JP2011070583A - Device and method for controlling content acquisition - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a content acquisition control device and a content acquisition control method for preventing waste of a system resource such as a battery or a radio source while improving responsiveness and convenience by automatically downloading and caching available content in a terminal for donwloading and reproducing content arranged in a WWW server or the like. <P>SOLUTION: A content acquisition control device 100 includes: a content list acquisition part 101 for acquiring a content list; a using situation collection part 103 for collecting using situations by the terminal of the downloaded content; an acquisition level setting part 105 for setting an acquisition level on the basis of the using situations; a download control part 107 for selecting object content to be downloaded by the terminal according to the content list and the acquisition level; and a content download part 109 for downloading the object content. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a content acquisition control apparatus and a content acquisition control method that are provided in a terminal having a communication function and control content downloaded to the terminal.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to quickly download and play back content (for example, moving images) placed on a WWW server or the like, caching that downloads content that is likely to be used in a terminal or the like has been widely used. .

  For example, a method of caching content according to a priority based on the popularity of the content or the importance of the content is known (for example, Patent Document 1). According to such caching, since the time from when the user of the terminal designates specific content until playback is shortened, the responsiveness and convenience as the terminal can be improved. In addition to shortening the time until playback, normally, when the terminal is out of the communication service area, the user cannot enjoy the content placed on the WWW server or the like, but is cached in the terminal As a result, the content can be played even outside the service area.

US Pat. No. 6,613,451

  However, the conventional caching described above has the following problems. In the case of a mobile phone terminal or the like, if the content downloaded in advance is not used by the user as a result, system resources such as a battery and a radio resource used for downloading the content are wasted. On the other hand, if the content to be downloaded in advance is restricted, the responsiveness and convenience as a terminal are lowered.

  Therefore, the present invention aims to improve responsiveness and convenience by automatically downloading and caching content that can be used in a terminal capable of downloading and playing back content placed on a WWW server or the like. On the other hand, an object of the present invention is to provide a content acquisition control device and a content acquisition control method capable of preventing waste of system resources such as a battery and a radio resource.

  In order to solve the problems described above, the present invention has the following features. First, a first feature of the present invention is a content acquisition control device (content acquisition control device 100) that is provided in a terminal (terminal 30) having a communication function and controls downloading of content (content C) to the terminal. A list acquisition unit (content list acquisition unit 101) for acquiring a content list including the location of the content (content list CL), and a usage status of the downloaded content by the terminal, and the collected usage A usage status collection unit (usage status collection unit 103) that holds the status, and an acquisition level setting unit that sets an acquisition level determined by at least one of the number of downloads and download frequency of the content based on the usage status (Acquisition level setting unit 105) and the content resource And a download control unit (download control unit 107) that selects target content (target content CT) to be downloaded by the terminal according to the acquisition level and the acquisition level, and a content download unit (content download unit 109) that downloads the target content. ).

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a content acquisition control method for controlling content downloaded to a terminal having a communication function, the step of acquiring a content list including the location of the content, and the downloading of the downloaded content Collecting usage status by the terminal; setting an acquisition level determined by at least one of the number of downloads or download frequency of content by the terminal based on the collected usage status; the content list; and And a step of downloading the target content to be downloaded by the terminal according to the acquisition level.

  According to the features of the present invention, in a terminal capable of downloading and playing back content arranged on a WWW server or the like, responsiveness and convenience are improved by automatically downloading and caching the available content. It is possible to provide a content acquisition control device and a content acquisition control method capable of preventing waste of system resources such as a battery and wireless resources.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a content distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block block diagram of the terminal 30 containing the content acquisition control apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the content list CL which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the acquisition level which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a general | schematic operation | movement flow of the content acquisition control apparatus 100 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the setting flow of the acquisition level when the application which reproduces | regenerates the content which concerns on embodiment of this invention is started. It is a figure which shows the setting flow of the acquisition level when the content which concerns on embodiment of this invention is reproduced | regenerated. It is a figure which shows the setting flow of the acquisition level by the elapsed time from the application starting which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the acquisition flow of the content list which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the management flow of the suppression flag which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the management flow of the promotion flag which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the download flow of the content C which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. Specifically, (1) overall configuration of content distribution system, (2) functional block configuration of content acquisition control device, (3) operation of content acquisition control device, (4) action / effect, and (5) other Embodiments will be described.

  In the following description of the drawings, the same or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals. However, it should be noted that the drawings are schematic and ratios of dimensions and the like are different from actual ones. Accordingly, specific dimensions and the like should be determined in consideration of the following description. Moreover, it is a matter of course that portions having different dimensional relationships and ratios are included between the drawings.

(1) Overall Configuration of Content Distribution System FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a content distribution system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the content distribution system includes a content server 10, a content list server 20, and a terminal 30.

  The content server 10 stores content C that can be downloaded by the terminal 30 via a communication network (not shown). The content C is intended for moving image data, but may be still image data and music data, an application such as a game, a standby image, an electronic book, or the like.

  The content list server 20 stores a content list CL including the location (such as URL) of the content C. The content list CL is downloaded by the terminal 30 and used. Details of the content list CL will be described later.

  The terminal 30 has a communication function with the content server 10 and the content list server 20. The terminal 30 is a device having a wireless communication function, such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, or a PC. The terminal 30 can be connected to a small wireless base station such as a femtocell (not shown) or a wireless LAN.

  Further, roaming using various communication services by connecting to a communication network different from the communication network to which the terminal 30 belongs is possible. The communication network to which the terminal 30 belongs is a communication network in which a communication service is provided by a communication carrier with which the user of the terminal 30 has a contract.

  The terminal 30 downloads the content list CL from the content list server 20, and selects the content C to be downloaded from the content server 10 based on the content list CL. Further, the terminal 30 downloads the selected content C and plays back the downloaded content C. Thereby, the user of the terminal 30 can use the content C.

(2) Functional Block Configuration of Content Acquisition Control Device FIG. 2 is a functional block configuration diagram of the terminal 30 including the content acquisition control device according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the content acquisition control device 100 is provided in the terminal 30. The terminal 30 includes a content storage / playback function 30a for storing and playing back the downloaded content C.

  The content acquisition control device 100 controls the download of the content C to the terminal 30. The content acquisition control device 100 improves responsiveness and convenience by automatically downloading and caching the content C that can be used in the terminal 30.

  The content acquisition control apparatus 100 includes a content list acquisition unit 101, a usage status collection unit 103, an acquisition level setting unit 105, a download control unit 107, a content download unit 109, a suppression flag management unit 111, and a promotion flag management unit 113. Hereinafter, the function of each block will be described.

(2.1) Content list acquisition unit 101
The content list acquisition unit 101 acquires the content list CL from the content list server 20. In the present embodiment, the content list acquisition unit 101 constitutes a list acquisition unit.

  FIG. 3 shows a specific example of the content list CL. As shown in FIG. 3, the content list CL is configured by the category of the content C, the name of the content, the location (URL), and the like.

  The category indicates the category to which the content C belongs, and categories 1 to 3 (ranking, new arrival and recommendation) are set in the content list CL illustrated in FIG. “Ranking” is configured by content C that is popular (having high access frequency). “New arrival” is constituted by content C that has recently become downloadable. “Recommendation” is composed of content C recommended by the provider of the content server 10 or the like.

  For each content C, a download URL, thumbnail URL, description, copyright management (DRM) information, and genre information can be added. “Download URL” indicates the URL where the content C is stored. “Thumbnail URL” indicates a URL where a thumbnail of the content C is stored. In the case of music data or the like, the “thumbnail URL” may be omitted. The “description” is constituted by the description of the content C. The “DRM information” is composed of the copyright management information of the content C such as copy prohibition and frequency limit. “Genre” indicates the field to which the content C belongs (movie, sports, music promotion video, etc.). Further, the content list CL may include information other than that described above, for example, a period during which the content C can be downloaded.

  The content list acquisition unit 101 acquires a content list CL including copyright management information of the content C at a predetermined cycle (for example, once / day), and acquires the content C (specifically, target content CT described later), Correspondingly holds copyright management information. When the copyright management information of the target content CT downloaded by the content download unit 109 has been updated among the copyright management information included in the newly acquired content list CL, the content list acquisition unit 101 The copyright management information can be rewritten with the updated content. Note that the acquisition cycle of the content list CL may be shortened according to the level of acquisition level of the content C described later.

(2.2) Usage status collection unit 103
The usage status collection unit 103 collects the usage status of the content C downloaded by the terminal 30 by the terminal 30 and holds the collected usage status. Specifically, the usage status collection unit 103 determines whether or not the content C downloaded by the content download unit 109 (specifically, the target content CT) is actually used by the terminal 30. Collect the situation.

  The usage status collection unit 103 can collect the usage frequency determined based on the reproduction frequency of the target content CT downloaded by the content download unit 109 by the terminal 30 as the usage status. The usage frequency is indicated by, for example, a value such as how many times a day or one hour is played back. Further, the usage status collection unit 103 can collect the usage frequency determined based on the activation frequency of an application that reproduces the target content CT (for example, media player in the case of moving image data) as the usage status.

  Note that the usage status collection unit 103 can determine the usage frequency based on at least one of the reproduction frequency of the target content CT and the activation frequency of the reproduction application. That is, either the reproduction frequency or the maneuver frequency may be used, or the use frequency may be determined using both.

(2.3) Acquisition level setting unit 105
The acquisition level setting unit 105 sets an acquisition level for controlling the number of contents C downloaded by the terminal 30, the download frequency, the category to be downloaded, and the like based on the usage status collected by the usage status collection unit 103.

  In the present embodiment, the acquisition level setting unit 105 sets the acquisition level based on the usage frequency (the reproduction frequency of the target content CT or the activation frequency of the reproduction application) collected by the usage status collection unit 103.

  FIG. 4 shows a specific example of the acquisition level. In the example shown in FIG. 4, acquisition levels from level 1 to level 5 are provided. Each level includes a content list CL acquisition cycle, a download amount limit (one day), content download availability, thumbnail download availability, and a download target category.

  The “content list CL acquisition cycle” indicates the cycle of the content list CL that the content list acquisition unit 101 acquires from the content list server 20. At level 2, the content list CL is acquired once every three days, and at levels 3 to 5, the content list CL is acquired every day.

  “Download amount limit (1 day)” indicates the number of contents C that can be downloaded by the terminal 30 per day. For example, at level 5, nine contents C can be downloaded per day. Note that the download amount may be the number of contents C or a byte size. For example, the download amount is limited to three contents C, or the total download amount is limited to 3 MB.

  In addition, whether or not download is possible may be defined by a time zone. As a method for specifying a time zone, a downloadable time zone may be specified, or a time zone during which download is not possible may be specified. Alternatively, the designation of the time zone may be a relative time starting from the time when the content list CL is acquired.

  “Content downloadability” indicates whether the content C itself can be downloaded. At levels 1 to 3, the content C itself cannot be downloaded, and at levels 4 and 5, the content C itself can be downloaded.

  “Thumbnail download availability” indicates whether the thumbnail of the content C can be downloaded. At level 1, the thumbnail of content C cannot be downloaded, and at levels 2 to 5, the thumbnail of content C can be downloaded.

  “Category of download target” indicates a category of content C that is permitted to be downloaded (see FIG. 3). At level 2, only content C of category 1 (ranking) is to be downloaded. On the other hand, at levels 3 to 5, all categories, specifically category 1 (ranking), category 2 (new arrival), and category 3 (recommended) content C are targets for download.

  When the usage frequency of the content C collected by the usage status collection unit 103 is higher than a predetermined value, the acquisition level setting unit 105 may change the acquisition level to the acquisition level where the number of downloads of the target content CT by the content download unit 109 increases. it can. Specifically, the acquisition level setting unit 105 sets an acquisition level higher than the currently set acquisition level when the reproduction frequency of the target content CT or the activation frequency of the reproduction application is high. For example, when the acquisition level is set to level 3, and the reproduction frequency of the target content CT is higher than 3 times / day (predetermined value), the acquisition level setting unit 105 changes the acquisition level to level 4. . Thereby, the number of downloads of the target content CT is doubled from 3 to 6 (see FIG. 4).

  On the other hand, when the usage frequency of the content C is lower than a predetermined value, the acquisition level can be changed so that the number of downloads of the target content CT by the content download unit 109 decreases. Specifically, the acquisition level setting unit 105 sets an acquisition level lower than the currently set acquisition level when the reproduction frequency of the target content CT or the activation frequency of the reproduction application is low.

  The acquisition level setting unit 105 may change the acquisition level immediately when the usage frequency of the content C exceeds (below) a predetermined value.

  The acquisition level setting unit 105 can also set an acquisition level for each category of content C (see FIG. 3). In this case, the acquisition level setting unit 105 sets the acquisition level for each category based on the usage status of the content C for each category. For example, the acquisition level setting unit 105 can set category 1 (ranking) to level 5 and category 2 (new arrival) to level 3. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the acquisition level may be defined by a combination of the number of contents C that can be downloaded by the terminal 30 (download amount limit) and a category.

  The acquisition level setting unit 105 can also set an acquisition level for each predetermined time period. For example, the acquisition level setting unit 105 sets different acquisition levels for the daytime zone and the nighttime zone. In this case, the acquisition level setting unit 105 sets acquisition levels to be applied to the daytime zone and the nighttime zone based on the usage status of the content C in the daytime zone and the nighttime zone.

  The acquisition level setting unit 105 can also set an acquisition level determined by the download frequency of the content C, instead of the number of the content C that can be downloaded by the terminal 30 per day. For example, the acquisition level setting unit 105 can set an acquisition level at which the content C of a specific category can be downloaded once a day, or an acquisition level at which the content C can be downloaded once an hour regardless of the category.

  Further, the acquisition level setting unit 105 can set the acquisition cycle of the content list CL by the content list acquisition unit 101 according to the set acquisition level. Specifically, when the acquisition level is low, the acquisition level setting unit 105 suppresses consumption of system resources related to acquisition of the content list CL by lengthening the acquisition cycle of the content list CL.

(2.4) Download control unit 107
The download control unit 107 selects target content CT to be downloaded by the terminal 30. Specifically, the download control unit 107 selects the target content CT according to the content list CL and the acquisition level.

  More specifically, the download control unit 107 selects the target content CT based on the set acquisition level from the content C included in the content list CL (see FIG. 4). For example, when the acquisition level is level 2, the download control unit 107 selects the category 1 (ranking) content C as the target content CT from the content C included in the content list CL. Further, when the acquisition level is level 3 or lower, the download control unit 107 downloads the thumbnail of the target content CT without downloading the target content CT itself.

  The download control unit 107 can also execute filtering and user confirmation when downloading the target content CT according to the “genre” of the content C included in the content list CL. For example, if the content download unit 109 is the content C of the genre that is downloaded for the first time, the user of the terminal 30 may not like the content, so the consumption of system resources is suppressed by confirming with the user before the download. it can. In addition, the content C of the genre that responds that the user does not like once may be filtered so as not to be downloaded from the next time.

(2.5) Content download unit 109
The content download unit 109 downloads the target content CT selected by the download control unit 107. Specifically, the content download unit 109 downloads the target content CT from the content server 10 (see FIG. 1), and stores (caches) the content in the content storage / playback function 30a included in the terminal 30. When the content download unit 109 stores (caches) the target content CT in the content storage / playback function 30a, the user of the terminal 30 needs to download the content from the content server 10 when trying to play back the target content CT. In addition, the responsiveness and convenience of the terminal 30 are improved.

(2.6) Suppression flag management unit 111
The suppression flag management unit 111 manages a suppression flag that is set when the terminal 30 is in a state where download of the target content CT should be suppressed. Specifically, the suppression flag management unit 111 determines that the suppression flag is in a roaming-out state where the terminal 30 is connected to a communication network different from the communication network to which the terminal 30 belongs, To suppress download of the target content CT. In the present embodiment, the suppression flag management unit 111 constitutes a download suppression management unit.

  When the suppression flag is set, the download control unit 107 postpones the download of the target content CT or restricts the download amount. Alternatively, the download control unit 107 may restrict the category of the target content CT to be downloaded, or restrict the thumbnails of the content C instead of the content C itself. Note that the download control unit 107 sets the download restart time of the target content CT when the download is postponed.

(2.7) Promotion flag management unit 113
The promotion flag management unit 113 manages a promotion flag that is set when the terminal 30 is in a state in which download of the target content CT should be promoted. Specifically, the suppression flag management unit 111 indicates that the terminal 30 is connected to a communication network (not shown) via a high-speed wireless link or a wired link, or the remaining battery level of the terminal 30 is a predetermined value. In the above state, a promotion flag is set and the download of the target content CT is promoted. In the present embodiment, the promotion flag management unit 113 constitutes a download promotion management unit. Note that the high-speed wireless link is, for example, predetermined when the terminal 30 is connected by HSPA in the cellular network, when communication can be performed via the wireless LAN, or when connected to the femtocell. The communication speed (for example, several Mbps) or more can be secured. Note that the wired link can ensure a communication speed equal to or higher than that of the high-speed wireless link. Further, even if the wireless / wired link is not necessarily high speed, if the communication service is free or a fixed amount, it may be treated as a high speed connection state.

  When the promotion flag is set, the download control unit 107 increases the download amount or expands the category of content to be downloaded.

(3) Operation of Content Acquisition Control Device Next, the operation of the content acquisition control device 100 described above will be described. Specifically, an outline of operation of the content acquisition control apparatus 100 and details of the operation will be described.

(3.1) Operation Overview FIG. 5 is a schematic operation flow of the content acquisition control apparatus 100. As shown in FIG. 5, in step 10, the content acquisition control apparatus 100 acquires a content list CL. Specifically, the content acquisition control device 100 accesses the content list server 20 and downloads the content list CL stored in the content list server 20.

  In step 15, the content acquisition control device 100 sets the acquisition level of the content C based on the acquired content list CL. Specifically, the content acquisition control apparatus 100 determines the attributes, the number of downloads, the download frequency, etc. of the content C that is downloaded and cached in advance by the terminal 30.

  In step 20, the content acquisition control apparatus 100 selects the target content CT to be cached in the terminal 30.

  In step 25, the content acquisition control apparatus 100 downloads the selected target content CT and stores it in the terminal 30.

(3.2) Operation Details Next, detailed operations of the content acquisition control device 100 will be described. Specifically, (3.2.1) Acquisition level setting at the time of content playback application startup, (3.2.2) Acquisition level setting at the time of content playback, (3.2.3) Elapsed time since application startup (3.2.4) Content list acquisition procedure, (3.2.5) Suppression flag management, (3.2.6) Promotion flag management procedure, (3.2.7) Content download The procedure will be described.

(3.2.1) Acquisition Level Setting at the Start of Content Playback Application FIG. 6 shows an acquisition level setting flow when an application for playing back content is started. As shown in FIG. 6, in step 41, the usage status collection unit 103 counts the application for a predetermined time (for example, one day) based on the activation of the application for reproducing the content C. Increase the number of activations by one.

  In step 42, the acquisition level setting unit 105 determines whether or not the number of activations is a predetermined value (for example, 3 times) or more.

  When the number of activations is equal to or greater than the predetermined value (YES in step 42), in step 43, the acquisition level setting unit 105 increases the set acquisition level by one level.

  In step 44, the usage status collection unit 103 resets the counted number of activations (sets it to 0).

(3.2.2) Acquisition Level Setting at Content Reproduction FIG. 7 shows an acquisition level setting flow when content is reproduced. As shown in FIG. 7, in step 51, the usage status collection unit 103 counts the number of times the content C has been counted over a predetermined time (for example, one day) based on the content C being played. Is increased by one.

  In step 52, the acquisition level setting unit 105 determines whether or not the number of reproductions is a predetermined value (for example, 5 times) or more.

  If the number of reproductions is equal to or greater than the predetermined value (YES in step 52), in step 53, the acquisition level setting unit 105 increases the set acquisition level by one level.

  In step 54, the usage status collection unit 103 resets the counted number of reproductions (sets it to 0).

(3.2.3) Acquisition Level Setting Based on Elapsed Time from Application Startup FIG. 8 shows an acquisition level setting flow based on elapsed time from application startup. As shown in FIG. 8, in step 61, the usage status collection unit 103 calculates the elapsed time from the time when the application was last activated as the activation frequency of the application that reproduces the content C. Here, the initial value of “acquisition level change time” is “0”.

  In step 62, the usage status collection unit 103 determines whether the elapsed time is equal to or longer than a predetermined time (for example, 12 hours).

  When the elapsed time is equal to or longer than the predetermined time (YES in Step 62), in Step 63, the usage status collection unit 103 determines whether or not the value of “acquisition level change time” is “0”.

  When the value of “acquisition level change time” is not “0” (NO in step 63), in step 64, the usage status collection unit 103 calculates an elapsed time from “acquisition level change time”.

  In step 65, the usage status collection unit 103 determines whether the elapsed time is equal to or longer than a predetermined time.

  When the elapsed time is equal to or longer than the predetermined time (YES in Step 65), in Step 66, the usage status collection unit 103 lowers the set acquisition level by one level.

  In step 67, the acquisition level setting unit 105 sets the current time in “acquisition level change time”.

(3.2.4) Content List Acquisition Procedure FIG. 9 shows a content list acquisition flow. This flow is executed periodically. As shown in FIG. 9, in step 71, the content list acquisition unit 101 acquires the content list CL based on the acquisition cycle (see FIG. 4) of the content list CL associated with the set acquisition level. Set the cycle.

  In step 72, the content list acquisition unit 101 determines whether to acquire the content list CL based on the acquisition cycle of the content list CL.

  When acquiring the content list CL (YES in step 72), in step 73, the content list acquisition unit 101 downloads the latest content list CL from the content list server 20.

  In step 74, the content list acquisition unit 101 determines whether or not the copyright management information of the downloaded target content CT is included in the content list CL.

  If the copyright management information is included in the content list CL (YES in step 74), in step 75, the content list acquisition unit 101 rewrites the copyright management information of the downloaded target content CT with the updated content. .

  In step 76, the content list acquisition unit 101 calls the download procedure of the target content CT by the content download unit 109.

(3.2.5) Suppression Flag Management FIG. 10 shows a management flag management flow. This flow is executed in response to a change in the connection state of the terminal 30 or a change in the remaining battery level.

  As shown in FIG. 10, in step 81, the suppression flag manager 111 resets the suppression flag.

  In step 82, the suppression flag management unit 111 determines whether the terminal 30 is in a roaming out state or a state where the remaining battery level is low.

  When the terminal 30 is in a roaming-out state or a state where the remaining battery level is low (YES in Step 82), in Step 83, the suppression flag management unit 111 sets a suppression flag.

(3.2.6) Promotion Flag Management Procedure FIG. 11 shows a promotion flag management flow. This flow is also executed in response to a change in the connection state of the terminal 30 or a change in the remaining battery level, similar to the control flow of the suppression flag.

  As shown in FIG. 11, in step 91, the promotion flag manager 113 resets the promotion flag.

  In step 92, the promotion flag management unit 113 determines whether or not the terminal 30 is in a high-speed connection state and the remaining battery level is sufficient.

  When the terminal 30 is in the high-speed connection state and the remaining battery level is sufficient (YES in step 92), in step 93, the promotion flag management unit 113 sets the promotion flag.

(3.2.7) Content Download Procedure FIG. 12 shows a download flow of content C (specifically, target content CT). This flow is executed after the acquisition of the content list CL is completed. In addition, when the download resumption time of the target content CT is set, it is executed with the passage of the time.

  In step 101, the download control unit 107 determines whether a suppression flag is set.

  When the suppression flag is set (YES in Step 101), in Step 102, the download control unit 107 sets the download restart time of the target content CT.

  When the suppression flag is not set (NO in Step 102), in Step 103, the download control unit 107 sets the acquisition level of the content C to “temporary acquisition level”.

  In step 104, the download control unit 107 determines whether the promotion flag is set.

  If the promotion flag is set (YES in step 104), in step 105, the download control unit 107 increases the temporary acquisition level. Note that the download control unit 107 may increase the temporary acquisition level by one step or two or more steps.

  In step 106, the download control unit 107 determines whether the thumbnail of the target content CT can be downloaded at the temporary acquisition level.

  If the thumbnail of the target content CT can be downloaded (YES in step 106), in step 107, the download control unit 107 determines whether there is a download restriction based on the category of the target content CT in the temporary acquisition level. To do.

  If there is a restriction on download depending on the category of the target content CT (YES in step 107), in step 108, the download control unit 107 refers to the content list CL and downloads a thumbnail of the target content CT in the designated category.

  When there is no restriction on download by the category of the target content CT (NO in Step 107), in Step 109, the download control unit 107 refers to the content list CL and downloads a thumbnail of the target content CT.

  In step 110, the download control unit 107 determines whether or not the target content CT can be downloaded at the temporary acquisition level.

  If the target content CT can be downloaded (YES in step 110), in step 111, the download control unit 107 determines whether there is a download limitation based on the category of the target content CT in the temporary acquisition level. .

  When there is a download restriction due to the category of the target content CT (YES in step 111), in step 112, the download control unit 107 refers to the content list CL and based on the specified download amount (see FIG. 4). The target content CT of the designated category is selected.

  When there is no restriction on download by the category of the target content CT (NO in step 111), in step 113, the download control unit 107 refers to the content list CL and selects the target content CT based on the designated download amount. .

  In step 114, the content download unit 109 downloads the selected target content CT and causes the terminal 30 to cache it.

(4) Action / Effect According to the content acquisition control apparatus 100, an acquisition level determined by the number of downloads of the content C by the terminal 30 is set based on the usage status of the content C by the terminal 30. Furthermore, the target content CT cached in the terminal 30 is selected according to the content list and the set acquisition level.

  Since the acquisition level is set based on the usage status, it is possible to prevent the content downloaded in advance from being used by the user and eventually consuming system resources. In addition, since the certain content C is downloaded in advance and cached in the terminal 30 according to the acquisition level, the responsiveness and convenience of the terminal 30 can be improved. That is, according to the content acquisition control device 100, it is possible to balance the consumption of system resources while improving the responsiveness and convenience of the terminal 30.

  In the present embodiment, the acquisition level is set based on the usage frequency of the target content CT. For this reason, it is possible to download appropriate content C in advance according to the usage status of the cached target content CT by the user of the terminal 30. Furthermore, it is possible to flexibly cope with changes in user usage.

  In the present embodiment, since the thumbnail of the content C is downloaded with priority over the content C itself, the responsiveness and convenience of the terminal 30 can be further improved while suppressing an increase in consumption of system resources.

  In this embodiment, since the download process of the content C is executed after the acquisition of the content list CL, if the content list server 20 delays the response regarding the download of the content list CL to the terminal 30, the download process of the content C is executed. Will also be late. For this reason, the download process of the content C by the terminal 30 can be indirectly controlled from the content list server 20 side, and the wireless resource, the communication network, and the content server with respect to the plurality of terminals 30 executing the download at the same time are provided. The load can be distributed.

  In the present embodiment, an acquisition level can be set for each category of content C. Different acquisition levels may be set for each time period. For this reason, the content C to be downloaded in advance can be selected more precisely.

  In the present embodiment, the download of the target content CT is suppressed by the suppression flag when the roaming-out state or the remaining battery level of the terminal 30 is a predetermined value or less. For this reason, it is possible to suppress an increase in communication charges and a situation where the battery of the terminal 30 falls into a depleted state. In the present embodiment, the promotion flag facilitates downloading of the target content CT when the high-speed connection state or the remaining battery level of the terminal 30 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. For this reason, the responsiveness and convenience of the terminal 30 can be further improved.

  In the present embodiment, when the copyright management information of the downloaded target content CT is updated, the copyright management information of the corresponding target content CT is rewritten with the updated content. For this reason, even when the copyright management information is updated, the updated contents can be reflected in the downloaded target content CT without being downloaded again.

(5) Other Embodiments As described above, the content of the present invention has been disclosed through one embodiment of the present invention. However, it is understood that the description and drawings constituting a part of this disclosure limit the present invention. should not do. From this disclosure, various alternative embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

  For example, the usage status collection unit 103 may determine the usage frequency based on the elapsed time since the application that plays back the content C was started last time. In addition, the number of activations of the application may include only the number of times the application of the terminal 30 is manually activated without including the automatic activation of the terminal 30 in the system.

  As described above, the present invention naturally includes various embodiments that are not described herein. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is defined only by the invention specifying matters according to the scope of claims reasonable from the above description.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Content server, 20 ... Content list server, 30 ... Terminal, 30a ... Content storage reproduction | regeneration function, 100 ... Content acquisition control apparatus, 101 ... Content list acquisition part, 103 ... Usage condition collection part, 105 ... Acquisition level setting part, 107: Download control unit, 109: Content download unit, 111 ... Suppression flag management unit, 113 ... Promotion flag management unit, C ... Content, CL ... Content list, CT ... Target content

Claims (9)

A content acquisition control device that is provided in a terminal having a communication function and controls downloading of content to the terminal,
A list acquisition unit for acquiring a content list including the location of the content;
A usage status collection unit that collects usage status of the downloaded content by the terminal and holds the collected usage status;
An acquisition level setting unit for setting an acquisition level determined by at least one of the number of downloads of content and the download frequency based on the usage status;
A download control unit for selecting target content to be downloaded by the terminal according to the content list and the acquisition level;
A content acquisition control device comprising: a content download unit that downloads the target content. The usage status collection unit sets the usage frequency of the target content determined based on at least one of a reproduction frequency of the target content downloaded by the content download unit or an activation frequency of an application that reproduces the target content. Collect as usage status,
The content acquisition control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition level setting unit sets the acquisition level based on the usage frequency. The acquisition level setting unit
When the usage frequency is higher than a predetermined value, the content download unit changes the acquisition level to at least one of the download frequency or the download number of the target content,
The content acquisition control device according to claim 2, wherein when the usage frequency is lower than a predetermined value, the content download control device changes the acquisition level so that at least one of the number of downloads and the download frequency of the target content by the content download unit decreases. The acquisition level setting unit
The acquisition level can be set for each category of the content,
The content acquisition control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an acquisition level for each category is set based on a usage situation for each category. The acquisition level setting unit can set the acquisition level for each predetermined time period,
The content acquisition control device according to claim 1, wherein an acquisition level for each predetermined time period is set based on a usage situation for each predetermined time period.   A download suppression management unit for suppressing download of the target content when the terminal is in a roaming out state connected to a communication network different from a communication network to which the terminal belongs, or when the remaining battery level of the terminal is a predetermined value or less; The content acquisition control device according to claim 1.   Download that promotes downloading of the target content when the terminal is connected to a communication network via a high-speed wireless link or a wired link, or when the battery level of the terminal is greater than or equal to a predetermined value The content acquisition control device according to claim 1, further comprising a promotion management unit. The list acquisition unit acquires a content list including copyright management information of the content at a predetermined cycle,
The content acquisition control device according to claim 1, wherein when the copyright management information of the target content downloaded by the content download unit is updated, the copyright management information of the target content is rewritten with updated content. A content acquisition control method for controlling content download to a terminal having a communication function,
Obtaining a content list including the location of the content;
Collecting usage of the downloaded content by the terminal;
Setting an acquisition level determined by at least one of the number of downloads and download frequency of content by the terminal based on the collected usage situation;
A content acquisition control method comprising: downloading target content to be downloaded by the terminal according to the content list and the acquisition level.

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