JP2009110399A - Communication system and communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication system capable of surely transmitting a user's evaluation to a server. <P>SOLUTION: The communication system comprises a server which delivers content meta information; a first communication terminal connected to the server through a first communication path; and a second communication terminal connected to the server through a second communication path. The first communication terminal includes a storage part which inputs the user's evaluation for a content transmitted from the server and stores evaluation information including the input evaluation; a transmission part which transmits the evaluation information to the server through the first communication path; and an output part which outputs the evaluation information to the second communication terminal. The first communication terminal transmits the evaluation information input from an input part when the first communication path is established, and outputs the evaluation information stored in the storage part upon establishment of the connection with the second communication terminal when the first communication path is not established, and the second communication terminal transmits the evaluation information output from the first communication terminal to the server through the second communication path. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication system that distributes content and a communication terminal that reproduces content based on content meta information transmitted from a server.

When distributing content such as video or music over a network such as the Internet, the file size of the content is large and it takes time to download the file. Often done. In such streaming distribution, a function for evaluating a content by a user who has reproduced the content is added, and information indicating the evaluation by the user is accumulated in the streaming server. And the data which show the accumulated evaluation are used as marketing materials at the time of preparing contents etc. which match user's taste (refer to patent documents 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-32660

  By the way, when streaming delivery is performed to a mobile communication type portable terminal (communication terminal) such as a mobile phone or a PDA, content data is distributed via a wireless network configured by a wireless LAN or the like. In this case, since the communication terminal and the streaming server are connected via a wireless network, even if the user inputs an evaluation for the content, information indicating the evaluation (evaluation information) may not be transmitted to the streaming server. That is, after receiving data necessary for content reproduction, the connection between the communication terminal and the streaming server via the wireless network may be disconnected due to movement of the user or the like. Therefore, when the user inputs an evaluation, the communication path between the communication terminal and the streaming server is not necessarily established, and the evaluation information may not be transmitted. In this case, there is a problem that evaluation information, which is marketing material useful for grasping the user's preference, cannot be acquired in the streaming server, although the evaluation for the content is input by the user.

  The objective of this invention is providing the communication system and communication terminal which can transmit a user's evaluation reliably to a server.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to the embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

  The communication system of the present invention includes a server (4) for distributing content meta information, a first communication terminal (2) connected to the server (4) via a first communication path (10), A communication system comprising a server (4) and a second communication terminal (6) connected via a second communication path (12), wherein the first communication terminal (2) is the server From the reception unit that receives the content meta information transmitted from (4), the content reproduction unit that reproduces the content based on the content meta information, the input unit that inputs the user's evaluation of the content, and the input unit A storage unit that stores the evaluation information including the input evaluation, a transmission unit that transmits the evaluation information to the server (4) via the first communication path, and the evaluation information as the second information Communication terminal (6) When the first communication path (10) has been established, the evaluation information input from the input unit by the transmission unit is transmitted to the server (4). However, when the first communication path (10) is not established, when the connection with the second communication terminal (6) is established, it is stored in the storage unit by the output unit. The evaluation information is output to the second communication terminal (6), and the second communication terminal (6) outputs the evaluation information output from the first communication terminal (2) to the second communication terminal (6). A transmission unit for transmitting to the server (4) via the second communication path (12) is provided.

  Further, the communication terminal of the present invention includes a receiving unit (22) that receives content meta information transmitted from the server via the first communication path, and a content reproducing unit (20) that reproduces content based on the content meta information. ), An input unit (26) for inputting the user's evaluation for the content, a storage unit (24) for storing evaluation information including the evaluation input from the input unit, and the first communication path. A transmission unit (22) for transmitting the evaluation information to the server, and an output unit (28) for outputting the evaluation information to another communication terminal connected to the server via a second communication path. When the first communication path is established, the evaluation information input from the input unit (26) by the transmission unit (22) is transmitted to the server. When the first communication path is not established, the evaluation stored in the storage unit (24) by the output unit (28) when the connection with the other communication terminal is established. The information is output to the other communication terminal.

  According to the communication system of the present invention, when the first communication path is established, the input evaluation information is transmitted from the first communication terminal to the server, and the first communication path is not established. In the case, the evaluation information is stored in the first communication terminal, and when the connection with the second communication terminal is established, the second communication terminal is evaluated by the output unit of the first communication terminal. The information is output, and the second communication terminal transmits the evaluation information output from the first communication terminal to the server via the second communication path. Therefore, when the first communication path connecting the server and the first communication terminal is established, the input evaluation information can be transmitted to the server in real time. Further, even when the first communication path is not established, the evaluation information can be reliably transmitted to the server via the second communication path.

  Also, according to the communication terminal of the present invention, when the first communication path is established, the input evaluation information is transmitted to the server, and when the first communication path is not established, The evaluation information is stored in the storage unit, and when the connection with the other communication terminal is established, the stored evaluation information is output to the other communication terminal. Therefore, evaluation information can be transmitted in real time when possible, and the evaluation information that has been input reliably can be transmitted to the server without being affected by the connection status between the server and the first communication terminal. Can be sent.

  Hereinafter, a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The first communication terminal in the present invention includes mobile communication type portable devices (portable terminals) such as mobile phones, notebook computers, tablet PCs, PDAs, wearable displays, wearable computers, etc. A PDA will be described as an example. In addition, a case where a personal computer (PC) such as a notebook personal computer or a desktop personal computer is used as the second communication terminal will be described as an example.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a schematic configuration of a communication system according to the present embodiment. The communication system includes a server 4 (streaming server) that distributes content meta information, and a PDA 2 (first communication terminal) connected to the server 4 via the Internet 8, an access point, and a wireless LAN 10 (first communication path). And a PC 6 (second communication terminal) connected to the server 4 via the Internet 8 and LAN 12 (second communication path). In the communication system according to the present embodiment, the connection between the PDA 2 and the PC 6 is established via, for example, a USB cable. The LAN 12 that connects the server 4 and the PC 6 is a communication path that has higher communication stability than the wireless LAN 10, and is configured by, for example, a wired line.

Here, FIG. 1 shows a case where both the communication path by the wireless LAN 10 and the communication path by the LAN 12 are established in order to show the connection state between the server 4 and the PDA 2 and between the server 4 and the PC 6. However, the communication path by the wireless LAN 10 and the communication path by the LAN 12 do not need to be established at the same time. Further, the connection between the PDA 2 and the PC 6 does not need to be always established, and the connection only needs to be established when data is output from the PDA 2 to the PC 6.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the PDA 2 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the PDA 2 includes a CPU 20 that controls processing such as content reproduction. The CPU 20 includes a communication control unit 22 (reception unit / transmission unit) that controls communication via the Internet 8 and the like. A storage unit 24 (storage unit) that stores information and the like, a display unit 26 that displays reproduced content and the like, and a USB port 28 (output unit) that establishes a connection with the PC 6 are connected. In the PDA 2, the display unit 26 is configured by a touch panel and functions as an input unit, and can input an instruction for reproducing content, an evaluation of reproduced content, and the like. Although not shown in FIG. 2, the PDA 2 also includes a speaker or the like that is used when music content or the like is reproduced. In the PDA 2, when the wireless LAN 10 is established, the content meta information transmitted from the server 4 is received via the communication control unit 22, and content such as video and music is received based on the received content meta information. Reproduce.

  Here, the content meta information is information indicating a playlist such as a title of content distributed from the server 4, a URL of content, a file format of content, and the like. The content meta information according to the present embodiment includes, in addition to the content URL and the like, information indicating whether or not the content rating can be input, that is, a flag indicating whether or not the user is prompted to input evaluation of the content (evaluation input) Request flag). In addition, when the content meta information includes a plurality of contents, that is, when the content meta information includes a plurality of blocks, an evaluation input request availability flag is included for each block (for each content). Yes. When the input of the evaluation is prompted, the evaluation input request availability flag indicates “Yes”, and when the evaluation input is not prompted, the evaluation input request availability flag indicates “No”.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a case where only the wireless LAN 10 that is a communication path between the PDA 2 and the server 4 is established. That is, when the content meta information is received from the server 4 in the PDA 2 and the content is reproduced, it is sufficient that the communication path between the PDA 2 and the server 4 is established. A communication path (LAN 12) between the server 4 and the PC 6 and a connection between the PDA 2 and the PC 6 are not established.

  Next, processing in the PDA 2 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. In the following description, processing of the PDA 2 when only the communication path (wireless LAN 10) between the PDA 2 and the server 4 is established (see FIG. 3) will be described.

  First, the PDA 2 receives content meta information transmitted from the server 4 (step S10). That is, the PDA 2 is connected to the server 4 via the wireless LAN 10, the access point, and the Internet 8, and content meta information indicating a playlist of content provided by the server 4 is acquired.

  Next, the content is reproduced based on the content meta information received in step S10 (step S11). That is, by accessing the content URL included in the content meta information, the server 4 is requested to distribute the content, and based on this request, the content data streamed from the server 4 is received. Then, the content is reproduced based on the received content data.

  Here, when content is being played back on the PDA 2, information indicating the playback status of the content (playback information) such as the time when playback of the content is started, the time when playback is finished, the number of times of playback, and the fast-forwarded portion Is stored in the storage unit 24. When the content is composed of a plurality of blocks, the reproduction information for each block is stored in the storage unit 24 together with the identification information of each block. Further, since the acquisition of content meta information and the reproduction of content can be realized using a known technique related to streaming distribution, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Next, it is determined whether or not an input for content evaluation is requested (step S12). That is, at the time when the reproduction of the content ends, whether the evaluation input request enable / disable flag indicating whether or not to prompt the input of the evaluation included in the content meta information indicates “Yes” or “No”. Judgment is made.

  If the evaluation input request enable / disable flag indicates “Yes” (step S12), a dialog requesting input of content evaluation is displayed on the display unit 26 (step S13). For example, an evaluation input field or the like is displayed together with a message such as “Please enter the content evaluation”. If the evaluation input flag indicates “No”, the process is terminated. If there is content to be reproduced next, a process of reproducing the content is executed.

  Next, content evaluation is input according to the dialog on which the display unit 26 is displayed (step S14). That is, content evaluation is input by operating the touch panel of the display unit 26. For example, content evaluation is input by selecting items such as “interesting”, “ordinary”, and “not boring” displayed on the display unit 26 and numerical values indicating evaluation.

  Next, evaluation information including the evaluation of the content input in step S14 is created (step S15). That is, when content evaluation is input, content reproduction information stored in the storage unit 24 is extracted, and evaluation information including the extracted reproduction information and content evaluation is created.

  Next, when the communication path between the PDA 2 and the server 4 is established (step S16), the evaluation information created in step S15 is transmitted to the server 4 via the wireless LAN 10 (step S17). . That is, it is determined whether or not a communication path by the wireless LAN 10 that connects the PDA 2 and the server 4 is established. If the communication path is established, the evaluation information is transmitted to the server 4. Note that whether or not a communication path has been established can be determined by using a known connection confirmation technique such as transmission of a ping command, for example, and will not be described in detail.

  On the other hand, when the communication path between the PDA 2 and the server 4 is not established (step S16), the created evaluation information is stored in the storage unit 24 (step S18). That is, a mobile communication type communication terminal such as PDA 2 is generally used when moving outdoors. Therefore, the connection by the wireless LAN 10 is not always maintained, and when the content data is received and the reproduction is finished, the connection by the wireless LAN 10 is disconnected and the communication path is not established, and the evaluation information is transmitted. It may not be possible. In particular, when the connection is disconnected immediately after receiving the content data, the content can be played back but the evaluation information cannot be transmitted. Therefore, when the communication path is not established when transmitting the evaluation information, the evaluation information is stored in the storage unit 24 and the evaluation information is held in the PDA 2.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 5, the process in the case of transmitting evaluation information to the server 4 via the PC 6 will be described. If the communication path between the PDA 2 and the server 4 is not established and the evaluation information is stored in the storage unit 24 of the PDA 2, the connection between the PDA 2 and the PC 6 is established, that is, the PDA 2 When the connection with the PC 6 is established through the USB port 28, the evaluation information stored in the storage unit 24 of the PDA 2 is output to the PC 6. In the PC 6, the evaluation information output from the PDA 2 is stored in a storage unit (not shown).

Next, the PC 6 is connected to the server 4 via the LAN 12 and the Internet 8 to establish a communication path between the PC 6 and the server 4. Then, the evaluation information output from the PDA 2 stored in the storage unit (not shown) is transmitted to the server 4 via the LAN 12 and the Internet 8.
According to the communication system according to the present embodiment, when the evaluation information is transmitted, if the communication path between the PDA 2 and the server 4 is established, the evaluation information is sent directly from the PDA 2 to the server 4. When the communication path between the PDA 2 and the server 4 is not established, the evaluation information is stored in the storage unit 24 in the PDA 2, and when the connection between the PDA 2 and the PC 6 is established, the PDA 2 The stored evaluation information is output to the PC 6, and the evaluation information output from the PDA 2 is transmitted from the PC 6 to the server 4 via the LAN 12. Therefore, when the wireless LAN 10 is established, the evaluation information can be transmitted immediately after the user inputs the evaluation, and the server 4 can obtain the evaluation of the user's content in real time. Even when the wireless LAN 10 is not established, the evaluation of the content input by the user can be reliably transmitted to the server 4 via the PC 6 and the LAN 12, and useful marketing is possible. It is possible to reliably obtain the user's evaluation for the content that is the material.

  In addition, since the content meta information includes an evaluation input request flag indicating whether or not to prompt the user to input content evaluation, the user evaluation can be efficiently collected. For example, for content for which user evaluations are to be collected, user evaluations can be efficiently collected by setting an evaluation input request flag and displaying a dialog to prompt the user to input evaluations.

  Further, when the content meta information is a playlist of a plurality of contents, an evaluation input request flag can be set for each content meta information of each content. You can prompt for input. Therefore, when the communication path between the server and the PDA is established, the evaluation input by the user can be immediately transmitted to the server every time the reproduction of the content is completed, and the real-time user Can be obtained.

  Also, according to the PDA 2 which is a communication terminal according to the present embodiment, when a communication path with the server 4 is established, evaluation information including content evaluation is transmitted to the server 4 via the wireless LAN 10. If the communication path is not established, the evaluation information is stored in the storage unit 24. Therefore, when the wireless LAN is established, the evaluation for the content can be transmitted to the server immediately after being input by the user, and the user's evaluation can be transmitted in real time. Furthermore, even if the evaluation of the content input by the user cannot be transmitted to the server, the content by the user can be reliably transmitted to the server via another communication path by storing the evaluation information. You can send an evaluation.

  Also, according to PDA 2 which is a communication terminal according to the present embodiment, evaluation information including evaluation for content input by the user and reproduction information indicating the reproduction status of the content by the user is created and transmitted to the server. Therefore, in addition to the evaluation input by the user, information indicating how the content has been reproduced by the user can be obtained, and useful marketing materials capable of analyzing the user's preferences in detail can be appropriately obtained. be able to.

  In the communication system according to the above-described embodiment, the connection between the server 4 and the PC 6 is established by the wired LAN 12, but the communication path between the server 4 and the PC 6 is limited to the wired LAN. Is not to be done. That is, when the PC 6 is, for example, a personal computer installed at the user's home, the connection is disconnected even when using a wireless LAN, unlike when the PC 6 is moving outdoors. Is less likely to be Therefore, any communication path may be used as long as the connection between the server 4 and the PC 6 is more stable than the connection between the server 4 and the PDA 2.

  Further, the connection between the PDA 2 and the PC 6 may be established by something other than a USB cable. For example, a connection between the PDA 2 and the PC 6 may be established using a recording medium such as a USB memory or a flexible disk. That is, the PDA 2 outputs evaluation information to a recording medium such as a USB memory or a flexible disk, and the evaluation information recorded on the recording medium is read by the PC 6 so that the evaluation information is output from the PDA 2 to the PC 6. May be. Further, for example, the evaluation information may be output from the PDA 2 to the PC 6 by infrared communication or the like.

  Further, in the communication system according to the above-described embodiment, a dialog prompting the user to input an evaluation is displayed, and the user inputs the evaluation. However, the user does not input the evaluation and reproduces the next content. Also good. That is, “Yes” and “No” buttons etc. are displayed with a message such as “Do you want to enter content evaluation?” As a dialog, and the evaluation input is performed only when “Yes” is selected by the user. A screen may be displayed.

  In the communication system according to the above-described embodiment, a dialog for prompting input of evaluation is displayed. However, for example, input of evaluation may be prompted by voice. That is, when music content or the like is being reproduced, after the reproduction of the content is finished, an announcement such as “Please input the evaluation of the content” may be made by voice.

  Further, in the communication system according to the above-described embodiment, a streaming server is used as a server, but the server constituting the communication system is not limited to the streaming server. Therefore, a Web server that does not perform streaming distribution may be used.

  In the communication terminal according to the above-described embodiment, evaluation information including the input evaluation and reproduction information is created and transmitted to the server. Regardless of whether the content evaluation is input or not. The reproduction information may be transmitted to the server when the reproduction of the content is completed. Further, for example, when the user is prompted to input the evaluation but the evaluation is not input, only the content reproduction information may be transmitted to the server.

1 is a block configuration diagram schematically showing a schematic configuration of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block block diagram of the 1st communication terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the 1st communication path which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process in the 1st communication terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the 2nd communication path | route which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

2 ... PDA, 4 ... server, 6 ... PC, 8 ... Internet, 10 ... wireless LAN, 12 ... LAN, 20 ... CPU, 22 ... communication control unit , 24 ... storage unit, 26 ... display unit, 28 ... USB port.

Claims (8)

A server for delivering content meta information; a first communication terminal connected to the server via a first communication path; and a second communication terminal connected to the server via a second communication path. A communication system comprising:
The first communication terminal is
A receiving unit for receiving the content meta information transmitted from the server;
A content playback unit for playing back content based on the content meta-information;
An input unit for inputting a user's evaluation of the content;
A storage unit for storing evaluation information including the evaluation input from the input unit;
A transmission unit that transmits the evaluation information to the server via the first communication path;
An output unit that outputs the evaluation information to the second communication terminal;
If the first communication path is established, the evaluation information input from the input unit by the transmission unit is transmitted to the server,
If the first communication path is not established, the second evaluation information stored in the storage unit by the output unit when the connection with the second communication terminal is established Output to the communication terminal of
The second communication terminal is
A communication system, comprising: a transmission unit that transmits the evaluation information output from the first communication terminal to the server via the second communication path. The content meta information is
A flag indicating whether or not to prompt the user of the first communication terminal to input the evaluation information;
The first communication terminal is
Based on the flag, a process for prompting the user to input an evaluation is performed.
The communication system according to claim 1. The content meta information is composed of a plurality of blocks,
The communication system according to claim 2, wherein the flag is included for each block. Evaluation information for each of the plurality of blocks is:
When the first communication path is established, every time the user's evaluation is input, it is transmitted to the server by the transmission unit via the first communication path,
4. The communication system according to claim 3, wherein when the first communication path is not established, the block is stored in the storage unit in a state where the evaluation information for which block is identifiable. A receiving unit for receiving content meta information transmitted from the server via the first communication path;
A content playback unit for playing back content based on the content meta-information;
An input unit for inputting a user's evaluation of the content;
A storage unit for storing evaluation information including the evaluation input from the input unit;
A transmission unit that transmits the evaluation information to the server via the first communication path;
A communication terminal comprising: an output unit that outputs the evaluation information to another communication terminal connected to the server via a second communication path;
If the first communication path is established, the evaluation information input from the input unit by the transmission unit is transmitted to the server,
When the first communication path is not established, when a connection with the other communication terminal is established,
The communication terminal, wherein the output unit outputs the evaluation information stored in the storage unit to the other communication terminal. The content meta information is
The communication terminal according to claim 5, further comprising: a flag that indicates whether or not to prompt the user to input the evaluation information, and executing processing that prompts the user to input an evaluation based on the flag. The content meta information is composed of a plurality of blocks,
The communication terminal according to claim 6, wherein the flag is included for each block. Evaluation information for each of the plurality of blocks is:
When the first communication path is established, every time the user's evaluation is input, it is transmitted to the server by the transmission unit via the first communication path,
8. The communication terminal according to claim 7, wherein when the first communication path is not established, the block is stored in the storage unit in a state where it is possible to identify which block is evaluation information.

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