JP4691652B2 - Information processing terminal, distribution management server, distribution reservation method, distribution management method, content distribution system, distribution reservation program, distribution management program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, distribution management server, distribution request method, distribution management method, content distribution system, distribution request method, distribution management method, distribution request method, distribution request program, distribution, and the like, The present invention relates to a management program and a recording medium.

  In recent years, a content distribution system that distributes content such as image data using a communication network such as the Internet has been realized.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses the following content distribution system. In other words, a content reservation request including information for identifying content and a recipient of the content is transmitted from the user terminal connected via the network to the distribution management server. Then, the distribution management server transmits the content to the content distribution device corresponding to the reception destination, and the content distribution device responds to the information indicating the distribution destination of the content received from the user terminal and sends the content to the distribution destination. Send.

  Accordingly, the user can reserve the content at a desired location and can download the content at the desired location.

A technique for hierarchizing content data into a plurality of qualities is disclosed in Patent Document 2, for example.
JP2003-281392 (released on October 3, 2003) JP 2004-178332 (released on June 24, 2004)

  However, in the above conventional configuration, for example, there is a case where high-quality content data is acquired unnecessarily for the user terminal, and there is a problem that the time for transmitting and receiving content data becomes long. Further, there is a problem that transmission performance varies depending on download points, and content data transmission / reception takes a long time when high-quality data is transmitted at download points with low transmission performance.

  In addition, if the content selection, distribution request, and acquisition processes are performed while the communication line between the distribution management server and the user terminal is established, the waiting time may become longer when the communication state is poor, If is interrupted, it is necessary to repeat the same process again. Therefore, there arises a problem that the time required for content acquisition becomes long.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus, a distribution management server, a distribution request method, a distribution management method, and a content distribution that can perform content distribution processing in a short time. A system, a distribution request method, a distribution management method, a distribution request program, a distribution management program, and a recording medium are realized.

  In order to solve the above problems, an information processing terminal according to the present invention is an information processing terminal that requests a distribution management server to distribute content from a content distribution device to a terminal device, and the content has a plurality of qualities. The content information storage unit that stores the content information that identifies each content, the quality correspondence information that associates the distribution route information related to the distribution route of the content and the quality suitable for the distribution route for each content. A quality correspondence information storage unit that stores information, a desired information acquisition unit that acquires desired distribution route information regarding a distribution route desired by the user, and content that determines the content that the user desires to distribute from the content information Based on the determination means, the desired delivery route information acquired by the desired information acquisition means, and the quality correspondence information, It is characterized in that it comprises a quality determination means for determining the quality of the Ceiling.

  The distribution request method of the present invention is a distribution request method in an information processing terminal that requests a distribution management server to distribute content from a content distribution device to a terminal device in order to solve the above-described problem. The content is hierarchized into a plurality of qualities, and the information processing apparatus stores content information for identifying each content, and provides distribution route information indicating the distribution route of the content and quality suitable for the distribution route. Corresponding quality correspondence information is stored for each content, a desired information acquisition step for acquiring desired distribution route information indicating a distribution route desired by the user, and the user desires distribution from the content information Content determination step for determining content to be performed, desired delivery route information acquired in the desired information acquisition step, and the quality correspondence information Based on, it is characterized in that it comprises a quality determining step of determining the quality of the content distribution request.

  The distribution destination terminal device includes the information processing device or other terminal devices. Further, the terminal device includes an external memory for storing content data.

  According to said structure or method, the content information which specifies each content is memorize | stored, and the content which a user desires to distribute is determined from this content information. Thereby, in the content selection process, the information processing terminal does not need to communicate with the distribution management server. As a result, the selection process can be performed without being affected by the communication state.

  Further, the content is hierarchized into a plurality of qualities, and quality correspondence information in which distribution route information is associated with quality suitable for the distribution route is stored for each content. Then, the quality of the content requested for distribution is determined based on the desired distribution route information indicating the distribution route desired by the user and the quality correspondence information.

  Here, the distribution route information includes a content distribution device as a distribution source, a terminal device as a distribution destination, and information for specifying a communication path state between the content distribution device and the terminal device.

  Thereby, content data is distributed with the quality according to a content distribution apparatus, a terminal device, and a communication channel state. This prevents unnecessary transmission of high-quality large-capacity content data, and shortens the time required for transmission / reception of the content data. As a result, the content distribution process can be performed in a short time.

  Further, the information processing terminal according to the present invention, in addition to the above-described configuration, is a model in which the quality correspondence information associates model information of the terminal device serving as a distribution destination with quality that can be reproduced by the terminal device— It is quality correspondence information, and the desired delivery route information is model information corresponding to a terminal device desired by a user as a delivery destination.

  According to the above configuration, it is possible to prevent distribution of high-quality content data that cannot be reproduced by, for example, a terminal device. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the time for transmitting / receiving the content data.

  Furthermore, in addition to the above configuration, the information processing terminal according to the present invention corresponds to the quality correspondence information corresponding to distribution location information for specifying the content distribution device as a distribution source and quality that can be transmitted from the content distribution device. The distribution location-quality correspondence information is attached, and the desired distribution route information is distribution desired location information for specifying a content distribution apparatus that the user desires as a distribution source.

  According to said structure, the content data of the quality according to the transmission performance of the content distribution apparatus of a distribution source are distributed. Thereby, high-quality content data exceeding the transmission performance of the content distribution apparatus is not transmitted, and the time for data transmission and reception is not shortened. That is, the time required for the transmission / reception can be shortened.

  Furthermore, in addition to the above configuration, the information processing terminal according to the present invention is configured such that the quality correspondence information associates model information of the terminal device serving as a distribution destination with quality reproducible by the terminal device. Correspondence location, delivery location information specifying the content delivery device as a delivery source, and delivery location-quality correspondence information that associates the quality that can be transmitted from the content delivery device, and the desired delivery route information is: Model information corresponding to a terminal device desired by a user as a delivery destination, and desired delivery location information for specifying a content delivery device desired by the user as a delivery source, wherein the quality determination means includes the desired information acquisition means The quality corresponding to the model information acquired by the user is read from the model-quality correspondence information, and the quality corresponding to the desired delivery location information acquired by the desired information acquisition means is - reading from the quality correspondence information, based on the read quality is characterized by determining the quality of the content distribution request.

  According to said structure, the content data of the quality according to the model of the terminal device of a delivery destination, and the performance of the content delivery device of a delivery source are delivered. As a result, high-quality content data that cannot be used by the terminal device of the distribution destination is not distributed. Furthermore, high-quality content data that exceeds the transmission performance of the content distribution device is not transmitted. As a result, the time required for content data transmission / reception can be shortened.

  Furthermore, in addition to the above-described configuration, the information processing terminal of the present invention further includes a usage history information storage unit that stores distributed content and usage history information indicating the quality thereof, and the content determination unit includes the usage history information. Content to be requested for distribution is determined from undelivered content, and the quality determining means determines quality to be requested for distribution from undelivered quality based on the usage history information. .

  According to the above configuration, it is not necessary to request distribution of the distributed content data again. As a result, the content distribution apparatus does not repeatedly transmit the same content data to the same user unnecessarily, and can prevent an unnecessary increase in the amount of communication data.

  Further, in the information processing terminal according to the present invention, in addition to the above-described configuration, the content layered into a plurality of qualities includes low-quality basic data and difference data between qualities, and has been distributed And a usage history information storage unit that stores usage history information indicating the quality, and the distribution management of a difference data distribution request between the quality determined by the quality determination unit and the distributed quality based on the usage history information And a distribution request means for transmitting to the server.

  According to said structure, the delivery request | requirement of the difference data of the quality determined by the quality determination means and the delivered quality is transmitted to the delivery management server. Therefore, since the data transmitted from the content distribution apparatus is only difference data, the data capacity can be reduced. Thereby, the time required for data transmission / reception can be shortened. Further, since the content distribution apparatus only needs to transmit the difference data, the data capacity owned for transmission can be reduced.

  In order to solve the above problems, the distribution management server of the present invention is a distribution management server that receives a content distribution request from an information processing terminal and manages the distribution of the content from the content distribution apparatus to the terminal apparatus. The content is hierarchized into a plurality of qualities, content information transmitting means for transmitting in advance content information specifying each content to the information processing terminal, distribution route information indicating the distribution route of the content, and the distribution A quality correspondence information storage unit that stores, for each content, quality correspondence information that is associated with a quality suitable for the route, and a distribution desired content information acquisition unit that acquires distribution desired content information indicating the content that the user desires to distribute. Desired information acquisition means for acquiring desired distribution route information indicating a distribution route desired by the user, and the desired information acquisition means There based on the acquired desired delivery route information and the quality correspondence information, it is characterized in that it comprises a quality determination means for determining the quality of the content corresponding to the delivery desired content information.

  In addition, in order to solve the above-described problem, the distribution management method of the present invention receives a content distribution request from an information processing terminal and distributes the content from the content distribution apparatus to the terminal apparatus. In the management method, the content is hierarchized into a plurality of qualities, and the delivery management server associates the delivery route information indicating the delivery route of the content with the quality suitable for the delivery route. Information is stored for each content, and a content information transmission step for transmitting in advance content information for specifying each content to the information processing terminal, and distribution for acquiring distribution desired content information indicating the content that the user desires to distribute Desired content information acquisition step and desired information for acquiring desired distribution route information indicating the distribution route desired by the user An acquisition step, and a quality determination step for determining the quality of the content corresponding to the distribution desired content information based on the desired distribution route information acquired in the desired information acquisition step and the quality correspondence information. Yes.

  According to the above configuration or method, the information processing terminal can have content information that identifies each content. This eliminates the need for connecting a communication line between the information processing terminal and the distribution management server when the user selects content desired to be distributed. As a result, the selection process can be performed without being affected by the communication state.

  Also, quality correspondence information that associates the model information of the delivery route with the quality suitable for the delivery route is stored for each content, and the desired delivery route information indicating the delivery route desired by the user and the quality correspondence information are stored. Next, determine the quality of the content.

  As described above, the distribution route information includes a content distribution device that is a distribution source, a terminal device that is a distribution destination, and information that specifies a communication route between the content distribution device and the terminal device.

  Therefore, the content data is distributed with quality according to the content distribution device, the terminal device, and the communication path. This prevents unnecessary transmission of high-quality and large-capacity content data, and shortens the time required to transmit and receive the content data.

  Further, the distribution management server of the present invention, in addition to the above configuration, the quality correspondence information is a model-quality that associates the model information of the terminal device as a distribution destination with the quality that can be reproduced by the terminal device. The desired delivery route information is model information corresponding to a terminal device desired by a user as a delivery destination.

  According to the above configuration, it is possible to prevent distribution of high-quality content data that cannot be reproduced by the terminal device. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the time for transmitting / receiving the content data.

  Further, in addition to the above configuration, the distribution management server of the present invention corresponds to the quality correspondence information corresponding to the distribution location information for specifying the content distribution device as a distribution source and the quality that can be transmitted from the content distribution device. The distribution location-quality correspondence information is attached, and the desired distribution route information is distribution desired location information for specifying a content distribution apparatus that the user desires as a distribution source.

  According to said structure, the content data of the quality according to the transmission performance of the content distribution apparatus of a distribution source are distributed. Thereby, high-quality content data exceeding the transmission performance of the content distribution apparatus is not transmitted, and the time for data transmission and reception is not shortened. That is, the time required for the transmission / reception can be shortened.

  Further, the distribution management server of the present invention, in addition to the above configuration, the quality correspondence information is a model-quality that associates the model information of the terminal device as a distribution destination with the quality that can be reproduced by the terminal device. Correspondence location, delivery location information specifying the content delivery device as a delivery source, and delivery location-quality correspondence information that associates the quality that can be transmitted from the content delivery device, and the desired delivery route information is: Model information corresponding to a terminal device desired by a user as a delivery destination, and desired delivery location information for specifying a content delivery device desired by the user as a delivery source, wherein the quality determination means includes the desired information acquisition means The quality corresponding to the model information acquired by the user is read from the model-quality correspondence information, and the quality corresponding to the desired delivery location information acquired by the desired information acquisition means is Tokoro - read from the quality correspondence information, based on the read quality is characterized by determining the quality of the content corresponding to the delivery desired content information.

  According to said structure, the content data of the quality according to the model of the terminal device of a delivery destination, and the transmission performance of the content delivery device of a delivery source are delivered. As a result, high-quality content data that cannot be used by the terminal device of the distribution destination is not distributed. Furthermore, high-quality content data that exceeds the transmission performance of the content distribution device is not transmitted. As a result, the time required for content data transmission / reception can be shortened.

  Furthermore, in addition to the above-described configuration, the content management server of the present invention is configured such that the content layered into a plurality of qualities includes low-quality basic data and difference data between qualities, and is provided for each user. A usage history information storage unit that stores content that has already been distributed and usage history information indicating the quality of the content, and based on the usage history information, difference data between the quality determined by the quality determination unit and the quality that has been distributed, The content is distributed from the content distribution device.

  According to said structure, the difference data of the quality determined by the quality determination means and the distributed quality are transmitted from the content distribution apparatus. Therefore, since the data transmitted from the content distribution apparatus is only difference data, the data capacity can be reduced. Thereby, the time required for data transmission / reception can be shortened. In addition, since the content distribution apparatus only needs to transmit the difference data, the data capacity accumulated for transmission can be reduced.

  The content distribution system of the present invention distributes the content according to the information processing terminal, a distribution management server that receives a content distribution request from the information processing terminal, and the distribution request received by the distribution management server. And a content distribution apparatus that performs the processing.

  Further, the content distribution system of the present invention includes the distribution management server, an information processing terminal that transmits a content distribution request to the distribution management server, and the distribution request received by the distribution management server. And a content distribution device that distributes content.

  According to these content distribution systems, as described above, the data transmission / reception time can be shortened.

  The distribution request program of the present invention is a distribution request program for operating the information processing terminal, and is a computer program for causing a computer to function as each of the means described above.

  The distribution management program of the present invention is a distribution management program for operating the distribution management server, and is a computer program for causing a computer to function as each of the means described above.

  With the above configuration, the information processing terminal or the distribution management server can be realized by realizing each unit of the information processing terminal or the distribution management server with a computer.

  The recording medium of the present invention is a computer-readable recording medium that records the distribution request program or the distribution management program.

  With the above configuration, the information processing terminal or the distribution management server can be realized on the computer by the information providing program read from the recording medium.

As described above, in the information processing terminal of the present invention, the content is hierarchized into a plurality of qualities, the content information storage unit that stores the content information that specifies each content, the distribution route information regarding the distribution route of the content, A quality correspondence information storage unit that stores, for each content, quality correspondence information that associates quality suitable for the delivery route, and desired information obtaining means that obtains desired delivery route information related to a delivery route desired by the user, Based on the content determination means for determining the content that the user wants to distribute from among the content information, the desired distribution route information acquired by the desired information acquisition means, and the quality correspondence information, Therefore, in the content selection process, the information processing terminal and the distribution management server are provided. There is no need to communicate. As a result, the selection process can be performed without being affected by the communication state. In addition, since the content data having the quality suitable for the desired distribution route information is distributed, the high-quality content data is not unnecessarily transmitted / received, and the time required for the transmission / reception can be shortened. As a result, the content distribution process can be performed in a short time.

[Embodiment 1]
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of the content distribution system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the content distribution system includes a user terminal (information processing terminal) 1, a distribution management server 2, a download server (content distribution device) 3, and a communication network N.

  The user terminal 1 of the present invention is an information processing terminal such as a mobile phone that can be connected to the Internet network, a personal computer, or a PDA.

  Note that the content distributed in the present embodiment includes image data and audio data, as well as software that runs applications.

  Further, the contents are hierarchized into a plurality of quality contents having different data capacities, and range from low quality contents having a small data capacity to high quality contents having a large data capacity. The number of quality levels is preset for each content. For example, the content A has three qualities, a low quality content a1, a medium quality content a2, and a high quality content a3, and the content B has two qualities, a low quality content b1 and a high quality content b2. .

  Further, the communication network N includes a satellite communication network, the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), FTTH (Fiber To The Home), CATV (Community Antenna Television), XDSL (Digital Subscribe Line), ISDN. Various wireless / wired communication lines including (Integrated Services Digital Network), public telephone line network, connection cable and the like.

  FIG. 2A shows the time of application for content distribution reservation. As shown in the drawing, content distribution reservation application information is transmitted from the user terminal 1 to the distribution management server 2, and the distribution reservation is accepted.

  FIG. 2B shows a time when the user terminal 1 acquires quality content data. As shown in the figure, before distribution, the distribution management server 2 transmits in advance quality content data and reservation information to be distributed to the download server 3 that performs distribution. The download server 3 transmits the reserved quality content data to the user terminal 1 via the communication network N in response to an acquisition request from the user terminal 1.

  Note that the user terminal 1 that transmits content distribution reservation application information and the user terminal 1 that acquires quality content may be the same or different.

  The distribution management server 2 uniquely assigns a user ID to a genuine user who can use the distribution service in advance.

<Configuration of user terminal>
Next, the structure of the user terminal 1 of this embodiment is demonstrated.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the user terminal 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the user terminal 1 includes a communication unit 11, an input unit 12, a display unit 13, a content list storage unit (content information storage unit, quality correspondence information storage unit) 14, a reservation information storage unit 15, A content data storage unit 16 and a control processing unit 10 are provided.

  The user terminal 1 is connected to the external memory 4 through an interface. The external memory 4 can be detachably connected to the user terminal 1.

  The communication unit 11 communicates with an external device (for example, the distribution management server 2 or the download server 3) via the communication network N.

  The input unit 12 is used by a user to input information, and includes, for example, a keyboard and a numeric keypad.

  The display unit 13 displays an instruction to the user and predetermined information, and is a liquid crystal display, for example.

  The content list storage unit 14 reserves distribution to the distribution management server 2 and stores information regarding the content distributed from the download server 3, its quality, and distribution location. The information stored in the content list storage unit 14 is transmitted from the distribution management server 2 as will be described later, and is updated by the content list update processing unit 18 of the control processing unit 10.

  The content list storage unit 14 stores content-related information (content information) 14-1, delivery location information 14-2, model-quality correspondence information 14-3, and delivery location-quality correspondence information 14-4.

  The content related information 14-1 includes content information (for example, content name) for specifying each content, related information (for example, the author name of the content, genre, content outline, keyword, etc.) Is information associated with each other.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the content related information 14-1 stored in the content list storage unit 14. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the content list storage unit 14 stores, for example, content related information 14-1 in which a content name “content A” is associated with related information “genre: sport,. ing.

  The distribution location information 14-2 includes a distribution location name for identifying a download point for downloading content data, identification information (for example, download server name) of the download server 3 installed at the download point, a facility name, an address, and the like. This is information that associates the connection method to the download server 3.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of distribution location information 14-2 stored in the content list storage unit 14. As illustrated in FIG. As shown in the figure, for example, the content list storage unit 14 distributes distribution location information 14 that associates a distribution location name “location a”, a download server name “download server 3-a”, and a facility name “city hall”. -2 is stored.

  The model-quality correspondence information 14-3 includes, for each content, model information indicating the model of the user terminal 1 serving as the distribution destination of the content data or the external memory 4 serving as the storage destination of the content data, and the quality adapted to the model. This is information associated with.

  For example, when the content is image data, the display resolution, the number of colors, the sound source, the CPU, the memory amount of the user terminal 1 and the external output capability such as the resolution, the number of colors, the frequency, etc. of the user terminal 1 The optimum quality that can be reproduced or output by the user terminal 1 is determined in advance. When the storage destination is the external memory 4, the optimum quality of the downloadable capacity is determined in advance according to the capacity of the external memory 4. The model-quality correspondence information is information in which the optimum quality determined in advance is associated with the model information.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the model-quality correspondence information 14-3 stored in the content list storage unit 14. As shown in FIG. 5, for example, the content list storage unit 14 includes model-quality correspondence information in which the model “XXXX-YYYY” is associated with the optimum quality “medium quality” in the content name “content A”. 14-3 is stored.

  The distribution location-quality correspondence information 14-4 is information in which the content distribution location and the quality that can be distributed by the download server 3 installed in the distribution location are associated with each content. In the download server 3, the quality of the data capacity that can be normally distributed is determined in advance for each content according to the performance such as the transmission speed capability and the amount of memory. The delivery location-quality correspondence information 14-4 is information in which the optimum quality determined in advance is associated with the delivery location.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the delivery location-quality correspondence information 14-4 stored in the content list storage unit 14. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the content list storage unit 14 normally operates with the distribution location “location b” and the performance of the download server 3-b installed at the distribution location in the content name “content A”. The distribution location-quality correspondence information 14-4 in which “medium quality” that is the upper limit of the quality that can be distributed is associated is stored.

  The reservation information storage unit 15 stores reservation information transmitted from the distribution management server 2 in response to distribution reservation application information (described later) transmitted from the user terminal 1. The reservation information will be described later.

  The content data storage unit 16 stores content data acquired from the download server 3.

  Next, the configuration of the control processing unit 10 that controls the communication unit 11, the input unit 12, the display unit 13, and the storage units 14, 15, and 16 will be described.

  The control processing unit 10 includes a user authentication unit 17, a content list update processing unit 18, a distribution reservation application unit 19, a content acquisition unit 20, and a content reproduction unit 21.

  The user authentication unit 17 transmits a user ID to the distribution management server 2 and the download server 3 so that data can be transmitted / received between the distribution management server 2 and the download server 3.

  The user authentication unit 17 detects that the communication unit 11 has connected the communication line with the distribution management server 2 and the download server 3, and transmits a user ID to the communication partner device.

  The user ID is set individually for each user in advance and stored in the user authentication unit 17 in advance. Alternatively, the user authentication unit 17 acquires a user ID from the input unit 12.

  The content list update processing unit 18 includes content-related information (content information) 14-1, storage location information 14-2, model-quality correspondence information 14-3, and distribution location-quality correspondence information 14 stored in the content list storage unit 14. -4 is updated.

  Upon receiving the update instruction input to the input unit 12, the content list update processing unit 18 transmits an update request to the distribution management server 2 via the communication unit 11 and the communication network N, and the latest content related information 14- 1. Acquire distribution location information 14-2, model-quality correspondence information 14-3, and distribution location-quality correspondence information 14-4 from the distribution management server 2. The content list update processing unit 18 updates the content list storage unit 14 with the acquired content related information 14-1, delivery location information 14-2, model-quality correspondence information 14-3, and delivery location-quality correspondence information 14-4. To do.

  The distribution reservation application unit 19 performs content distribution reservation application processing for the distribution management server 2 in accordance with the instruction input to the input unit 12. The distribution reservation application unit 19 includes a content search unit (content determination unit) 191, a distribution method information acquisition unit (desired information acquisition unit) 192, a distribution reservation content determination unit (content determination unit, quality determination unit) 193, an application And a processing unit 194.

  The content search unit 191 is for narrowing down the content that the user desires to distribute, and is a part of the content determining means for determining the content that is desired to be distributed.

  Specifically, the content search unit 191 instructs the display unit 13 to input search information for searching for content desired to be distributed, for example, content creator, genre, general content, and keywords to the input unit 12. indicate. The content search unit 191 refers to the content related information 14-1 of the content list storage unit 14 and extracts a content name corresponding to the related information that matches the input search information. Further, the content search unit 191 outputs the extracted content name to the distribution reserved content determination unit 193.

  The distribution method information acquisition unit 192 stores distribution desired location information for specifying a download point desired for distribution, distribution reservation time information indicating a desired distribution time, user terminal 1 that is a distribution destination of content data or content data. The destination model information specifying the external memory 4 is acquired.

  Specifically, the delivery method information acquisition unit 192 reads the delivery location information 14-2 from the content list storage unit 14 and displays the read delivery location information 14-2 and a delivery destination selection instruction on the display unit 13. Let Furthermore, the distribution method information acquisition unit 192 causes the display unit 13 to display an input instruction for distribution reservation time information and distribution destination model information. Further, the distribution method information acquisition unit 192 acquires distribution method information (desired distribution route information) including distribution desired place information, distribution reservation time information, and distribution destination model information from the input unit 12, and distributes the acquired information to the distribution reservation. The data is output to the content determination unit 193.

  In addition, the user can input the model information of the same user terminal 1 as the delivery destination model information, or can input the model information of different user terminals 1. In addition, when the user wants to store the content data in the removable external memory 4, the user inputs the delivery destination model information indicating the external memory 4.

  The distribution reservation content determination unit 193 determines the content to be reserved for distribution and its quality. That is, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 includes content determination means (not shown) for determining the content desired to be distributed, and quality determination means (not illustrated) for determining the desired quality of distribution.

  Specifically, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 sets the optimum quality corresponding to the distribution destination model information acquired by the distribution method information acquisition unit 192 for all content names extracted by the content search unit 191. Read from the model-quality correspondence information 14-3 stored in the list storage unit 14. Furthermore, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 sets the quality that can be distributed by the download server 3 corresponding to the desired distribution location information acquired by the distribution method information acquisition unit 192 for all the content names extracted by the content search unit 191. The content list storage unit 14 reads out from the distribution location-quality correspondence information 14-4. The distribution reservation content determination unit 193 determines that the quality that is lower than the quality read out from the model-quality correspondence information 14-3 and the distribution location-quality correspondence information 14-4 is the quality that can be distributed.

  Further, the distribution reserved content determination unit 193 displays the quality determined to be distributed on the display unit 13 for all the content names extracted by the content search unit 191. In addition, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 also displays the content to be reserved for distribution and an instruction to select the quality. Then, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 determines the content input to the input unit 12 and its quality as the content desired to be distributed and its quality, and applies for distribution desired content / quality information specifying the content and its quality. The data is output to the processing unit 194.

  That is, the content determination unit (not shown) displays all the content names extracted from the content related information by the content search unit 191 and determines the content desired to be distributed according to the input of the input unit 12. Further, the quality determination means (not shown) receives the input unit 12 from the quality lower than the quality read out from the model-quality correspondence information 14-3 and the delivery location-quality correspondence information 14-4. The desired delivery quality is determined according to the input.

  The application processing unit 194 includes application information including the distribution desired content / quality information output from the distribution reservation content determination unit 193, the distribution desired location information acquired by the distribution method information acquisition unit 192, distribution reservation time information, and distribution destination model information. And the application information is transmitted to the distribution management server 2.

  In addition, the application processing unit 194 performs reception processing of reservation information indicating that the distribution reservation has been officially received from the distribution management server 2 or an acceptance rejection notification indicating that the distribution reservation has been rejected. That is, when the application processing unit 194 receives an acceptance refusal notification, the application processing unit 194 displays the acceptance refusal notification on the display unit 13. In addition, when receiving the reservation information, the application processing unit 194 displays the acquired reservation information on the display unit 13 and stores it in the reservation information storage unit 15.

  The reservation information includes a user ID and a uniquely assigned reservation number in addition to the distribution request content information, distribution request location information, distribution reservation time information and distribution destination model information included in the application information. ing.

  The content acquisition unit 20 accesses the download server 3 according to the instruction input to the input unit 12 and performs processing for acquiring content data reserved for distribution. Further, the content acquisition unit 20 stores the acquired content data in the content data storage unit 16 or the external memory 4 in accordance with an instruction input to the input unit 12.

  Specifically, the content acquisition unit 20 causes the communication unit 11 to start communication with the download server 3 in accordance with the instruction input to the input unit 12. Further, the content acquisition unit 20 transmits a content acquisition request with the reservation number input to the input unit 12 to the download server 3 and acquires content data corresponding to the reservation number.

  When the application process for distribution reservation is performed in the same user terminal 1, the content acquisition unit 20 reads the reservation information stored in the reservation information storage unit 15 and causes the display unit 13 to display the read reservation information. May be. Thereby, the user can input a reservation number easily.

  The content reproduction unit 21 reproduces the acquired content data, and includes a model-compatible quality content extraction unit 211, a content data reading unit 212, and a reproduction processing unit 213.

  In response to the reproduction instruction input to the input unit 12, the model-compatible quality content extraction unit 211 extracts the content that can be used in the user terminal 1 and its quality, and selects the content to be used and the quality from the extracted content To do.

  Specifically, the model-compatible quality content extraction unit 211 displays an input instruction for the model information of the user terminal 1 on the display unit 13 and acquires the model information from the input unit 12. In addition, the model-compatible quality content extraction unit 211 extracts usable quality corresponding to the acquired model information from the model-quality correspondence information 14-3 of the content list storage unit 14 for each content. Further, the model-compatible quality content extraction unit 211 causes the display unit 13 to display the content to be used and an instruction to select the quality together with the usable quality extracted for each content. Further, the model-compatible quality content extraction unit 211 acquires content to be used from the input unit 12 and usage quality content information for specifying the quality.

  The content data reading unit 212 reads content data corresponding to the use quality content information acquired by the model-compatible quality content extraction unit 211 from the content data storage unit 16 or the external memory 4.

  The content data reading unit 212 outputs the read content data to the reproduction processing unit 213. However, if the content data corresponding to the use quality content information is not stored in the content data storage unit 16 or the external memory 4, the content data reading unit 212 displays a selection instruction as to whether or not to apply for distribution reservation. To display.

  The reproduction processing unit 213 performs reproduction processing of the content data output from the content data reading unit 212. For example, when the content is image data, the reproduction process is a process of displaying the image on the display unit 13 or an external display device.

<Configuration of distribution management server>
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the distribution management server 2 of the present embodiment. 7, the distribution management server 2 includes a communication unit 31, a user authentication processing unit 32, a user ID storage unit 33, a content list storage unit (quality correspondence information storage unit) 34, and a content list distribution unit 35. , Data capacity storage unit 36, reservation information storage unit 37, distribution reservation reception unit 38, content data storage unit 39, storage information storage unit 40, download server management unit 41, use history information storage unit (use history information storage unit) 42 And a usage history information update unit 43.

  The communication unit 31 exchanges information with the user terminal 1 and the download server 3 via the communication network N.

  The user authentication processing unit 32 performs a process of determining whether or not the user terminal 1 that has been connected for communication is operated by a genuine user. Specifically, the user authentication processing unit 32 acquires a user ID from the user terminal 1 and collates the acquired user ID with a user ID given to a genuine user in advance. Thus, it is determined whether or not the user is a genuine user.

  If the user authentication processing unit 32 determines that the user is a genuine user, the user authentication processing unit 32 maintains communication with the user terminal 1 and uses the user ID acquired from the user terminal 1 as a distribution reservation receiving unit 38. Output to. On the other hand, if the user authentication processing unit 32 determines that the user is an unauthorized user, the user authentication processing unit 32 disconnects communication with the user terminal 1.

  The user ID given to the authentic user is stored in the user ID storage unit 33 in advance.

  The content list storage unit 34 stores content-related information 34-1, distribution location information 34-2, model-quality correspondence information 34-3, and distribution location-quality correspondence information 34-4. The content list storage unit 34 has been updated to the latest one by the distribution manager. Note that the content-related information 34-1, the delivery location information 34-2, the model-quality correspondence information 34-3 and the delivery location-quality correspondence information 34-4 stored in the content list storage unit 34 are the above user terminal 1 This is the same as the information 14-1 to 14-4 stored in the content list storage unit 14, and will not be described here.

  In response to the content list update request received from the user terminal 1, the content list distribution unit 35 receives the latest content related information 34-1, distribution location information 34-2, model-quality correspondence information 34-3, and distribution location. -The quality correspondence information 34-4 is read from the content list storage unit 34, and each read information is transmitted to the user terminal 1. Thereby, the user terminal 1 can accumulate the latest information (content-related information, distribution location information, model-quality correspondence information and distribution location-quality correspondence information) that is the same as that of the distribution management server 2.

  The data capacity storage unit 36 stores data capacity values of each content and quality. The data capacity storage unit 36 is updated each time content data is newly stored in the content data storage unit 39.

  The reservation information accumulation unit 37 accumulates reservation information generated by a reservation information generation unit 382 described later. Here, the reservation information is distribution desired quality content information that identifies quality content to be distributed (that is, information that identifies content to be distributed and quality), distribution desired location information that identifies the download server 3 to be distributed, distribution This is information in which reservation time information, user ID, and reservation number, which is reservation identification information uniquely assigned to each reservation information, are associated with each other.

  The distribution reservation receiving unit 38 receives application information for content distribution reservation from the user terminal 1. As shown in FIG. 7, the distribution reservation accepting unit 38 includes an application acceptability determining unit 381 and a reservation information generating unit 382.

  The application acceptance determination unit 381 determines whether to accept application information received from the user terminal 1.

  Specifically, the application acceptance determination unit 381 receives from the reservation information accumulation unit 37 other reservation information having the same information as the desired delivery location information and the distribution reservation time information included in the application information received from the user terminal 1. read out. Then, based on the read reservation information, the application acceptance determination unit 381 identifies the content scheduled to be transmitted by the download server 3 during the distribution reservation time and its quality. Further, the application acceptance determination unit 381 reads the data capacity of the characteristic content and quality from the data capacity storage unit 36, and estimates the total data capacity transmitted by the download server 3 during the distribution reservation time. Then, the application acceptance determination unit 381 determines whether or not the download server 3 can normally transmit the content data corresponding to the distribution desired content / quality information of the application information at the same distribution reservation time.

  The reservation information includes distribution reservation time information, distribution desired place information, distribution desired content / quality information. Therefore, the application acceptance determination unit 381 can recognize which download server 3 is scheduled to transmit which content data at which time by confirming the reservation information.

  The download server 3 normally has an upper limit on the data capacity that can be transmitted simultaneously according to its performance. Accordingly, the application acceptance determination unit 381 determines whether or not the download server 3 can normally transmit depending on whether or not the total data capacity to be transmitted during the distribution reservation time exceeds the upper limit value that can be transmitted.

  When it is determined that the content data cannot be transmitted normally, the application acceptance determination unit 381 rejects the reception of the application information and transmits a message to that effect to the user terminal 1. On the other hand, if it is determined that the content data can be transmitted normally, the application acceptance determination unit 381 receives the application information and instructs the subsequent reservation information generation unit 382 to start generating the reservation information.

  The reservation information generation unit 382 generates reservation information corresponding to the received application information, and uses the generated reservation information as the user terminal 1 and the download server 3 corresponding to the desired delivery location information included in the reservation information. To send to. Further, the reservation information generating unit 382 stores the generated reservation information in the reservation information accumulating unit 37.

  Specifically, the reservation information generation unit 382 acquires the user ID received from the user terminal 1 that has transmitted the application information from the user authentication processing unit 32. Further, the reservation information generation unit 382 generates reservation information in which the user ID acquired from the user authentication processing unit 32 and the uniquely assigned reservation number are added to the application information.

  The content data storage unit 39 stores content data and content data of each quality. The content data storage unit 39 is updated by the distribution manager at the same time as the content list storage unit 34 is updated.

  The storage information storage unit 40 stores storage information that characterizes content data stored in the download server 3 for each download server 3. The accumulated information storage unit 40 is updated by the download server management unit 41.

  The download server management unit 41 manages content data stored in each download server 3. Upon receiving the reservation information from the reservation information generation unit 382, the download server management unit 41 extracts the desired delivery location information and the desired delivery content / quality information from the reservation information. The download server management unit 41 determines, based on the accumulated information storage unit 40, whether or not the download server 3 corresponding to the desired delivery location information has accumulated content data corresponding to the desired delivery content / quality information. . If not stored, the download server management unit 41 reads the content data from the content data storage unit 39 and transmits it to the download server 3 corresponding to the desired distribution location information. Further, the download server management unit 41 updates the accumulated information storage unit 40.

  Further, the download server management unit 41 receives a distribution end notification with a reservation number from the download server 3, and reads reservation information corresponding to the reservation number from the reservation information storage unit 37. Then, the download server management unit 41 reserves other reservation information that is the same as the desired distribution location information and desired distribution content / quality information of the read reservation information and that has a distribution reservation time set after the current time. Whether the information storage unit 37 is present is searched. When there is no other reservation information, the download server management unit 41 transmits an instruction to delete the content data corresponding to the reservation number to the download server 3 that has transmitted the reservation number. At the same time, the download server management unit 41 updates the accumulated information storage unit 40.

  The usage history information accumulation unit 42 accumulates, for each user ID, usage history information that identifies content that has already been distributed to the user having the user ID and the quality of the content.

  The usage history information update unit 43 receives the distribution end notification with the reservation number from the download server 3 and updates the usage history information in the usage history information storage unit 43 based on the received distribution end notification. .

  Specifically, the usage history information update unit 43 reads the reservation information corresponding to the reservation number added to the distribution end notification from the reservation information storage unit 37. Further, the usage history information update unit 43 receives the user ID included in the read reservation information and information indicating that the content data corresponding to the desired content / quality information included in the reservation information has been distributed. The associated usage history information is generated and stored in the usage history information storage unit 42.

<About the configuration of the download server>
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the download server 3. As illustrated, the download server 3 includes a communication unit 51, a user ID storage unit 52, a user authentication processing unit 53, a reservation information acquisition management unit 54, a reservation information storage unit 55, an acquisition request reception unit 56, and data distribution. A processing unit 57, a content data storage unit 58, and a stored data management unit 59 are provided.

  The communication unit 51 exchanges information with the user terminal 1 and the distribution management server 2 via the communication network N.

  The user authentication processing unit 53 performs processing for determining whether or not a user who makes a content distribution request is a genuine user. Specifically, the user authentication processing unit 53 acquires a user ID from the user terminal 1, and collates the acquired user ID with a user ID given to a genuine user in advance. Thus, it is determined whether or not the user is a genuine user.

  If the user authentication processing unit 53 determines that the user is an authentic user, the user authentication processing unit 53 maintains communication with the user terminal 1 and obtains the user ID acquired from the user terminal 1 as an acquisition request receiving unit 56. Output to. On the other hand, when determining that the user authentication processing unit 53 is an unauthorized user, the user authentication processing unit 53 disconnects communication with the user terminal 1.

  The user ID is received from the distribution management server 2 in advance and stored in the user ID storage unit 52.

  The reservation information acquisition management unit 54 acquires reservation information from the distribution management server 2 and stores the acquired reservation information in the reservation information storage unit 55.

  The acquisition request receiving unit 56 receives content data acquisition requests and reads reservation information corresponding to the acquisition requests.

  Specifically, the acquisition request receiving unit 56 receives an acquisition request with a reservation number added from the user terminal 1. Further, the acquisition request receiving unit 56 receives the user ID corresponding to the user terminal 1 that transmitted the acquisition request from the user authentication processing unit 53. Then, the acquisition request reception unit 56 reads the reservation information including the received user ID and reservation number from the reservation information storage unit 55. The acquisition request reception unit 56 outputs the read reservation information to the data distribution processing unit 57 when the current time is included in the distribution reservation time corresponding to the distribution reservation time information included in the read reservation information. On the other hand, when the current time is not included in the reservation time corresponding to the reservation time information included in the read reservation information, the acquisition request reception unit transmits error information indicating that it is outside the reservation time to the user terminal 1. .

  The data distribution processing unit 57 reads content data corresponding to the distribution desired content / quality information included in the reservation information from the content data storage unit 58 and transmits the read content data to the user terminal 1. . In addition, when the distribution of the content data is completed, the data distribution processing unit 57 transmits a distribution end notification with the reservation number included in the reservation information to the distribution management server 2.

  The stored data management unit 59 manages data stored in the content data storage unit 58 in accordance with content data storage / deletion instructions received from the distribution management server 2. The content data storage unit 58 stores content data.

<Flow of content list update processing>
Next, the flow of content list update processing performed in the user terminal 1 and the distribution management server 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the content list update processing unit 18 displays a screen for instructing whether or not to update the content list on the display unit 13 and confirms whether there is an update instruction (S1). If there is no update instruction (No in S1), the process ends.

  When a content list update instruction is input (Yes in S1), the content list update processing unit 18 causes the communication unit 11 to start communication with the distribution management server 2. The user authentication unit 17 detects that the communication unit 11 has connected the communication line with the distribution management server 2, and transmits a user ID to the distribution management server 2 (S2).

  Thereafter, in the distribution management server 2, the user authentication processing unit 32 acquires a user ID from the user terminal 1. Then, the user authentication processing unit 32 compares the acquired user ID with the user ID stored in the user ID storage unit 33, and recognizes that it is a genuine user (S3).

  After the user authentication process is normally performed, the content list update processing unit 18 transmits a content list update request to the distribution management server 2 (S4).

  Upon receiving the update request, the content list distribution unit 35 of the distribution management server 2 receives the latest content related information 34-1, distribution location information 34-2, model-quality correspondence information 34-3, and distribution from the content list storage unit 34. The location-quality correspondence information 34-4 is read, and the read information is transmitted to the user terminal 1 that requested the update (S5).

  Thereafter, the content list update processing unit 18 sends the latest content-related information 14-1 (that is, the same as the content-related information 34-1 described above from the distribution management server 2). Information 14-2, model-quality correspondence information 14-3, and delivery location-quality correspondence information 14-4 are acquired, and the content list storage unit 14 is updated with the acquired information (S6). Thus, the content list update process ends.

  The start timing of such content list update processing is not particularly limited. For example, when the distribution reservation application unit 19 performs a content distribution reservation application process, the content list update processing unit 18 may start processing upon receiving an instruction from the distribution reservation application unit 19. Alternatively, the content list update processing unit 18 may start processing at a preset regular time. Further, it may be performed at an irregular time desired by the user. Furthermore, when the content reproduction process is performed, the content list update processing unit 18 may perform the processes from S1 to S6 in response to an instruction from the content reproduction unit 21.

<Flow of content distribution reservation application processing>
Next, the flow of content distribution reservation application processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the distribution reservation application unit 19 determines whether or not a content distribution reservation application instruction has been input to the input unit 12 (S11). If not input (No in S11), the distribution reservation application unit 19 repeats the process of S11 again.

  When an application instruction is input (Yes in S11), the content search unit 191 displays an input instruction for the creator, genre, outline content, and keyword of the content that is search information for searching for the content desired to be distributed. To display. Then, the content search unit 191 extracts the content name of the related information that matches the search information input to the input unit 12 from the content related information 14-1 of the content list storage unit 14 (S12).

  At this time, the content search unit 191 may display the extracted content name and related information corresponding thereto on the display unit 13. Thereby, the user can recognize what kind of content is searched. FIG. 11 is a display example of content names extracted by the content search unit 191 and related information corresponding thereto.

  Next, the distribution method information acquisition unit 192 reads the distribution location information 14-2 from the content list storage unit 14 and causes the display unit 13 to display the distribution location information 14-2 and a selection instruction for the desired distribution location. At the same time, the distribution method information acquisition unit 192 causes the display unit 13 to display an input instruction for distribution reservation time information and distribution destination model information.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a display example of an input instruction for desired distribution location information, distribution reservation time information, and distribution destination model information. According to such a display screen, the user can input desired delivery location information, delivery reservation time information, and delivery destination model information.

  The distribution method information acquisition unit 192 can acquire the model type of the user terminal 1 that has applied for distribution reservation as the distribution destination model information, or can acquire the model type of another user terminal 1. You can also Alternatively, the distribution method information acquisition unit 192 can acquire the model type of the external memory 4 when the user desires to store the content in the external memory 4.

  In this way, the distribution method information acquisition unit 192 acquires the distribution method information (desired distribution route information) including the distribution desired place information, distribution reservation time information, and distribution destination model information from the input unit 12 (S13).

  Next, the delivery reservation content determination unit 193 responds to the delivery destination model information for all the content names extracted by the content search unit 191 based on the model-quality correspondence information 14-3 of the content list storage unit 14. Read the optimum quality. Further, in the distribution reservation content determination unit 193, the content list storage unit 14 stores the quality that can be distributed by the download server 3 corresponding to the distribution destination location information for all the content names extracted by the content search unit 191. Read from the delivery location-quality correspondence information 14-4. Then, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 determines that the quality that is lower than the lower quality out of the quality read from the model-quality correspondence information 14-3 and the distribution location-quality correspondence information 14-4- is usable quality. To do.

  Then, the distribution reserved content determination unit 193 displays the quality determined to be available on the display unit 13 for all the content names extracted by the content search unit 191 (S14).

  FIG. 13 shows an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 13 by the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 in S14. As illustrated in FIG. 13, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 displays, for example, that low quality, medium quality, and high quality are available for the content name “content A”.

  At this time, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 also displays a content to be reserved for distribution and an instruction for selecting the quality. Then, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 acquires the distribution desired content and the distribution desired content / quality information for specifying the quality from the input unit 12 (S15).

  Next, the application processing unit 194 causes the communication unit 11 to start communication with the distribution management server 2. The user authentication unit 17 detects that the communication unit 11 has connected the communication line with the distribution management server 2, and transmits a user ID to the distribution management server 2 (S16).

  Thereafter, in the distribution management server 2, the user authentication processing unit 32 acquires a user ID from the user terminal 1. Then, the user authentication processing unit 32 compares the acquired user ID with the user ID stored in the user ID storage unit 33 and recognizes that the user is a genuine user (S17).

After the user authentication process is normally performed, the application processing unit 194 receives the distribution desired content / quality information output from the distribution reserved content determination unit 193, the distribution desired location information acquired by the distribution method information acquisition unit 192, and the distribution Application information including reservation time information and distribution destination model information is generated, and the application information is transmitted to the distribution management server 2 (S18).
Thereafter, the distribution reservation receiving unit 38 of the distribution management server 2 acquires the application information (S19). Then, the application acceptance determination unit 381 determines whether to accept the application information (S20). The details of the acceptance / rejection determination in the application acceptance / rejection determination unit 381 are as described above, and a description thereof is omitted here.

  When the acceptance of the application is rejected (No in S20), the application acceptance determination unit 381 transmits an acceptance rejection notification indicating that to the user terminal 1 (S21). Upon receiving the acceptance refusal notification, the application processing unit 194 of the user terminal 1 displays on the display unit 13 that the application has been rejected. And the application information acquisition part 19 returns to the process of S11 again. Thereby, the user can input different delivery reservation time information and different delivery location information.

  On the other hand, when the application is accepted (Yes in S20), the reservation information generating unit 382 generates reservation information in which a reservation number is uniquely added to the application information and the user ID acquired from the user authentication processing unit 32. . Then, the reservation information generation unit 382 stores the generated reservation information in the reservation information storage unit 37 and transmits it to the user terminal 1 that has transmitted the application information (S22).

  Thereafter, in the user terminal 1 that has received the reservation information, the application processing unit 194 stores the reservation information in the reservation information storage unit 15 and causes the display unit 13 to display the reservation information (S23). Thereby, the user can recognize the reservation number.

  FIG. 14A is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen when the application processing unit 194 displays reservation information on the display unit 13. As shown in the figure, reservation information including a user ID, a reservation number, a content name and its quality, distribution reservation time information, and distribution desired place information is displayed.

  Next, the distribution reservation application unit 19 causes the display unit 13 to display an input instruction as to whether or not to apply for content distribution reservation. And the delivery reservation application part 19 judges the presence or absence of another delivery reservation according to an input (S24). If there is no other delivery reservation, the process ends. If there is another distribution reservation, the process returns to S12.

<Flow of content data acquisition processing>
Next, the flow of content data acquisition processing will be described. Content data acquisition processing includes content data pre-transmission processing from the distribution management server 2 to the download server 3, data acquisition processing in which the user terminal 1 acquires content data from the download server 3, and user terminal 1 in the content data Content data management processing in the download server 3 after the acquisition.

≪Content data advance transmission process≫
The content data pre-transmission processing from the distribution management server 2 to the download server 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, simultaneously with the processing of S21, the reservation information generating unit 382 of the distribution management server 2 transmits the reservation information to the download server 3 corresponding to the desired distribution location information included in the generated reservation information (S31). In response to this, the reservation information acquisition management unit 54 of the download server 3 stores the acquired reservation information in the reservation information storage unit 55.

  Next, the download server management unit 41 of the distribution management server 2 extracts desired distribution location information and desired distribution content / quality information from the reservation information generated by the reservation information generation unit 382 (S32).

  Then, the download server management unit 41 uses the accumulated information storage unit 40, and the download server 3 corresponding to the desired delivery location information extracted in S32 uses the content data corresponding to the desired delivery content / quality information extracted in S32. Is already stored (S33).

  If the download server 3 has already accumulated the content data (Yes in S33), the process ends.

  On the other hand, when the download server 3 does not store the content data (No in S33), the download server management unit 41 reads the content data from the content data storage unit 39, and reads the read content data into the download server 3 (S34).

  Furthermore, the download server management unit 41 updates the accumulated information stored in the accumulated information storage unit 40 (S35). Then, the process ends.

≪Data acquisition process≫
Next, data acquisition processing in which the user terminal 1 acquires content data from the download server 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the content acquisition unit 20 of the user terminal 1 determines whether or not a content acquisition instruction with the download server name and reservation number of the distribution source is input (S41).

  At this time, the content acquisition unit 20 may cause the display unit 13 to display the reservation information stored in the reservation information storage unit 15. As a result, when a user applies for content distribution reservation at the same user terminal 1, the user can easily input the reservation number and the download server name of the distribution source.

  If no content acquisition instruction is input (No in S41), the content acquisition unit 20 performs the process of S41 again.

  When the content acquisition instruction is input (Yes in S41), the content acquisition unit 20 causes the communication unit 11 to start communication with the download server 3 corresponding to the input download server name. The user authentication unit 17 detects that the communication unit 11 has connected the communication line with the download server 3, and transmits a user ID to the download server 3 (S42).

  Thereafter, in the download server 3, the user authentication processing unit 53 acquires a user ID from the user terminal 1. Then, the user authentication processing unit 53 compares the acquired user ID with the user ID stored in the user ID storage unit 52, and recognizes that the user is a genuine user (S43).

  After the user authentication process is normally performed, the content acquisition unit 20 transmits the reservation number added to the content acquisition instruction to the download server 3 (S44).

  Next, in the download server 3, the acquisition request reception unit 56 receives the reservation number. The acquisition request receiving unit 56 receives the user ID of the user who is performing communication from the user authentication processing unit 53. And the acquisition request reception part 56 reads the reservation information corresponding to the acquired user ID and reservation number from the reservation information storage part 55 (S45). Thereby, content data can be acquired only when both the user ID and the reservation number match. That is, the user does not get the content data reserved for distribution first by users having different user IDs.

  Then, the acquisition request receiving unit 56 extracts distribution reservation time information from the read reservation information, and determines whether or not the current time is included in the distribution reservation time (S46).

  When the current time is not included in the distribution reservation time (No in S46), the acquisition request reception unit 56 transmits an error notification indicating that it is outside the reservation time to the user terminal 1 (S47).

  Thereafter, the content acquisition unit 20 of the user terminal 1 displays an error notification on the display unit 13 (S48), and proceeds to the process of S51.

  On the other hand, when the current time is included in the distribution reservation time (Yes in S46), the acquisition request reception unit 56 outputs the read reservation information to the data distribution processing unit 57. The data distribution processing unit 57 reads the content data corresponding to the distribution desired content / quality information included in the reservation information from the content data storage unit 58, and transmits the read content data to the user terminal 1 (S49). Prior to transmission, the download server 3 may send a notification confirming the content / quality to be transmitted to the user terminal 1.

  Then, in the user terminal 1, the content acquisition unit 20 stores the received content data in the content data storage unit 16 or the external memory 4 according to the instruction input to the input unit 12 (S50). Normally, the external memory 4 is designated as the storage location only when the external memory 4 is designated as the delivery destination model information in the distribution reservation application.

  Next, the content acquisition unit 20 checks whether or not an acquisition instruction for acquiring another content data has been input (S51). If there is another content data acquisition instruction, the process returns to S42. On the other hand, if there is no acquisition instruction, the process ends.

  On the other hand, after the processing of S49, the download server 3 and the distribution management server 2 perform content data management processing (S52).

≪Content data management process≫
Next, content data management processing in the download server 3 and the distribution management server 2 will be described. FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the flow of the management process.

  First, in response to the end of the transmission processing of the quality content data in S49, the data distribution processing unit 57 sends a distribution end notification with a reservation number corresponding to the content data that has been transmitted and the user ID. 2 (S61).

  In the distribution management server 2 that has received the distribution end notification, first, the usage history information update unit 43 updates the usage history information storage unit 42 (S62). Since the usage history information indicates the usage history of the content data for each user ID, it can be used for billing processing for each user. Further, the usage history information can be used for monitoring a user who has repeatedly received content data for a plurality of times.

  Next, the download server management unit 41 reads the reservation information corresponding to the reservation number added to the distribution end notification from the reservation information storage unit 37 (S63).

  Then, the download server management unit 41 sets the other reservation information that is the same as the desired distribution location information and desired distribution content / quality information of the read reservation information and has a reservation time set after the current time as the reservation information. It is searched whether or not it is in the storage unit 37 (S64).

  If there is no other reservation information (No in S64), the download server management unit 41 transmits to the download server 3 an erasure instruction for erasing the content data corresponding to the reservation number (S65). At this time, the download server management unit 41 updates the accumulated information storage unit 40.

  Thereafter, the stored data management unit 59 of the download server 3 deletes the content data for which an erasure instruction has been issued from the content data storage unit 58 (S66). Then, the process ends.

  On the other hand, if there is other reservation information (Yes in S64), the download server management unit 41 ends the process without transmitting any instruction to the download server 3 that has transmitted the reservation number.

  In this way, the download server management unit 41 of the distribution management server 2 sends an instruction to delete content data that is no longer scheduled for distribution from the content data storage unit 58 of the download server 3. Thereby, the content data storage unit 58 of the download server 3 does not store unnecessary content data. As a result, it is possible to reduce the possibility of a data capacity shortage in the content data storage unit 58.

<Flow of content data playback processing>
Next, the flow of content data playback processing in the user terminal 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the content reproduction unit 21 of the user terminal 1 determines whether or not a reproduction instruction is input to the input unit 12 (S71). If there is no reproduction instruction, the process returns to S71 again.

  When there is a reproduction instruction, the model-compatible quality content extraction unit 221 displays an input instruction of the model information of the user terminal 1 on the display unit 13 and acquires the model information from the input unit 12 (S72).

  Next, the model-compatible quality content extraction unit 212 extracts usable quality corresponding to the acquired model information from the model-quality correspondence information 14-3 of the content list storage unit 14 for each content, and extracts each content. In addition to the available quality, an instruction to select the content / quality to be used is displayed on the display unit 13 (S73).

  Further, the model-compatible quality content extraction 212 acquires usage quality content information for specifying content / quality to be used from the input unit 12 (S74).

  Next, the content data reading unit 212 determines whether content data corresponding to the use quality content information is stored in the content data storage unit 16 or the external memory 4 (S75).

  If it is not stored in the content data storage unit 16 or the external memory 4 (No in S75), the distribution reservation application processes S11 to S24 are performed.

  When stored in the content data storage unit 16 or the external memory 4 (Yes in S75), the content data reading unit 212 reads content data corresponding to the use quality content information from the content data storage unit 16 or the external memory 4. The data is output to the reproduction processing unit 213 (S76).

  Next, the reproduction processing unit 213 performs content data reproduction processing (S77).

  Thereafter, the content playback unit 21 determines whether or not a playback instruction for another content has been input (S78). If there is a reproduction instruction, the process returns to S73. On the other hand, when there is no reproduction instruction, the process ends.

  As described above, the user terminal (information processing terminal) 1 according to the present embodiment requests information from the download server (content distribution device) 3 to the distribution management server 2 to distribute content to the terminal device (terminal device). Here, the terminal device includes the user terminal 1, other terminal devices, and an external memory 4 that is a storage location of content data.

  And the content list storage part (content information storage part, quality corresponding | compatible information storage part) 14 of the user terminal 1 memorize | stores the content relevant information 14-1 containing the content identification information (content information) which specifies each content. Yes. Further, the content list storage unit 14 specifies distribution route information (in this embodiment, distribution location information for specifying a distribution source (that is, the download server 3) and a distribution destination (that is, the terminal device) in this embodiment. The quality correspondence information (model-quality correspondence information 14-3, distribution location-quality correspondence information 14-4) in which the model information) and the quality suitable for the delivery route are associated is stored for each content.

  Furthermore, the user terminal 1 includes a distribution method information acquisition unit (desired information acquisition unit) 192 that acquires desired distribution route information regarding a distribution route desired by the user, that is, distribution destination model information and distribution destination location information, The content that the user wants to distribute is determined from the content identification information, and the distribution request is made based on the distribution destination model information and distribution destination location information, and the model-quality correspondence information and distribution location-quality correspondence information. A distribution reservation content determination unit (content determination unit, quality determination unit) 193 that determines the quality of the content to be performed.

  As described above, the content list storage unit 14 stores the content-related information 14-1 including the content identification information in advance, and the content that the user desires to distribute is determined from the content identification information. Thereby, in the content selection process, the user terminal 1 does not need to communicate with the distribution management server 2. As a result, the selection process can be performed without being affected by the communication state. For this reason, the selection process of the content / quality desired to be distributed is not repeatedly performed due to some communication abnormality.

  Further, the content data is distributed with quality corresponding to the distribution destination model information and the desired distribution location information. This prevents unnecessary transmission of high-quality large-capacity content data, and shortens the time required for transmission / reception of the content data.

  In the present embodiment, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 reads the quality corresponding to each of the distribution destination model information and the distribution destination location information from the content list storage unit 14, and the quality equal to or lower than the lower quality is determined by the user. It is determined as the quality of the distribution reservation according to the instruction from.

  However, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 is not limited to this, and the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 requests distribution of the lower quality content from the quality read from the model-quality correspondence information 14-3 and the distribution location-quality correspondence information 14-4. The content and its quality may be determined. As a result, the procedure for the distribution reservation application process can be simplified.

  Further, the content-related information 14-1 may include data capacity information of each quality. Further, the transmission location information 14-2 may include transmission rate information of each download server 3. The distribution method information acquisition unit 192 displays the time required to acquire the content data of each content / quality when the distribution location information 14-2 and the selection instruction of the desired distribution location information are displayed on the display unit 13. It may be calculated based on the data capacity information of 14-1 and the transmission speed information of the delivery location information 14-2 and displayed on the display unit 13. Thereby, the user can recognize the acquisition time of each content data.

  Further, there is a case where all download servers 3 have high performance such as transmission capability, and any download server 3 can transmit all content data normally. In consideration of such a case, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 may determine the quality requested for distribution based only on the quality corresponding to the distribution destination model information. In this case, the distribution method information acquisition unit 192 may first acquire only the distribution destination model information and output the acquired distribution destination model information to the distribution reservation content determination unit 193. Then, based on the distribution destination model information and the model-quality correspondence information 14-3, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 determines the quality that can be reproduced on the distribution destination user terminal 1 and the user's request from the quality Are displayed on the display unit 13. Further, in accordance with the display, the distribution method information acquisition unit 192 causes the display unit 13 to display an input instruction for desired distribution location information and distribution reservation time information. FIG. 14B shows a display screen example of the distribution reservation at this time. The distribution reservation content determination unit 193 may determine the content / quality desired to be distributed, and at the same time, the distribution method information acquisition unit 192 may acquire the desired distribution location information and the distribution reservation time information.

  Furthermore, some users download content data to a certain user terminal, transfer the content data to another high-performance user terminal, and perform content data reproduction processing on the other user terminal. There is a case. In some cases, the model information of the other user terminal is not recognized at the time of distribution reservation. In consideration of such a case, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 may determine the quality requested for distribution based only on the quality corresponding to the distribution desired place information.

  In the above description, the content search unit 191 outputs all the content names extracted by the search to the distribution reservation content determination unit 193, and the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 determines the content desired to be distributed. However, the content search unit 191 displays an instruction to select a content name to be distributed from all the extracted content names on the display unit 13 and obtains distribution desired content information indicating the content desired to be distributed from the input unit 12. May be. Further, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 reads the quality corresponding to the distribution destination model information from the model-quality correspondence information 14-3 in the content corresponding to the distribution request content information acquired by the content search unit 191 and requests the distribution. The quality corresponding to the location information is read from the delivery location-quality correspondence information 14-4. Then, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193 may determine the quality of the distribution reservation based on the read quality. In this case, the content search unit 191 is a content determination unit, and the distribution reserved content determination unit 193 is a quality determination unit.

[Embodiment 2]
The following will describe another embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those in the drawings described in the embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof are omitted.

  The present embodiment is a content distribution system that determines quality according to distribution destination model information and distribution destination location information on the distribution management server side.

  The overall outline of the content distribution system of this embodiment is as shown in FIG. 2 as in the above embodiment. However, this embodiment includes a user terminal 1 a instead of the user terminal 1 and a distribution management server 2 a instead of the distribution management server 2.

<Configuration of user terminal>
FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the user terminal 1a of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 19, the user terminal 1a includes a communication unit 11, an input unit 12, a display unit 13, a content list storage unit 14a, a reservation information storage unit 15, a content data storage unit 16, and a control processing unit 10a. I have.

  The control processing unit 10a includes a user authentication unit 17, a content list update processing unit 18a, a distribution reservation application unit 19a, a content acquisition unit 20, and a content reproduction unit 21a.

  The content list storage unit 14a, content related information 14-1, and distribution location information 14-2 are stored. The content list update processing unit 18a acquires the content related information 14-1 and the distribution location information 14-2 from the distribution management server 2a, and updates the content list storage unit 14a with the acquired information. Thus, it differs from the above embodiment in that only the content-related information 14-1 and the delivery location information 14-2 are accumulated / updated.

  The distribution reservation application unit 19a includes a content search unit 191, a distribution desired content information acquisition unit 195, a distribution method information acquisition unit 192, and an application processing unit 194a.

  The distribution request content information acquisition unit 195 acquires distribution request content information for specifying content desired to be distributed.

  Specifically, the desired content information acquisition unit 195 causes the display unit 13 to display an instruction for selecting content desired to be distributed from the content name extracted by the content search unit 191. Then, the distribution desired content information acquisition unit 195 determines the content name input to the input unit 12 as distribution desired content information.

  The application processing unit 194a includes application information including the distribution request content information acquired by the distribution request content information acquisition unit 195 and the distribution destination location information, distribution reservation time information, and distribution destination model information acquired by the distribution method information acquisition unit 192. And the application information is transmitted to the distribution management server 2a.

  In addition, the application processing unit 194a, like the application processing unit 194 of the above embodiment, reservation information indicating that the application has been officially received from the distribution management server 2a, or an acceptance refusal notification indicating that the application has been rejected. Receive processing.

  The content reproduction unit 21 a includes a content data selection / reading unit 214 and a reproduction processing unit 213.

  The content data selection / reading unit 214 receives an instruction to reproduce the content data input to the input unit 12 and specifies the content data stored in the content data storage unit 16 and the external memory 4. And the content / quality selection instruction to be reproduced from these are displayed on the display unit 13. Further, the content data selection / reading unit 214 reads content data corresponding to the content / quality name input to the input unit 12 from the content data storage unit 16 or the external memory 4 and outputs the content data to the reproduction processing unit 213.

<Configuration of distribution management server>
Next, the configuration of the distribution management server 2a of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the distribution management server 2a.

  As shown in FIG. 20, the distribution management server 2a replaces the content list distribution unit 35 with a content list distribution unit (content information transmission means) 35a, as compared with the distribution management server 2 of the above embodiment. The difference is that a distribution reservation receiving unit 38 a is provided instead of the receiving unit 38.

  Upon receiving an update request from the user terminal 1a, the content list distribution unit 35a reads the content related information 34-1 and the distribution location information 34-2 from the content list storage unit 34, and the content related information 34-1 and the distribution location Information 34-2 is transmitted to the user terminal 1a.

  The distribution reservation receiving unit 38a includes a quality determining unit (quality determining unit) 383, an application reception determination unit 381a, and a reservation information generating unit 382a. The distribution reservation receiving unit 38a also includes application information acquisition means (not shown) (desired information acquisition means) for acquiring application information from the user terminal 1a.

  The quality determination 383 receives application information from the user terminal 1a, and determines the quality of the content desired to be distributed based on the distribution desired content information, the distribution destination model information and the distribution location information included in the application information. is there.

  Specifically, the quality determination unit 383 determines the optimum quality corresponding to the distribution destination model information in the content corresponding to the distribution desired content information included in the application information, and the model-quality correspondence information 34 of the content list storage unit 34. Read from -3. Further, the quality determination unit 383 reads the quality corresponding to the distribution location information from the distribution location-quality correspondence information 34-4 of the content list storage unit 34 in the content corresponding to the distribution desired content information included in the application information. The quality determination unit 383 determines the lower one of the quality read from the model-quality correspondence information 34-3 and the distribution location-quality correspondence information 34-4 as the quality to be distributed.

  The application acceptance determination unit 381a determines whether to accept application information received from the user terminal 1a.

  Specifically, the application acceptance determination unit 381a receives from the reservation information storage unit 37 other reservation information having the same information as the desired delivery location information and the distribution reservation time information included in the application information received from the user terminal 1a. read out. Then, based on the read reservation information, the application acceptance determination unit 381a identifies the content scheduled to be transmitted by the download server 3 during the distribution reservation time and its quality. Further, the application acceptance determination unit 381a reads out the data capacity of the contents and the quality from the data capacity storage unit 36. At this time, the application acceptance determination unit 381a also reads the data capacity of the content corresponding to the content information desired to be distributed in the application information and the quality determined by the quality determination unit 383. The application acceptance determination unit 381a determines whether or not the download server 3 can normally transmit the content data having the quality determined by the quality determination unit 383 during the same distribution reservation time. The details of this determination are the same as in the above embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.

  The reservation information generating unit 382a associates the received application information with the quality information determined by the quality determining unit 383, the user ID, and the reservation number that is the reservation identification information uniquely assigned to each reservation information. And the generated reservation information is transmitted to the user terminal a1 and the download server 3 corresponding to the desired delivery location information included in the reservation information. Further, the reservation information generation unit 382 a stores the generated reservation information in the reservation information storage unit 37.

Next, the flow of each process in this embodiment will be described.
The content list update process is the same as that in the above embodiment except that the information to be updated is only the content-related information 14-1 and the delivery location information 14-2, and thus the description thereof is omitted. The content data acquisition process is also the same as that in the above embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

<Flow of content distribution reservation application processing>
The flow of content distribution reservation application processing in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the distribution reservation application unit 19a of the user terminal 1a determines whether or not a content distribution reservation application instruction has been input to the input unit 12 (S81).

  When the application instruction is input (Yes in S81), the content search unit 191 acquires the search information from the input unit 12, and extracts the content name of the related information that matches the acquired search information (S82).

  Next, the distribution desired content information acquisition unit 195 causes the display unit 13 to display an instruction for selecting content to be distributed from the content name extracted by the content search unit 191 and acquires the distribution desired content information (S83).

  Next, the delivery method information acquisition unit 192 acquires the desired delivery location information, the delivery reservation time information, and the delivery destination model information as in S14 (S84).

  Next, the application processing unit 194a causes the communication unit 11 to start communication with the distribution management server 2a. The user authentication unit 17 detects that the communication unit 11 has connected the communication line with the distribution management server 2a, and transmits a user ID to the distribution management server 2a (S85).

  Thereafter, in the distribution management server 2a, the user authentication processing unit 32 acquires a user ID from the user terminal 1a. Then, the user authentication processing unit 32 compares the acquired user ID with the user ID stored in the user ID storage unit 33, and recognizes that it is a genuine user (S86).

  After the user authentication process is normally performed, the application processing unit 194a includes the distribution request content information acquired by the distribution request content information acquisition unit 195, the distribution request location information acquired by the distribution method information acquisition unit 193, and the distribution reservation time. Application information including information and distribution destination model information is generated, and the application information is transmitted to the distribution management server 2a (S87).

  The distribution reservation receiving unit 38a of the distribution management server 2a acquires the application information (S88). Then, the quality determination unit 383 of the distribution reservation receiving unit 38a reads the quality corresponding to the distribution desired content information and the distribution destination model information included in the application information based on the model-quality correspondence information 34-3. Furthermore, the quality determination unit 383 reads out the quality corresponding to the distribution desired content information and the distribution location information based on the distribution location-quality correspondence information 34-4. Then, the quality determination unit 383 determines that the lower quality content among the read quality is to be distributed (S89).

  Next, the application acceptance determination unit 381a determines whether to accept a distribution reservation (S90). This determination method is as described above.

  When the acceptance of the application is rejected (No in S90), the application acceptance determination unit 381a transmits an acceptance refusal notification indicating that to the user terminal 1a (S91). The application processing unit 194a of the user terminal 1a that has received the acceptance refusal notification displays on the display unit 13 that the application has been rejected. And the application information acquisition part 19a returns to the process of S81 again. Thereby, the user can input different delivery reservation time information and different delivery location information.

  On the other hand, when the application is accepted, the application processing unit 194a, the distribution desired content information acquired by the distribution desired content information acquisition unit 195, the distribution desired location information acquired by the distribution method information acquisition unit 192, the distribution reservation time information, and the distribution Application information including the previous model information is generated, and the application information is transmitted to the distribution management server 2a (S92).

  In the user terminal 1a that has received the reservation information, the application processing unit 194a stores the reservation information in the reservation information storage unit 15 and causes the display unit 13 to display the reservation information (S93). Thereby, the user can recognize the reservation number.

  Next, the distribution reservation application unit 19a determines whether or not to make another application for content distribution reservation (S94), and ends the process.

<Flow of playback processing>
Next, the flow of reproduction processing in the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the content playback unit 21a determines whether or not a content playback instruction has been input (S101).

  When there is a reproduction instruction, the content data selecting / reading unit 214 acquires the acquired content / quality information for specifying the content data stored in the content data storage unit 16 and the external memory 4, and the content to be reproduced from these A quality selection instruction is displayed on the display unit 13 (S102).

  Next, the content data selection / reading unit 214 reads content data corresponding to the content / quality name input to the input unit 12 in response to the selection instruction from the content data storage unit 16 or the external memory 4 (S103).

  Thereafter, the reproduction processing unit 213 performs reproduction processing of the content data read by the content data selection / reading unit 214 (S104).

  Thereafter, the content reproduction unit 21a confirms whether or not another content is instructed to be reproduced (S105), and ends the process.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the distribution management server 2a determines the quality of the content to be distributed based on the model information of the distribution destination and the download server 3 of the distribution location. Therefore, each user terminal 1a does not need to store model-quality correspondence information and distribution location-quality correspondence information, and the capacity of the content list storage unit 14 can be reduced. Furthermore, the content list distribution processing time can be shortened.

[Embodiment 3]
The following will describe another embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those in the drawings described in the embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof are omitted.

  The present embodiment is a content distribution system that selects content / quality to be distributed on the user terminal side based on usage history information.

  The overall outline of the content distribution system of the present embodiment is as shown in FIG. 2 as in the first embodiment. However, the present embodiment includes a user terminal 1 b instead of the user terminal 1.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the user terminal 1b according to the present embodiment.
As shown in the figure, the user terminal 1b is different from the user terminal 1 in that the content acquisition unit 20b is used instead of the content acquisition unit 20, and the distribution reservation content determination unit 193b is used instead of the distribution reservation content determination unit 193. And the usage history information storage unit 22 is different.

  The usage history information accumulating unit 22 accumulates usage history information indicating content / quality already distributed to the external memory 4 via the user terminal 1b or the user terminal 1b.

  In addition to the function of the content acquisition unit 20, the content acquisition unit 20 b generates usage history information indicating that the content data has been acquired when the content data is acquired from the download server 3. This has a function of storing history information in the usage history information storage unit 22.

  In addition to the function of the distribution reservation content determination unit 193, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193b uses the usage history information of the usage history information storage unit 22 when displaying the quality that can be used on the display unit 13 for each content. In addition, it has a function of displaying whether or not each content / quality has already been acquired.

  The flow of the distribution reservation application process in this embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment shown in FIG. However, in this embodiment, in S14 of FIG. 10, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193b displays whether or not each content / quality has already been acquired based on the usage history information.

  FIG. 24 is an example of a screen displayed by the distribution reservation content determination unit 193b in S14. As shown in FIG. 24, the distribution reservation content determination unit 193b displays, for example, the acquired content / quality in shaded areas.

  Thereby, the user does not acquire the acquired content data again. As a result, the download server 3 does not repeatedly transmit the same content data to the same user terminal 1b, and content data transmission efficiency can be improved.

  The flow of content data acquisition processing in the present embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment shown in FIG. However, in the present embodiment, in S50 of FIG. 16, the content acquisition unit 20b generates usage history information that identifies the acquired content data, and stores the usage history information in the usage history information storage unit 22.

  In the above description, the content acquisition unit 20b updates the usage history information storage unit 22. However, the usage history information acquisition method is not limited to this. For example, the user terminal 1b requests the distribution management server 2 to distribute the usage history information with the user ID, and acquires the usage history information corresponding to the user ID from the distribution management server 2. In addition, a usage history information acquisition / storage unit for updating the usage history information storage unit 22 may be provided.

[Modification]
In each of the above-described embodiments, low-quality content data, medium-quality content data, and high-quality content data are set as separate data for a certain content. However, the content data layered for each quality can be separated into basic data common to all the quality and difference data. For example, basic data that is low quality content data, medium quality difference data between medium quality content data and low quality content data (that is, basic data), high quality difference data between high quality content data and medium quality content data And can be separated.

  In addition, content identification information (for example, content name) for identifying content and information indicating basic data are added to the basic data. Further, content identification information (for example, content name) for identifying content and information indicating which quality corresponds to the difference data are added to the difference data. Thus, by confirming these information added to the basic data and difference data, it is possible to recognize which quality data is generated by combining which basic data and which difference data are combined. .

  The method of combining the basic data and the difference data is as described in Patent Document 2, for example.

  FIG. 25 is a diagram schematically showing basic data and difference data. As shown in the figure, for the content A, the low quality content data QA1 is composed of the basic data a0, the medium quality content data QA2 is composed of the basic data a0 and the medium quality difference data a1, and the high quality content data QA3 is It consists of a combination of basic data a0, medium quality difference data a1 and high quality difference data a2.

  Therefore, the content data storage unit 39 of the distribution management server 2 stores basic data, medium quality difference data, and high quality difference data instead of storing low quality content data, medium quality content data, and high quality content data separately. May be accumulated. Thereby, the data capacity stored in the content data storage unit 39 can be reduced.

  As described above, when the content data storage unit 39 stores the basic data and the difference data, the download server management unit 41 generates the content data of each quality by performing the synthesis process of the basic data and the difference data, and downloads them. The content data may be transmitted to the server 3.

  Alternatively, the download server 3 may include a synthesis processing unit for basic data and difference data. That is, the distribution management server 2 transmits basic data and difference data to the download server 3, and after the combining processing means of the download server 3 performs combining processing of the basic data and difference data, each content data is transferred to the user terminal. 1 may be transmitted.

  Alternatively, the user terminal 1 may include a synthesis processing unit for basic data and difference data. In this case, the content data acquisition unit 20 acquires basic data and difference data corresponding to quality. When the reproduction is performed, the synthesis processing means may perform a synthesis process of the basic data and the difference data. In this case, the application processing unit (distribution request unit) 194b may generate application information for making a distribution reservation only for difference data with reference to the usage history information.

  Furthermore, when the user terminal 1 includes the above-described synthesis processing unit, the distribution management server 2 refers to the usage history information stored in the usage history information storage unit 42 and indicates reservation information indicating that only difference data is distributed. May be generated. That is, when the distribution management server 2 has accumulated usage history information indicating that a user having the same user ID has already used low-quality content A data (that is, basic data), When an application for distribution reservation of medium quality content A data is received, reservation information for distributing only medium quality difference data is generated. Thereby, the download server 3 transmits only the medium quality difference data. Since the basic data has already been acquired, the user terminal 1 can reproduce the medium-quality content A by combining the basic data and the newly acquired medium-quality difference data.

  In the first embodiment, the user terminal 1 determines the quality based on the desired delivery location information and the delivery destination model information. In the second embodiment, the delivery management server 2a determines the quality based on the desired delivery location information and the delivery destination model information. As another modification, Embodiments 1 and 2 may be combined. That is, the quality may be determined based on the delivery destination model information at the user terminal, and the quality according to the desired delivery location information may be determined at the delivery management server. That is, when the quality determined by the user terminal is too low for the transmission performance of the download server corresponding to the desired delivery location information, the distribution management server performs processing to reduce the quality according to the download server. Thereby, the time required for the quality determination process on the user terminal side can be shortened.

  Further, in each of the above embodiments, the user terminal 1 and the distribution management server 2a determine the content according to the distribution destination model information and the distribution destination location information corresponding to the download server 3 of the distribution source. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and when the communication path between the download server 3 and the user terminals 1, 1 a, 1 b can be selected from a plurality (for example, wired and wireless), the user terminal 1 and the distribution management server 2 a May store quality correspondence information in which communication channel information indicating the communication channel is associated with quality suitable for the communication channel, and the quality may be determined based on the communication channel desired by the user.

  Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, when the user inputs to the input unit 12 that the application for content distribution reservation is made, the distribution reservation application units 19, 19a, and 19b start processing. However, the timing at which the distribution reservation application unit 19, 19a, 19b starts processing is not limited to this.

  For example, when the distribution manager accumulates new content data in the content data storage unit 39 of the distribution management server 2 or 2a, the distribution management server 2 or 2a sends the content data to each user terminal 1 or 1a or 1b. The fact is notified by e-mail, for example. Then, the content list update processing unit 18, 18a of the user terminal detects that the electronic mail has been received, and updates the content list. Alternatively, the distribution management server 2 or 2a adds the latest content list (content related information, distribution location information, model-quality correspondence information, distribution location-quality correspondence information) to the e-mail, and the content list update processing unit 18 and 18a may automatically perform update processing. Then, the distribution reservation application unit 19, 19a, 19b may detect the reception of the e-mail and start the processing. As a result, the user can quickly acquire the latest content data.

  In this case, the distribution management servers 2 and 2a refer to the usage history information in the usage history information storage unit 42 to the users who have distributed a certain number of the same related information (for example, genre) as the newly accumulated content data. Notification of the e-mail or the like may be performed only for the above. As a result, the user can quickly acquire content data of interest.

  Further, in each of the above embodiments, the content data may be streaming data that can be reproduced when a part of the content data is acquired without downloading the entire data. Since streaming data is played back as soon as it is acquired, the transmission performance of the delivery source, the playback processing capability of the delivery destination, and the status of the communication network N between the delivery destination and the delivery source directly affect the playback processing. Effect. For example, when the streaming data is moving image data, the reproduced image is interrupted. However, according to the configuration of each of the embodiments described above, since streaming data having a quality suitable for the distribution route is distributed, the user can view the real-time playback of the content without dissatisfaction. In this case, on the user terminal side, the content acquisition units 20 and 20b acquire the content data that is streaming data, and at the same time, the content reproduction units 21 and 21a perform the reproduction process of the data.

  Further, in the above embodiment, when the content includes information limited to a certain area, area information indicating the area may be added to the related information of each content. For example, when the content C includes area information of the region C, the content list storage unit 14 stores content related information 14-1 in which the content name “content C” is associated with the area information “region C”. Furthermore, the content list storage unit 14 stores each distribution location name in association with the area information indicating the area including the location in the distribution location information 14-2 (for example, the distribution location name “location a”). ("Location c" is included in "Region C"). Then, the content search unit 191 may extract the content name corresponding to the area information including the desired delivery location from the content related information 14-1 and display it on the display unit 13. Thereby, the user can make a delivery reservation for the content related to the place where the delivery is desired.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope shown in the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  Note that each unit and each processing step of the user terminals 1, 1 a, 1 b, the distribution management servers 2, 2 a, and the download server 3 according to the above-described embodiment are performed by arithmetic means such as a CPU such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) or a RAM This can be realized by executing a program stored in the storage means and controlling input means such as a keyboard, output means such as a display, or communication means such as an interface circuit. Therefore, the user terminal 1 · 1a · 1b, the distribution management server 2 · 2a, the download server of the present embodiment can be obtained simply by the computer having these means reading the recording medium storing the program and executing the program. 3 functions and processes can be realized. In addition, by recording the program on a removable recording medium, the various functions and various processes described above can be realized on an arbitrary computer.

  As this recording medium, a program medium such as a memory (not shown) such as a ROM may be used for processing by the microcomputer, or a program reader is provided as an external storage device (not shown). It may be a program medium that can be read by inserting a recording medium therein.

  In any case, the stored program is preferably configured to be accessed and executed by the microprocessor. Furthermore, it is preferable that the program is read out, and the read program is downloaded to a program storage area of the microcomputer and the program is executed. It is assumed that this download program is stored in advance in the main unit.

  The program medium is a recording medium configured to be separable from the main body, such as a tape system such as a magnetic tape or a cassette tape, a magnetic disk such as a flexible disk or a hard disk, or a disk such as a CD / MO / MD / DVD. Fixed disk, IC card (including memory card), etc., or semiconductor ROM such as mask ROM, EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), flash ROM, etc. In particular, there are recording media that carry programs.

  In addition, if the system configuration is capable of connecting to a communication network including the Internet, the recording medium is preferably a recording medium that fluidly carries the program so as to download the program from the communication network.

  Further, when the program is downloaded from the communication network as described above, it is preferable that the download program is stored in the main device in advance or installed from another recording medium.

  Since the present invention can acquire content data of optimum quality from a user's desired time and place, it can be applied to various multi-quality information providing systems.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the user terminal which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the content delivery system of this invention, (a) shows the time of distribution reservation application, (b) shows the time of delivery of content data. It is a figure which shows an example of content relevant information. It is a figure which shows an example of delivery location information. It is a figure which shows an example of model-quality correspondence information. It is a figure which shows an example of a delivery location-quality correspondence information. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the delivery management server which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a download server. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a content list update process. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of content distribution reservation application processing in the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen which the content search part with which the user terminal of Embodiment 1 is provided displays. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen which the delivery method information acquisition part with which the user terminal of Embodiment 1 is provided displays. It is a figure which shows the example of a display screen of the quality which can be displayed which the delivery reservation content determination part with which the user terminal of Embodiment 1 is provided is displayed. (A) is a figure which shows the example of a screen of the reservation information which the application process part with which the user terminal of Embodiment 1 is provided is displayed, (b) is a figure which shows the example of a delivery reservation screen. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the prior transmission process of the content data from a delivery management server to a download server. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of an acquisition process when the user terminal in Embodiment 1 acquires content data from a download server. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of management processing of the content data which a download server accumulate | stores. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of content data reproduction processing in the user terminal according to the first embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the user terminal which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the delivery management server which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a flow of content distribution reservation application processing in the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of content data reproduction processing in the user terminal according to the second embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the user terminal which concerns on Embodiment 3. It is a figure which shows the example of a display screen of the quality which can be displayed which the delivery reservation content determination part with which the user terminal of Embodiment 3 is provided. It is a figure which shows typically the basic data and difference data which comprise quality content data.

Explanation of symbols

1.1a / 1b User terminal (information processing terminal, terminal device)
2.2a Distribution management server 3 Download server (content distribution device)
4 External memory (terminal equipment)
14 Content list storage unit (content information storage unit, quality correspondence information storage unit)
14-1 Content-related information (content information)
14-2 Delivery location information 14-3 Model-quality correspondence information 14-4 Delivery location-quality correspondence information 20 Content acquisition unit 34 Content list storage unit (quality correspondence information storage unit)
35a Content list distribution unit (content information transmission means)
42 Usage history information storage unit (Usage history information storage unit)
191 Content search unit (content determination means)
192 Distribution method information acquisition unit (desired information acquisition means)
193 Distribution reservation content determination unit (content determination means, quality determination means)
194b Application processing part (distribution request means)
383 Quality determining unit (quality determining means)

Claims (17)

As content from the content distribution apparatus according to the specified distribution reservation location and distribution reservation time to the terminal device is delivered, an information processing terminal that performs distribution reservation to the distribution management server,
The content is stratified into multiple qualities,
A content information storage unit for storing content information for specifying each content;
A quality correspondence information storage unit that stores, for each content, distribution location-quality correspondence information that associates the distribution location information that identifies the content distribution device that is the distribution source with the quality that can be transmitted from the content distribution device ;
Desired information obtaining means for obtaining the desired delivery location information for specifying the content delivery device desired by the user as a delivery source, which is information indicating the delivery reserved location ;
Content determination means for determining content that the user desires to distribute from among the content information;
An information processing terminal comprising: quality determination means for determining the quality of content to be distributed based on the desired delivery location information acquired by the desired information acquisition means and the delivery location- quality correspondence information. As content from the content distribution apparatus according to the specified distribution reservation location and distribution reservation time to the terminal device is delivered, an information processing terminal that performs distribution reservation to the distribution management server,
The content is stratified into multiple qualities,
A content information storage unit for storing content information for specifying each content;
Model-quality correspondence information associating model information of the terminal device serving as a distribution destination with quality reproducible on the terminal device, distribution location information identifying the content distribution device serving as a distribution source, and the content distribution device A quality correspondence information storage unit that stores distribution location-quality correspondence information for each content in correspondence with quality that can be transmitted from
The model information corresponding to the terminal device desired by the user as the delivery destination and the information indicating the delivery reservation location and the delivery desired location information specifying the content delivery device desired by the user as the delivery source are acquired. Desired information acquisition means,
Content determination means for determining content that the user desires to distribute from among the content information;
The quality corresponding to the model information acquired by the desired information acquisition means is read from the model-quality correspondence information, and the quality corresponding to the desired delivery location information acquired by the desired information acquisition means is read from the distribution location-quality correspondence information. An information processing terminal comprising: a quality determining unit that determines the quality of content to be distributed based on the read quality . A usage history information storage unit for storing the distributed content and usage history information indicating the quality thereof,
The content determination means determines content to be distributed from undistributed content based on the usage history information,
3. The information processing terminal according to claim 1, wherein the quality determination unit determines a quality for performing distribution reservation from undistributed quality based on the usage history information. The content layered into a plurality of qualities is composed of low-quality basic data and difference data between qualities,
A usage history information storage unit for storing the distributed content and usage history information indicating its quality;
And a distribution request unit configured to transmit, to the distribution management server, a distribution reservation request for difference data between the quality determined by the quality determination unit and the distributed quality based on the usage history information. Item 3. The information processing terminal according to Item 1 or 2 . With receiving a distribution reservation content from the information processing terminal, a distribution management server that manages the content delivery apparatus in accordance with the distribution reservation location and distribution reservation time indicated in the distribution reservation to the content is distributed to the terminal device,
The content is stratified into multiple qualities,
Content information transmitting means for transmitting in advance content information identifying each content to the information processing terminal;
A quality correspondence information storage unit that stores, for each content, distribution location-quality correspondence information that associates the distribution location information that identifies the content distribution device that is the distribution source with the quality that can be transmitted from the content distribution device ;
A distribution request content information acquisition means for acquiring distribution request content information indicating content that the user wants to distribute;
Desired information obtaining means for obtaining the desired delivery location information for specifying the content delivery device desired by the user as a delivery source, which is information indicating the delivery reserved location ;
Quality determining means for determining the quality of the content corresponding to the distribution desired content information based on the desired distribution location information acquired by the desired information acquisition means and the distribution location- quality correspondence information. Distribution management server. With receiving a distribution reservation content from the information processing terminal, a distribution management server that manages the content delivery apparatus in accordance with the distribution reservation location and distribution reservation time indicated in the distribution reservation to the content is distributed to the terminal device,
The content is stratified into multiple qualities,
Content information transmitting means for transmitting in advance content information identifying each content to the information processing terminal;
Model-quality correspondence information associating model information of the terminal device serving as a distribution destination with quality reproducible on the terminal device, distribution location information identifying the content distribution device serving as a distribution source, and the content distribution device A quality correspondence information storage unit that stores distribution location-quality correspondence information for each content in correspondence with quality that can be transmitted from
A distribution request content information acquisition means for acquiring distribution request content information indicating content that the user wants to distribute;
The model information corresponding to the terminal device desired by the user as the delivery destination and the information indicating the delivery reservation location and the delivery desired location information specifying the content delivery device desired by the user as the delivery source are acquired. Desired information acquisition means,
The quality corresponding to the model information acquired by the desired information acquisition means is read from the model-quality correspondence information, and the quality corresponding to the desired delivery location information acquired by the desired information acquisition means is read from the distribution location-quality correspondence information. A distribution management server , comprising: a quality determining unit that determines the quality of content corresponding to the content information desired to be distributed based on the read quality . The content layered into a plurality of qualities is composed of low-quality basic data and difference data between qualities,
A usage history information storage unit that stores content distributed for each user and usage history information indicating the quality thereof,
7. The distribution management server according to claim 5 , wherein difference data between the quality determined by the quality determination unit and the distributed quality is distributed from the content distribution device based on the usage history information. . As content from the content distribution apparatus according to the specified distribution reservation location and distribution reservation time to the terminal device is delivered, a delivery reservation method in an information processing terminal that performs distribution reservation to the distribution management server,
The content is stratified into multiple qualities,
The information processing terminal stores content information for identifying each content, and a distribution location that associates distribution location information for specifying the content distribution device as a distribution source with quality that can be transmitted from the content distribution device. We store quality correspondence information for each content,
Desired information acquisition step for acquiring the desired distribution location information for specifying the content distribution device that the user desires as a distribution source, which is information indicating the distribution reserved location ;
A content determination step for determining content that the user desires to distribute from the content information;
A distribution reservation method, comprising: a quality determination step for determining the quality of content requested for distribution based on the desired distribution location information acquired in the desired information acquisition step and the distribution location- quality correspondence information. As content from the content distribution apparatus according to the specified distribution reservation location and distribution reservation time to the terminal device is delivered, a delivery reservation method in an information processing terminal that performs distribution reservation to the distribution management server,
The content is stratified into multiple qualities,
The information processing terminal stores content information for specifying each content, and also distributes model-quality correspondence information in which model information of the terminal device serving as a distribution destination is associated with quality that can be reproduced by the terminal device, and distribution Stored for each content is distribution location-quality correspondence information that associates the distribution location information that identifies the original content distribution device with the quality that can be transmitted from the content distribution device ,
The model information corresponding to the terminal device desired by the user as the delivery destination and the information indicating the delivery reservation location and the delivery desired location information specifying the content delivery device desired by the user as the delivery source are acquired. Desired information acquisition step;
A content determination step for determining content that the user desires to distribute from the content information;
The quality corresponding to the model information acquired in the desired information acquisition step is read from the model-quality correspondence information, and the quality corresponding to the desired delivery location information acquired in the desired information acquisition step is determined from the distribution location-quality correspondence information. A distribution reservation method comprising: a quality determination step for determining the quality of content to be distributed based on the read quality . With receiving a distribution reservation content from the information processing terminal, the distribution management method in the distribution management server to which the content from the content distribution apparatus according to the distribution reservation location and distribution reservation time to the terminal device is managed to be delivered is shown in the distribution reservation Because
The content is stratified into multiple qualities,
The distribution management server stores, for each content, distribution location-quality correspondence information that associates distribution location information that identifies the content distribution device as a distribution source with quality that can be transmitted from the content distribution device , and
A content information transmission step of transmitting in advance content information for specifying each content to the information processing terminal;
A distribution request content information acquisition step for acquiring distribution request content information indicating content that the user wants to distribute;
Desired information acquisition step for acquiring the desired distribution location information for specifying the content distribution device that the user desires as a distribution source, which is information indicating the distribution reserved location ;
A quality determination step of determining the quality of the content corresponding to the distribution desired content information based on the distribution desired location information acquired in the desired information acquisition step and the distribution location- quality correspondence information. Delivery management method. With receiving a distribution reservation content from the information processing terminal, the distribution management method in the distribution management server to which the content from the content distribution apparatus according to the distribution reservation location and distribution reservation time to the terminal device is managed to be delivered is shown in the distribution reservation Because
The content is stratified into multiple qualities,
The distribution management server includes model-quality correspondence information that associates model information of the terminal device serving as a distribution destination with quality reproducible by the terminal device, and a distribution location that identifies the content distribution device serving as a distribution source A distribution location that associates information with the quality that can be transmitted from the content distribution apparatus—quality correspondence information is stored for each content,
A content information transmission step of transmitting in advance content information for specifying each content to the information processing terminal;
A distribution request content information acquisition step for acquiring distribution request content information indicating content that the user wants to distribute;
The model information corresponding to the terminal device desired by the user as the delivery destination and the information indicating the delivery reservation location and the delivery desired location information specifying the content delivery device desired by the user as the delivery source are acquired. Desired information acquisition step;
The quality corresponding to the model information acquired in the desired information acquisition step is read from the model-quality correspondence information, and the quality corresponding to the desired delivery location information acquired in the desired information acquisition step is determined from the distribution location-quality correspondence information. And a quality determining step for determining the quality of the content corresponding to the content information desired to be distributed based on the read quality . The information processing terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
And distribution management server to give response to the distribution reservation of the content from the information processing terminal,
A content distribution system comprising: a content distribution device that distributes the content according to a distribution reservation location and a distribution reservation time indicated by a distribution reservation received by the distribution management server. The distribution management server according to any one of claims 5 to 7 ,
An information processing terminal that makes content distribution reservations to the distribution management server;
A content distribution system comprising: a content distribution device that distributes the content according to a distribution reservation location and a distribution reservation time indicated by a distribution reservation received by the distribution management server. A distribution reservation program for operating the information processing terminal according to claim 1, any one of 4, the distribution reservation program for causing a computer to function as each means described above. A distribution management program for operating the distribution management server according to any one of claims 5 to 7 , wherein the distribution management program causes a computer to function as each of the above means. The computer-readable recording medium which recorded the delivery reservation program of Claim 14 . The computer-readable recording medium which recorded the delivery management program of Claim 15 .

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