating the addition popularity 405 of the policy X is added to the popularity of the content Y, and then 1 is added to the content Y. In addition, returning to the process from step 705, the process for the next content is continued (steps 707 and 708).

  When the above-described processing is executed for all policies and the popularity of the target electronic content is added, the calculation of popularity is terminated.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a transition example of the table of the popularity management unit before the popularity is calculated, during the calculation, and after the calculation is completed. This table is a table created by the popularity degree management unit 111 for performing the processing shown in FIG. 8 (a), 8 (b), and 8 (c), a table 801 before popularity calculation, a table 802 during popularity calculation, and a popularity calculation end created by the popularity management unit 111, respectively. A later table 803 is shown.

  Each of the tables 801 to 803 shown in FIGS. 8A to 8C includes items of content number 804, popularity 805, previous popularity 806, last storage 807, storage 808, and movement 809. Has been. The content number 804 has the same number of records as the content number 501 in the content information database 112 and the content number 601 in the content arrangement database 113, and has a one-to-one correspondence.

  In the table 801 before popularity calculation shown in FIG. 8A, the current electronic content arrangement information and the previous popularity degree are acquired from the content arrangement database 113 and stored. The acquired information is described in the previous storage storage 807 and the previous popularity 806, respectively. The popularity degrees 805 calculated from now on are all set to 0, and there is no data in the storage storage 808 and the migration 809.

  The example of the table 802 during popularity calculation shown in FIG. 8B shows the result of applying the policy with policy number 1 in the policy table described with reference to FIG. In this example, a value obtained by dividing the value stored in the previous popularity degree 806 by 5 is added to the popularity degree 805 of each electronic content. Similar work is done for all valid policies.

  The example of the table 803 after the popularity degree calculation shown in FIG. 8C stores the result of the popularity degree calculation being completed. The popularity 805 obtained by the calculation is the current popularity, that is, the demand prediction. Taking into account the capacity of the electronic content, newly registered electronic content, the area for movement, etc., the current storage storage is determined, and the determined storage is described in the storage storage 808. If the storage in the previous storage 807 and the storage determined in the storage 808 are different from each other, “△” is indicated in the movement 809 if the movement is higher, and “▽” is indicated if the movement is lower. To do. The popularity degree management unit 111 transmits a request for rearrangement of electronic content to the content arrangement control unit 105 based on information in the movement 809.

  According to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, in electronic content distribution, electronic content that is in great demand at any time is stored in a high-speed storage that can provide the content more quickly. Can be performed at high speed. Further, according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the load on the Internet, the electronic content distribution system and the archive server, further efficiently use the capacity of the storage, and reduce the cost for the operation of the storage. it can.

  Each process in the above-described embodiment of the present invention is configured by a program and can be executed by a CPU included in a computer. These programs are provided by being stored in a recording medium such as an FD, CDROM, or DVD. And can be provided by digital information over a network.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the electronic content delivery system by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the processing operation from electronic content information transmission to electronic content distribution order and electronic content distribution. It is a flowchart explaining the processing operation | movement until calculating the popularity of electronic content with a certain opportunity, determining the storage which stores electronic content, and changing arrangement | positioning. It is a figure which shows the structure of the policy table which put together the conditions and calculation formulas for calculating the popularity registered into the policy database. It is a figure which shows the structure of the table of the electronic content information to be delivered registered in the content information database. It is a figure which shows the structure of the table which recorded the information of the storage in which the electronic content to be delivered registered in the content arrangement database is stored. It is a flowchart explaining the detail of the processing operation which calculates a popularity using a policy with respect to all the electronic contents. It is a figure which shows the example of a transition of the table of the popularity management part after calculation completion before calculation of popularity, in the middle of calculation.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Electronic content delivery system 102 Web information collection part 103 Web information analysis part 104 Content delivery management part 105 Content arrangement control part 106 Viewing result collection part 107 Viewing result analysis part 108 Attribute analysis part 109 Policy management part 110 Policy database 111 Popularity management Unit 112 Content information database 113 Content allocation database 114 Internet 115 Content server 116 High-speed storage 117 Low-speed storage 118 User terminal

Claims (5)

  In an electronic content distribution method for distributing electronic content to a user, the electronic content stored in one of a plurality of storages is received by receiving the user's order, and the electronic content is distributed based on information on the content distributed to the user. The popularity of each electronic content is calculated based on a policy that summarizes the conditions and formulas for calculating the popularity, and based on the calculated popularity of each content, An electronic content distribution method characterized by determining whether to store in a storage and changing the storage of content according to the determination.   The calculation of popularity of each content includes at least one of Web information collected from the Internet, viewing history information of distributed content, a preset season, and attribute information of the electronic content including the author. The electronic content distribution method according to claim 1.   3. The electronic content distribution method according to claim 1, wherein when calculating the popularity of each content, the policy can set in advance whether the policy is valid or invalid.   4. The electronic content distribution method according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein a charge that occurs in the distribution of the electronic content is determined according to a storage in which the content is stored.   In an electronic content distribution system that distributes electronic content to a user, a content distribution management unit that receives the user's order and distributes the electronic content, a plurality of storages that store the electronic content, and the electronic content that is the storage A content arrangement control unit that controls which storage of the content is stored, a popularity degree management unit that calculates and manages the popularity degree of the electronic content based on information of the content distributed to the user by the content distribution management unit, and the popularity A policy management unit that manages a policy that summarizes the conditions and formulas for calculating the degree, and the popularity management unit determines the popularity of each content based on the policy managed by the policy management unit. The content placement control unit is calculated by the popularity management unit Based on the popularity of the content, the electronic content distribution system, characterized in that to determine whether to store each content to which storage of a plurality of storage, and stores this change of storage of the content in accordance with this decision.

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