JP2008252199A - Method for distributing content and terminal for receiving content - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control the receiving speed of each content independently according to the transmission speed between a content server and a content receiving terminal, the number of contents received simultaneously, the meta information and the state of each content when a plurality of pieces of contents are received simultaneously. <P>SOLUTION: When reproduction is started during the reception of a content a, a reproduction control means 27 notifies a speed calculation means 23 that the content a is in reproduction state. The speed calculation means 23 acquires the total amount of data (D) of the content and the reproduction time (T) of the content from the meta information of the content a received from a meta information management means 22. Subsequently, the speed calculation means 23 acquires the amount of data (d) of the content a received already from a storage control means 25. The speed calculation means 23 sets (D-d)/T as the receiving speed of the content a for a reception control means 24a so that the reproduction data do not dry up until the end of reproduction during follow-up reproduction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a content distribution method and content receiving terminal in download-type content distribution.

  In recent years, with the development of information networks such as the Internet, so-called Internet home appliances that can connect to the Internet and transmit and receive information have become widespread. In particular, HDD recorders equipped with a hard disk connected to an information network such as the Internet, or hybrid recorders equipped with a DVD and a hard disk are becoming widespread. Most of these moving image information recording / reproducing apparatuses can store and record / reproduce terrestrial TV program contents in a hard disk.

  In addition, content distribution services for distributing contents such as movies and music to these devices, PCs, and dedicated STBs (set top boxes) are also provided. On-demand streaming distribution is becoming popular for such content distribution, but it cannot be serviced unless the transmission speed of the distribution network is guaranteed. It is expected to provide services to download and distribute content to recorders and hybrid recorders.

When a device with limited processing resources, such as an HDD recorder or a hybrid recorder, is adopted as the content playback device, the content download processing places a heavy load on the information processing means of the content playback device when multiple functions are operated simultaneously. Therefore, if the processing resources of the terminal are limited, the download speed may be slower than the content playback speed when processing with a higher priority than the content download processing is executed. When started, so-called catch-up may occur. Therefore, the priority of the terminal download process and other processes is controlled to ensure the download speed required for the follow-up reproduction in accordance with the operation state of the terminal (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2006-279843 A

  However, the content playback apparatus used in the above-described conventional download-type content distribution prevents the catch-up by controlling the priority between the download process and the other process, but other processes ( For example, when the priority of the recording process is high, the priority of the download process must be lowered, and when this content is played at the same time as downloading the content, so-called “catch-up” occurs.

  In the case where a plurality of contents are downloaded simultaneously, the present invention completes reception of the contents in a short time by preferentially performing the download process of the contents over the download process of the other contents, and catches up with the chasing playback. The purpose is to prevent.

  To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a content distribution method in which a content receiving terminal distributes content including at least moving image information stored in a content server via a network, wherein the content server distributes the content. Content storage means for storing, meta information storage means for storing meta information of the content including at least the reproduction time of the content and the total data amount of the content, and a content transmission request received from the content receiving terminal, and designated Content delivery means for reading the content and the meta-information related to the content from the content storage means and the meta-information storage means, respectively, and delivering them to the content reception terminal in predetermined units, the content reception terminal Is said content A communication unit that communicates with a server and receives the specified content and the meta information; a meta information management unit that stores and manages the received meta information; a speed calculation unit that calculates a reception speed of the content; Based on the value calculated by the speed calculation means for each content, a reception control means for controlling an interval at which a transmission request is output to the content server, a storage means for storing the received content, and a storage means It comprises storage control means for managing and controlling input / output of content, and playback control means for controlling playback of the content stored in the storage means and notifying the speed calculation means of the state of the content. When receiving a plurality of contents at the same time with this configuration, when the reproduction of the contents being received is started, the speed calculating means transmits the transmission speed between the content server and the content receiving terminal, the number of simultaneously received contents, the content information, and the content information. The receiving speed of each content can be controlled independently according to the reception and playback state, and catch-up during chasing playback can be prevented.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to download in accordance with the playback rate of the content that has started to be played, and it is possible to receive the content being downloaded at the same time while preventing catch-up.

  In an embodiment of the present invention, the present invention provides a content distribution method in which a content receiving terminal receives content including at least moving image information stored in a content server via a network, wherein the content server includes the content A content storage step for storing content, a meta information storage step for storing meta information of the content including at least a playback time of the content, and a total data amount of the content, a content transmission request from the content receiving terminal, A content distribution step of reading the specified content and the meta information related to the content from the content storage step and the meta information storage step, respectively, and distributing the content to the content receiving terminal in a predetermined unit; A communication terminal that communicates with the content server and receives the specified content and the meta information; a meta information management step that accumulates and manages the received meta information; and a speed that calculates a reception speed of the content A calculation step; a reception control step for controlling an interval at which a transmission request is output to the content server based on a value calculated in the speed calculation step for each content to be received; and a storage step for storing the received content. A storage control step for controlling input / output of content to / from the storage step, and a playback control step for controlling playback of the content stored in the storage step and notifying the speed calculation step of the content state Have

  Thus, when receiving a plurality of contents at the same time, if the reproduction of the contents being received is started, the speed calculation step includes the transmission speed between the content server and the content receiving terminal, the number of simultaneously received contents, the content information, and reception of each content The reception speed of each content can be controlled independently according to the playback state.

  In the present invention, the speed calculation step may assign the maximum value of the transmission speed between the content server and the content receiving terminal as the reception speed for the content that has been played back during reception. As a result, the content being reproduced can be downloaded in a short time.

  Further, according to the present invention, if the speed calculation step is a content that has been played back during reception, the received data amount (d), the total content data amount (D), and the content playback time (T), The reception speed (R) may be assigned to be larger than (D−d) / T. As a result, downloading can be performed in accordance with the playback rate of the content that has started to be played, and it is possible to receive the downloaded content at the same time while preventing catch-up.

(Embodiment 1)
Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating the content distribution system according to the first embodiment.

  In the configuration diagram shown in FIG. 1, the content server 1 that transmits the content stored in the content storage unit 11 and the corresponding meta information stored in the meta information storage unit 12 on the network 3 is distributed. 2 shows a network 3 for receiving the content, and a content receiving terminal 2 that receives the content from the content server 1 and reproduces the content after storing it in the storage means 26 or while storing it.

  The content server 1 receives a transmission request from the content storage unit 11 that stores the content to be distributed, the meta information storage unit 12 that stores meta information indicating the content and attributes of the content, and the content receiving terminal 2, and the corresponding content Is read from the content storage means 11 and the meta information storage means 12, respectively, and content distribution means 13 is provided for delivering the meta information to the content receiving terminal 2 for each predetermined unit.

  The meta information indicating the contents and attributes of the contents has the contents shown in FIG. 2 and includes information regarding the contents of the contents such as a content ID for identifying the contents, a title of the contents, a type, detailed information of the contents, a copyright and a right. In addition to the rights information describing the user information, etc., it includes parameters necessary to control the content reception speed, and includes content information such as content playback time, playback bit rate, and content file size. Yes.

  The content receiving terminal 2 receives the distributed content and meta information, and the meta information management that extracts and manages the content information including the reproduction time of the content and the total data amount of the content from the distributed meta information. Means 22, speed calculation means 23 for calculating the reception speed of content according to the content information and the state of the corresponding content, and reception control for controlling the reception speed based on the value calculated by speed calculation means 23 for each content to be received Means 24a to 24c, storage means 26 for storing the received content, storage control means 25 for managing and controlling the input / output of the content to the storage step, playback of the content stored in the storage means 26, Is provided with a playback control means 27 for notifying the speed calculation means 23 of the state.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the content distribution system according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  The content receiving terminal 2 specifies the content to be received and sends a transmission request to the content server 1 via the communication means 21. In response to the transmitted transmission request, the content server 1 reads meta information corresponding to the corresponding content from the content storage unit 11 and the meta information storage unit 12 and passes them to the content distribution unit 13. The content distribution unit 13 packetizes the received content and meta information, and sends the packet to the content receiving terminal 2 in units of packets.

  The content receiving terminal 2 receives content and meta information packets from the content server 1 through the communication means 21. The meta information is stored and managed in the meta information management means 22. The content is stored in the storage unit 26 via the storage control unit 25. Although FIG. 1 used in the first embodiment will be described as the reception control means 24a to 24c, it is not limited to such a configuration.

  The reception control units 24 a to 24 c return reception responses to the communication unit 21 according to the reception speed notified from the speed calculation unit 23.

  The communication unit 21 returns the reception responses received from the reception control units 24 a to 24 c to the content server 1. Upon receiving the reception response, the content distribution unit 13 sends the next packet to the content receiving terminal 2. By repeating this operation, the content receiving terminal 2 can receive the meta information corresponding to the corresponding content from the content server 1.

  At the time of content playback, the user selects the content stored in the storage means 26, and the playback control means 27 notifies the speed calculation means 23 that the target content is in the playback state and is stored in the meta information management means 22. The storage control unit 25 is instructed to read the content using information such as the bit rate of the content necessary for playback control from the corresponding meta information. The accumulation control means 25 reads the designated content from the accumulation means 26, transfers it to the reproduction control means 27, and reproduces the content.

  FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram for determining the content reception speed in the speed calculation means 23 in the first embodiment. Below, the content preserve | saved at the content server demonstrates as what is content a-content c, for example. There is a one-to-one correspondence between the received content and the reception control means 24a to 24c. The reception control means 24a controls the reception speed of the content a, and the reception control means 24b controls the reception speed of the content b. I will do it.

  When receiving a plurality of contents simultaneously, the speed calculation means 23 calculates the reception speed of each content and notifies the corresponding reception control means 24a to 24c.

  When content a and content b are received at the same time and neither of them is being played back, the speed calculation means 23 simultaneously receives the transmission speed between the content server 1 and the content receiving terminal 2 notified from the communication means 21. The value divided by the number of content items set is set as each content reception speed and notified to the corresponding reception control means 24a, 24b (step S304). The reception control units 24 a and 24 b return a reception response to the communication unit 21 in accordance with the reception speed notified from the speed calculation unit 23.

  For example, when transferring data of 12 Mbps between the content server 1 and the content receiving terminal 2 and 1500 bytes of data per packet, the content receiving speed notified from the speed calculating means 23 to the receiving control means 24a and 24b is 6 Mbps. Therefore, the reception control units 24a and 24b notify the communication unit 21 of a reception response every 2 ms. The communication unit 21 returns the reception response received from the reception control units 24 a and 24 b to the content server 1. Upon receiving the reception response, the content distribution unit 13 sends the next packet to the content terminal 2.

  Next, when the reproduction is started during the reception of the content a, the reproduction control unit 27 notifies the speed calculation unit 23 that the content a is in a reproduction state (step S301). When the speed calculation means 23 detects that the content a is in the playback state, the transmission speed between the content server 1 and the content receiving terminal 2 is set to the reception speed of the content a with respect to the reception control means 24a (Step S302). The receiving speed of the content b is set to 0 with respect to the control means 24b (step S303).

  Since the reception speed of the content notified from the speed calculation means 23 to the reception control means 24a is 12 Mbps and the reception speed of the content notified to the reception control means 24b is 0 Mbps, the reception control means 24a communicates a reception response every 1 ms. The means 21 is notified. The communication unit 21 returns the reception response received from the reception control unit 24a to the content server 1. Upon receiving the reception response, the content distribution unit 13 sends the next packet to the content terminal 2.

  On the other hand, the reception control means 24b suspends reception without returning a reception response because the reception speed is set to 0 Mbps.

  When the reception of the content a is completed, the reception control unit 24a notifies the speed calculation unit 23 of the reception end. Since the content being received is only the content b, the speed calculation means 23 sets the transmission speed between the content server 1 and the content receiving terminal 2 to the reception speed of the content b with respect to the reception control means 24b (step S304).

  Since the reception speed of the content notified from the speed calculation means 23 to the reception control means 24a is 0 Mbps and the reception speed of the content notified to the reception control means 24b is 12 Mbps, the reception control means 24b communicates a reception response every 1 ms. The means 21 is notified. The communication unit 21 returns the reception response received from the reception control unit 24b to the content server 1, whereby the distribution of the content b from the content server 1 is resumed.

  In this way, when the reproduction of the content being received is started, the speed calculation step can control the reception speed of the content being reproduced by notifying the speed calculation means of the information of the content that has started the reproduction. The speed calculation means assigns the maximum value of the transmission speed between the content server and the content receiving terminal as the reception speed to the content that has started playback during reception, thereby preferentially downloading the content being played back in a short time. It is possible to prevent catch-up during chasing playback.

(Embodiment 2)
Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a content distribution system according to the second embodiment. The detailed contents of FIG. 1 are the same as those of the first embodiment except for the sequence operation for determining the reception speed of the contents, and the description thereof will be omitted.

  FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram for determining the content reception speed in the speed calculation means 23 according to the second embodiment. There is a one-to-one correspondence between the received content and the reception control means 24. The reception control means 24a controls the reception speed of the reception content a, and the reception control means 24b controls the reception speed of the reception content b. To do.

  When receiving a plurality of contents simultaneously, the speed calculation means 23 calculates the reception speed of each content and notifies the corresponding reception control means 24.

  When content a and content b are received at the same time and neither of them is being played back, the speed calculation means 23 simultaneously receives the transmission speed between the content server 1 and the content receiving terminal 2 notified from the communication means 21. The value divided by the number of content items set is set as each content reception speed and notified to the corresponding reception control means 24a, 24b (step S406). The reception control units 24 a and 24 b return a reception response to the communication unit 21 in accordance with the reception speed notified from the speed calculation unit 23.

  For example, when transferring data of 12 Mbps between the content server 1 and the content receiving terminal 2 and 1500 bytes of data per packet, the content receiving speed notified from the speed calculating means 23 to the receiving control means 24a and 24b is 6 Mbps. Therefore, the reception control units 24a and 24b notify the communication unit 21 of a reception response every 2 ms. The communication unit 21 returns the reception response received from the reception control units 24 a and 24 b to the content server 1. Upon receiving the reception response, the content distribution unit 13 sends the next packet to the content terminal 2.

  Next, when the reproduction is started while the content a is being received, the reproduction control means 27 notifies the speed calculation means 23 that the content a is in a reproduction state (step S401). When the speed calculation unit 23 detects that the content a is in a reproduction state, the content data amount (D) (item number 23 in FIG. 2) and the content information are stored in the meta information management unit 22. The content reproduction time (T) (item number 24 in FIG. 2) is acquired (step S402).

  Next, the speed calculation unit 23 acquires the data amount (d) of the content a already received from the accumulation control unit 25 (step S403).

  The reason why catch-up occurs during chasing playback is that the playback speed is faster than the reception speed and the data to be played back is exhausted. In order to prevent this, the reception speed is determined so that the data to be reproduced is not exhausted until the end of the reproduction. That is, if the remaining amount obtained by subtracting the already received data amount (d) from the total data amount (D) within the reproduction time (T) is received, data depletion does not occur.

  The speed calculation means 23 sets (Dd) / T as the reception speed of the content a to the reception control means 24a (step S404), and is notified from the communication means 21 as the reception speed of the content b to the reception control means 24b. Then, a value obtained by subtracting the reception speed of the content a from the transmission speed between the content server 1 and the content receiving terminal 2 is set (step S405).

Assuming that the total data amount of the content a is 3.6 GB, the playback time is 2 hours, the playback bit rate is 4 Mbps, and playback is started after reception for 1 hour at a receiving speed of 6 Mbps, the storage means 26 already has 2. Received data for 7 GB is accumulated. The speed calculation means 23 sets the reception speed of the content a so that the playback data is not exhausted until the playback of the content is completed (3600-2700) × 8 / (2 × 3600) = 1 (Mbps)
And set. The speed calculation means 23 sets the reception speed of the content b to 12-1 = 11 (Mbps)
And set.

  Since the reception speed of the content notified to the reception control means 24a from the speed calculation means 23 is 1 Mbps and the reception speed of the content notified to the reception control means 24b is 11 Mbps, the reception control means 24a receives the reception control means every 12 ms. 24b notifies the communication means 21 of a reception response every 1.1 ms. The communication unit 21 returns the reception response received from the reception control units 24 a and 24 b to the content server 1. Upon receiving the reception response, the content distribution unit 13 sends the next packet to the content terminal 2.

  In this way, when the reproduction of the content being received is started, the speed calculation step can control the reception speed of the content being reproduced by notifying the speed calculation means of the information of the content that has started the reproduction. In addition, the speed calculation means assigns a reception speed so that the data to be played is not exhausted until the end of the reproduction, while preventing the catch-up in the reproduction of the content being received. Can also be received efficiently.

  When the content distribution method and the content receiving terminal of the present invention start receiving the content being received when receiving a plurality of contents at the same time, the transmission speed, the number of simultaneously received contents, and the meta information between the content server and the content receiving terminal Since the reception speed of each content can be controlled independently according to the reception and playback status of each content, and catch-up can be prevented during playback of the content being received, this is useful for download-type content distribution. .

Configuration diagram of content distribution system in Embodiments 1 and 2 of the present invention The figure which shows the meta information which shows the content and the attribute of the content in Embodiment 1, 2 of this invention Sequence diagram for determining content reception speed in the first embodiment Sequence diagram for determining content reception speed in the second embodiment

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Content server 2 Content receiving terminal 3 Network 11 Content storage means 12 Meta information storage means 13 Content distribution means 21 Communication means 22 Meta information management means 23 Speed calculation means 24a Reception control means 24b Reception control means 24c Reception control means 25 Accumulation control means 26 Storage means 27 Reproduction control means

Claims (6)

A content delivery method in which a content receiving terminal receives content including at least video information stored in a content server via a network,
The content server stores a content, stores a meta information of the content including at least a playback time of the content, and a total data amount of the content, a meta information storage step of storing the content from the content receiving terminal. A content distribution step of receiving a transmission request, reading out the specified content and the meta information related to the content from the content storage step and the meta information storage step, respectively, and distributing the content to the content receiving terminal in a predetermined unit; Have
The content receiving terminal communicates with the content server, calculates a communication step of receiving the specified content and the meta information, a meta information management step of accumulating and managing the received meta information, and calculating a reception speed of the content A speed calculation step, a reception control step for controlling an interval for outputting a transmission request to the content server based on a value calculated in the speed calculation step for each content to be received, and an accumulation step for storing the received content A storage control step for managing and controlling input / output of content to / from the storage step, and a playback control step for controlling playback of the content stored in the storage step and notifying the speed calculation step of the content state,
In the case of simultaneously receiving a plurality of contents, when the reproduction of the content being received is started, the speed calculation step includes the transmission speed between the content server and the content receiving terminal, the number of simultaneously received contents, the meta information, A content distribution method characterized by independently controlling the reception speed of each content in accordance with the content reception and playback state. 2. The content distribution method according to claim 1, wherein the recording speed calculation step assigns the maximum value of the transmission speed between the content server and the content receiving terminal as the reception speed for the content that has been reproduced during reception. In the speed calculation step, for the content that has started to be played back during reception, the received data amount (d) of the content, the total data amount (D) of the content, and the playback time (T) of the content, 2. The content distribution method according to claim 1, wherein the reception speed (R) of the content that has started reproduction is assigned to be greater than (Dd) / T. A content receiving terminal connected to the content server via a network, communicating with the content server and receiving specified content and meta information; and meta information managing means for accumulating and managing the received meta information; Speed calculation means for calculating the reception speed of the content; reception control means for controlling the reception speed based on a value calculated by the speed calculation means for each content to be received; storage means for storing the received content; A storage control means for managing and controlling input / output of content to / from the storage means, and a playback control means for controlling playback of the content stored in the storage means and notifying the speed calculation means of the content status;
When receiving a plurality of contents at the same time, when the reproduction of the contents being received is started, the speed calculating means transmits the transmission speed between the content server and the content receiving terminal, the number of simultaneously received contents, the meta information, and each content. A content receiving terminal, wherein the receiving speed of each content is controlled independently according to the reception and playback state of the content. 5. The content receiving terminal according to claim 4, wherein the speed calculating means assigns a maximum value of a transmission speed with the content server as a receiving speed to a content that has started reproduction during reception. The speed calculation means, for content that has started playing during reception, is the received data amount (d) of the content, the total data amount (D) of the content, and the playback time (T) of the content. 5. The content receiving terminal according to claim 4, wherein the receiving speed (R) of the content that has started reproduction is assigned to be greater than (D-d) / T.

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