JP6202712B2 - Receiving apparatus and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a receiving apparatus and a program.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a service for transmitting content composed of a plurality of media components, there is a service in which media components having the same content are distributed through a plurality of transmission paths. For example, in Non-Patent Document 1, DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld) is used as a broadcast transmission path, WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is used as a communication transmission path, and streaming is performed between them. A system for service handover is described. In this system, control information called “Playlist” is used, but each transmission path has a different format, and a handover function is implemented as a receiver function.

On the other hand, there are some that distribute a plurality of media components having the same contents in the same transmission path. For example, in the operation of the hierarchical modulation receiving device function in 6.3 satellite digital broadcasting of Non-Patent Document 2 and the operation of 7.1 Hierarchical Modulation in Part 1 Volume 7 of Non-Patent Document 3, in satellite digital broadcasting, it is In response to the interruption, the service can be continued by switching the media component.
Also, Non-Patent Document 3, Part 1, Volume 7, 7.4 Multi-view TV enables a service in which media components are grouped, main and sub are designated, and the receiver manually switches between main and sub. It has become.

Hsin-Ta Chiao, Chi-Te Tseng, Jhih-Wei Jiang, Hsin-An Hou, “Hybrid Streaming Delivery over DVB-H Broadcast and WiMAX Mobile Networks”, IEEE 6th International Conference on Wireless and Mobile Computing, Networking and Communications (WiMob ), 2010, p.398-405 Japan Radio Industry Association, “ARIB STD-B21 5.2 Edition Digital Broadcast Receiver Standard (desired specifications)”, Japan Radio Industry Association Japan Radio Industry Association, “ARIB TR-B15 Version 5.8 (Volume 3) BS / Broadband CS Digital Broadcasting Operation Rules”, Japan Radio Industry Association

  However, in the above-described conventional system, etc., components to be received and played back are selected according to changes in the environment such as the position of the receiving device and the weather, but the receiving device that receives the service has a predetermined capability. There is a problem that it must be.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and selects a media component suitable for the device itself in a content distribution system for an environment in which receiving devices having various capabilities are mixed. Thus, a receiving apparatus capable of configuring and reproducing content and a program thereof are provided.

(1) The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and one aspect of the present invention is a receiving device that receives content distributed by another device, and information relating to media components constituting the content An information acquisition unit that acquires information indicating which group in the content the media component belongs to, and the media component that constitutes the content with reference to the acquired information, A component selection unit that selects a media component to be played back, and a playback unit that plays back the selected media component. The component selection unit refers to the acquired information, and belongs to one group. From the components, one media copy according to the capabilities of the device The components, and selects a media component of the reproduction.

(2) According to another aspect of the present invention, in the receiving device according to (1), the information on the media component includes information indicating a data format of the media component, and the receiving component selection unit includes When selecting the media component to be played back, the media component of the data format that can be played back by the own device is selected by referring to the data format indicated by the acquired information.

(3) According to another aspect of the present invention, in the receiving device according to (1), the information on the media component includes information indicating a transmission path for distributing the media component, and the receiving component selection When selecting the media component to be played, the unit refers to the transmission path indicated by the acquired information, and selects a media component of the transmission path that can be received by the own apparatus.

(4) According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided the receiving device according to (2) or (3), wherein the information on the media component is information indicating a priority order in a group to which the media component belongs. The reception component selection unit refers to the priority order indicated by the acquired information when selecting the media component to be played back.

(5) Further, another aspect of the present invention is the receiving device according to (1), wherein the information acquisition unit transmits information indicating the capability of the own device to an external device, and As a response, information on media components within the range of the capability is acquired.

(6) According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided information regarding a media component that constitutes the content of a computer of a receiving device that receives content distributed by another device. An information acquisition unit that acquires information indicating whether the content belongs to a group, a component selection unit that selects a media component to be played back from among the media components that constitute the content with reference to the acquired information, and the selected A program for causing a media component to function as a playback unit, wherein the component selection unit refers to the acquired information, and selects a media component belonging to one of the groups according to the capability of the own device. One media component according to , And selects a media component of the reproduction.

  According to the present invention, even in a content distribution system for an environment where receiving devices having various capabilities are mixed, a media component suitable for the own device is selected to configure and play back the content. be able to.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structure of the content delivery system by 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structure of the receiver 30 in the embodiment. It is a figure which shows the format of the control information C in the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows assignment of each value of the detail of the kind of media component in the embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the component selection part 305 in the embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the reproduction | regeneration processing by the component selection part 305 in the embodiment. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structure of the content delivery system by 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structure of the receiver 30a in the same embodiment. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structure of the content delivery system by 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structure of the receiver 30b in the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows the format of the control information C 'in the same embodiment. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structure of the content delivery system by 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structure of the receiver 30c in embodiment in the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows another example of the format of the control information C in each embodiment.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the content provider transmits media components such as video and audio that constitute the provided content using a plurality of transmission paths. Also, control information describing information on media components constituting the content is transmitted using the transmission path.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the content distribution system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the content distribution system in the present embodiment includes content servers 11 and 12, transmission paths 21 and 22, a reception device 30, and a media output device 40. The content server 11 distributes the video media component V1, the audio media component A1, and the control information C using multicast transmission. The content server 12 distributes the video media component V2, the audio media component A2, and the control information C using multicast transmission.

  These video media components V1 and V2 and audio media components A1 and A2 are video and audio of the same content. That is, the media components V1 and V2 are videos with the same content, and the media components A1 and A2 are audio with the same content. In the present embodiment, for example, the media components V1 and V2 have different data formats such as encoding method and resolution. Further, the control information C is information including information on media components constituting the content.

  The transmission path 21 is an IP network that connects the content server 11 and the receiving device 30, and multicasts each media component and control information C transmitted by the content server 11 to the receiving device 30. The transmission path 22 is an IP network that connects the content server 12 and the receiving device 30, and multicasts each media component and control information C transmitted by the content server 12 to the receiving device 30.

  The receiving device 30 acquires each media component and control information C transmitted through the transmission paths 21 and 22, refers to the control information C, composes and reproduces the content by combining the media components. Note that the receiving device 30 starts receiving content according to the IGMP / MLD protocol used in normal multicast. In addition, the receiving device 30 inputs the reproduced video signal Vs and audio signal As to the media output device 40. The media output device 40 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display and an audio output device such as a speaker. The media output device 40 performs video display and audio output according to the input video signal Vs and audio signal As. Do.

  In the present embodiment, video and audio have been exemplified as media components constituting the content, but other components such as characters and still images may be used. In addition, although an IP network has been described as the transmission paths 21 and 22, other transmission paths such as terrestrial digital broadcasting, satellite broadcasting, CDN (Contents Delivery Network), and the Internet may be used. The version of the Internet protocol may be 4 (so-called IPv4) or 6 (so-called IPv6). However, a transmission method based on IP packets is commonly used in the transmission paths 21 and 22. That is, in each media component, the video data and audio data are encoded, converted into IP packets, and transmitted through the transmission paths 21 and 22.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the receiving device 30 in the present embodiment. The receiving apparatus 30 includes an IP data flow receiving unit 301 and 302, an IP packet separation unit 303, a control information processing unit 304, a component selection unit 305, a device profile management unit 306, an IP packet ordering unit 307, a component decoding unit 308, a video A buffer unit 309, a video decoder unit 310, an audio buffer unit 311, an audio decoder unit 312, and an IP packet monitoring unit 313 are configured.

  The IP data flow receiving unit 301 receives each IP data flow including the media components V 1 and A 1 and the control information C from the transmission path 21. The IP data flow receiving unit 302 receives each IP data flow including the media components V 2 and A 2 and the control information C from the transmission path 22. The IP packet separation unit 303 separates the IP packet from the IP data flow received by the IP data flow reception units 301 and 302 based on the IP address and the port number. The IP packet separation unit 303 inputs the IP packet storing the control information C among the separated IP packets to the control information processing unit 304, and stores the media component selected by the component selection unit 305 as will be described later. The IP packet is input to the IP packet ordering unit 307.

  The control information processing unit 304 (information acquisition unit) extracts the control information C from the input IP packet. The device profile management unit 306 stores information (device profile) indicating the capability of the receiving device 30 in advance. The information indicating this capability includes a data format that can be reproduced by the receiving device 30 and a transmission path that can be received by the receiving device 30. Specifically, the device profile management unit 306 receives, as information indicating a reproducible data format, from among combinations of a media component type (stream_type) and details of the media component type (component_type) described later, as a receiving device 30 stores reproducible combinations. Similarly, the device profile management unit 306 stores transmission path identification (reference_flow_flag), which will be described later, as information indicating a receivable transmission path. In addition to the above-described information, the device profile management unit 306 includes, as information indicating a reproducible data format, contents of media components such as a maximum resolution, a maximum bit rate, a maximum frame rate, and a maximum number of channels. May be held in detail.

  The component selection unit 305 refers to the control information C and the device profile, selects a media component according to the capability of the receiving device 30, and notifies the IP packet separation unit 303 of the media component. For example, the component selection unit 305 selects the media component V2 as the video media component, and selects the media component A1 as the audio media component. Note that the component selection unit 305 adaptively reselects the media component according to the reception status of the IP packet notified from the IP packet monitoring unit 313 even after the component selection.

  The IP packet ordering unit 307 arranges the input IP packet of each media component. The component decoding unit 308 decodes each media component from the IP packet ordered by the IP packet ordering unit 307. The component decoding unit 308 inputs a video media component of the decoded media components to the video buffer unit 309 and inputs an audio media component to the audio buffer unit 3311.

  The video buffer unit 309 is a buffer for storing the media component of the video input to the component decoding unit 308, and absorbs jitter due to the transmission path. The video decoder unit 310 (reproducing unit) decodes the video media component stored in the video buffer unit 309 to generate a video signal Vs. The video decoder unit 310 inputs the video signal Vs to the media output device 40.

  The audio buffer unit 311 is a buffer for storing the media component of the audio input to the component decoding unit 308, and absorbs jitter due to the transmission path. The audio decoder unit 312 (reproducing unit) decodes the audio media component stored in the audio buffer unit 311 to generate an audio signal As. The audio decoder unit 312 inputs the audio signal As to the media output device 40.

  The IP packet monitoring unit 313 monitors the reception of the IP packet arranged by the IP packet ordering unit 307, that is, the IP packet of the media component to be reproduced. When the IP packet monitoring unit 313 does not receive the IP packet of the monitored media component for a predetermined time, the IP packet monitoring unit 313 determines that the media component is not received and the data flow of the media component is abnormal. Is sent to the component selection unit 305. Alternatively, the IP packet monitoring unit 313 calculates a packet loss rate for each media component, compares the packet loss rate with a predetermined threshold, and if the threshold is exceeded, the data flow of the media component is abnormal. Is sent to the component selection unit 305.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a format of the control information C in the present embodiment. In FIG. 3, “Syntax” is a column indicating syntax. of bits is the number of bits of the syntax, and Mnemonic indicates the data format of the bit of the number of bits. Mnemonic uimsbf is an abbreviation of unsigned integer most significant bit first, and an unsigned integer and the most significant bit mean the head. Further, bslbf is an abbreviation for bit string left bit first, and the bit string and the left bit mean the head.

  As shown in FIG. 3, an area of a 16-bit program number (program_number) for uniquely identifying the content is arranged at the head of the control information C. Subsequently, a 4-bit future reserved area (Reserved), a 12-bit descriptor 1 length (descriptor1_length) area, and a descriptor 1 (descriptor1) area corresponding to the descriptor 1 length are arranged. An arbitrary descriptor for the content can be arranged in the area of the descriptor 1, but the description thereof is omitted here.

  Subsequently, an area for the number of media components (number_of_components) in which information is described and an area for information on each media component are arranged. In the present embodiment, the control information C stores information about all media components that make up the content, so the number of media components is also the number of media components that make up the content.

  Information on each media component includes, in order from the top, group ID (group_identification), selection priority (selection_level), media component type (stream_type), media component type details (component_type), and transmission path identification (reference_flow_flag) , Reference information corresponding to the transmission path, media component identification information (component_identification), future reservation (Reserved), descriptor 2 length (descriptor2_length), descriptor 2 length descriptor 2 (descriptor2) area Has been.

  The group ID (group_identification) is identification information of a group to which the media component belongs. A group is a set of media components, such as the same video and the same audio, that can be regarded as the same and equivalent among the media components that constitute the content. Here, the same and equivalent contents do not require the same encoding method and resolution. The selection priority (selection_level) indicates the selection priority of the media component in the group, for example, “0” is a default component and “1” is an alternative component.

  The media component type (stream_type) is information indicating the media type and data format of the media component such as MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) -2 video, MPEG-4 video, MPEG-2 audio, and the like. The details of the type of media component (component_type) is information indicating the details of the type of media component. Details of the media component type (component_type) will be described later.

  The transmission path identification (reference_flow_flag) is a flag for identifying the flow (transmission path) through which the media component is transmitted. In this embodiment, when the transmission line identification is “0”, it indicates that the transmission line is the same as the control information C. In this case, since the reference information corresponding to the transmission path is the same as the control information C, it is not arranged. When the transmission path is identified as “1”, it indicates that the transmission path is multicast transmission of IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4). When the transmission path is IPv4 multicast transmission, the reference information corresponding to the transmission path includes a source IP address, a destination IP address, and a destination port number.

  When the transmission path identification is “2”, this indicates that the transmission path is multicast transmission of IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6). When the transmission path is IPv6 multicast transmission, the reference information corresponding to the transmission path includes the source IPv6 address, the destination IPv6 address, and the destination port number. When the transmission path is identified as “3”, this indicates that the transmission path is MPEG-2 TS (Transport Stream). When the transmission path is MPEG-2 TS, the reference information corresponding to the transmission path includes a network ID (network_id), a transport stream ID (TS_id), a service ID (service_id), and an elementary stream (Elementary Stream). Packet ID (ES_PID).

When the transmission path identification is “4”, it indicates that the transmission path is unicast transmission of the IP network. When the transmission path is unicast transmission of the IP network, the reference information corresponding to the transmission path includes a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) for requesting the media component.
The control information C may include a bit rate (bit_rate), a frame rate (frame_rate), and the like as the data format of the media component.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating assignment of each value of the details (component_type) of the type of media component in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the details of the types of media components include the number of lines, whether the media component is video or audio, whether it is progressive or interlaced if it is video, and the channel if it is audio. This is information indicating the configuration.

  In FIG. 4, for example, video 480i indicates that the video is 480 lines of interlaced video, and video 720p indicates that the video is 720 lines of progressive video. In addition, for example, the audio 1/0 mode indicates that the front channel is 1-channel audio, that is, monaural audio, and the audio 2/0 / 0-2 / 0 / 2-0.1 mode indicates the upper layer. This indicates that the sound is 2 channels at the front, 2 channels at the front of the middle layer, 2 channels at the back of the middle layer, and 1 channel of bass.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the component selection unit 305 in this embodiment. When the content to be viewed is determined, the component selection unit 305 first acquires information on the media component stored in the control information C of the content from the control information processing unit 304 (Sa1). In the present embodiment, the content provider uses the content servers 11 and 12 to specify the content control information C as data specifying a specific source IP address, destination IP address, and destination port number. It is transmitted as a flow. The receiving apparatus 30 knows the IP address of the specific transmission source, the IP address of the destination, and the port number of the destination, and acquires the control information C.

  Next, the component selection unit 305 extracts a group ID from the acquired information regarding all media components, and selects one of the extracted group IDs that has not been selected (Sa2). The selection criterion may be any criterion such as, for example, the order of group ID values.

  Next, the component selection unit 305 activates the reproduction process of the selected group (Sa3). The playback process is a process of selecting one of the media components belonging to the group and playing it back, details of which will be described later. Next, the component selection unit 305 determines whether there is an unselected one in the extracted group ID (Sa4). When there is an unselected item (Sa4-Yes), the process returns to step Sa2. When there is no unselected item (Sa4-No), the process is terminated. Even when the processing is completed, the component selection unit 305 continues the processing in parallel for the playback processing of each group activated in step Sa3.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the reproduction processing by the component selection unit 305. When the playback processing of a certain group is activated in step Sa3 in FIG. 5, the component selection unit 305 selects the media component belonging to the group that has the highest selection priority (selection_level) among the unselected media components. (Sb1). Next, the component selection unit 305 instructs reception and playback of the selected media component (Sb2).

  Specifically, the component selection unit 305 instructs the reception and reproduction by notifying the IP packet separation unit 303 of reference information corresponding to the transmission path of the selected media component. Since the receiving device 30 in the present embodiment can receive only the media component of multicast transmission, the component selection unit 305 includes, as the reference information, a source IP address, a destination IP address, a destination port number, or The IPv6 address of the transmission source, the IPv6 address of the destination, and the port number of the destination are notified. Upon receiving the notification, the IP packet separation unit 303 inputs an IP packet that matches the reference information to the IP packet ordering unit 307. At this time, the IP packet separation unit 303 may instruct the IP data flow reception units 301 and 302 to receive an IP packet that matches the reference information.

  Next, the component selection unit 305 determines whether or not the data flow of the selected media component is normal (Sb3). This determination is made based on whether or not the IP packet monitoring unit 313 has notified that the data flow of the media component is abnormal. If it is determined in step Sb3 that it is normal (Sb3-Yes), the component selection unit 305 determines whether or not to end the reception and playback of the media component (Sb4). For example, when the end of the content is reached, when the user is instructed to stop playback of the content, or when the user is instructed to play back other content, the reception and playback are determined to end.

  When it is determined in step Sb4 that the process is to be ended (Sb4-Yes), the component selection unit 305 instructs the IP packet separation unit 303 to stop reception and reproduction (Sb5), and ends the reproduction process. On the other hand, when it determines with not complete | finishing in step Sb4, it returns to step Sb3. If it is determined in step Sb3 that the data flow is not normal (Sb3-No), the component selection unit 305 includes media components that are not selected for selection in step Sb1 among the media components belonging to the group. Is determined (Sb6). When it is determined that there is an unselected media component (Sb6-Yes), the process returns to step Sb1. When it is determined that there is not (Sb6-No), the process proceeds to step Sb5.

  The IP packet monitoring unit 313 continues to monitor the media component that has notified the component selection unit 305 of the abnormality, and notifies the component selection unit 305 when the data flow returns to normal. Also good. In response to the notification, the component selection unit 305 can return the media component to be played back to the one whose data flow has returned to normal. As another method, the IP packet monitoring unit 313 always monitors an IP packet of a media component having a selection priority one higher than that of the current media component, and when the data flow becomes normal, the component selection unit Notification to 305 may be made to resume playback of the media component.

In addition, the content servers 11 and 12 transmit reception confirmation packets at regular intervals, and the IP packet monitoring unit 313 determines that reception is interrupted because the reception confirmation packets do not reach the predetermined time. Also good.
The control information C may use other formats such as XML (Extensible Markup Language) format.
In addition, although the control information C has been described as being transmitted by both the content servers 11 and 12, only one of them may be transmitted, or another device may be transmitting.

  The receiving device 30 according to the present embodiment refers to the information related to the content, and selects one media component corresponding to the capability of the own device from among the media components belonging to one group as a media component to be played back. . For this reason, even in a content distribution system for an environment in which receiving devices having various capabilities are mixed, it is possible to configure and play back content by selecting media components suitable for the device itself. .

[Second Embodiment]
The second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the first embodiment, the case where all the media components are multicast-transmitted has been described. In the second embodiment, the case where some media components are unicast-transmitted will be described.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the content distribution system in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, the content distribution system in the present embodiment includes content servers 11 and 12a, transmission paths 21 and 22a, a receiving device 30a, and a media output device 40. In the figure, the same reference numerals (11, 21, 40) are assigned to portions corresponding to the respective portions in FIG.

  The content server 12a transmits the video media component V2, the audio media component A2, and the control information Cd to the receiving device 30 by unicast transmission in accordance with a request from the receiving device 30a. The request for the control information Cd from the receiving device 30a includes the content ID and the device profile of the receiving device 30a, and the content server 12a includes the media components that constitute the content with the specified content ID. In response to the device profile, control information Cd including only information relating to media components that can be received and played back by the receiving device 30a is generated and transmitted.

  The transmission path 22a is an IP network that connects the content server 12a and the receiving device 30a, transmits a request from the receiving device 30a to the receiving device 30a, and transmits each media component transmitted by the content server 12a in response to the request. The control information Cd is unicast transmitted to the receiving device 30a. Note that the transmission path 22a is a transmission path corresponding to “4” in the value of the identification (reference_flow_flag) of the transmission path. The receiving device 30a is the same as the receiving device 30 in FIG. 1, except that the video media component V2, the audio media component A2, and the control information Cd are received by unicast transmission.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the receiving device 30a in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, the receiving device 30a includes IP data flow receiving units 301 and 302a, an IP packet separating unit 303, a control information processing unit 304, a component selecting unit 305, a device profile managing unit 306, an IP packet ordering unit 307, A component decoding unit 308, a video buffer unit 309, a video decoder unit 310, an audio buffer unit 311, an audio decoder unit 312, an IP packet monitoring unit 313, a control information request unit 314, and a component request unit 315 are configured. In FIG. 8, the same reference numerals (301, 303 to 313) are assigned to portions corresponding to the respective portions in FIG.

  The IP data flow receiving unit 302 a receives the data flow of the video media component V 2, the audio media component A 2, and the control information Cd that are unicast-transmitted, and inputs them to the IP packet separation unit 303. Here, the control information Cd is control information that stores only information relating to media components constituting the content that can be received and reproduced by the receiving device 30a.

  The control information request unit 314 requests the control information Cd from the content server 12a via the transmission path 22a. This request includes a content ID for designating the content and a device profile stored by the device profile management unit 306. The component request unit 315 requests the content server 12a for the media component selected by the component selection unit 305 and having the transmission path identification “4”. This request includes a URL, which is reference information corresponding to the transmission path, extracted from information related to the media component.

  As described above, the receiving device 30a in the present embodiment is also a self-device in a content distribution system that targets an environment in which receiving devices having various capabilities are mixed, as in the first embodiment. The appropriate media component can be selected to configure and play the content.

[Third Embodiment]
The third embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which a part is transmitted in a digital broadcast transport stream and the other part is multicast.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the content distribution system in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, the content distribution system in this embodiment includes a broadcast station device 13, a content server 12, a transmission path 22, a receiving device 30 b, and a media output device 40. In the figure, the same reference numerals (12, 22, 40) are assigned to portions corresponding to the respective portions in FIG.

  The broadcast station apparatus 13 distributes the video media component V1, the audio media component A1, and the control information C 'using a digital broadcast transport stream (MPEG2-TS). Distribution by the transport stream of this digital broadcast is a transmission path corresponding to “3” in the value of transmission path identification (reference_flow_flag). Note that the control information C 'stores information on media components constituting the content, as in the control information C in the first and second embodiments, but the format is different. The format of the control information C ′ is a section table format transmitted by a transport stream.

  The receiving device 30b is the same as the receiving device 30 in FIG. 1, but receives the video media component V1, the audio media component A1, and the control information C ′ that are distributed by the digital broadcast transport stream. The point is different.

  FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the receiving device 30b in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 10, the receiving device 30b includes an IP data flow receiving unit 302, an IP packet separating unit 303, a control information processing unit 304b, a component selecting unit 305b, a device profile managing unit 306, an IP packet ordering unit 307, and a component decoding. 308, video buffer unit 309, video decoder unit 310, audio buffer unit 311, audio decoder unit 312, IP packet monitoring unit 313, broadcast demodulation unit 316, demultiplexing unit 317, component decoding unit 318, and TS packet monitoring unit 319. Consists of including. 10, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals (302, 303, 306 to 313), and description thereof is omitted.

  The broadcast demodulation unit 316 receives and demodulates the broadcast wave from the broadcast station device 13 and restores the transport stream transmitted by the broadcast station device 13. The demultiplexing unit 317 demultiplexes the TS packets constituting the transport stream including the control information C ′, and inputs the demultiplexed unit to the control information processing unit 304 b. The demultiplexing unit 317 performs transport stream separation with reference to a packet ID (PID; packet_id) attached to each TS packet. In the present embodiment, the broadcast station device 13 transmits the control information C ′ included in the TS packet with a specific packet ID, and the receiving device 30 b grasps this packet ID. In addition, the demultiplexing unit 317 separates the TS packet having the packet ID designated from the component selection unit 305 b and inputs the TS packet to the component decoding unit 318.

  The component decoding unit 318 decodes each media component from the TS packet input from the demultiplexing unit 317. The component decoding unit 318 inputs a video media component of the decoded media components to the video buffer unit 309 and inputs an audio media component to the audio buffer unit 311.

  The TS packet monitoring unit 319 monitors reception of TS packets of each media component that the demultiplexing unit 317 inputs to the component decoding unit 318. When a TS packet of any media component is not received for a predetermined time, the TS packet monitoring unit 319 determines that the reception of the media component is interrupted, and determines that the data flow of the media component is abnormal. The component selection unit 305b is notified. As with the IP packet monitoring unit 313, an abnormality may be notified based on the packet loss rate.

  The control information processing unit 304b is the same as the control information processing unit 304 in FIG. 2, except that the control information C ′ input from the demultiplexing unit 317 has a section table format. Further, the component selection unit 305b is the same as the component selection unit 305 in FIG. 2, but the demultiplexing unit 317 has a network ID (network_id) and a transport stream ID as reference information of the selected media component. The difference is that (TS_id), service ID (service_id), and packet ID (ES_PID) are notified.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a format of the control information C ′ in the present embodiment. In FIG. 11, as in FIG. 3, “Syntax” is a column indicating syntax. of bits is the number of bits of the syntax, and Mnemonic indicates the data format of the bit of the number of bits. Mnemonic uimsbf is an abbreviation of unsigned integer most significant bit first, and an unsigned integer and the most significant bit mean the head. Further, bslbf is an abbreviation for bit string left bit first, and the bit string and the left bit mean the head.

  As shown in FIG. 11, an area of a table ID (table_id) for identifying the section table type is arranged at the head of the control information C ′. The table ID is a value assigned in advance as the table ID of the control information C ′. Subsequently, a section format instruction (section_syntax_indicator) area for designating whether the section is in a long format (long-form) or a short format (short-form) is arranged. Since the control information C ′ is in a long format, the section format instruction is “1”.

  Subsequently, “0” is a 1-bit and 2-bit future reserved area. Subsequently, an area of the section length (section_length), a 16-bit program number (program_number) area for uniquely identifying contents, and a 2-bit future reserved area are arranged. Thereafter, a version number (version_number), current next instruction (current_next_indicator), section number (section_number), last section number (last_section_number), and a 4-bit future reserved area are arranged. The description is omitted here because it is defined.

  The subsequent 12-bit descriptor 1 length (descriptor1_length) area and thereafter are the same as the format of the control information C in FIG. However, a 32-bit cyclic redundancy check (CRC_32) is added at the end.

  As described above, the receiving device 30b according to the present embodiment is similar to the first and second embodiments in the content distribution system that targets an environment in which receiving devices having various capabilities are mixed. Content can be configured and played by selecting media components suitable for the device itself.

[Fourth Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which a part is transmitted as a digital broadcast transport stream and the other part is transmitted as unicast.

  FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the content distribution system in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 12, the content distribution system in this embodiment includes a broadcast station device 13, a content server 12a, a transmission path 22a, a receiving device 30c, and a media output device 40. In the figure, the same reference numerals (12a, 13, 22a, 40) are assigned to portions corresponding to the respective portions in FIGS. 7 and 9, and description thereof is omitted.

  The receiving device 30c is the same as the receiving device 30 of FIG. 1, but receives the video media component V1, the audio media component A1, and the control information C ′ that are distributed by the digital broadcast transport stream. The point is different.

  FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a configuration of the receiving device 30c in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 13, the receiving device 30c includes an IP data flow receiving unit 302a, an IP packet separating unit 303, a control information processing unit 304b, a component selecting unit 305b, a device profile management unit 306, an IP packet ordering unit 307, and a component decoding. Unit 308, video buffer unit 309, video decoder unit 310, audio buffer unit 311, audio decoder unit 312, IP packet monitoring unit 313, control information request unit 314, component request unit 315, broadcast demodulation unit 316, demultiplexing unit 317, A component decoding unit 318 and a TS packet monitoring unit 319 are included. Each of these parts corresponds to any one of the parts in FIGS. 2, 8, and 10, and therefore, the same reference numerals are assigned to the corresponding parts, and the description thereof is omitted.

  As described above, the receiving device 30c according to the present embodiment is similar to the first to third embodiments in the content distribution system that targets an environment in which receiving devices having various capabilities are mixed. Content can be configured and played by selecting media components suitable for the device itself.

  The control information C in each of the above-described embodiments may be an MP (MMT Package) Table that is stored and transmitted in an MPT (MMT Package Table) Message. MPT Message and MP Table are being standardized by ISO / IEC 23008 (see Study of ISO CD 23008-1 MPEG Media Transport (N13089)). However, the asset group descriptor (Asset_group_descriptor) shown in FIG. 14 is inserted as asset ID (group_identification) and selection priority (selection_level) information shown in FIG. 3 into asset_descriptors_byte following the MMT_general_location_info of the MP Table. An asset in the MP Table corresponds to the media component in each of the above embodiments.

 FIG. 14 is a table showing the configuration of asset group descriptors. In FIG. of bits and Mnemonic are the same as in FIG. Value is a column indicating the value when the syntax is a fixed value. As shown in FIG. 14, a descriptor tag (descriptor_tag) that stores a 16-bit fixed value 0x0012 indicating that the descriptor is an asset group descriptor is arranged at the head of the asset group descriptor (Asset_group_descriptor). ing. Subsequently, a descriptor length (descriptor_length) for storing a 16-bit fixed value 0x0002 indicating the length of the descriptor is arranged.

  Subsequently, an 8-bit group ID (group_identification) for identifying a group to which the asset belongs is arranged. This group ID is information corresponding to the group ID (group_identification) in FIG. 3. A value is assigned in advance for each type of media component, such as 0x00 for video components and 0x01 for audio components. Alternatively, information corresponding to the type (stream_type) of the media component in FIG. 3 may also be used. Subsequently, an 8-bit priority level (selection_level) indicating the priority within the group of the asset is arranged. This priority level is information corresponding to the selection priority (selection_level) in FIG.

  Also, a program for realizing the functions of the receiving device 30 in FIG. 1, the receiving device 30a in FIG. 8, the receiving device 30b in FIG. 10, and the receiving device 30c in FIG. Each apparatus may be realized by causing a computer system to read and execute a program recorded on a recording medium. Here, the “computer system” includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.

Further, the “computer system” includes a homepage providing environment (or display environment) if a WWW system is used.
The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a storage device such as a flexible medium, a magneto-optical disk, a portable medium such as a ROM and a CD-ROM, and a hard disk incorporated in a computer system. Furthermore, the “computer-readable recording medium” dynamically holds a program for a short time like a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. In this case, a volatile memory in a computer system serving as a server or a client in that case, and a program that holds a program for a certain period of time are also included. The program may be a program for realizing a part of the functions described above, and may be a program capable of realizing the functions described above in combination with a program already recorded in a computer system.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes design changes and the like within a scope not departing from the gist of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11, 12, 12a ... Content server 13 ... Broadcasting station apparatus 21, 22, 22a ... Transmission path 30, 30a, 30b, 30c ... Reception apparatus 40 ... Media output apparatus 301, 302, 302a ... IP data flow receiving part 303 ... IP Packet separation unit 304, 304b ... Control information processing unit 305, 305b ... Component selection unit 306 ... Device profile management unit 307 ... IP packet ordering unit 308 ... Component decoding unit 309 ... Video buffer unit 310 ... Video decoder unit 311 ... Audio buffer Unit 312 ... audio decoder unit 313 ... IP packet monitoring unit 314 ... control information request unit 315 ... component request unit 316 ... broadcast demodulation unit 317 ... demultiplexing unit 318 ... component decoding unit 319 ... TS packet Monitoring section

Claims (5)

A receiving device that receives content distributed by another device,
An information acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a media component that constitutes the content and that indicates which group in the content the media component belongs to;
A component selection unit that refers to the acquired information and selects a media component to be reproduced from among media components that constitute the content;
A playback unit for playing back the selected media component;
The component selection unit refers to the acquired information, selects one media component according to the capability of the own device from the media components belonging to the one group as the media component to be played back ,
The information acquisition unit transmits information indicating the capability of the own device to an external device, and acquires information on a media component within the range of the capability as a response to the transmission . The information on the media component includes information indicating a data format of the media component,
Before Kiko component selection unit, when selecting a media component of the reproduction, by referring to the data format indicated by the acquired information, and selects a media component of playable data format own device The receiving device according to claim 1. The information regarding the media component includes information indicating a transmission path for distributing the media component,
Before Kiko component selection unit, when selecting a media component of the reproduction, with reference to the transmission path in which the acquired information indicates, and selects a media component of a receivable transmission line own device The receiving device according to claim 1. The information on the media component includes information indicating a priority order in a group to which the media component belongs,
Before Kiko component selection unit, when selecting a media component of the reproduction, the receiving apparatus according to claim 2 or claim 3, characterized in that referring to the priority the acquired information indicates. A computer of a receiving device that receives content distributed by another device,
An information acquisition unit for acquiring information indicating a media component constituting the content and indicating to which group in the content the media component belongs;
A component selection unit that refers to the acquired information and selects a media component to be reproduced from among the media components constituting the content;
A program for functioning as a playback unit for playing back the selected media component,
The component selection unit refers to the acquired information, selects one media component according to the capability of the own device from the media components belonging to the one group as the media component to be played back ,
The information acquisition unit transmits information indicating a capability of the own device to an external device, and acquires information on a media component within the range of the capability as a response to the transmission .

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