JP2008206039A - Content viewing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve user friendliness by quickening the response of operation in a content viewing system. <P>SOLUTION: Playback is requested from a content player to a content converter 1, the instruction of content acquisition is sent from the content converter 1 to a content recorder in response to the request, and content data are sent from the recorder to the content converter 1. These content data are formed not to be handled by the content player, so that transcode processing is performed and converted content data are sent to the content player and played back. During this processing, it becomes a playback waiting term. The content converter 1 then predicts a content acquisition request to be performed by the user next, and a temporary content acquisition request is made to the recorder beforehand, thereby performing transmission of content data and transcode processing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a content viewing apparatus, and more particularly to a content viewing apparatus capable of conveniently viewing content indoors and outdoors.

  In recent years, with the rapid development of communication technology and content distribution technology, there is an increasing demand for viewing content anytime, anywhere, and on any device. Home networks in the home are also widespread, and not only PCs (Personal Computers) but also information appliances such as televisions and DVDs (Digital Versatile Disc) recorders are connected to the home networks. If the products are compliant with DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance), an operation of viewing video content recorded on a DVD recorder on a television in another room can be realized.

  On the other hand, there is also a demand for viewing contents in the home from a remote location using a mobile device such as a mobile phone or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).

  For example, when trying to view video content in a home with a mobile phone, the codecs of the video content in the home are mainly MPEG2 and MPEG4, but these cannot be viewed on the mobile phone as they are. . Therefore, it is necessary to convert (transcode) MPEG2 and MPEG4 into a codec (for example, 3GPP) that can be viewed on a mobile phone.

JP 2005-303711 A JP 2006-245807 A

  Since transcoding of video content has a large amount of processing, it can be considered that transcoding is performed in advance before the user actually views the video. However, it is difficult in time to transcode all video contents in advance, and a data area for storing the transcoded data is also required. It is desirable to be able to transcode on demand. In this case, for example, when the user performs an operation such as fast-forwarding or skipping while viewing the content, it is necessary to perform transcoding processing after receiving the user's operation. There was a problem of delay. Hereinafter, this problem will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of data exchange between the content recording device 102, the content reproduction device 103, and the content conversion device 101 that relays them. Here, the content conversion apparatus 101 performs a transcoding process when relaying the content data, and transmits the converted content data to the content reproduction apparatus 103.

  First, a reproduction request 111 is made from the content reproduction apparatus 103 to the content conversion apparatus 101, and a content acquisition instruction 112 is sent from the content conversion apparatus 101 to the content recording apparatus 102 accordingly. The instructed content data 113 is sent from the content recording device 102 to the content conversion device 101. Since the content data 113 is in a format that cannot be handled by the content reproduction device 103, transcoding processing 114 is performed, and the converted content data 115 is sent to the content reproduction device 103. During this time, a reproduction waiting period 131 is entered. The converted content data 115 is reproduced by the content reproduction device 103 (135). In this figure, HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) is assumed as a content acquisition protocol, and content data is sent several times in response to a content acquisition request, so the same applies to content data 116 and 119. Transcode processing 117 and 120 are performed and transmitted to the content reproduction apparatus 103. Here, when the user performs an operation such as fast forward or skip during content reproduction, a viewing operation request 121 is sent from the content reproduction apparatus 103 to the content conversion apparatus 101. At this time, the content conversion apparatus 101 does not hold the content data at the required position, and therefore transmits a request 122 for acquiring the content data at the required position to the content recording apparatus 102. In response, the instructed content data 123 is sent from the content recording device 102 to the content conversion device 101, and after the transcoding process 124, the converted content data 125 is sent to the content reproduction device 103. In the content reproduction apparatus 103, the reproduction waiting period 137 occurs until the content data 125 is received, and it can be seen that a large delay occurs from when the user performs an operation until reproduction is resumed.

  It is an object of the present invention to speed up the response of an operation in a content viewing system and improve user convenience.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, in a content conversion device that converts content data and transmits the content data to a content reproduction device, a request reception unit that receives a request from the content reproduction device, and a request received by the request reception unit. In response, a playback data acquisition unit that acquires content data, a playback data conversion unit that transcodes the content data acquired by the playback data acquisition unit, a prediction unit that determines a prefetch location of the content being acquired, and the prediction A prefetch data acquisition unit that acquires content data at a position based on a prediction result of a copy unit, a prefetch data conversion unit that transcodes content data acquired by the prefetch data acquisition unit, the reproduction data conversion unit, and the prefetch data conversion The content data converted by the A data transmission unit for transmitting to the tool reproduction apparatus, content conversion apparatus comprising a are provided. The prediction unit can use a position acquired by the reproduction data acquisition unit as a reference after a certain period or before a certain period as a prediction result. In addition, a request history holding unit that records a request received by the request receiving unit may be provided, and the prediction unit may perform prediction based on information recorded in the request history holding unit.

Further, a scene detection unit that detects a scene from the content data acquired by the reproduction data acquisition unit may be provided, and the prediction unit may perform prediction based on a detection result of the scene detection unit. And a capability acquisition unit that acquires capability information of the content conversion device,
It is preferable that the prediction unit changes the number to be predicted according to the information acquired by the capability acquisition unit. A meta information acquisition unit that acquires meta information such as a tag and a comment attached to the content data may be provided, and the prediction unit may set a point to which the meta information is added as a prediction result.

  The present invention also provides a home network system including a content recording device for recording content encoded in a first encoding format, and encoding in a second encoding format different from the first encoding format. A content playback device that plays back the content that has been played, and a content conversion device that relays between the home network system and the content playback device, and performs conversion from the first encoding format to the second encoding format A content viewing system including a transcoder, wherein the content conversion device is predicted to be required by the operation prediction unit for predicting a viewing operation in the content reproduction device, and the operation prediction unit. Content data to be acquired from the content recording device in advance and transmitted by the transcoder. A storage unit for storing after conversion, and a communication unit for transmitting content data stored in the storage unit to the content reproduction device when the predicted viewing operation is performed in the content reproduction device. This is a featured content viewing system.

  In addition, a home network system including a content recording device that records encoded content in the first encoding format, and content encoded in a second encoding format different from the first encoding format A content conversion device that relays between a content reproduction device to be reproduced and the home network system and the content reproduction device, wherein the content conversion device converts the first encoding format to the second encoding format. A transcoder that performs conversion, an operation prediction unit that predicts a viewing operation in the content reproduction device, and content data that is predicted to be needed by the operation prediction unit are acquired in advance from the content recording device, and the transcoder A storage unit that stores after conversion, and the predicted viewing operation is the content reproduction A communication unit for sending the contents data stored in the storage unit when performed in location to the content reproducing apparatus, may be a.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, after receiving a first content playback request, receiving the first content based on the acquisition request for the first content, and performing transcoding processing, the content playback request source The second content is received based on the second content acquisition request based on the prediction and the transcoding process is performed. A content relay method comprising: storing content data; and transmitting the converted content data stored when the predicted viewing operation is performed to a content reproduction request source. Is provided.

  The present invention may be a program for causing a computer to execute the above steps, or a computer-readable recording medium on which the program is recorded.

  According to the present invention, there is an advantage that usability is improved by improving the response when the user performs viewing operation.

  In this specification, content acquisition according to a request from a user is defined as “reproduction data acquisition”, and content acquisition performed by the HGW itself is defined as “prefetched data acquisition”.

  Hereinafter, a system including a content conversion apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a content viewing system according to the present embodiment. A system A shown in FIG. 1 connects, for example, a content recording device (2a, 2b, 2c) installed in a home, a content reproduction device 3 such as a mobile phone, and a content conversion device 1 that relays them. A home network 5 and the Internet 7. In the present embodiment, the content conversion device 1 is connected to the home network 5 and the Internet 7 and is configured to operate as an HGW (Home Gateway). In the present embodiment, the content recording device 2 exists on the home network, but may be on the Internet as long as it can be accessed from the content conversion device 1. Of course, the content may be recorded in the content conversion device 1 itself.

  The home network 5 is, for example, a home LAN connection system. Various content recording devices, for example, a television receiver 2a with a recording device, a PVR (Personal Video Recorder) 2b such as a DVD recorder, a hard disk recorder, and a PC ( (Personal Computer) 2c.

  The content conversion apparatus 1 is provided, for example, in a home, and includes a CPU 11 that controls the whole, a ROM 17 that stores a processing program, a RAM 15 that develops the processing program thereon and performs high-speed processing, and transcoding. A transcoder 21 that performs processing, an Ethernet terminal 23 that forms an interface of the Internet 7, an Ethernet terminal 25 that forms an interface of the home network 5, and a hard disk (temporary storage area) 27 that records content, which may be temporary. Have.

  The devices connected to the home network 5 perform communication based on a unified network communication protocol standard called DLNA. These devices mainly handle video content based on compression formats such as MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Such content data undergoes transcoding processing (for example, conversion processing from MPEG-2 to 3GPP) in the content conversion device 1, and is a communication standard used in the content reproduction device 3 (mobile phone), for example, 3GPP Is sent to the mobile phone 3 in a state converted to.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a logical block of the content conversion apparatus 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the content conversion device 1 includes a communication unit 51, a request reception unit 53 that receives a request from the content reproduction device 3, and content data acquisition that acquires corresponding content data on the content recording device 2. 55, a data transmission unit 57 that transmits content data to the content reproduction device 3, a content data conversion unit 61 that transcodes (converts) the acquired content data, and data that holds and manages the transcoded content data And a management unit 67. Further, regarding the request received by the request receiving unit 53, a user authentication unit 63 that determines whether the request is from a permitted content reproduction apparatus, and a request processing unit 64 that determines the type of the request and gives an instruction according to the request. And a session management unit 65 for managing a content acquisition session.

  The content data acquisition unit 55 includes a reproduction data acquisition unit 55a and a prefetch data acquisition unit 55b. The content data conversion unit 61 includes a reproduction data conversion unit 61a and a prefetch data conversion unit 61b.

  Further, for example, a prediction unit 71 that performs user operation prediction based on data obtained from the request history holding unit 73 that holds user request history information and determines a prefetched portion of the content data is provided. Since it is conceivable that one content conversion device 1 is shared by a family, the operation history held in the request history holding unit 73 is not limited to one user. Based on the prediction of the prediction unit 71, the prefetch data acquisition unit 55b makes a temporary content data request, and the content data converted by the prefetch data conversion unit 61b can be created. The prediction of the prediction unit 71 will be described in more detail.

  Although the prediction method is not particularly limited, for example, operation prediction as shown below is possible.

(1) It is predicted that a skip operation will be performed after a certain period or before a certain period, and the point that is currently reproduced is always a certain period or a certain period before the pre-reading point.
(2) A scene detection unit that detects a scene from the content data acquired by the reproduction data acquisition unit is provided, and it is predicted that the skip is performed up to the scene switching position. For example, CM skip is applicable. Scene detection is performed by using the feature amount such as volume and background color that is different between the CM and the main part, and the detected point (for example, a switching point from the CM to the main part corresponds) is set as a prefetch point.
(3) A metadata acquisition unit that acquires metadata such as tags and comments attached to content data is provided, and it is predicted that skipping is performed to a position to which metadata is added. In general, a point to which a tag, a comment, or the like is assigned is an important scene, and it is considered that there is a high possibility of viewing from that point.
(4) For each content, a history relating to the operation and the point where the operation was performed is stored. For example, if the content is the content of a children's athletic meet, the family often sees the same place (that is, often sees the scene in which my child appears). The operation that is likely to be performed next is predicted at the point being reproduced, and the point of the operation result is set as the prefetch point.

  Furthermore, it is conceivable that a capability acquisition unit that acquires capability information of the content conversion device is provided, and the prediction unit 71 changes the number of predictions according to the information acquired by the capability acquisition unit. That is, by increasing the number of predictions as the performance of the content conversion apparatus increases, it is possible to reduce the possibility that prediction will fail and waiting time will increase. In the present embodiment, the prediction (1) is performed.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 8, and is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of data exchange between the recording device 2, the content reproduction device 3, and the content conversion device 1 that relays them. First, a playback request 11 is made from the content playback device 3 to the content conversion device 1, and a content acquisition instruction 12 is sent from the content conversion device 1 to the content recording device 2 accordingly. The instructed content data (reproduction data) 13 is sent from the recording device 2 to the content conversion device 1. Since the content data (reproduction data) 13 is in a format that cannot be handled by the content reproduction device 3, the transcoding process 10 is performed, and the converted content data 14 is sent to the content reproduction device 3. During this time, a reproduction waiting period 35 is reached. The converted content data 14 is played back by the content playback device 3 (37). Here, in the system according to the present embodiment, the content conversion apparatus 1 predicts a content acquisition request that the user will make next, and issues a content (prefetched data) acquisition request 15 to the recording apparatus 2 in advance. Keep going. Based on this, transmission of content data (prefetched data) 17, 22, and 28 and transcoding processing 19, 24, and 30 are performed.

  Here, for example, when a viewing operation (an operation for performing skip processing) 25 is performed from the playback device 3, the conversion that has been prepared in advance and temporarily stored in the content conversion device with a small playback waiting period 39 is performed. The playback apparatus 3 can immediately acquire the completed content data (prefetched data) 26 (see reference Y).

  Next, the processing flow in the present embodiment will be described below with the content conversion apparatus 1 as a main component. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when a request is received in the present embodiment.

  First, processing is started (step S1), and the request receiving unit 53 receives a request from the content reproduction apparatus 3 (step S2). In steps S3 and S4, the user authentication unit 63 authenticates the content reproduction apparatus 3 that is the request transmission source (for example, authentication is performed using an apparatus ID and a predetermined password). If the authentication is successful (Yes), the request processing unit 64 determines the type of request and performs processing for each request. First, in step S6, it is determined whether or not the request is a “stop” request. If yes, the content acquisition session managed by the session management unit 65 is stopped in step S6. As a result, content data is not transmitted from the content recording device 2. If it is not a stop request (No), the process proceeds to step S8, and it is determined whether the request is a reproduction or skip request. Note that the “playback” or “skip” request is handled in the same way because only the playback position is from the beginning or the middle. If it is a “playback” or “skip” request (Yes), the session management unit 65 inquires the data management unit 67 whether there is transcoded data after the playback position (step S9). It is determined whether or not there is (step S10). If there is insufficient data (Yes), the reproduction data acquisition unit 55a transmits a request to the content recording apparatus 2 to acquire content from that position (step S11). As a result, a content acquisition session is started, and content data is sequentially transmitted from the content recording device 2.

  When the authentication is not successful (No), when it is not a “playback” or “skip” request (No), when the processing is completed, the processing at the time of request processing is also ended (step S5).

  Next, the flow of content data acquisition processing will be described with reference to FIG. When the process is started in step S21, the data acquisition unit 55 receives the content data transmitted from the content recording device 2 in step S22 (step S22). As described above, the data acquisition unit 55 includes the reproduction data acquisition unit 55a and the prefetch data acquisition unit 55b. However, the two are only logically distinguished, and the processing itself is exactly the same. In step S <b> 23, the content data conversion unit 61 transcodes the content data and creates data in a format that can be viewed on the content reproduction device 2. In step S24, the transcoded content data is stored in the data management unit 67, and the process ends (step S25).

  Next, content data transmission processing will be described with reference to FIG. First, the processing is started (step S31), and the content transmission unit 57 determines whether or not the device is stopped (step S32). If the device is stopped (Yes), the process directly proceeds to step S37. If not stopped (No), the following content data transmission processing is performed. First, it is checked whether or not the time has elapsed for the transmission interval (step S33), and the system waits for an appropriate time interval. Thereafter (Yes), the data management unit 67 is inquired whether or not the content data to be transmitted next has already been created (step S34). If the data exists (Yes), the data is converted into the content in step S35. The data transmitted to the playback apparatus 3 is deleted as necessary (step S36), and the process ends (step S37). Note that the converted content data may be reused during the rewinding operation, and thus may not be deleted during playback but may be deleted collectively when viewing is completed.

  Next, an example of operation prediction will be described with reference to FIG. First, the process is started (step S41), and the operation prediction unit 71 inquires of the session management unit 65 whether there is a sufficient number of sessions. Here, the maximum number of sessions is determined according to the capability of the device (if there are a plurality of sessions, a plurality of transcoding processes are also performed, which increases the load). In step S42, if there is a margin in the number of sessions (Yes), the operation predicting unit 71 predicts the user's operation based on the current situation, and determines the start position of the prepared data (step 43). As a means for prediction, in order to deal with skipping this time, it may be performed after a certain period (for example, 30 seconds) of the reproduction position. Thereafter, as in the case of receiving a request, the session management unit 65 inquires the data management unit 67 about the lack of transcoded data (step S44), and determines the presence or absence of the lack (step S45). If there is a shortage (Yes), the prefetch data acquisition unit 55b transmits a content acquisition request so that the content data can be acquired from that point (step S46). If there is no room in the number of sessions (No), this process ends in step S47.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, a user accesses a content conversion device at home using a mobile phone or the like, and views content in the home by performing transcoding processing with the content conversion device. To do. At that time, the content conversion device retains the past user viewing operation history, and transcodes the playback data currently used for playback for a few seconds after the fast forward or rewind operation is performed. In parallel with the processing, prefetch data is acquired and transcoded, and converted prefetch data is created and stored. Thereafter, when the user performs a fast-forward operation, if the pre-read data is prepared, the pre-read data can be immediately transmitted to the mobile phone. Therefore, there is an advantage that the waiting time of the user can be shortened.

  The present invention can be used as a content viewing system.

It is a figure which shows the example of 1 structure of the content viewing-and-listening system by one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of 1 structure of the logic block of a content converter. It is a sequence diagram which shows the example of the exchange of data between a recording device, a content reproduction apparatus, and the content conversion apparatus which relays them. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of a process at the time of the request reception in this Embodiment. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of a content data acquisition process. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of the transmission process of content data. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of an example of operation prediction. It is a sequence diagram which shows the example of the exchange of general data between a recording device, a content reproduction apparatus, and the content conversion apparatus which relays them.

Explanation of symbols

A ... content viewing system, 1 ... content conversion device, 2 ... home network system, 2a ... television receiver with recording device, 2b ... content recording device (PVR) such as a hard display recorder, 2c ... content recording device (personal) Computer: PC), 3 ... content playback device such as mobile phone, 5 ... home network, 7 ... Internet, 11 ... CPU, 15 ... RAM, 17 ... ROM, 21 ... transcoder, 23, 25 ... Ethernet terminal, 27 ... Hard disk (temporary storage area), 51 ... communication unit, 53 ... request receiving unit, 55 ... content acquisition unit, 57 ... content transmission unit, 61 ... content conversion unit, 67 ... data management unit, 63 ... user authentication unit, 64 ... Request processing unit, 65 ... session Processing section, 71 ... prediction unit, 73 ... request history storage unit.

Claims (11)

In a content conversion device that converts content data and transmits it to a content reproduction device,
A request receiving unit for receiving a request from the content reproduction device;
In response to the request received by the request receiver, a reproduction data acquisition unit that acquires content data;
A reproduction data conversion unit that transcodes the content data acquired by the reproduction data acquisition unit;
A prediction unit that determines a prefetched portion of the content being acquired;
A prefetch data acquisition unit that acquires content data at a position based on a prediction result of the prediction unit;
A prefetch data converter that transcodes the content data acquired by the prefetch data acquisition unit;
A content conversion apparatus comprising: a data transmission unit configured to transmit content data converted by the reproduction data conversion unit and the prefetch data conversion unit to the content reproduction device.   The content conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the prediction unit uses a position acquired by the reproduction data acquisition unit as a reference and makes a prediction result after a certain period or before a certain period. A request history holding unit for recording a request received by the request receiving unit;
The content conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the prediction unit performs prediction based on information recorded in the request history holding unit. A scene detection unit for performing scene detection from the content data acquired by the reproduction data acquisition unit;
The content conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the prediction unit performs prediction based on a detection result of the scene detection unit. A capability acquisition unit that acquires capability information of the content conversion device;
The content conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the prediction unit changes the number of predictions according to the information acquired by the capability acquisition unit. It has a meta information acquisition unit that acquires meta information such as tags and comments attached to content data,
The content conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the prediction unit sets a point to which the meta information is added as a prediction result. A home network system including a content recording device for recording encoded content in a first encoding format, and reproducing content encoded in a second encoding format different from the first encoding format A content playback device that relays between the home network system and the content playback device, and includes a transcoder that performs conversion from the first encoding format to the second encoding format A content viewing system including a conversion device,
The content conversion device includes an operation prediction unit that predicts a viewing operation in the content reproduction device;
A storage unit that acquires content data predicted to be needed by the operation prediction unit in advance from the content recording device and converts the content data after conversion by the transcoder;
A content viewing system comprising: a communication unit that sends content data stored in the storage unit to the content reproduction device when the predicted viewing operation is performed in the content reproduction device. A home network system including a content recording device for recording encoded content in a first encoding format, and reproducing content encoded in a second encoding format different from the first encoding format A content conversion device that relays between a content reproduction device and the home network system and the content reproduction device,
The content conversion apparatus includes a transcoder that performs conversion from the first encoding format to the second encoding format;
An operation prediction unit for predicting a viewing operation in the content reproduction device;
A storage unit that acquires content data predicted to be needed by the operation prediction unit in advance from the content recording device and converts the content data after conversion by the transcoder;
A content conversion device comprising: a communication unit that sends content data stored in the storage unit to the content reproduction device when the predicted viewing operation is performed in the content reproduction device. Receiving a first content reproduction request, receiving the first content based on the first content acquisition request, performing transcoding processing, and sending the content to the content reproduction request source;
Predicting the viewing operation of the second content, receiving the second content based on the second content acquisition request based on the prediction, and storing the converted content data after performing the transcoding process Steps to keep
Sending the converted content data stored when the predicted viewing operation is performed to a content reproduction request source.   A program for causing a computer to execute the steps according to claim 9.   The computer-readable recording medium which recorded the program of Claim 10.

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