JP2009070203A - Download execution method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem in downloading content from the Internet by use of digital home electric equipment such as digital home electric equipment, in which the range of using the content by the user who downloads the content using the digital home electric equipment is significantly limited by the functional limitation in processing of the digital home electric equipment in which only specific processing is executed according to specific information described in the header of the content. <P>SOLUTION: The download execution method includes a relay server. Processing such as rewrite of the description in the header of the content or the like is performed in this relay server. Accordingly, even the user who downloads the content using the digital home electric equipment utilizes the content in a desired use form. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a download execution method for receiving content from the Internet using a digital home appliance.

  As a tool for downloading various information distributed on the Internet, a personal computer is generally used. However, in recent years, as a new tool, digital home appliances, for example, digital TVs, have attracted attention. Digital television is expected to become more widespread in the future due to the fact that radio waves for analog broadcasting are stopped in 2011, and the population who downloads content from the Internet using digital television is expected to increase. As a result, the population using the Internet will increase more than ever, and the content delivered will be even more substantial.

  Under such circumstances, many inventions have been made to solve problems that may occur when content is downloaded from the Internet using a digital home appliance such as a digital television. For example, while viewing a television broadcast on a digital television, if the viewer tries to download the information introduced in the program all at once using the digital television, the line may be punctured. As a means for avoiding the inconvenience, an invention as in Patent Document 1 has been made. The present invention is a download system that performs transmission of content in a time zone with a sufficient bandwidth. Thus, the user can surely acquire the desired content and enjoy it by printing it out or performing processing such as reproduction. With such an invention, it is possible to comfortably download content from the Internet using digital home appliances.

  However, even at the present time, when content is downloaded using a digital home appliance, the following problems may occur. For example, if a podcast content currently distributed to a PC on the Internet is downloaded using a digital home appliance, the digital home appliance can only execute “playback” processing on the downloaded content, “Save” processing cannot be performed in an external memory such as an SD card. This is a limitation that may occur in the function of the digital home appliance. Specifically, when the digital home appliance downloads the podcast content, the digital home appliance reads a specific description of header information (header example: FIG. 19) such as an HTTP protocol given by the server that distributes the content, and the read description According to the above, only a specific process is executed. The header information of many podcast contents currently distributed on the Internet contains information for executing the “playback” process, and the digital home appliance that downloaded the content will process the “playback” process. It is not possible to perform “save” processing. (If the header information is “save”, “save” processing is performed.)

  Such a restriction is a major obstacle to the spread of digital home appliances as a tool for acquiring content from the Internet. For example, when a user intends to download podcast content, save it in an external memory such as an SD card, and enjoy it using a portable music player, the digital home appliance achieves that purpose. Therefore, it cannot be used as a tool for downloading content. Such a problem is not limited to podcast content, and may occur when other content is downloaded.

  As a means for solving the problem, the content distributed from the distribution server is not directly distributed to the digital home appliances, but once via a relay server, a specific description of header information such as an HTTP protocol is specified in the relay server. There can be considered a means for rewriting contents and distributing the contents with the rewritten header information to digital home appliances.

  In this way, as a means for distributing content distributed over the Internet directly from a distribution source to a distribution destination, but rewriting predetermined header information via a relay server and distributing it to the distribution destination, patents are available. There is an invention such as Document 2. The invention of Patent Document 2 is made in order to reduce the processing load of an imaging apparatus that is a distribution source when a video captured by an imaging apparatus is distributed to a plurality of distribution destinations. Specifically, when a live video is distributed to a plurality of distribution destinations using a fragment video format, the imaging device that is the distribution source creates and distributes data with content header information and the like for each distribution destination. It was necessary and was a big burden. Therefore, in the invention of Patent Document 2, when distributing content, a relay server is provided between the distribution source and the distribution destination, and the relay server creates data in which the header information is rewritten for each distribution destination. To be delivered to. As a result, the distribution source imaging apparatus only needs to create and distribute only one piece of data to the relay server, thereby reducing the processing load.

However, in the invention of Patent Document 2, a means for distributing live video to a plurality of distribution destinations with the same effect as the fragment video format by reducing the processing load of the imaging device as a distribution source, and realizing it In the relay server, only the rewriting process is described, and the distributed podcast content etc. is distributed via the relay server to improve the convenience of the user, the podcast content etc. in the relay server No specific means for rewriting the predetermined area of the header information is described.
JP2005-130082 JP2007-173987

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a specific means for allowing a user to use and enjoy podcast content downloaded from the Internet using a digital home appliance in a manner desired by the user.

  The following inventions are provided as means for solving the above problems.

  In the first invention, a distribution server having a distribution unit for distributing content, a content acquisition unit for acquiring content from the distribution server, and header rewriting information for rewriting a header description indicating processing contents in the digital home appliance are retained. A rewriting information holding unit, a header rewriting unit for rewriting a predetermined area of the header for constituting the acquired content to a predetermined content according to the header rewriting information, and the content rewritten by the header rewriting unit for the digital home appliance A digital server having a relay server having a transmission unit that transmits the content, a content reception unit capable of receiving content from the relay server, and a process execution unit that executes processing according to the processing content described in the header of the received content Provide a download system consisting of home appliances.

  The second invention provides a download system based on the first invention, wherein the processing execution unit of the digital home appliance further has a reproduction / storage means for performing reproduction processing or storage processing.

  In the third invention, based on the first invention or the second invention, an update monitoring unit that monitors the update of the distributable content of the distribution server, and if an update is found in the update monitoring unit, the update contents are displayed. There is provided a download system further including an update monitoring server having an update information generation unit that generates update information to be shown and a first update information transmission unit that transmits the generated update information to a digital home appliance.

  In the fourth invention, based on any one of the first invention to the third invention, the update monitoring unit for monitoring the update of the distributable content of the distribution server and the update monitoring unit finds the update. Provided is a download system further comprising an update monitoring server having an update information generation unit that generates update information indicating the content of the update and a second update information transmission unit that transmits the generated update information to the relay server. .

  In the fifth invention, the distribution step executed in the distribution server and the distribution step executed in the relay server holding the header rewriting information for rewriting the header description indicating the processing contents in the digital home appliance A content acquisition step for acquiring content from the server, a header rewriting step for rewriting a predetermined area of the header for constituting the acquired content to a predetermined content according to the header rewriting information, and the content rewritten in the header rewriting step are digitally A transmission step to be transmitted to the household electrical appliance, a content reception step that can be received in the digital household electrical appliance and capable of receiving content from the relay server, and processing is performed according to the processing content described in the protocol header of the received content Process execution steps To provide a download how to be.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a download method according to the fifth aspect of the invention, wherein the processing execution step of the digital home appliance further includes a reproduction / storage sub-step for performing reproduction processing or storage processing.

  In the seventh invention, based on the fifth invention or the sixth invention, the update monitoring step for monitoring the update of the distributable content of the distribution server, which is executed in the update monitoring server, and the update monitoring step find the update. In such a case, a download method is provided that includes an update information generation step for generating update information indicating the content of the update, and a first update information transmission step for transmitting the generated update information to the digital home appliance.

  In the eighth invention, based on any one of the fifth invention to the seventh invention, an update monitoring step for monitoring an update of distributable content of the distribution server, which is executed in the update monitoring server, and an update A download method further comprising: an update information generation step for generating update information indicating the content of the update when an update is found in the monitoring step; and a second update information transmission step for transmitting the generated update information to the relay server I will provide a.

  With the download method of the present invention, the user can utilize the content in a desired manner even when the content information is downloaded from the Internet using a digital home appliance such as a digital television. As a result, digital home appliances such as digital TVs are expected to become more popular as new tools for downloading content information from the Internet.

The best mode for carrying out each invention will be described below. The relationship between each embodiment and the claims is as follows. The first embodiment will mainly describe Claims 1, 2, 5, and 6. The second embodiment will mainly describe claims 3 and 7. The third embodiment will mainly describe claims 4 and 8. Note that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
<< Embodiment 1 >>
<Embodiment 1: Overview>

  Currently, audio content, image content, document content, etc. distributed on the Internet can be downloaded directly from a distribution server using a personal computer and stored in a memory in the personal computer (FIG. 1). Based on the functions of the personal computer, the content can be played back on the personal computer, or stored in an external memory such as an SD card and played back on another playback device. With such a function, users can enjoy contents acquired from the Internet using a PC in the room, as well as re-storing them in an external memory and using a portable playback player, etc. You can also enjoy the content. You can also enjoy more fulfilling content using a higher-performance playback player.

  In recent years, contents can also be downloaded from the Internet using digital home appliances. However, digital home appliances have a problem in that the processing to be executed is limited when content distributed to a personal computer is downloaded. Specifically, only specific processing can be executed according to specific information described in the header of the downloaded content, and other processing cannot be executed.

  For example, when a podcast content distributed to a personal computer on the Internet is downloaded using a digital home appliance, the digital home appliance describes the description of “Content-Type” in the header information of the HTTP protocol attached to the content. And only a predetermined process according to the content is executed. Currently, “Content / Type” of podcast content distributed for personal computers is described as “audio / mpeg” (example: FIG. 19). Only the “reproduction” process is executed according to the reading (FIG. 2).

  However, users who have acquired podcast content using digital home appliances will “save” that content and enjoy it in an external memory, such as an SD card, rather than “play” the digital home appliance and enjoy it. In many cases, it may be desired to re-save and enjoy the content using another playback player such as a portable playback player. That is, it is considered that the content acquired using the digital home appliance is desired to be “saved” instead of being directly “reproduced”.

  The invention of this embodiment has been made to solve such a problem. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the content distributed to a personal computer is downloaded using a digital home appliance. In this case, the content is not downloaded directly from the distribution server, but is downloaded via the relay server. The relay server has a function of rewriting specific information in the content header to a predetermined content.

Thereby, even when a user downloads content distributed to a personal computer using a digital home appliance, the user can store the content and enjoy it using another playback player.
<Embodiment 1: Configuration>

  The functional blocks of the apparatus described below can be implemented as hardware, software, or both hardware and software. Specifically, if a computer is used, a CPU, a RAM, a bus, or a secondary storage device (a storage medium such as a hard disk, a non-volatile memory, a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM, and a read drive for the medium) ), Hardware components such as printing devices, display devices, other external peripheral devices, I / O ports for the external peripheral devices, driver programs for controlling these hardware, other application programs, and information input User interface.

  In addition, these hardware and software process the program developed on the RAM with the CPU, and process, store, and output the data stored on the memory and hard disk and the data input via the interface. It is used for processing or controlling each hardware component. The present invention can be realized not only as an apparatus but also as a method. A part of the invention can be configured as software. Furthermore, a software product used for causing a computer to execute such software, and a storage medium in which the product is fixed to a storage medium are naturally included in the technical scope of the present invention (the entirety of the present specification). And so on).

  FIG. 4 shows an example of functional blocks of the present embodiment. The download system according to the present embodiment includes a “distribution server” (04100), a “relay server” (04200), and a “digital home appliance” (04300). Note that digital home appliances include a DVD recorder, digital audio, car navigation, and the like in addition to a digital television.

  The “distribution server” (04100) includes a “distribution unit” (04101). The “relay server” (04200) includes a “content acquisition unit” (04201), a “rewrite information holding unit” (04202), a “header rewrite unit” (04203), and a “transmission unit” (04204). The “digital home appliance” (04300) includes a “reception unit” (04301) and a “processing execution unit” (04302).

Hereinafter, each function will be described.
<< Delivery server (04100) >>

  The “distribution server” (04100) of the present embodiment includes a distribution unit (04101) that distributes content (for example, podcast content) generated for a personal computer. A distribution server is a computer system that provides a service for distributing content and the like on the Internet, and there are currently a large number of distribution servers. For example, a newspaper company or the like uses its own distribution server to distribute the latest news to users on the Internet. The distribution server (04100) of this embodiment is a concept including all distribution servers that distribute contents to users on the Internet. In addition, there is no particular restriction depending on the content being distributed, and in addition to audio content such as music and program broadcasts distributed by podcasting, moving and still image content such as movies, games, commercials, and photos, Includes all content generated for personal computers (hereinafter referred to as “PC content”), such as document content such as novels and newspaper articles. The distribution server (04100) assigns header information (eg, FIG. 19) such as HTTP protocol to these contents and distributes them to users and the like. Here, the header information added when distributing the content is not limited to the HTTP protocol, and can be distributed using any protocol.

  The “distribution unit” (04101) is configured to distribute the content for the personal computer using the Internet. The distribution unit (04101) is configured not only to distribute contents for a personal computer to a personal computer but also to a digital home appliance (04300) and the like. That is, when there is a content download request from a personal computer, the distribution unit (04101) directly distributes the content to the personal computer. Further, when there is a content download request from the digital home appliance (04300), the content is distributed to the digital home appliance (04300). However, when distributing to the digital home appliance (04300), the content is not distributed directly but distributed via the relay server (04200). When distributing to the digital home appliance (04300), the distribution is not performed directly but via the relay server (04200). The relay server (04200) rewrites a predetermined area of the header of the content for the personal computer and rewrites the header. This is because the content is distributed to the digital home appliance (04300). The process and reason for rewriting the header will be described later.

  That is, when a user makes a download request to the distribution server (04100), the distribution server (04100) identifies the type of device (such as a personal computer or digital home appliance) that has requested distribution. Then, in accordance with the type of device that has requested distribution, the distribution unit (04101) is instructed where to distribute the content, and the distribution unit (04101) distributes the content according to the instruction. Note that the distribution server (04100) is not particularly limited as a means for identifying the type of device (such as a personal computer or a digital home appliance) that is requesting distribution of content, for example, from a digital TV via a built-in browser. The description of “User-Agent” included in the information requested to be downloaded may be read to recognize the type of device.

As a specific example of the flow in which the distribution unit (04101) of the distribution server (04100) distributes content for a personal computer using the Internet, the following examples can be considered.
(A: When a user requests download of content for a personal computer from the site of the distribution server (04100))

  Assume that the administrator of the distribution server (04100) presents guidance information for downloading content for a personal computer on his home page (FIG. 5). The user instructs to execute the download according to the guidance. Then, the distribution server (04100) recognizes the type of the device requesting the download (such as a personal computer or a digital home appliance) from the description included in the information of the download request.

When the requesting device is a “personal computer”, the distribution unit (04101) distributes the content for the personal computer directly to the user's personal computer. On the other hand, if the requesting device is “digital home appliance”, the distribution unit (04101) distributes the content for the personal computer to the relay server (04200).
(A: When a user uses a digital home appliance (04300) to request download of content for a personal computer from a site of the relay server (04200))

Assume that the administrator of the relay server (04200) presents guide information for downloading contents for a personal computer to a digital home appliance on his homepage (FIG. 6). The user uses the digital home appliance (04300) to instruct to download according to the guidance. Then, the relay server (04200) requests the distribution server (04100) to distribute the content in response to a download request from the user. In response to the content distribution request from the relay server (04200), the distribution server (04100) distributes the content for the personal computer from the distribution unit (04101) to the relay server (04200).
<< Relay Server (04200) >>

  When the relay server (04200) of the present embodiment acquires the content for the personal computer distributed by the distribution server (04100), the relay server (04200) rewrites a predetermined area of the header information attached to the acquired content to a predetermined content, It is comprised so that it may transmit to household appliances (04300). In order to realize these, the relay server (04200) includes a “content acquisition unit” (04201), a “rewrite information holding unit” (04202), a “header rewrite unit” (04203), and a “transmission unit” (04204). ).

  The “content acquisition unit” (04201) is configured to acquire content for a personal computer distributed using the Internet from the distribution unit (04101) of the distribution server (04100). The content acquisition unit (04201) requests the distribution server (04100) to distribute the content for the personal computer in accordance with the download request from the digital home appliance (04300), and acquires the content for the personal computer from the distribution server (04100). It is configured. The content acquisition unit (04201) requests the distribution server (04100) to distribute the content for the personal computer to the distribution server (04100), and the distribution unit (04101) of the distribution server (04100) requests the relay server (04200) according to the instruction. You may be comprised so that the content for personal computers which has delivered may be acquired.

As specific examples of the flow in which the content acquisition unit (04201) acquires content, the following examples are conceivable.
(A: When a user requests download of content for a personal computer from the site of the distribution server (04100))

Assume that the administrator of the distribution server (04100) presents guidance information for downloading content for a personal computer on his home page (FIG. 5). The user instructs to execute the download according to the guidance. Then, the distribution server (04100) recognizes the type of the device requesting the download (such as a personal computer or a digital home appliance) from the description included in the information of the download request. When the requesting device is “digital home appliance”, the distribution unit (04101) distributes the content for the personal computer to the relay server (04200). Then, the content acquisition unit (04201) of the relay server (04200) acquires the distributed content for personal computers.
(A: When a user requests download of content for a personal computer from the site of the relay server (04200))

  Assume that the administrator of the relay server (04200) presents guide information for downloading contents for a personal computer to a digital home appliance on his homepage (FIG. 6). The user uses the digital home appliance (04300) to instruct to download according to the guidance. Then, the relay server (04200) requests the distribution server (04100) to distribute the content in response to a download request from the user. In response to the content distribution request from the relay server (04200), the distribution server (04100) distributes the content for the personal computer from the distribution unit (04101) to the relay server (04200). Then, the relay server (04200) acquires the distributed content for the personal computer.

  The “rewrite information holding unit” (04202) is configured to hold header rewrite information for rewriting the header description indicating the processing contents in the digital home appliance. Header information (eg, FIG. 19) such as HTTP protocol is given to the content distributed using the Internet by the distribution server. The digital home appliance that has acquired the content reads the header information and recognizes the data format of the downloaded content.

  The digital home appliance (04300) that has downloaded the contents for the personal computer is configured to read a predetermined description of a header such as an HTTP protocol attached by the distribution server (04100) and execute only a predetermined process according to the description. Yes. Specifically, when the digital home appliance (04300) is used to download podcast content for a personal computer with HTTP protocol header information, the digital home appliance (04300) displays “Content-Type” in the HTTP header. Read the description in FIG. Then, only predetermined processing is performed according to the description. The podcast content currently distributed to PCs often includes “audio / mpeg” as “Content-Type”, and the digital home appliance (04300) that has read the content stores the acquired content. Only playback processing is performed.

  That is, when an HTTP header is added to the content, the description of “Content-Type” corresponds to “Description of the header indicating the processing contents in the digital home appliance”. The “rewrite information holding unit” (04202) is configured to hold “header rewrite information” for rewriting such “description of the header indicating the processing contents in the digital home appliance”.

  All kinds of “header rewriting information” are conceivable. For example, if the description of “Content-Type” in the HTTP header is “audio / mpeg” that executes “play” processing in the digital home appliance (04300), “application / octet-stream” that executes “save” processing May be rewritten to "." When the description of “Content-Type” in the HTTP header is “application / octet-stream”, the digital home appliance (04300) that has read the description can execute only the “save” process on the acquired content.

  Further, the other header rewriting information may be information that rewrites the header description in accordance with the usage pattern desired by the user. For example, if a user who has acquired content for a personal computer using a digital home appliance (04300) wants to “play” the content, the description of “Content-Type” should be “audio / mpeg”. On the other hand, if the user wants the “save” process, the description of “Content-Type” may be rewritten to “application / octet-stream”. In such a case, the user may be configured to also send information regarding a desired usage pattern when making a download request for content.

  The “header rewriting unit” (04203) is configured to rewrite a predetermined area of the header of the protocol for configuring the acquired personal computer content with predetermined contents according to the header rewriting information. The “acquired content” is content acquired by the content acquisition unit (04201) from the distribution server (04100) in response to a user request. The “predetermined area of the header” is an area in the header information given to the content by the distribution server (04100) in which a description indicating the processing contents in the digital home appliance (04300) is made. For example, when the HTTP protocol is added to the header information, the predetermined area of the header is an area in which “Content-Type” is described. The header rewriting unit (04203) is configured to rewrite a predetermined area of the header with predetermined contents in accordance with the header rewriting information held by the rewriting information holding unit (04202). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 20, when the description of “Content-Type” in the header of the acquired PC content is “audio / mpeg”, the rewrite information is “Description of“ Content-Type ”. Is “audio / mpeg” to “application / octet-stream” ”, the header rewriting unit (04203) sets“ audio / mpeg ”to“ application / octet− ”according to the header rewriting information. Rewrite to “stream”.

  Note that the header rewriting unit (04203) rewrites only the description of a predetermined area for specifying the processing contents in the digital home appliance in the header information given to the content. Therefore, other header information and description of the content itself are not rewritten.

  The “transmission unit” (04204) is configured to transmit the content rewritten by the header rewriting unit (04203) to the digital home appliance (04300). The “content rewritten by the header rewriting unit (04203)” is content obtained by rewriting a predetermined area of the header to a predetermined content according to the header rewriting information as described above.

The transmission unit (04204) is configured to transmit the content to the digital home appliance (04300) using the Internet. Although it is described here that the download of content for a personal computer is requested from the site of the relay server (04200), this site may be provided on a server independent of the relay server. There is no need to integrate servers.
<< Digital home appliances (04300) >>

  The digital home appliance (04300) of the present embodiment receives content transmitted by the distribution unit (04101) of the distribution server (04100) and the transmission unit (04204) of the relay server (04200) using the Internet, and receives the content. Is configured to execute a predetermined process according to the header information given to. In order to realize these, the digital home appliance of the present embodiment (04300) is configured to be able to use communication via the Internet, and also includes a “content receiving unit” (04301) and a “processing execution unit” ( 04302). Note that the “processing execution unit” (04302) may include “reproducing / saving means”.

  The “content receiving unit” (04301) is configured to receive content from the relay server (04200). The “content received from the relay server (04200)” is content in which a predetermined area of the header information is rewritten by the relay server (04200). The content receiving unit (04301) may be configured to receive content directly from the distribution server (04100).

The “process execution unit” (04302) is configured to execute a process according to the process content described in the protocol header of the received content. Note that the “process execution unit” (04302) may be configured to execute a “reproduction / storage unit” that performs a reproduction process or a storage process. “Received content” is content received by the content receiving unit (04301), and includes both content received directly from the distribution server (04100) and content received via the relay server (04200). The “processing content described in the protocol header” is a description of a predetermined area of the header, and is for specifying the processing content of the digital home appliance (04300). For example, when the HTTP protocol is added as the header information, the description is “Content-Type” of the HTTP header. Specifically, “application / octet-stream”, “audio / mpeg”, and the like. The “process execution unit” (04302) recognizes the processing content described in the protocol header and executes a specific process based on the description. For example, when the HTTP protocol is assigned as the header information and the description of “Content-Type” in the HTTP header is “application / octet-stream”, the process execution unit (04302) is based on the playback / save means. It is configured to execute “save processing” of content. Further, when the description of “Content-Type” is “audio / mpeg”, the process execution unit (04302) is configured to execute the “reproduction process” of the content. Note that the processing performed by the processing execution unit (04302) is not limited to reproduction and storage, and in addition, according to the processing content described in the protocol header, “destroy after reproduction of content” “save content after reproduction” Processing such as “transfer to external memory” and “combine with other contents” may be executed.
<Embodiment 1: Example>

An example <1-A><1-B> of an example for realizing the present embodiment will be described below.
<1-A>
<< 1-A: Specific example (Fig. 7) >>

  First, the user uses a digital home appliance (07300) to determine and download the content to be downloaded from the administrator's homepage (example: Fig. 5) of the distribution server (07100) that distributes podcast content for personal computers. Make a request (1).

  When the distribution server (07100) identifies from the information requesting download that the requesting device is a digital home appliance, the distribution server (07100) transmits the requested content from the distribution unit to the relay server (07200) (2). ).

  The content acquisition unit of the relay server (07200) acquires the content distributed from the distribution server (07100). Then, the header rewriting unit rewrites the description of the predetermined area of the content header in accordance with the header rewriting information held by the rewriting information holding unit. Specifically, the description of “Content-Type” in the HTTP header is rewritten from “audio / mpeg” to “application / octet-stream”. And a transmission part transmits the content in which header information was rewritten to a digital household appliance (07300) (3).

  The digital home appliance (07300) that has received the content from the content receiving unit reads the description of the predetermined area of the header by the processing execution unit, and executes the processing content according to the description. Specifically, the rewritten description “application / octet-stream” of “Content-Type” of the HTTP header is read, and the acquired content is “saved” in an internal memory or the like.

On the other hand, when a user uses a personal computer (07500) to determine the content to be downloaded from the homepage of the administrator of the distribution server (07100) that distributes the content for the personal computer (4), When the distribution server (07100) identifies that the device requesting the download is a personal computer (07500) from the information requesting download, etc., the distribution server (07100) directly distributes the requested content from the distribution unit to the personal computer (07500) (5). ).
<< 1-A: Hardware configuration >>

  FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the distribution server and the relay server according to the present embodiment. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the digital home appliance according to the present embodiment. With reference to these drawings, an example of the operation of a hardware configuration that realizes a means for acquiring content using a digital home appliance among the specific examples will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the distribution server and the relay server are “CPU” (0801), “cache memory” (0802), “RAM” (0803), “HDD” (0804), “network interface” (0805). , “User interface” (0806), “bus” (0807), and the like. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the digital home appliances are “CPU” (0901), “RAM” (0902), “nonvolatile memory” (0903), “network interface” (0904), “remote control light receiving unit”. (0905), “remote control transmitter” (0906), portable media interface (0907), “video decode / capture unit” (0908), “video selector unit” (0909), “video output conversion unit” (0910) , “Screen” (0911), “audio decoding unit” (0912), “audio selector unit” (0913), “audio output conversion unit” (0914), “speaker” (0915), and the like.

  First, the user uses the remote control transmitter (0906) of the digital home appliance (07300) to display on the screen (0911) the home page managed by the administrator of the distribution server that distributes the podcast content to be downloaded. Operate to display. Then, the CPU (0901) instructs the network interface (0904) to acquire desired information from the Internet. Thereafter, the video decoding / capture unit (0908), the video selector unit (0909), and the video output conversion unit (0910) are instructed to perform predetermined processing on the acquired information. Then, the requested home page is displayed on the screen (0911) based on the content information that has undergone the predetermined processing. The user operates the remote control transmitter (0906) according to the guidance on the homepage, selects the content to be downloaded, and operates to download the content. Then, the CPU (0901) transmits information corresponding to the operation to the distribution server (07100) via the network interface (0904).

  The distribution server (07100) acquires information such as the download request transmitted from the digital home appliance (07300) via the network interface (0805). Then, the CPU (0801) temporarily stores the information in the RAM (0803), analyzes the information, and takes out the content stored in the HDD (0804) according to the information. Further, when a use device (digital home appliance) is identified from the information, a relay server is designated as a content transmission destination, and the content is transmitted from the network interface (0805).

  The relay server (07200) acquires information such as the content transmitted from the distribution server (07100) via the network interface (0805). Then, the CPU (0801) temporarily stores the information in the RAM (0803), and analyzes the content header information and the like. Then, necessary header rewriting information is extracted from the HDD (0804), and the header information of the content is rewritten according to the information. Specifically, for example, the description of “Content-Type” in the HTTP header is rewritten from “audio / mpeg” to “application / octet-stream”. Thereafter, the CPU (0801) transmits the content with the rewritten header information to the digital home appliance (07300) via the network interface (0805).

The digital home appliance (07300) acquires the content via the network interface (0904). Then, the CPU (0901) temporarily stores the content in the RAM (0902), and analyzes the header information attached to the content. Then, when a description (example: “application / octet-stream”) of a predetermined area (example: “Content-Type” of the HTTP header) is read, the CPU (0901) is temporarily stored in the RAM (0902). Content stored in an external memory (eg, SD card) via a nonvolatile memory (0903) or a portable media interface (0907). Note that the timing at which the CPU (0901) starts the saving process may be after all the content information is stored in the RAM (0902), or the content information is stored in the RAM (0902). At the stage, processing may be started in order from the stored content information.
<< 1-A: Flow of processing >>

  An example of the processing flow of this embodiment is shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. The processing flow shown below can be executed by a method and a program for causing a computer to execute the program, and the program can be recorded on a recording medium readable by the computer. (The same applies to other processing flows in this specification.)

  First, the digital home appliance makes a content download request to the distribution server. Then, the distribution server distributes the requested content to the relay server (distribution step: S1001).

  The relay server acquires the content distributed from the distribution server (content acquisition step: S1002). Then, the predetermined area of the header for constituting the acquired content is rewritten to the predetermined content according to the header rewriting information (header rewriting step: S1003). Thereafter, the content rewritten in the header rewriting step is transmitted to the digital home appliance (transmission step: S1004).

The digital home appliance receives the content transmitted from the relay server (content receiving step: S1005). Then, the processing is executed according to the processing content described in the protocol header of the received content (processing execution step: S1006). If the processing content described in the protocol header is for “playback” and “save” processing, playback processing or storage processing is executed accordingly (playback / save substep).
<1-B>
<< 1-B: Specific example (FIG. 11) >>

  First, the user uses the digital home appliance (11300) to determine and download the content to be downloaded from the homepage (eg, FIG. 6) of the administrator of the relay server (11200) guiding the download of the podcast content. Make a request (1).

  In response to the download request, the relay server (11200) requests the distribution server (11100) distributing the requested content to distribute the content (2).

  Then, in response to the request from the relay server (11200), the distribution server (11100) transmits the requested content from the distribution unit to the relay server (11200) (3).

  The content acquisition unit of the relay server (11200) acquires the content transmitted from the distribution server (11100). Then, the header rewriting unit rewrites the description of the predetermined area of the header of the content for the personal computer in accordance with the header rewriting information held by the rewriting information holding unit. Specifically, the description of “Content-Type” in the HTTP header is rewritten from “audio / mpeg” to “application / octet-stream”. And a transmission part transmits the content in which header information was rewritten to a digital household appliance (11300) (4).

  The digital home appliance (11300) that has received the content from the content receiving unit reads the description of the predetermined area of the header by the processing execution unit, and executes the processing content according to the description. The details are the same as those in Embodiment 1-A, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.

On the other hand, when the user uses the personal computer (11500) to determine the content to be downloaded from the home page of the administrator of the distribution server (11100) that distributes the content for the personal computer and makes a download request (5), the distribution is performed. When the server (11100) identifies that the device requesting download is the personal computer (11500) from the information requesting download, etc., the server (11100) directly distributes the requested content from the distribution unit to the personal computer (11500) (6). .
<< 1-B: Hardware configuration >>

  Also in the present embodiment, as in Embodiment 1-A, a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the distribution server and the relay server in FIG. 8 and a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the digital home appliance in FIG. An example of the operation of a hardware configuration that realizes a means for acquiring content using a digital home appliance among the specific examples will be described with reference to the drawings.

  First, the user operates the home page managed by the administrator of the relay server to display the screen (0911) using the remote control transmitter (0906) of the digital home appliance (11300). Then, the CPU (0901) instructs the network interface (0904) to acquire desired information from the Internet. Thereafter, the video decoding / capture unit (0908), the video selector unit (0909), and the video output conversion unit (0910) are instructed to perform predetermined processing on the acquired information. Then, the requested home page is displayed on the screen (0911) based on the content information that has undergone the predetermined processing. The user operates the remote control transmitter (0906) according to the guidance on the homepage, selects the content to be downloaded, and operates to download the content. Then, the CPU (0901) transmits information corresponding to the operation to the relay server (11200) via the network interface (0904).

  The relay server (11200) acquires information such as the download request transmitted from the digital home appliance (11300) via the network interface (0805). Then, the CPU (0801) temporarily stores the information in the RAM (0803) and analyzes the information. Based on the result, the CPU (0801) sends the content to the distribution server (11100) via the network interface (0805). Send information requesting delivery.

  The distribution server (11100) acquires content distribution request information transmitted from the relay server (11200) via the network interface (0805). Then, the CPU (0801) temporarily stores the information in the RAM (0803), analyzes the information, and extracts the content stored in the HDD (0804) based on the result. Then, the extracted content is transmitted to the relay server (11200) via the network interface (0805).

  The relay server (11200) acquires the content transmitted from the distribution server (11100) via the network interface (0805). Then, the CPU (0801) temporarily stores the information in the RAM (0803), extracts necessary header rewriting information from the HDD (0804), and rewrites the header information of the content according to the information. After that, the CPU (0801) transmits the content with the rewritten header information to the digital home appliance (11300) via the network interface (0805).

The digital home appliance (11300) acquires the content via the network interface (0904). Since the following processing is the same as that of Example 1-A, detailed description thereof is omitted here.
<< 1-B: Flow of processing >>

  An example of the processing flow of this embodiment is shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. The processing flow shown below can be executed by a method and a program for causing a computer to execute the program, and the program can be recorded on a recording medium readable by the computer. (The same applies to other processing flows in this specification.)

  First, the digital home appliance requests the content download from the relay server. In response to the request, the relay server requests the distribution server to transmit the content. Then, the distribution server distributes the requested content to the relay server (distribution step: S1401).

  The relay server acquires the content distributed from the distribution server (content acquisition step: S1402). Then, a predetermined area of the header for constituting the acquired content is rewritten to a predetermined content according to the header rewriting information (header rewriting step: S1403). Thereafter, the content rewritten in the header rewriting step is transmitted to the digital home appliance (transmission step: S1404).

  The digital home appliance receives the content transmitted from the relay server (content reception step: S1405). Then, processing is executed according to the processing content described in the protocol header of the received content (processing execution step: S1406). If the processing content described in the protocol header is for “playback” and “save” processing, playback processing or storage processing is executed accordingly (playback / save substep). The protocol header referred to here is a protocol header used when transmitting content. For example, the headers of http, https, and ftp are used as protocol headers.

  <Embodiment 1: Effect>

  With the download system of this embodiment, even when content is downloaded from the Internet using a digital home appliance, the content processing can be executed in a manner that the user truly desires.

Specifically, when podcast content is downloaded using a digital home appliance, by acquiring the content via a relay server, the user stores the acquired content and uses another playback device to acquire the content. Can be enjoyed.
<< Embodiment 2 >>
<Embodiment 2: Overview>

  The download system according to the present embodiment is based on the download system according to the first embodiment. Further, the download system of the distribution server that distributes content for personal computers is monitored for updates of the distributable content. It has an update monitoring server that transmits to a device or the like.

  Currently, there are innumerable contents distributed on the Internet and distribution servers distributing contents. The user can find the desired content from among these countless contents, but it is a difficult task to individually confirm the contents and update information of all the distribution servers. Thus, for example, in the case of podcast content, there are sites for collectively introducing distributable content and update information to users. By using such a site, the user can easily find out the content he / she wants from a myriad of contents, and can easily know when those contents have been updated.

In the download system having an update monitoring server that provides the service as described above to the user, the invention of this embodiment is truly desired by the user when downloading content using a digital home appliance. This is a download system that can be enjoyed using content in a manner.
<Embodiment 2: Configuration>

  FIG. 12 shows an example of functional blocks of this embodiment. The download system of the present embodiment includes a “distribution server” (12100), a “relay server” (12200), a “digital home appliance” (12300), and an “update monitoring server” (12400).

  The “update monitoring server” (12400) includes an “update monitoring unit” (12401), an “update information generation unit” (12402), and a “first update information transmission unit” (12403). Hereinafter, each function will be described.

The functions of “distribution server” (12100), “relay server” (12200), and “digital home appliance” (12300) are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted here. To do.
<< Update monitoring server (12400) >>

  The update monitoring server (12400) of the present embodiment monitors the update of the distributable content of the distribution server (12100). When an update is found, the update monitoring server (12400) generates update information indicating the content of the update and digitally updates it. It is comprised so that it may transmit to household appliances (12300). In order to realize these operations, the update monitoring server (12400) includes an “update monitoring unit” (12401), an “update information generation unit” (12402), and a “first update information transmission unit” (12403). Have.

  The “update monitoring server” (12400) refers to information on PC contents distributed by the distribution server (12100) distributed over the Internet to the user and monitors whether the contents have been updated. Thus, when the content is monitored, the computer system is used to perform services such as sending the information to a personal computer or a digital home appliance as required. As a site providing a service using such an update monitoring server (12400), for example, countless audio contents distributed on the Internet by podcasting are collectively introduced to users. Apple Computer, Inc. “ITUNES MUSIC STORE (registered trademark)” of Nifty Corporation and “Podcasting juice (registered trademark)” of Nifty Corporation.

  The “update monitoring unit” (12401) is configured to monitor the update of the distributable content of the distribution server (12100). “Updating distributable content of the distribution server (12100)” means that the distribution server (12100) distributes content for the user on the Internet, but the distributed content is much the same. In some cases, users quickly get bored. Therefore, in general, the distribution server (12100) is devised so as to prevent users from getting bored by periodically updating the contents to new ones. In other words, “update of distributable content of distribution server (12100)” means that the distribution server (12100) updates the content of the content to be distributed that is performed regularly or irregularly for the user. The update monitoring unit (12401) monitors "update of distributable content of the distribution server (12100)" to report to the user when the content is updated. Yes. In addition, as an update mode, an update such as “delete old content and give new content” or an update such as “add new content while leaving old content”, The update may be such that “a certain amount of old content is left and new content is added (if the predetermined amount is exceeded, the old content is deleted)”.

  Note that the update monitoring unit (12401) has a list of contents to be monitored for updates in advance, and may monitor only the updates of the contents. In this case, the list may be rewritable. For example, in the case of a site update monitoring server that introduces audio content distributed over the Internet by podcasting to users, it is configured to monitor only the updates introduced on its own site. May be. Alternatively, it may be configured to monitor the update of only the content registered by the user to be regularly downloaded among all the content introduced on the own site.

  Here, the update monitoring unit (12401) is not particularly limited as means for finding the update of the distributable content of the distribution server (12100). For example, when content is updated in the distribution server (12100), the distribution server (12100) transmits information indicating that to the update monitoring unit (12401), and the update monitoring unit (12401) The information may be acquired to find an update of the distributable content. In addition, the update monitoring unit (12401) may be configured to go to the distribution server (12101) to acquire “updated or not” information at all times or periodically at regular intervals. . Furthermore, when there is a request from a user (such as a digital home appliance (12300)), the update monitoring unit (12401) “whether or not it has been updated” in the distribution server (12101) in response to the request. The information may be acquired.

  When the update monitoring unit (12401) finds “update of distributable content of distribution server (12100)” in the update monitoring unit (12401), the “update information generation unit” (12402) generates update information indicating the content of the update. It is configured as follows. “Update information indicating the content of the update” refers to information related to new content such as “information indicating that the content has been updated”, “date and time when the content was updated”, and “the length of the updated content”. In addition, information for requesting a download by the user who has acquired the update information, for example, “address information of a server requesting download” may be included. When the user (digital home appliance (12300), etc.) obtains the update information, the user requests the relay server (12200) or the distribution server (12100) to transmit desired content according to the information.

  As a specific flow for the update information generation unit (12402) to generate update information, for example, the user selects content to be acquired from the homepage of the update monitoring server (12400), and the content Check for updates. Then, the update monitoring unit (12401) confirms the update. Then, the update information generation unit (12402) generates update information based on the information acquired by the update monitoring unit (12401). For example, if the device that requested the download is a personal computer, the update information is generated by adding the address information of the distribution server (12100) that distributes the content as “address information of the server that requests download”. On the other hand, when the requesting device is a digital home appliance, the update information is generated by adding the address information of the relay server (12200) as “address information of the server requesting download”. Note that the means for identifying the device that has requested download is not particularly limited, and for example, the update monitoring server (12400) may identify from a description such as a header included in the information requested to be downloaded. Specifically, the description of “User-Agent” described in the header of the HTTP protocol may be read and identified. As another means, the user selects the content to be acquired from the homepage of the update monitoring server (12400) and inputs the information of the device being used when instructing the update confirmation of the content. You may comprise as follows. Then, the device that requested the download may be identified from the information. The update information generation unit (12402) is configured to acquire information on the device identified as described above and generate update information based on the information.

As described above, the “first update information transmission unit” (12403) is configured to transmit the update information generated by the update information generation unit (12402) to the digital home appliance (12300) using the Internet. ing. As the timing at which the first update information transmission unit (12403) transmits the update information to the digital home appliance (12300), any timing can be considered. For example, the user registers the content to be acquired every time it is updated, together with information such as “device to be downloaded”, in the update monitoring server (12400). When the update monitoring unit (12401) of the update monitoring server (12400) confirms the update information of the registered content constantly or periodically at a certain fixed period and finds an update, the update information generation unit (12402) ) Generates update information. The first update information transmission unit (12403) is configured to automatically transmit the update information created in this way to the user. Alternatively, the user confirms the update of the content from the home page of the update monitoring server (12400). Then, using this as a trigger, the update monitoring unit (12401) acquires information related to the update from the distribution server (12100) that distributes the content. The update information generation unit (12402) generates update information based on the information, and then the first update information transmission unit (12403) is configured to transmit the update information to the user.
<Embodiment 2: Example>

An example <2-A><2-B> of an example for realizing the present embodiment will be described below.
<2-A>
<< 2-A: Specific example (Fig. 13) >>

  First, the user introduces the homepage (for example, innumerable audio contents distributed on the Internet by podcasting) of the update monitoring server (13400) to Apple Computer, Inc. A content to be periodically downloaded from “ITUNES MUSIC STORE (registered trademark)” or the like is registered together with necessary information such as “device to be downloaded (computer, digital home appliance, etc.)” (A).

  Then, the update monitoring unit of the update monitoring server (13400) acquires information related to the update from the distribution server (13100) that distributes the registered content periodically at regular intervals (1) (2 ).

  When a content update is found, the “requesting device” is identified based on the registered information, and the update information generation unit generates update information according to the information. For example, if the “device requesting download” is a personal computer (13500), update information describing the address of the distribution server (13100) and the like is generated as “address information of the server requesting download”. On the other hand, when the “device requesting download” is a digital home appliance (13300), update information describing the address of the relay server (13200) and the like is generated as “address information of the server requesting download”.

  And a 1st update information transmission part transmits the said update information to a user (3).

  The digital home appliance (13300) that has acquired the update information makes a download request to the relay server (13200) according to the information (4).

  In response to the download request, the relay server (13200) requests the distribution server (13100) distributing the requested content to distribute the content (5).

  Then, in response to the request from the relay server (13200), the distribution server (13100) transmits the requested content from the distribution unit to the relay server (13200) (6).

  The content acquisition unit of the relay server (13200) acquires the content transmitted from the distribution server (13100). Then, the header rewriting unit rewrites the description of the predetermined area of the header of the content for the personal computer in accordance with the header rewriting information held by the rewriting information holding unit. Specifically, the description of “Content-Type” in the HTTP header is rewritten from “audio / mpeg” to “application / octet-stream”. And a transmission part transmits the content in which header information was rewritten to a digital household appliance (13300) (7).

  The digital home appliance (13300) that has received the content from the content receiving unit reads the description of the predetermined area of the header by the processing execution unit, and executes the processing content according to the description. Specifically, the rewritten description “application / octet-stream” of “Content-Type” of the HTTP header is read, and the acquired content is “saved” in an internal memory or the like.

  On the other hand, the personal computer (13500) that has acquired the update information from the update monitoring server (13400) makes a content download request to the distribution server (13100) according to the information (8). Then, the distribution server (13100) distributes the content to the personal computer (13500) according to the request.

The personal computer (13500) that acquired the content executes processing such as reproduction and storage.
<< 2-A: Hardware configuration >>

  FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the distribution server, the relay server, and the update monitoring server according to the present embodiment. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the digital home appliance according to the present embodiment. With reference to these drawings, an example of the operation of a hardware configuration that realizes a means for the digital home appliance to acquire content will be described in the specific examples.

  First, the user uses the remote control transmitter (0906) of the digital home appliance (13300) to display the homepage of the update monitoring server (13400) on the screen (0911). Then, according to the guidance on the homepage, the content to be downloaded periodically is selected and registered together with necessary information such as “device to download”. When the registration information is transmitted to the update monitoring server (13400) via the network interface (0904), the update monitoring server (13400) acquires the information via the network interface (0805). Then, the CPU (0801) analyzes the acquired information in the RAM (0803), recognizes information for identifying the content and the registered user, processes the information into a form that can be easily managed, (0804) or a database. Then, the CPU (0801) periodically checks the update status of the registered content. As a means for confirming the update, the latest update date and time of the registered content is stored in the HDD (0804) or the like. The CPU (0801) periodically retrieves information indicating the latest update date and time from the HDD (0804). Also, information indicating the latest update date and time of the content that can be distributed is acquired from the distribution server (13100) via the network interface (0805), and the size is compared in the RAM (0803). If they are the same as a result of the comparison, the CPU (0801) ends the processing and waits until the next update status confirmation. On the other hand, when the update date and time acquired from the distribution server (13100) is larger (when the content is newly updated), the CPU (0801) extracts predetermined information from the HDD (0804) and updates it. Generate information. And update information is transmitted to a digital household appliance (13300) via a network interface (0805).

  The digital home appliance (13300) acquires update information via the network interface (0904). Then, the CPU (0901) temporarily stores it in the RAM (0902) and analyzes it. After that, based on the analysis result, information for requesting download is generated and transmitted to the relay server (13200) via the network interface (0904).

Since the following flow is the same as that of Embodiment 1-B etc., detailed description here is abbreviate | omitted.
<< 2-A: Flow of processing >>

  FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a process flow in which the digital home appliance implements a means for acquiring content in the present embodiment. The processing flow shown below can be executed by a method and a program for causing a computer to execute the program, and the program can be recorded on a recording medium readable by the computer. (The same applies to other processing flows in this specification.)

  First, the digital home appliance transmits the content to be periodically downloaded and information such as “device to be downloaded” to the update monitoring server. When the update monitoring server acquires the information, the update monitoring server stores the information.

  Then, according to the information, updating of the content of the distribution server that distributes the registered content is monitored constantly or at regular intervals (S1601: update monitoring step).

  If an update is found in the update monitoring step, update information indicating the content of the update is generated (S1602: update information generation step).

  Then, the generated update information is transmitted to the digital home appliance (S1603: first update information transmission step).

Since the following flow is the same as that of Embodiment 1-B, detailed description thereof is omitted here.
<2-B>
<< 2-B: Specific example (Fig. 15) >>

  First, the user introduces Apple Computer, Inc., a website that the update monitoring server (15400) has (for example, countless audio contents distributed on the Internet through podcasting). “ITUNES MUSIC STORE (registered trademark)” or the like is displayed on the screen. Then, in accordance with the guidance on the home page, the content desired to be downloaded is selected (1).

  Then, the update monitoring unit of the update monitoring server (15400) acquires information related to the update from the distribution server (15100) that distributes the content (2) (3). Then, the update information generation unit generates update information based on the acquired information and information indicating the device that has transmitted the download information. For example, if the “apparatus requesting download” is a personal computer (15500), update information describing the address of the distribution server (15100) and the like is generated as “address information of the server requesting download”. On the other hand, when the “apparatus requesting download” is a digital home appliance (15300), update information describing the address of the relay server (15200) and the like is generated as “address information of the server requesting download”. And a 1st update information transmission part transmits the said update information to a user (4).

  The digital home appliance (15300) that acquired the update information makes a download request to the relay server (15200) based on the information (5).

  Since the following flows (6) to (8) are the same as those in the embodiment 2-A, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

On the other hand, the personal computer (15500) having acquired the update information makes a download request for content to the distribution server (15100) according to the information (9). Then, the distribution server (15100) distributes the content to the personal computer (15500) according to the request (10).
<< 2-B: Hardware configuration >>

  FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the distribution server, the relay server, and the update monitoring server according to the present embodiment. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the digital home appliance according to the present embodiment. With reference to these drawings, an example of the operation of a hardware configuration that realizes a means for the digital home appliance to acquire content will be described in the specific examples.

  First, the user operates the remote control transmitter (0906) of the digital home appliance (15300) to display the homepage of the update monitoring server (15400) on the screen (0911). Then, the content to be downloaded is selected according to the guidance on the homepage. Then, the information is transmitted to the update monitoring server (15400) via the network interface (0904).

  The update monitoring server (15400) acquires the information via the network interface (0805). Then, the CPU (0801) analyzes the information in the RAM (0803), and on the basis of the analysis result, the content is received from the distribution server (15100) that distributes the content via the network interface (0805). Get information about updates. Further, the CPU (0801) recognizes a device used by the user for downloading from the analysis result. For example, “User-Agent” described in the header of the HTTP protocol is read to recognize the user's device.

  Then, the CPU (0801) generates update information based on “information related to content update”, “information related to a device that downloads content”, and the like acquired as described above. And update information is transmitted to a digital household appliance (15300) via a network interface (0805).

Since the following flow is the same as that of Embodiment 1-B, detailed description here is abbreviate | omitted.
<< 2-B: Flow of processing >>

  FIG. 21 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a process flow in which the digital home appliance implements a means for acquiring content in the present embodiment. The processing flow shown below can be executed by a method and a program for causing a computer to execute the program, and the program can be recorded on a recording medium readable by the computer. (The same applies to other processing flows in this specification.)

  First, the digital home appliance transmits information for confirming the update of the content desired to be downloaded to the update monitoring server. When the update monitoring server acquires the information, the update monitoring server acquires information related to the update of the content from the distribution server that distributes the registered content in accordance with the information, and confirms the update (S2101: update monitoring step).

  Then, update information indicating the contents of the update is generated according to the information acquired in the update monitoring step (S2102: update information generation step).

  Then, the generated update information is transmitted to the digital home appliance (S2103: first update information transmission step).

  Since the following flow is the same as that of Embodiment 1-B, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  <Embodiment 2: Effect>

  Download having an update monitoring server that, as in this embodiment, collectively introduces information about the content distributed by the distribution server over the Internet to the user and monitors whether the content has been updated. Even in the system, when content is downloaded from the Internet using a digital home appliance such as a digital home appliance, the processing of the content can be executed in a manner that the user truly desires.

Specifically, when a podcast content is downloaded from an update monitoring server that introduces podcast content using a digital home appliance, the user acquires the content by acquiring the content via a relay server. Can be stored and the content can be enjoyed using other playback devices.
<< Embodiment 3 >>
<Embodiment 3: Overview>

The download system of the present embodiment is based on the download system of the first or second embodiment, and further, when update information is generated by the update monitoring server, the information is transmitted to the relay server. The relay server that acquired the update information acquires the latest content from the distribution server based on the information, and rewrites and saves a predetermined area of the header assigned to the content. Thus, when a content download request is received from a user using a digital home appliance, the desired content can be transmitted to the user as soon as possible without time loss.
<Embodiment 3: Configuration>

  FIG. 17 shows an example of functional blocks of the present embodiment. The download method of the present embodiment includes a “distribution server” (17100), a “relay server” (17200), a “digital home appliance” (17300), and an “update monitoring server” (17400).

  The “update monitoring server” (17400) includes an “update monitoring unit” (17401), an “update information generation unit” (17402), and a second update information transmission unit (17404). Hereinafter, each function will be described.

The functions of “distribution server” (17100), “relay server” (17200), and “digital home appliance” (17300) are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted here. To do.
<< Update monitoring server (17400) >>

  The update monitoring server (17400) of this embodiment monitors the update of the distributable content of the distribution server (17100), and when an update is found, generates update information indicating the content of the update and relays it. It is configured to transmit to the server (17300). In order to realize these operations, the update monitoring server (17400) includes an “update monitoring unit” (17401), an “update information generation unit” (17402), and a “second update information transmission unit” (17404). Have.

  The functions of the “update monitoring unit” (17401) and the “update information generation unit” (17402) are the same as those in the second embodiment, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  The “second update information transmission unit” (17404) is configured to transmit the update information generated by the update information generation unit (17402) to the relay server (17300) using the Internet. As a timing at which the second update information transmission unit (17404) transmits the update information to the relay server (17300), for example, the user updates the content to be acquired every time it is updated together with “apparatus to be downloaded”. Register in the monitoring server (17400). When the update monitoring unit (17401) of the update monitoring server (17400) confirms the update information of the registered content at all times or periodically at a certain period, and finds an update, the update information generation unit (17402). ) Generates update information. The second update information transmission unit (17404) is configured to automatically transmit to the relay server (17200) whenever update information is generated.

  When the relay server (17200) acquires update information as described above, the content acquisition unit (17201) acquires the latest content from the distribution unit (17101) of the distribution server (17100) using the update information as a trigger. Then, in accordance with the header rewriting information held by the rewriting information holding unit (17220), the header rewriting unit (17203) rewrites a predetermined area of the header attached to the acquired content with predetermined contents. The distribution server (17200) stores the content in which the predetermined area of the header is rewritten in the HDD or the like, and when a download request is received from the user, retrieves it and immediately transmits the requested content. It is configured to

  When the relay server (17200) acquires the update information transmitted from the update monitoring server (17400), the relay server (17200) acquires all the updated contents according to all the update information, rewrites a predetermined area of the header, and rewrites the HDD. Or the content type is identified from the acquired update information, and only the content with the most download requests (for example, the top 100 types of content in the previous month's download request ranking) is updated. It may be acquired and processed as described above and stored in the HDD. Furthermore, the updated content may be acquired only for the content that the user has registered for periodic download, and the above processing may be performed and stored in the HDD.

When a request for downloading unsaved content is received from the user (digital home appliance (17300)) to the relay server (17200), the relay server (17200) distributes the request from the user as a trigger. The content is acquired from the server (17100), and processing such as rewriting a predetermined area of the header is performed, and the content is transmitted to the user (digital home appliance (17300)).
<Embodiment 3: Example>

An example <3-A> of an example that realizes the present embodiment will be described below.
<3-A>
<< 3-A: Specific example (Fig. 18) >>

  The update monitoring unit of the update monitoring server (18400) monitors information related to updates for all podcast contents introduced on its homepage at regular intervals or at regular intervals (1) (2).

  When an update is found, the update information generation unit generates update information indicating the content of the update, and the second update information transmission unit transmits the update information to the relay server (18200) (3 ).

  In the relay server (18200) that has acquired the update information, the content acquisition unit acquires the latest content from the distribution unit of the distribution server (18100) that distributes the podcast content for personal computers based on the update information (4) ( 5). Then, the header rewriting unit rewrites the predetermined area of the header to the predetermined content in accordance with the header rewriting information held by the rewriting information holding unit. Specifically, the description of “Content-Type” in the HTTP header is rewritten from “audio / mpeg” to “application / octet-stream”. Then, the content with the rewritten header is stored in the HDD.

  Thereafter, when there is a download request from the digital home appliance (18300) or the like (6), the relay server (18200) takes out the stored content and immediately transmits the content from the transmission unit to the digital home appliance (7). .

The following processing in the digital home appliance is the same as in Embodiment 1-A and the like, and detailed description thereof is omitted here.
<< 3-A: Hardware configuration >>

  FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the distribution server, the relay server, and the update monitoring server according to the present embodiment. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the digital home appliance according to the present embodiment. An example of the operation of the hardware configuration for realizing the specific example will be described with reference to these drawings.

  First, the update monitoring server (18400) holds, in the HDD (0804), a list of contents to be monitored for updates and information A indicating the latest update date and time of those contents. The CPU (0801) extracts the information and temporarily stores it in the RAM (0803). Also, information B indicating the latest update date and time of the content that can be distributed is acquired from the distribution server (18100) of the content via the network interface (0805). Then, the information A and the information B are compared in size in the RAM (0803). If the result of comparison is the same, the CPU (0801) ends the process. On the other hand, when the update date acquired from the distribution server (18100) is larger (when the content is newly updated), the CPU (0801) extracts predetermined information from the HDD (0804) and updates it. Generate information. Then, the update information is transmitted to the relay server (18200) via the network interface (0805).

  The relay server (18200) acquires update information via the network interface (0805). Then, the CPU (0801) temporarily stores the information in the RAM (0803), analyzes the information, and based on the analysis result, the latest content from the distribution server (18100) via the network interface (0805). To get. When the acquired content is temporarily stored in the RAM (0803), necessary header rewrite information is extracted from the HDD (0804), and the header information of the content is rewritten according to the information. Specifically, the description of “Content-Type” in the HTTP header is rewritten from “audio / mpeg” to “application / octet-stream”. Then, the content with the rewritten header information is stored in the HDD (0804).

  Thereafter, when there is a content download request from the digital home appliance (18300) to the relay server (18200), the CPU (0801) of the relay server (18200) retrieves the requested content from the HDD (0804), and the network interface The content is transmitted to the digital home appliance (18300) via (0805).

Since the following flow is the same as that of Embodiment 1-A etc., detailed description here is abbreviate | omitted.
<< 3-A: Flow of processing >>

  An example of the processing flow of this embodiment is shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. The processing flow shown below can be executed by a method and a program for causing a computer to execute the program, and the program can be recorded on a recording medium readable by the computer. (The same applies to other processing flows in this specification.)

  First, the update monitoring server monitors the update of the distributable content of the distribution server (S2201: update monitoring step).

  If an update is found in the update monitoring step, update information indicating the content of the update is generated (S2202: update information generation step).

  Then, the generated update information is transmitted to the relay server (S2203: second update information transmission step).

  The relay server that acquired the update information requests the distribution server to distribute the content, and the distribution server distributes the content to the relay server in response to the request (S2204: distribution step).

  Then, the relay server acquires content distributed from the distribution server (S2205: content acquisition step).

  Then, the predetermined area of the header for constituting the acquired content is rewritten for predetermined internal use according to the header rewriting information (S2206: header rewriting step). The content in which the predetermined area of the header is rewritten is stored in the relay server.

  Thereafter, when there is a content download request from the digital home appliance, the relay server retrieves the stored content and transmits it to the digital home appliance (S2207: transmission step).

The following flow is the same as in Embodiment 1-A and the like, and detailed description thereof is omitted here.
<Embodiment 3: Effect>

  With the functions of the update monitoring server and the relay server of this embodiment, when a content download request is made from the Internet using a user digital home appliance, the content can be downloaded immediately. In addition, the user can execute processing in a manner in which the acquired content is truly desired. As a result, digital home appliances such as digital home appliances are further spread as new tools for downloading content from the Internet, and the Internet population is expected to further increase. As a result, the Internet industry will become even more active, and content and services distributed over the Internet will be further enhanced.

Example of implementation when content is downloaded on a PC (conventional example) Example of implementation when content is downloaded by digital home appliance (conventional example) Example of embodiment when content is downloaded by digital home appliance (the present invention) Example of functional block diagram of download system of embodiment 1 Example of interface for downloading content (distribution server) Example of interface for downloading content (relay server) Conceptual diagram showing the flow of processing of the first embodiment (Example 1-A) The figure which showed an example of the hardware constitutions of a distribution server, a relay server, and an update monitoring server The figure which showed an example of the hardware constitutions of digital household appliances Sequence diagram showing the processing flow of the first embodiment (Example 1-A) Conceptual diagram showing the flow of processing of the first embodiment (Example 1-B) Example of functional block diagram of download system of embodiment 2 Conceptual diagram showing the flow of processing of the second embodiment (Example 2-A) Sequence diagram showing the processing flow of the first embodiment (Example 1-B) Conceptual diagram showing the flow of processing of the second embodiment (Example 2-B) Sequence diagram showing the flow of processing of the second embodiment (Example 2-A) Example of functional block diagram of download system of embodiment 3 Conceptual diagram showing the flow of processing of Embodiment 3 (Example 3-A) An example of HTTP header of contents on the net An example of rewriting a predetermined area of the HTTP header to a predetermined content Sequence diagram showing the flow of processing of the second embodiment (Example 2-B) Sequence diagram showing the flow of processing of Embodiment 3 (Example 3-A)

Explanation of symbols

04100 Distribution server 04101 Distribution unit 04200 Relay server 04201 Content acquisition unit 04202 Rewrite information holding unit 04203 Header rewrite unit 04204 Transmission unit 04300 Digital home appliance 04301 Content acquisition unit 04302 Process execution unit

Claims (8)

A distribution server having a distribution unit for distributing content;
A content acquisition unit for acquiring content from a distribution server;
A rewrite information holding unit for holding header rewrite information for rewriting the header description indicating the processing contents in the digital home appliance;
A header rewriting unit for rewriting a predetermined area of the header for constituting the acquired content to a predetermined content according to the header rewriting information;
A transmission unit that transmits the content rewritten by the header rewriting unit to the digital home appliance;
A relay server having
A content receiver capable of receiving content from the relay server;
A processing execution unit that executes processing according to the processing content described in the header of the received content;
A digital home appliance having
Download system consisting of.   The download execution system according to claim 1, wherein the processing execution unit of the digital home appliance includes a reproduction / storage unit that performs reproduction processing or storage processing. An update monitoring unit that monitors updates of distributable content of the distribution server;
An update information generation unit that generates update information indicating the content of the update when an update is found in the update monitoring unit;
A first update information transmission unit for transmitting the generated update information to the digital home appliance;
The download system according to claim 1, further comprising an update monitoring server having. An update monitoring unit that monitors updates of distributable content of the distribution server;
An update information generation unit that generates update information indicating the content of the update when an update is found in the update monitoring unit;
The download system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising an update monitoring server including a second update information transmission unit configured to transmit the generated update information to the relay server. A distribution step of distributing content executed in the distribution server;
A content acquisition step of acquiring content from a distribution server, which is executed in a relay server that holds header rewriting information for rewriting a header description indicating processing contents in the digital home appliance;
A header rewriting step of rewriting a predetermined area of the header for constituting the acquired content to a predetermined content according to the header rewriting information;
A transmission step of transmitting the content rewritten in the header rewriting step to the digital home appliance;
A content receiving step capable of receiving content from a relay server executed in the digital home appliance;
A process execution step for executing a process according to the processing content described in the protocol header of the received content;
Download method consisting of.   6. The download method according to claim 5, wherein the processing execution step of the digital home appliance includes a reproduction / storage sub-step for performing reproduction processing or storage processing. An update monitoring step for monitoring updates of distributable content of the distribution server executed in the update monitoring server;
An update information generation step for generating update information indicating the content of the update when an update is found in the update monitoring step;
A first update information transmission step of transmitting the generated update information to the digital home appliance;
The download method according to claim 5 or 6, further comprising: An update monitoring step for monitoring updates of distributable content of the distribution server executed in the update monitoring server;
An update information generation step for generating update information indicating the content of the update when an update is found in the update monitoring step;
The download method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, further comprising a second update information transmission step of transmitting the generated update information to the relay server.

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