JPH0918853A - Multimedia communication system and terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To properly charge a sponsor for CM presented by this sponsor on a multimedia network. CONSTITUTION: A terminal equipment 20 for information presenter receives information which is sent from a user through the network and indicates whether he will receive CM or not. When he will receive CM, a CM insertion part 23 inserts CM, which is taken out from a CM data base 22, to video information taken out from a video on demand library 21 and transmits it to the user from a control part 24 through a communication interface 26 and the network. Simultaneously, an accounting part 25 transmits on claim for information the charge to a sponsor. If the user will not receive CM, only video information is transmitted, and the sponsor is not charged.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multimedia communication system for transmitting information such as moving image data, still image data, audio data, computer data, and a terminal device used for the same, and more particularly to charging for providing information. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various communication networks have been developed, such as maintenance of optical fiber networks in trunk communication networks, realization of B-ISDN using them, spread of cable systems, practical use of communication satellites, spread of local networks, etc. Are being rapidly developed and their interconnections are being actively made. On the other hand, by using these information communication networks, not only character data but also still images, audio,
Information called so-called multimedia such as moving images is being exchanged on a global scale. Under such circumstances, the information service industry using the multimedia information network is rapidly expanding. For example, the following information services have been developed and deployed on the premise of multimedia information networks.

(1) Video-on-demand in which the user can access the video library from the terminal and select / watch the favorite one. (2) Select the favorite one from the game library,
Game network to play with distant people (3) Information retrieval service that accesses various databases and calls necessary information (4) Search for and purchase the desired product from hundreds of thousands of products. (5) Attendance TV where users participate (6) A video conference where people who are far away are discussing while sharing materials

In putting these services into practical use,
The billing technology of "delivering the price of the used service to the service provider surely" occupies an important position. In particular, if you consider copyright issues such as illegal copying of information and software,
This is a life and death problem for the information service industry on the premise of the multimedia information network described above.

However, the conventional billing system is a monthly billing system which is unrelated to the frequency of use such as a cable television system or satellite broadcasting, or a use which is unrelated to the type and quality of information such as a computer usage service. In many cases, it was a charging system in which only the frequency (or usage time) was counted. Or, in the case of a two-way system such as personal computer communication, etc., the charge for the one that provides information uses a fee system consisting of two times communication time and communication speed, but I want to send information even if I pay the price I could not fully meet the demands of those. In addition, CATV or the like only unilaterally issues a commercial advertisement and is not charged according to the viewing frequency of the user who receives the commercial advertisement. In addition, the person who sends the information is charged, and the person who receives the information does not have to pay the fee when the information is received, and the proper charge has not been made for transmitting and receiving the information.

[0006]

The conventional charging method that does not depend on the type and quality of the information and services as described above is to cope with various information and services that are expected to further expand in the future. Is difficult, and proper billing has been an important issue.

The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and an object thereof is to provide a multimedia communication system and a terminal device which can appropriately charge additional information such as commercial advertisements. To do.

[0008]

According to the invention of claim 1, a user terminal device for a user to receive information, and information used by an information provider for providing the information to the user. In order to charge the sponsor a terminal device for the provider, a sponsor terminal device used by the sponsor of the additional information, a network to which each of the terminal devices is connected, and an amount of money according to the additional information received by the user. And the charging means of.

According to the invention of claim 6, the user is provided with a receiving means for receiving the information through the network, and a selecting means for selecting whether or not to receive the additional information added to the information.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a terminal device for an information provider used in a communication system in which an information provider transmits information through a network in response to a request from the recipient. Accordingly, insertion means for inserting additional information into the above information is provided.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information provider terminal device used by an information provider for providing information in response to a request from a recipient, the additional information other than the information requested by the recipient. When receiving, the charging means is provided for charging the amount of money according to the additional information to the terminal device that transmitted the additional information.

[0012]

According to the present invention, when the user receives the additional information, the charging means charges the sponsor, so that the burden on the user is lightened and the additional information is used by the sponsor. It is possible for them to make fair and appropriate charges.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a user terminal device 10 used by a user in a multimedia network. This terminal device 10 has a communication interface 1 for communicating with the outside.
1. A user input / output unit 12 for displaying a transmitted signal on a display (not shown), designating a signal channel, etc., indicating whether or not a user has received a commercial advertisement (hereinafter referred to as CM) as additional information. A CM selection unit 13 that specifies selection by a keyboard or a switch, performs signal conversion such as converting a signal sent from the communication interface 11 from digital to analog, and specifies the user input / output unit 12 and the CM selection unit 13. It has a control unit 14 for selecting a signal according to the above.

The terminal device 10 performs input and output by the user, and in particular, the user can select via the control unit 14 and the communication interface 11 by setting in the CM selection unit 13 whether or not to receive the CM. Particularly in the case of video-on-demand, the CM selection by the user is sent to the information provider via the communication interface 11 together with the designation of the request information in advance. In addition, the information provider performs the process of inserting or not inserting the CM into the original information.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of an information provider terminal device 20 used by an information provider in a multimedia network. The terminal device 20 includes a video-on-demand library 21 that holds a large number of video works, a CM database 22 that holds a large number of CMs, a CM insertion unit 23 that inserts a CM into a video work at the request of the user, and a video at the request of the user. A control unit 24 that searches for a work from the on-demand library 21 or the CM database 22 and controls the insertion of a CM, and a fee charged by the control unit 24 depending on the presence or absence of a CM for the user and the sponsor. Part 2
5. A communication interface 26 for exchanging information between the transmission line and the control unit 24.

The terminal device 20 transmits information, which is mainly video, to the user via the communication interface 26 according to the designation of the user. When the user specifies the insertion of the CM, the control unit 24 manages to extract the video and audio of the CM from the CM database 22, and the CM insertion unit 23 inserts the CM on the video-on-demand signal at an appropriate timing. It When viewing a work with a commercial inserted, the sponsor charges a fee corresponding to the video-on-demand work in the charging unit 25, and the user can watch the work for free or at a lower charge than when there is no advertisement. .

When the user does not select the CM, the control section 24 manages the video-on-demand video and audio information to be sent as it is. In this case, the charging unit 25 charges the user terminal device 10 connected to the communication interface 26 with the amount of money according to the video-on-demand work.

As shown in FIG. 3, the billing unit 25 comprises a billing database 27, a cumulative amount storage device 28 and a billing device 29, and the control unit 24 informs the billing unit 25 of the person to be billed and the type of service. Then, the cumulative amount of money of the target person is read from the cumulative amount of money storage device 28 to the charging device 29, and the amount of money according to the type of service is calculated by the charging device 29 by the charging database 27 and transmitted to the sponsor through the communication interface 26. To be The accumulated amount storage device 28 can be omitted when the payment is made each time. Charges are billed to the user and sponsor respectively.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a sponsor terminal device 30 used by a sponsor in a multimedia network. The terminal device 30 includes a communication interface 32 for exchanging information between the transmission line and the control unit 31, and a control unit 3 for controlling the communication interface 32 and the sponsor input / output unit 33.
1. The sponsor comprises a sponsor input / output unit 33 for displaying or changing the charge amount. Further, if necessary, a billing database 34 for storing billing requests from each information provider and billing amounts for each CM is added.

In the above configuration, when an information provider charges a bill via the communication interface 32, this information is output to the sponsor input / output unit 33 to inform the sponsor of the billing details. In addition, the charging database 34
If there is a billing request from each information provider and each CM
It is also possible to store the billing amount of.

FIG. 5 shows each of the above-mentioned terminal devices 10, 20, 3
1 shows a multimedia communication system configured by connecting 0 to a network 40. In the illustrated example, two terminal devices 10, 20, 30 are used, but at least one terminal device may be used. As the network 40, for example, an ATM network is used. In the following description, the terminal devices 10, 20, 30 are simply referred to as a user 10, an information provider 20, and a sponsor 30, respectively, for the sake of clarity.

In the above configuration, when a user 10 requests one information provider 20 for a service with a video-on-demand CM, the user 10 first connects to the information provider 20 to connect to the video with CM. Make an on-demand bill. Subsequently, the information provider 20 uses the CM insertion unit 23 to
The CM from the M database 22 is inserted into the video information from the video-on-demand library 21 and sent to the user 10. Subsequently, the charging unit 25 of the information provider 20 notifies the sponsor 30 of the charging data and charges the charging amount. At this time, if the amount of the charge is not the burden of the sponsor 30, the user 10
Will also be charged a portion of the charge.

When the user 10 makes a request for a service without a CM, the user 10 connects to the information provider 20 and makes a video-on-demand request without a CM.
Then, the information provider 20 sends the video information of the video-on-demand library 21 to the user 10. Subsequently, the charging data of the charging unit 25 of the information provider 20 is notified to the user 10, and the charging amount is charged.

When the user 10 requests the service with CM, the information provider 20 may change the charge amount charged to the sponsor 30 according to the frequency of viewing. In that case, the charge amount may be set in the charge database 27 according to the viewing frequency. Furthermore, when the user 10 exceeds a certain viewing frequency for the same service, the charge amount may be capped. That is, when the number of times exceeds a certain number, the charge amount is set to zero.
Depending on the case, the number of times may be only once.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the sponsor is charged according to the additional information such as the CM received by the user, when the person who receives the additional information such as the CM by multimedia receives or uses the additional information, the user is not charged. Since the sponsor, who is the information sender, can be charged, the user can obtain the information with a lighter burden, a fair and appropriate fee system can be realized, and the quality of the multimedia network service can be improved.

Further, according to the inventions of claims 6 and 7, a user terminal device suitable for a multimedia network,
A terminal device for an information provider can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a user terminal device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a terminal device for an information provider.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a charging unit of the information provider terminal device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a sponsor terminal device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a multimedia communication system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 User Terminal Device 11 CM Selection Unit 14 Control Unit 20 Information Provider Terminal Device 21 Video-on-Demand Library 22 CM Database 23 CM Insertion Unit 24 Control Unit 25 Charging Unit 30 Sponsor Terminal Device 31 Control Unit 33 Sponsor Input / Output Part 34 Billing database 40 Network

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A user terminal device for a user to receive information, an information provider terminal device used by an information provider for providing the above information to the user, and added to the above information. A sponsor terminal device used by a sponsor to provide the additional information, a network to which each of the terminal devices is connected, and a charging means for charging the sponsor with an amount of money according to the additional information received by the user. Multimedia communication system with. 2. The multimedia communication system according to claim 1, wherein said charging means charges the sponsor with an amount of money according to the frequency with which said user receives said additional information. 3. The multimedia communication system according to claim 1, wherein the charging means comprises means for limiting the number of times the sponsor is charged for the same additional information. 4. The multi according to claim 1, wherein the sponsor terminal device is provided with an output means for outputting the billing information when the information provider terminal device charges for the additional information. Media communication system. 5. The multimedia communication system according to claim 4, wherein said sponsor terminal device is provided with a storage means for storing the billing amount of said billing information and said additional information. 6. A user terminal device comprising: a receiving means for a user to receive information through a network; and a selecting means for selecting whether or not to receive additional information added to the information. 7. A terminal device for an information provider used in a communication system in which an information provider transmits information through a network in response to a request from a recipient, and is added to the information in response to the request from the recipient. A terminal device for an information provider, which comprises an inserting means for inserting information. 8. An information provider terminal device used by an information provider for providing information in response to a request from a recipient, wherein when additional information other than the information requested by the recipient is received. A terminal device for an information provider, which is provided with a charging means for charging a terminal device which has transmitted the additional information, an amount of money corresponding to the additional information.