JP5101938B2 - Client device, content reception method, management device, content distribution management method, program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for distributing moving image content from a distribution device to a client device via a network.

  There is a technique for distributing moving image content from a distribution device to a client device via a network constituted by the Internet or the like. In such a content distribution system, there are usually a plurality of contents, and the user selects one of the contents to view it.

By the way, when the user selects content to be viewed from a plurality of contents, the following problems occur.
First, when the user selects the content to be viewed on demand, and then views the content (for example, the user views the content such as a movie or a sporting game selected by the user from the head of the content. In any case, for example, in the case of a television broadcasting system using a network in which a plurality of contents correspond to each channel, or a monitoring system in which each of the plurality of contents corresponds to images from a plurality of surveillance cameras. It is difficult for the user to select content. That is, in such a case, the user cannot know which content corresponds to what he / she wants to see at that time unless he / she actually views the content.
In such a case, the user performs an operation of zapping (changing channels one after another), as is common in normal television broadcasting. However, it is troublesome for the user to perform zapping, particularly when the number of contents that the user can select is large.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for distributing moving image content from a distribution device to a client device via a network so that a user can easily select the content.

As an aspect for solving the above-described problems, the present invention proposes the following client device.
The client device according to the present invention provides a predetermined amount of viewable content data that can be received from among a plurality of content data from a distribution device capable of distributing a plurality of content data that is content data of a moving image. The client device is configured to receive content via a network and display content based on the received viewable content data on a predetermined display.
The client device is recorded in the first recording means for recording a viewable content table that is a set of a plurality of unique first identifiers associated with each of the viewable content data, and the first recording means. A second recording means for recording a group channel table that is a set of a plurality of unique second identifiers associated with each of a plurality of groups created by the plurality of first identifiers; A first input means for inputting information for selecting one and a second identifier recorded in the second recording means based on the information input by the first input means; A first selection unit that selects a second identifier, and a second identifier selected based on the information selected by the first selection unit; Receiving means for receiving the viewable content data associated with the first identifier included in the group from the distribution device; and the content based on the viewable content data received by the receiving means. Display control means for displaying one on the display at the same time, and on the display at the same time when there are a plurality of the contents.
The client device includes first recording means for recording a viewable content table that is a set of a plurality of unique first identifiers associated with each of the viewable content data, and records a group channel table. Second recording means is provided. The group channel table recorded in the second recording means is a set of a plurality of second identifiers respectively associated with groups formed by collecting one or more first identifiers. The second recording means need only include the second identifier, and the first identifier need not necessarily be recorded.
In this client device, when the second identifier recorded in the second recording means is selected by the first selecting means, the first identifier included in the group associated with the selected second identifier (this is one In other cases, the viewable content table associated with the viewable content table is received from the distribution device, and the content based on the viewable content data is displayed on the display. . At this time, the content displayed on the display is one when the received viewable content data is one, and plural when the received viewable content data is plural, and plural in the latter case. Content will be displayed on the display at the same time.
In other words, the client device allows each of the plurality of second identifiers to be associated with a plurality of first identifiers (which correspond one-to-one with the viewable content) and one second identifier. When selected, the viewable content corresponding to the first identifier associated with the second identifier (a plurality of viewable content when there are a plurality of viewable contents) is displayed on the display. . This is similar to handling a group of a plurality of channels as one channel in a normal television receiver.
Thus, according to the client device of the present invention, the channel group to which a plurality of viewable contents are assigned can be switched by one operation, so that the user can view a plurality of contents by one operation. And you will be able to quickly find the content you want to see.

In the present invention, the content displayed on the display may be displayed in any state on the display. For example, the content may be displayed on the full display. The same applies when a plurality of contents are displayed on the display at the same time.
The content may also be displayed in a window that is displayed in the display. For example, when the display control means includes a plurality of the first identifiers included in the group associated with the second identifier selected by the first selection means, a plurality of the contents are displayed on the display. They may be displayed simultaneously in one displayed window.
The client device of the present invention may be embodied as a general-purpose computer. In this case, the window may be a browser frame such as Internet Explorer (registered trademark).

When a plurality of contents are simultaneously displayed in the window, the plurality of contents may be displayed in any state in the window. For example, the plurality of contents may be displayed in a window so as not to overlap each other. In this case, when the display control unit includes a plurality of the first identifiers included in the group associated with the second identifier selected by the first selection unit, a plurality of the contents are displayed in the window. It can be arranged and displayed so as not to overlap each other.
The contents displayed so as not to overlap each other in the window are displayed, for example, arranged vertically and horizontally. When the content arranged in the window is a number that cannot be arranged in an appropriate manner such as 2 × 2, 3 × 4, etc., a portion where the content is not displayed may be provided in a part of the window. .

When the content is displayed in the window, the client apparatus of the present invention selects one of the contents when a plurality of the contents are displayed in the window. Second input means for inputting the information, and when the information is inputted from the second input means, the display control means puts the selected content into the window. Only one may be displayed.
In this way, the content selected by the user can be enlarged and viewed.

The client device according to the present invention includes third input means for inputting information for changing the number of the groups or the first identifier included in each of the groups, and the third input means. 1st correction means for changing the contents of the group channel table recorded in the second recording means based on the information input from the second recording means.
By doing so, the user can conveniently change the contents of the group channel table according to his / her preference, for example. For example, when the viewable content that can be viewed by the client device includes news content, sports content, children's content, movie content, etc., the user can select the viewable content associated with each group channel. It is also possible to divide the content into sports genres, further subdivide sports content into soccer content, baseball content, golf content, etc., and combine news content and sports content.

The client device according to the present invention further includes a fourth input unit for inputting information for changing the first identifier, and the first recording unit based on the information input from the fourth input unit. And a second correction means for changing the contents of the viewable content table recorded in. If the client device has such fourth input means and second correction means, the user can change viewable content from among many contents.
Accordingly, the user can decide by himself which of the plurality of contents is the viewable content. For example, when the client device of the present invention is configured with a system that allows a user to view a certain number of contents on condition that a certain fee is paid, the user can view the favorite contents. The above-described client device is useful in that it can be operated to remove content from viewable content from content that can be viewed or not viewed.
Of course, the viewable content table recorded in the first recording means may not be changed by an operation of the client device. In this case, the client device receives the viewable content table from another device connected to the network (for example, a management device described later or a device connected to a system that charges the user of each client device). It may be like this. Since there are usually a plurality of client devices, the other devices described above record or manage a viewable content table for each client device. These example client devices receive data in the viewable content table via the network, and write the received data to the first recording means to the first recording means. Writing means for recording the viewable content table.

In the present invention, there may be one distribution device or a plurality of distribution devices.
In the present invention, the first identifier only needs to be able to identify certain content data from other content data. For example, the first identifier may be a content title. The first identifier can also be information indicating the location of the content data. If the number of content data is the same as the number of distribution devices (that is, each distribution device has one piece of content data), the first identifier is the IP address of each distribution device. be able to. Regardless of whether the number of content data is the same as the number of distribution devices, the first identifier can be a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the location of each content data.

The effects obtained by the client device of the present invention can be obtained, for example, by the following content receiving method.
In the content receiving method, viewable content data that can be received from among a plurality of content data is distributed from a distribution device capable of distributing a plurality of content data that is video content data to a predetermined network. And a method executed by a client device configured to be able to display content based on the received viewable content data on a predetermined display.
In this method, the client device records in a first recording means a viewable content table that is a set of a plurality of unique first identifiers associated with each of the viewable content data, and the first recording Recording a group channel table, which is a set of a plurality of unique second identifiers associated with each of the plurality of groups created by the plurality of first identifiers recorded in the means, on the second recording means; Based on the process of inputting information for selecting one of the second identifiers and the information for selecting one of the second identifiers, the second recording means recorded in the second recording means. A process of selecting one second identifier from among the two identifiers, and a process associated with the second identifier selected by the process of selecting the second identifier When the viewable content data associated with the first identifier included in the group is received from the distribution device, and the content based on the received viewable content data is a single content Includes a step of simultaneously displaying a plurality of contents on the display when there are a plurality of the contents.
The effects obtained by the client device of the present invention can be obtained by a general-purpose computer, for example, by using the following program.
The program sends, through a predetermined network, viewable content data that can be received from among a plurality of content data from a distribution device capable of distributing a plurality of content data, which is video content data. And a program for causing a predetermined computer to function as a client device configured to be able to display content based on the received viewable content data on a predetermined display.
The program records, in the computer, a viewable content table that is a set of a plurality of unique first identifiers associated with each of the viewable content data in a first recording unit, and the first recording unit Recording a group channel table that is a set of a plurality of unique second identifiers associated with each of a plurality of groups created by the plurality of first identifiers recorded in the second recording means; Based on the process of inputting information for selecting one of the two identifiers and the information for selecting one of the second identifiers, the second recorded in the second recording means A process of selecting one second identifier from among the identifiers and the second identifier selected by the process of selecting the second identifier The process of receiving the viewable content data associated with the first identifier included in the group from the distribution device, and the content based on the received viewable content data, In this case, the process of displaying a plurality of contents simultaneously on the display is executed.

As one aspect for solving the above-described problems, the present invention proposes the following management apparatus. In principle, the client device combined with the management device described below is the client device of the present invention described so far, but it is not always necessary.
The management device of the present invention provides a distribution device capable of distributing a plurality of content data, which is content data of moving images, and viewable content data that can be received from the distribution device among the content data. A plurality of client devices that are received via a network and configured to display content based on the received viewable content data on a predetermined display, and which of the content data is received by the client device And a management device that manages for each client device whether it corresponds to viewable content data that can be viewed, and constitutes a content distribution system.
The management device is a set of a plurality of unique first identifiers associated with each of the viewable content data in a state associated with a client identifier for identifying each of the client devices. Management recording means for recording the viewable content table for each client device, and transmission means for transmitting the viewable content table for the client device to each of the client devices.
By managing the viewable content table for each client device by the management device, it becomes easier to manage what content each client device can view. This is effective when the user of each client device is charged for viewing the content.

The client device selects at least one of the content data as viewable content data, or inputs information indicating that at least one of the viewable content data is desired not to be viewable In the case where the management apparatus includes a fifth input means for transmitting the information input by the fifth input means to the management apparatus via the network, the management apparatus is as follows. Can do.
In this case, the management device accepts the information transmitted from the client device, and when receiving the information from the client device, the viewable device for the client device recorded in the management recording device. The content data that is desired to be added to the content table by adding a first identifier associated with the content data selected to be viewable content data based on the information and to be made non-viewable based on the information Management information correction means for correcting so as to remove the first identifier associated with.
With such a management apparatus, the viewable content table for each client apparatus can be changed as appropriate.

Information indicating that the client device wishes to select at least one of the content data as viewable content data or to make at least one of the viewable content data unviewable A fifth input means for inputting information, a sixth input means for inputting information for authenticating the client device, the information input by the fifth input means and the input by the sixth input means In the case where the information processing apparatus includes a unit that transmits the information to the management apparatus via the network, the management apparatus can be configured as follows.
In this case, the management apparatus receives the information input from the fifth input means transmitted from the client apparatus and the information input from the sixth input means, and is transmitted from the client apparatus. An authentication unit for authenticating the client device based on the information input by the sixth input unit; and when the authentication unit determines that the client device is valid, recorded in the management recording unit Further, the viewable content table for the client device is associated with the content data selected to be viewable content data based on the information input by the fifth input means received from the client device. It is rare to add a first identifier and make it unviewable by the information. Has been said to disengage the first identifier associated with the content data, can be made comprising a management information correction means for correcting, the.
By using such a management apparatus, a client apparatus that satisfies the condition of having a viewable content table can be regarded as having already been authenticated by the management apparatus. Therefore, when the client device tries to view any of a plurality of contents, if the client device has a viewable content table including the first identifier for the content, authentication is performed again. This means that the client device may view the content without doing anything. This is useful in terms of simplifying the authentication procedure. For example, even in the event of a disaster, even if the management device or the device that performs authentication of the client device that wants to view content does not operate, the client If the device and the distribution device are alive, there is an advantage that the content can be viewed on the client device.

The same effect as that obtained by the management device of the present invention can be obtained by the following method, for example.
The method includes a distribution device capable of distributing a plurality of content data, which is content data of a moving image, and viewable content data that can be received from the distribution device among the content data via a network. A plurality of client devices configured to be able to display the content based on the received viewable content data on a predetermined display and which of the content data can be received by the client device A management method of content distribution executed by a management device that constitutes a content distribution system including a management device that manages for each client device whether it corresponds to content data.
In this method, the management apparatus associates a plurality of unique first identifiers associated with each of the viewable content data in a state associated with a client identifier for identifying each of the client apparatuses. Recording a viewable content table for each of the client devices in a management recording unit, and transmitting the viewable content table for the client device to each of the client devices. .
The same effect as that obtained by the management apparatus of the present invention can be obtained by a general-purpose computer, for example, by using the following program.
The program includes, for example, a distribution device capable of distributing a plurality of content data, which is content data of a moving image, and viewable content data that can be received from the distribution device among the content data. And a plurality of client devices configured to display content based on the received viewable content data on a predetermined display, and any of the content data can be received by the client device A program for causing a predetermined computer to function as a management device that constitutes a content distribution system including a management device that manages for each client device whether the content data corresponds to viewable content data. The program is a set of a plurality of unique first identifiers associated with each of the viewable content data in a state associated with the computer and a client identifier for identifying each of the client devices. A step of recording a viewable content table for each of the client devices in a management recording unit, and a step of transmitting the viewable content table for the client device to each of the client devices Is for.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 schematically shows an overall configuration of a content distribution system including a client device and a management device of the present invention.
The content distribution system includes a distribution device 11, a client device 12, and a management device 13. These are all connected to the network N.

The distribution device 11 distributes content data, which is content data of a moving image, to the client device 12. There may be at least one distribution device 11, but a plurality of distribution devices 11 exist in this embodiment. Each distribution device 11 only needs to be able to distribute at least one content data to the client device 12, but may be capable of distributing a plurality of content data to the client device 12. It is not necessary for the distribution apparatus 11 to have content data in advance. For example, the distribution device 11 may be configured to distribute data about a moving image received from a video camera as content data to the client device 12 in substantially real time. This can be easily realized by applying a widely used technique called “Web camera” in recent years.
The client device 12 is configured to receive content data, which is content data of moving images, from the distribution device 11. The client device 12 is configured to display content based on the content data on a display that the client device 12 has or is connected to the client device 12.
As will be described later, the client device 12 cannot receive all the content data that can be distributed by the distribution device 11. The content data that the client device 12 can receive will be described later.
The management device 13 manages the distribution of content data from the distribution device 11 to the client device 12 from the viewpoint of which client device 12 can receive which content data. It is sufficient that at least one management device 13 exists, and in this embodiment, only one management device 13 is provided.
The network N is, for example, the Internet. However, instead of this, the network N may be configured by other means such as a LAN (Local Area Network), an intranet, or a dedicated line, or the network N may be configured by combining these.

The configuration of the distribution device 11, the client device 12, and the management device 13 will be described.
In this embodiment, the distribution device 11, the client device 12, and the management device 13 are all configured by a general-purpose personal computer, and have the same hardware configuration. However, the client device 12 may be configured by a mobile phone (including PHS) or a PDA (Personal Data Assistance) instead of a general-purpose personal computer.
Hereinafter, although the hardware configuration of the distribution apparatus 11 will be described, the hardware configurations of the client apparatus 12 and the management apparatus 13 are the same as the hardware configuration of the distribution apparatus 11.

In this embodiment, the distribution device 11 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 21, a read only memory (ROM) 22, a hard disk drive (HDD) 23, a random access memory (RAM) 24, an input device 25, a display device 26, The communication device 27, the DVD drive 28, and the bus B are included. The CPU 21, ROM 22, HDD 23, RAM 24, input device 25, display device 26, communication device 27, and DVD drive 28 can exchange data via the bus B. In this embodiment, the input device 25, the display device 26, and the communication device 27 are included in the distribution device 11. However, the input device 25 and the like can be regarded as external devices of the distribution device 11. In this case, the hardware of the distribution device 11 includes an interface, and data exchange with the input device 25 or the like is performed via the interface.
The ROM 22 or the HDD 23 may include a predetermined program and predetermined data (this may include content data that is content data. In the present embodiment, this is the case. This data includes data necessary for executing the program.). The program possessed by the distribution device 11 is for causing a general-purpose computer to function as the distribution device 11 (note that the program possessed by the client device 12 is for causing the general-purpose computer to function as the client device 12, The program that the management device 13 has is a program for causing a general-purpose computer to function as the management device 13. The program may cause a general-purpose computer to function alone as the distribution device 11 (or the client device 12 or the management device 13), and cooperates with other programs such as an OS of the general-purpose computer. A general-purpose computer may function as the distribution device 11 (or the client device 12 or the management device 13).
The CPU 21 controls the distribution device 11 as a whole, and executes processing to be described later based on programs and data stored in the ROM 22 or the HDD 23. The RAM 24 is used as a working storage area when the CPU 21 performs processing.
The input device 25 includes a keyboard and a mouse, and is used for inputting commands and data. The display device 26 includes an LCD (liquid crystal display), a CRT (cathode ray tube), and the like, and is used to display commands, input data, processing status to be described later, and the like.
The communication device 27 exchanges data with other devices via the network N. The communication device 27 of the distribution device 11 can transmit content data, which will be described later, to the communication device 27 of the client device 12 via at least the network N. On the other hand, the communication device 27 of the client device 12 can receive at least the content data from the distribution device 11 and the viewable content table from the management device 13 via the network N.
The DVD drive 28 can read data recorded on a DVD which is a portable recording medium. In this embodiment, a DVD is selected as a recording medium used in the distribution apparatus 11 and the DVD drive 28 is used as a drive for reading the DVD. However, other recording media such as a CD-ROM and a Blu-ray disc are used. When one is selected, the DVD drive 28 changes appropriately according to the type of the selected recording medium. The program described above may be installed in the distribution apparatus 11 via the network N, but the program in this embodiment is installed from a DVD inserted in the DVD drive 28.

  The distribution device 11, the client device 12, and the management device 13 execute the programs that they have, thereby generating functional blocks as described below therein. Each device will be described in turn.

First, the distribution device 11 will be described.
In the distribution apparatus 11, as shown in FIG. 3, a transmission / reception unit 111, a reading unit 112, and a content recording unit 113 are generated.
The transmission / reception unit 111 has a function of exchanging data with the network N via the communication device 27. The transmission / reception unit 111 receives, for example, transmission request data, which will be described in detail later, from the client device 12 that requests transmission of content data. The transmission / reception unit 111 is configured to send the received transmission request data to the reading unit 112. The transmission / reception unit 111 also has a function of sending content data to the client device 12 that has sent the transmission request data.
The reading unit 112 has a function of reading content data of content requested to be transmitted by the transmission request data from the content recording unit 113 when the transmission request data is received via the transmission / reception unit 111. . The reading unit 112 is configured to send the read content data to the transmission / reception unit 111.
The content recording unit 113 records content data. The data recorded in the content recording unit 113 is conceptually shown in FIG. The content recording unit 113 only needs to record at least one content data, but in this embodiment, a plurality of content data is recorded. What is recorded in the content recording unit 113 is a management number, a content name, a URL, and content data (in FIG. 4, “Data 1”, “Data 2”, “Data 3”,...) Are described. It is.
The management number is for managing all the content data included in the plurality of distribution apparatuses 11, and is unique to each other like a serial number. The content name schematically represents the content. The URL indicates a place where the content data is placed and is unique to each other. As described above, the content data is data of moving image content, and is often compressed in the MPEG format, the RM format, or the like. In some cases, the content data is not necessarily stored in the content recording unit 113 from the beginning. In this case, the content data is, for example, moving image data input from a camera outside the distribution apparatus 11. Further, the content data is not necessarily different from each other, and the same data may be included. For example, for content that is often viewed by the user or content that is expected to be viewed by the user, it is preferable to prepare several pieces of the same content data for the same content in advance in order to avoid concentration of access.
The transmission request data described above is sent to the distribution apparatus 11 by specifying any of the above-described URLs. The reading unit 112 reads content data corresponding to the URL from the content recording unit 113 and sends the content data to the transmission / reception unit 111. Note that the transmission request data may include a management number. In this case, the transmission request data reads content data corresponding to the management number and sends the content data to the transmission / reception unit 111.

Next, the client device 12 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 5, the client device 12 includes a transmission / reception unit 121, an interface unit 122, and a control unit 123. The control unit 123 includes a first recording unit 123A, a first rewriting unit 123B, a second recording unit 123C, a second rewriting unit 123D, a selection unit 123E, a display control unit 123F, and a main control unit 123G. Yes.
The transmission / reception unit 121 has a function of exchanging data with the network N via the communication device 27. For example, the transmission / reception unit 121 has a function of transmitting transmission request data to the distribution device 11 and a function of receiving content data from the distribution device 11. The transmission / reception unit 121 also has a function of transmitting change request data to be described later to the management device 13 and receiving a viewable content table from the management device 13. When the transmission / reception unit 121 receives content data from the distribution device 11, the transmission / reception unit 121 transmits the content data to the display control unit 123 </ b> F of the control unit 123. Further, when the viewable content table is received from the management device 13, the transmission / reception unit 121 sends the viewable content table to the first rewriting unit 123 </ b> B of the control unit 123.
The interface unit 122 exchanges data between the client device 12 and the input device 25 and the display device 26 connected to the client device 12. The interface unit 122 has a function of receiving an input as will be described later from the input device 25 and sending it to the control unit 123. The interface unit 122 has a function of outputting display control data (described later) received from the control unit 123 to the display device 26.
The control unit 123 performs data processing based on the data received from the transmission / reception unit 121 and the data received from the interface unit 122.
The first recording unit 123A includes a viewable content table. The viewable content table is data for specifying content that can be viewed on the client device 12. In this embodiment, the viewable content table is as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the viewable content table includes a management number, a content name, and a URL. The viewable content table is basically different for each client device 12, but may be the same in some cases.
Each of the management number, content name, and URL included in the viewable content table has the same quality as that recorded in the content recording unit 113 of the distribution apparatus 11. However, the management number, content name, and URL recorded in the viewable content table are only for content that can be viewed on the client device 12. In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, the client device 12 is in a state where it can view 14 content items including content 1, content 6,.
The first rewriting unit 123B has a function of rewriting the viewable content table recorded in the first recording unit 123A. In this embodiment, when the transmission / reception unit 121 receives the viewable content table from the management apparatus 13, the first rewriting unit 123 </ b> B receives the viewable content table from the transmission / reception unit 121 and overwrites the content of the viewable content table, for example, with data For example, the original viewable content table is rewritten.
The second recording unit 123C records a group channel table. The group channel table is as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the group channel table includes a group channel number, a management number, and a URL. The management number and the URL are of the same quality as those recorded in the content recording unit 113 of the distribution apparatus 11. The management number and URL recorded in the second recording unit 123C correspond to either the management number or URL recorded in the first recording unit 123A. The management numbers and URLs recorded in the second recording unit 123C are grouped together by an appropriate number, and a group channel number is assigned to each group. In this embodiment, the management number and URL for each content are divided into five groups. Each group includes at least one management number / URL pair, but the number is not necessarily the same as shown in FIG. Each group created including a management number and URL pair is assigned the group channel number described above. The group channel number is for distinguishing each group from each other and is unique to each other. In this embodiment, the group channel numbers are consecutive numbers ch1 to ch5, but the group channel numbers need not be such.
The second rewriting unit 123D is for rewriting the contents of the group channel table recorded in the second recording unit 123C. The second rewriting unit 123D receives data input from the input device 25 via the interface unit 122, and rewrites the contents of the group channel table recorded in the second recording unit 123C based on the data. The user appropriately selects a group created by the management number and URL pair in the group channel table according to his / her preference for the content recorded in the viewable content table recorded in the first recording unit 123A. Can be recombined.
Examples of recombination of groups created by a pair of a management number and URL in the group channel table in the group channel table include the following.
1. When integrating group channels For example, by integrating the management number and URL pair included in ch5 with the management number and URL pair included in ch1, the number of management number and URL pairs included in ch1 is obtained. Increase one. Alternatively, the management number and URL pair included in ch3 are integrated into the management number and URL pair included in ch2. In these cases, the number of group channels is reduced. In the former case, ch5 disappears, and in the latter case, ch3 disappears. In the latter case, the ch4 and ch5 numbers may be incremented to further modify ch3 and ch4.
2. When moving a management number / URL pair included in a group channel to another group channel For example, a management number / URL pair (a management number for content 1 and a corresponding URL pair) included in ch1 , Move to ch2.
3. When a management number / URL pair included in a group channel is exchanged with a management number / URL pair included in another group channel. For example, a management number / URL pair included in ch1 (a management number for content 1) And the corresponding URL pair) are moved to ch2, and the management number / URL pair (the management number for the content 29 and the corresponding URL pair) included in ch2 is also transferred to ch1. By moving, the management number and URL pairs included in ch1 and ch2 are exchanged.
4). When creating a new group channel This is when creating a new group channel. In the example shown in FIG. 7, ch6 is newly provided. When a group channel is newly established, at least one content is made to belong to the newly established group channel.
In order to perform such processing, the client device 12 is configured to display the contents as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, for example, on the display device 26, and the user can input the input device while viewing the contents. Preferably, 25 can be operated.
The selection unit 123E has a function of reading, from the second recording unit 123C, the URL associated with the group channel number specified by the selection information based on the selection information received from the input device 25 via the interface unit 122. Have. The selection information is information for selecting one of the group channel numbers recorded in the second recording unit 123C. The selection unit 123E is configured to pass the data about the read URL to the transmission / reception unit 121. Data about this URL is sent from the transmission / reception unit 121 to the communication device 27. The communication device 27 transmits, to the URL indicated by the data, transmission request data whose content is to request the transmission of the content whose position is specified by the URL. .
The display control unit 123F controls the image displayed on the display device 26. The display control unit 123 </ b> F has a function of causing the display device 26 to display at least a content image based on the content data received from the distribution device 11. The state in which the content image is displayed on the display device 26 will be described later. The data generated by the display control unit 123F is sent to the display device 26 via the interface unit 122. The display device 26 performs display based on the received data.
The main control unit 123G controls the entire control unit 123. The main control unit 123G also creates change request data and authentication data. The change request data is data that is sent to the management device 13 to request that the viewable content table of the client device 12 be changed. The content of the change request data is a request for addition or deletion of content that can be viewed on the client device 12. The authentication data is data used for authentication of the client device 12 performed by the management device 13 and is not necessarily limited thereto. In this embodiment, the ID and password allocated for each client device 12 are included. It is. The main control unit 123G generates the generated change request data and authentication data when the user appropriately operates the input device 25. The change request data and the authentication data generated based on information input when the user appropriately operates the input device 25 is sent from the transmission / reception unit 121 to the communication device 27, and the management device 13 via the network N. To be sent to.

Next, the management device 13 will be described.
The management device 13 includes a transmission / reception unit 131 and a control unit 132 as shown in FIG. The control unit 132 includes an authentication unit 132A, a first recording unit 132B, a second recording unit 132C, and a rewriting unit 132D.
The transmission / reception unit 131 has a function of exchanging data with the network N via the communication device 27. For example, the transmission / reception unit 131 has a function of receiving change request data and authentication data from the client device 12 via the network N and the communication device 27 and sending them to the control unit 132. Further, the transmission / reception unit 131 has a function of sending data about the viewable content table to the client device 12 via the communication device 27 and the network N.
The control unit 132 performs information processing based on data received from the client device 12.
The authentication unit 132A has a function of authenticating the client device 12 based on the authentication data received from the client device 12. The first recording unit 132B is a recording medium on which information necessary for the authentication unit 132A to perform authentication is recorded. Although not necessarily limited to this, in this embodiment, information necessary for performing authentication recorded in the first recording unit 132B is an ID and a password allocated to each client device 12. When the authentication unit 132A can authenticate the client device 12 using the authentication data received from the client device 12, the authentication unit 132A notifies the rewriting unit 132D of the authentication.
The second recording unit 132C is a recording medium that records the viewable content table for each client device 12 and all the data recorded in the content recording unit 113 of each distribution device 11. The viewable content table is basically the same as that recorded in the first recording unit 123A of each client device 12. It should be noted that the viewable content table for each client device 12 has a unique identifier (for example, assigned to each client device 12) in order to clarify which client device 12 the viewable content table is for. In the state associated with the above-mentioned ID), it is recorded in the second recording unit 132C.
The rewriting unit 132D has a function of rewriting the viewable content table for each client device 12 recorded in the second recording unit 132C. The rewriting unit 132D adds or deletes content that can be viewed on each client device 12 based on the content of the change request data from each client device 12. However, the rewrite unit 132D rewrites the viewable content table for each client device 12 because the authentication unit 132A uses the authentication data received together with the change request data, and the client device that is the transmission source of the change request data Only when 12 authentications can be performed. The rewrite unit 132D has a function of reading the rewritten viewable content table from the second recording unit 132C and sending it to the transmission / reception unit 131.

  Next, the contents of processing performed in this content distribution system will be described.

<Initial setting>
The client device 12 does not have a viewable content table and a group channel table when the distribution system is initially set up. In other words, at the beginning of the distribution system, no data on the viewable content is recorded in the first recording unit 123A of each client device 12, and the second recording unit 123C of each client device 121 has no data. Is in a state in which no data about the group channel is recorded (however, at the time of installing the program, data about some viewable contents are recorded in the first recording unit 123A in advance). It may be.)
Accordingly, the user of each client device 12 performs the work of creating a viewable content table and a group channel table as an initial setting.
In performing this work, the user operates the input device 25 to input data for generating change request data. As data for generating the change request data, the user inputs information for specifying the content that the user wants to view. Of course, there may be a plurality of contents that the user wants to watch, and in most cases, the user will actually do so. This data is sent from the input device 25 to the main control unit 123G via the interface unit 122. Based on this data, the main control unit 123G generates change request data. In addition, when transmitting the change request data, the user also inputs data for generating authentication data. The contents of the input for generating the authentication data are the ID and password assigned to the client device 12 as described above. This data input from the input device 25 is sent to the main control unit 123G via the interface unit 122. The main control unit 123G that has received this generates authentication data based on the received data.
The main control unit 123G transmits the change request data and the authentication data to the management apparatus 13 via the transmission / reception unit 121 and the network N.
The management device 13 receives the change request data and the authentication data from the network N by the transmission / reception unit 131. The transmission / reception unit 131 sends authentication data to the authentication unit 132A and change request data to the rewrite unit 132D.
The authentication unit 132A performs authentication using the received authentication data. Authentication is recorded in advance in the first recording unit 132B, either the ID assigned to each client device 12 or a password, and the ID included in the authentication data sent from the client device 12. This is done depending on whether the password pairs match. If they match, it is determined that the client device 12 that has transmitted the authentication data and the change request data is valid, and if they do not match, the authentication data and the change request data are It is determined that the client device 12 that has transmitted is not valid. In the latter case, the management device 13 terminates the processing or requests the client device 12 to retransmit the authentication data.
When the authentication unit 132A determines that the client device 12 is valid, the authentication unit 132A notifies the rewriting unit 132D to that effect. The rewriting unit 132D that has received this notification rewrites the contents of the second recording unit 132C. As described above, the data recorded in the second recording unit 132C is all of the data recorded in the viewable content table for each client device 12 and the content recording unit 113 included in each distribution device 11. The rewriting unit 132D rewrites the viewable content table for the authenticated client device 12. Specifically, among the data similar to the data recorded in the content recording unit 113 of each distribution device 11, data about the content requested from the client device 12 to be viewable by the change request data, The rewriting unit 132D rewrites the data recorded in the second recording unit 132C by writing into the viewable content table for the authenticated client device 12. The rewriting unit 132D reads the viewable content table for the client device 12 that is the transmission source of the rewritten change request data from the second recording unit 132C and sends it to the transmission / reception unit 131.
The transmission / reception unit 131 sends the viewable content table to the client device 12 that has transmitted the change request data and the authentication data via the network N.
The client device 12 receives the viewable content table from the network N by the transmission / reception unit 121. The transmission / reception unit 121 sends the received viewable content table to the first rewriting unit 123B. The first rewriting unit 123B records the viewable content table in the first recording unit 123A, and generates a viewable content table as shown in FIG. 6, for example.
When each client device 12 executes such processing, the viewable content table for the client device 12 is recorded in the first recording unit 123A of each client device 12, while the second of the management device 13 is recorded. The viewable content table for each client device 12 is recorded in the recording unit 132C.
Next, the user creates a group channel table.
The group channel data as described above is recorded in the group channel table. The user operates the input device 25 to create several group channels and associate the contents recorded in the first recording unit 123A with each group channel. Thereby, for example, a group channel table as shown in FIG. 7 is recorded. The rewriting of the contents of the group channel table is performed by the second rewriting unit 123D based on the data received from the input device 25 via the interface unit 122.
When each client device 12 executes such processing, a group channel table for the client device 12 is generated in the second recording unit 123C of each client device 12.
This completes the initial setting.
Note that the user can change the contents of the viewable content table and the group channel table after completion of the initial setting. The processing in that case is the same as in the case of the initial setting.

<Viewing content>
The operation of the content distribution system when viewing content will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
Selection information for a user viewing content to select one of the group channels recorded in the group channel table recorded in the second recording unit 123 </ b> C of his / her client device 12 by operating the input device 25. Is input (S1201). For example, the user inputs 1 when selecting ch1 and 2 when selecting ch2. This selection information is sent to the selection unit 123E via the interface unit 122. The selection unit 123E selects a group channel based on the selection information (S1202), and reads a URL associated with the selected group channel from the second recording unit 123C (S1203). For example, when ch1 is selected, four URLs for content 1, content 6, content 51, and content 80 are read out.
The selection unit 123E sends the read URLs to the communication device 27 via the transmission / reception unit 121. The communication device 27 transmits transmission request data for requesting transmission of the content data at the URL to the distribution device 11 having the URL via the network N (S1204).
The distribution apparatus 11 accepts the transmission request data from the network N by the transmission / reception unit 111 (S1101). The transmission / reception unit 111 sends the received URL to the reading unit 112. The reading unit 112 reads the content data of the content specified by the received URL from the content recording unit 113 (S1102), and sends it to the transmission / reception unit 111. The transmission / reception unit 111 transmits the received content data to the client device 12 that is the transmission source of the transmission request data via the network N (S1103).
Note that when the URL read by the selection unit 123E extends over a plurality of distribution devices 11, each processing of (S1101) to (S1103) is performed by the plurality of distribution devices 11.
The client device 12 receives at least one content data from at least one distribution device (S1205). The content data is received from the distribution apparatus 11 via the network N by the interface unit 122 of the client apparatus 12. The content data is sent from the interface unit 122 to the display control unit 123F. The display control unit 123 </ b> F performs image processing to display content based on the content data on the display device 26, and sends data generated thereby to the display device 26. The display device 26 displays an image including moving image content (S1206).
Here, how to display the content on the display device 26 is as follows.
When there is one content belonging to the selected group channel (for example, when ch5 in FIG. 7 is selected), that content (content 55 in the example of FIG. 7) is displayed on the display device 26. It becomes. The state is shown in FIG. D in FIG. 10 is the screen of the display device 26, and W displayed there is a window. The window W can be a browser screen, for example. The content 55 is displayed in the window W. In addition, what is indicated by the symbols X and Y in the window W is a channel icon for selecting a group channel and a volume output from a speaker provided in the display device 26. This is a volume icon. When the cursor is placed on the triangular mouse mark above and below the channel icon X and clicked, the selected group channel is changed. When the cursor is placed on the upper and lower triangular marks of the volume icon Y and clicked, the output volume is changed.
When there are a plurality of contents belonging to the selected group channel (for example, when ch1 in FIG. 7 is selected), a plurality of contents belonging to the group channel (in the example of FIG. 7, content 1, content 6, content 51 and content 80) are simultaneously displayed on the display device 26. This state is shown in FIG. FIG. 11A shows an example in which a plurality of contents are displayed so as not to overlap each other. In this embodiment, the four contents are all displayed in the window W. FIG. 11B shows an example in which a plurality of contents are displayed while being overlapped. In this embodiment, all four contents are displayed in the window W. Whether the display as shown in FIG. 11A or the display as shown in FIG. 11B is performed can be switched by an input from the input device 25. In this embodiment, the switching control is performed by the display control unit 123F that receives an input from the input device 25 via the interface unit 122.
If there are a plurality of contents belonging to the selected group channel, a part of the portion of the window W where the contents are displayed may be blank. For example, when ch3 in FIG. 7 is selected, a plurality of contents belonging to the group channel (in the example of FIG. 7, content 10, content 100, and content 112) are as shown in FIG. May be displayed.
When a plurality of contents are displayed on the display device 26 as shown in FIG. 11 or FIG. 12, the user selects one content to be displayed largely on the display device 26 from the plurality of contents. be able to. Such selection is performed using the input device 25, but details thereof are not questioned. In this embodiment, it is possible to select a content to be largely selected by placing the mouse cursor on the content to be selected and performing a click operation. This information is input from the input device 25 to the display control unit 123F via the interface unit 122. The display control unit 123F that has received this information performs control such that the selected content is displayed largely on the display device 26. Note that the display of content on the display device 26 in this case can be the same as that shown in FIG. 10 when there is only one content. In this state, when the cursor is placed on the content displayed only once and clicked again, the display of the screen D returns to the original state shown in FIG. 11 or FIG.
In this way, the user can view the content.
When the group channel is selected again, the process shown in FIG. 9 is repeated again.

≪Modification≫
Hereinafter, modified examples of the above-described content distribution system will be described.
The content distribution system according to the modified example is substantially the same as the content distribution system in the above-described embodiment except that the management apparatus 13 is not provided.
In other words, the content distribution system according to the modified example includes the distribution device 11 and the client device 12 connected to the network N.
The configuration of the distribution device 11 in the content distribution system according to the modification is the same as that in the above-described embodiment. However, the configuration of the client device 12 in the content distribution system according to the modification is slightly different.

The hardware configuration of the client device 12 in the modification is not different from that in the above-described embodiment. However, the functional block generated by installing the program in the client device 12 in the modified example is different from that in the embodiment.
FIG. 13 shows functional blocks generated inside the client device 12 in the modified example.
As shown in FIG. 13, the client device in the modified example does not have the main control unit 123G. This is because the client device 12 according to the modification performs the change of the viewable content table without depending on the management device 13 in the above-described embodiment. This is because the main control unit 123G, whose main function is to generate data, is no longer necessary.
Further, the modified client device 12 includes a third recording unit 123H. In the third recording unit 123H, all the data recorded in the content recording unit 113 of each distribution device 11 is collected, which is the same as that recorded in the second recording unit 132C of the management device 13 in the above-described embodiment. Data is recorded. In this embodiment, this data is written to the third recording unit 123H when the program is installed.
Further, the function of the first rewriting unit 123B of the modified client device 12 is slightly different from that of the above-described embodiment. The first rewriting unit 123B of the client device 12 of the modified example is similar to the above-described embodiment in that it has a function of rewriting the contents of the viewable content table recorded in the first recording unit 123A. The way is slightly different from the above case. The first rewriting unit 123B of the client device 12 of this modified example uses the contents of the viewable content table recorded in the first recording unit 123A based on the information from the input device 25 received via the interface unit 122. It is designed to be rewritten. In this modification, the user can view the contents of data recorded in the third recording unit 123H on the display device 27. The user designates the content he / she wants to view from the content recorded in the third recording unit 123H using the input device 25. Then, the information is sent to the first rewriting unit 123B. The first rewriting unit 123B that has received this information reads the management number, content name, and URL for the designated content from the third recording unit 123H, and adds them to the first recording unit 123A. In addition, the user can specify, with the input device 25, content that he / she does not want to view among the contents whose data is recorded in the first recording unit 123A. When the user makes such a designation, the first rewriting unit 123B deletes the data about the content designated by the user from the first recording unit 123A. In this way, the first rewriting unit 123B rewrites the contents of the viewable content table recorded in the first recording unit 123A without depending on the management device 13 of the above-described embodiment.

The operation of this content distribution system according to the modification is generally the same as that of the above-described embodiment. In particular, <viewing content> is not different from the above-described embodiment. Further, in <initial setting>, the generation of the group channel table is not different from the above-described embodiment.
That is, in the operation of the content distribution system according to the modified example, the only difference from the case of the above-described embodiment is the generation of the viewable content table in <initial setting>.
In the modification, the viewable content table is generated as follows. First, the user displays the contents of the data recorded in the third recording unit 123H on the display device 27, and designates the content he / she wants to view using the input device 25. Then, the information is sent to the first rewriting unit 123B. The first rewriting unit 123B that has received this information reads the management number, content name, and URL for the designated content from the third recording unit 123H, and adds them to the first recording unit 123A. In this way, a viewable content table is generated.

The figure which shows schematically the whole structure of the content delivery system by embodiment. The figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the delivery apparatus shown in FIG. The block diagram which shows the functional block produced | generated in the delivery apparatus shown in FIG. The figure which shows notionally the content of the data recorded on the content recording part shown in FIG. The block diagram which shows the functional block produced | generated in the client apparatus shown in FIG. The figure which shows notionally the content of the data recorded on the 1st recording part shown in FIG. The figure which shows notionally the content of the data recorded on the 2nd recording part shown in FIG. The block diagram which shows the functional block produced | generated in the management apparatus shown in FIG. The figure which shows the flow of the process performed with the content delivery system shown in FIG. The figure which shows an example of the image displayed on the display apparatus of the client apparatus shown in FIG. The figure which shows the other example of the image displayed on the display apparatus of the client apparatus shown in FIG. The figure which shows the other example of the image displayed on the display apparatus of the client apparatus shown in FIG. The block diagram which shows the functional block produced | generated in the client apparatus of a modification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Distribution apparatus 12 Client apparatus 13 Management apparatus 111 Transmission / reception part 112 Reading part 113 Content recording part 121 Transmission / reception part 122 Interface part 123 Control part 123A 1st recording part 123B 1st rewriting part 123C 2nd recording part 123D 2nd rewriting part 123E Selection unit 123F Display control unit 123G Main control unit 123H Third recording unit 131 Transmission / reception unit 132 Control unit 132A Authentication unit 132B First recording unit 132C Second recording unit 132D Rewriting unit

Claims (10)

Receive viewable content data, which can be received from among the plurality of content data, from a distribution device capable of distributing a plurality of content data as video content data via a predetermined network. And a client device configured to display content based on the received viewable content data on a predetermined display,
First recording means for recording a viewable content table which is a set of a plurality of unique first identifiers associated with each of the viewable content data;
Second recording means for recording a group channel table which is a set of a plurality of unique second identifiers associated with each of a plurality of groups created by the plurality of first identifiers recorded in the first recording means; ,
First input means for inputting information for selecting one of the second identifiers;
First selection means for selecting one second identifier from the second identifiers recorded in the second recording means based on the information input by the first input means;
The viewable content data associated with the first identifier included in the group associated with the second identifier selected based on the information selected by the first selection unit Receiving means for receiving from the distribution device;
Display control means for displaying the content based on the viewable content data received by the receiving means on the display, one when the content is one, and a plurality of contents when the content is plural. When,
With
Client device. When there are a plurality of the first identifiers included in the group associated with the second identifier selected by the first selection unit, the display control unit displays a plurality of the contents on the display. Display in one window at the same time,
The client device according to claim 1. When there are a plurality of the first identifiers included in the group associated with the second identifier selected by the first selection unit, the display control unit puts the plurality of contents into the window. Arrange and display so as not to overlap each other,
The client device according to claim 2. A second input unit for inputting information for selecting one of the contents when a plurality of the contents are displayed in the window;
The display control means is configured to display only one selected content in the window when the information is input from the second input means.
The client device according to claim 2 or 3. A third input means for inputting information for changing the number of the groups or the first identifier included in each of the groups;
First correction means for changing the contents of the group channel table recorded in the second recording means based on the information inputted from the third input means;
With
The client device according to claim 1. A fourth input means for inputting information for changing the first identifier;
Second correction means for changing the contents of the viewable content table recorded in the first recording means based on the information input from the fourth input means;
With
The client device according to claim 1. Receiving means for receiving the data of the viewable content table via the network;
A writing unit for recording the viewable content table in the first recording unit by writing the received data in the first recording unit;
With
The client device according to claim 1. The first identifier is information indicating a location of the content data.
The client device according to claim 1. Receive viewable content data, which can be received from among the plurality of content data, from a distribution device capable of distributing a plurality of content data as video content data via a predetermined network. And a method executed by a client device configured to display content based on the received viewable content data on a predetermined display,
The client device is
Recording a viewable content table, which is a set of a plurality of unique first identifiers associated with each of the viewable content data, in a first recording unit;
A group channel table that is a set of a plurality of unique second identifiers associated with each of a plurality of groups created by the plurality of first identifiers recorded in the first recording unit is recorded in the second recording unit. Process,
Inputting information for selecting one of the second identifiers;
Selecting one second identifier from the second identifiers recorded in the second recording means based on the information for selecting one of the second identifiers;
The viewable content data associated with the first identifier included in the group associated with the second identifier selected by the process of selecting the second identifier is received from the distribution device. The process of
Displaying the content based on the received viewable content data, one when the content is one, and simultaneously displaying a plurality of content when the content is plural, on the display;
A content receiving method. Receive viewable content data, which can be received from among the plurality of content data, from a distribution device capable of distributing a plurality of content data as video content data via a predetermined network. A program for causing a predetermined computer to function as a client device configured to display content based on the received viewable content data on a predetermined display,
In the computer,
Recording a viewable content table, which is a set of a plurality of unique first identifiers associated with each of the viewable content data, in a first recording unit;
A group channel table that is a set of a plurality of unique second identifiers associated with each of a plurality of groups created by the plurality of first identifiers recorded in the first recording unit is recorded in the second recording unit. Process,
Inputting information for selecting one of the second identifiers;
Selecting one second identifier from the second identifiers recorded in the second recording means based on the information for selecting one of the second identifiers;
The viewable content data associated with the first identifier included in the group associated with the second identifier selected by the process of selecting the second identifier is received from the distribution device. The process of
Displaying the content based on the received viewable content data, one when the content is one, a plurality of content when the content is plural, and simultaneously displaying on the display;
A program for running

Images