KR20080009623A - System and method for the continuous display of grouped and independent multiple contents - Google Patents

Abstract

A system and a method for continuously displaying grouped independent contents are provided to enable contents positioned after selected contents to be automatically downloaded and provided to a user when the user selects the contents to view, thereby automatically reproducing the closely associated contents such as series and a through-composed work and conveniently viewing contents. A method for continuously displaying plural contents comprises the following steps of: requesting the transmission of first contents to a contents server(S512); receiving information about second contents with a predetermined relation to the first contents out of the grouped contents when the first contents are one of the grouped contents while receiving the first contents from the contents server(S514); and requesting the transmission of the second contents to the contents server when the first contents are completely received from the contents server.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THE CONTINUOUS DISPLAY OF GROUPED AND INDEPENDENT MULTIPLE CONTENTS}

1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a network configuration of a system for continuous playback of a plurality of grouped independent contents according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a set-top box according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a service providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a sequence diagram illustrating a method of continuously playing back a plurality of grouped independent contents according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation performed in the set top box according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation performed in a content server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to content playback techniques, and more particularly, to a system and method for continuous playback of two or more grouped contents.

Recently, the standardization of digital broadcasting is progressing rapidly. Digital broadcasting has the advantage of being able to compress information data compared to analog broadcasting, and have high transmission speed and excellent sound quality and image quality. Such digital broadcasting is being applied to communication technology and its applicability is gradually expanding. IPTV (Internet protocol television) is located at the convergence of broadcasting and communication. IPTV provides various advantages through the convergence of broadcasting technology and communication technology. For example, IPTV provides users with digitized content by using the Internet network as a broadcasting network. Various tasks such as forum participation can be performed through the same network.

The hottest spot on IPTV is Video On Demand (VOD). In general, video-on-demand service is a service that mainly provides a large amount of video content in real time according to the user's request, the main service targets video content such as movies, dramas, music video, etc. It may also include services that provide on-demand, various digital data such as photos, games, documents, and the like.

See US Pat. Nos. 4,506,387, 4,890,320, 4,995,078, 5,063,610, 5,206,722, 5,253,275 for more details on ordering and viewing video on demand through digital broadcast. However, the prior art does not specifically mention the continuous reproduction of the series.

The series generally exists independently as a plurality of contents. For example, the television program "Lovers in Paris" has been broadcast a total of 20 times, and they exist as independent contents in the form of lovers 1, 2, 3, ... and 20 in Paris, respectively. According to the conventional method, when the user wants to see all the lovers 1-20 in Paris, the user needs to select an excessive operation such as having to select the lovers 1, 2, 3, ... and 20 in Paris one by one. Has a problem in that it has to take the hassle when it wants to receive a series of contents continuously.

One object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for continuously playing two or more grouped pieces of independent content, even if the user does not select each content separately.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a method of continuously receiving and playing a plurality of contents from a content server through a network is provided. According to the method, requesting the transmission of the first content to the content server, and in addition to receiving the first content from the content server, when the first content is one of a plurality of grouped content grouping Receiving information of the second content having a predetermined relation with the first content among the plurality of contents, and if the reception of the first content is completed from the content server, transferring the second content to the content server. Requesting a song is performed.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of continuously transmitting a plurality of contents to a terminal via a network is provided. According to this method, the method comprises: receiving a request for transmission of first content from the terminal, determining whether the first content is one of a plurality of grouped contents, and wherein the first content is among the plurality of grouped contents; Collecting information of second content having a predetermined relation with the first content among the plurality of grouped contents, and transmitting the information of the second content to the terminal together with the first content. Step is performed.

According to another feature of the present invention, a terminal is connected to a content server via a network to receive a plurality of contents. The terminal includes a data receiving unit for receiving first content from the content server, a content storage unit for storing the first content for a predetermined period, a content processing and control unit for processing and controlling the first content, 1 includes a decoder for decoding the content to provide to the user. In this case, when the first content is one of a plurality of grouped contents, the data receiver further includes information of the second content corresponding to the next round of the first content among the grouped contents from the content server. When the reception of the first content is completed, the content processing and control unit requests the content server to transmit the second content.

According to another feature of the invention, there is provided a content providing system for continuously transmitting a plurality of contents to a terminal via a network. The content providing system includes a content group database for maintaining content group information about a plurality of grouped contents, a plurality of grouped contents, and sending the contents to the terminal in response to a request from the terminal. It includes a content server to transmit.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a network configuration of a system for continuous playback of a plurality of grouped independent contents according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present system, one or more user set top boxes 102 are connected to the service providing system 104 via the network 108. The set top box 102 may additionally also be connected to the DNS server 106 via the network 108. The set top box 102 and the service providing system 104 and the DNS server 106 may communicate via a network 108, whereby the network 108 may be used, for example, an IP based network, It is not limited to using an IP-based network, but can be applied to other types of networks in addition to maintaining the technical spirit of the present invention.

In such a network configuration, the set top box 102 requests the specific content to be transmitted to the service providing system 104 via the network 108, and the service providing system 104 responds to the network 108 in response. To provide the requested content to the set-top box 102. The content may be, for example, Video On Demand (VOD), but the invention is not limited to video on demand. The set top box 102 downloads the content provided from the service providing system 104 and stores the content internally. In this case, the set top box 102 may be configured to start playback of the corresponding content even if the download is completed. Can be. In addition, when the set-top box 102 connects to the service providing system 104, the DNS server 106 may be connected via an address (eg, an IP address) that can be directly connected to the service providing system 104. Is used, it is also possible to connect to the service providing system 104 via an identifier (eg, a domain name) that can be translated into an address that can be directly connected to the service providing system 104. In this case, prior to accessing the service providing system 104, the set top box 102 may first request the DNS server 106 to convert the domain name into an IP address.

2 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a set-top box according to an embodiment of the present invention. The set top box 102 may include an input signal receiver 202, a data receiver 204, a data processing and control unit 206, a decoder 208, and a network interface 210. The set top box 102 may further include a storage such as a reconstruction algorithm storage 212, a random access memory (RAM) 214, and a content storage 216. The input signal receiver 202 receives an input signal from a user. The input signal may be, for example, an input signal for selecting a program that the user wants to watch. The data receiver 204 may be used to receive data delivered from the service providing system 104 via the network 108. The received data may include, for example, an electronic program guide (EPG) and content data. The data processing and control unit 206 processes and controls various data including the EPG and content data. The decoder 208 decodes the content and displays the content on a display unit (not shown) connected to the set top box 102. The display may be, for example, a television. The decoder 208 may be configured as, for example, a decoding dedicated chip that stores a content execution program. In this case, the display unit may decode the content received from the service providing system using the content execution program and process the content on the display unit. Can be converted to a form. The network interface 210 provides network related infrastructure services so that the set top box can communicate over the network 108.

The reconstruction algorithm storage unit 212 stores a reconstruction algorithm for decrypting the encrypted content. The reconstruction algorithm storage unit 212 may be made of, for example, a flash memory. The RAM 214 may be used to temporarily store data processing and data processed by the controller. The content storage unit 216 may be used to store the content received by the user for a predetermined period of time (eg, 3 days). After the predetermined period of time, the corresponding content may be set to be automatically deleted. The content storage unit 216 may be configured using, for example, a large capacity hard disk.

3 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a service providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The service providing system 104 may include a headend server 302 and one or more content servers 304. The headend server 302 maintains user information and content information. The headend server 302 may also maintain menu / service related metadata for set top boxes. In this case, the user information may include user identification information, user charging information, paid channel information subscribed to by the user, and the like. The headend server 302, based on the user information, performs authentication and access authority for the user. In addition, the content information includes information related to the content, for example, a list of contents that can be provided to the user, whether or not the specific content is paid content.

However, the content itself may not be maintained by the headend server 302, in which case the content is managed by the content server 304. In this case, the content information stored in the headend server 302 may further include an identifier of the content server 304 in which the content is stored and an identifier (eg, a file name) of the content in the corresponding content server 304. . In this configuration, when new content is distributed, the operator updates the content information of the headend server 302 and stores the new content in the content server 304. The content stored in the content server 304 may be compressed and stored in, for example, an H.264 format.

The service provision system 104 may further include a load balancer server 306. When there are a plurality of content servers 304, the load balancer server 306 determines the optimal content server 304 in consideration of traffic and the like, and transfers the content from the determined content server 304 to the set-top box 102. To be provided.

Under the above configuration, the set top box 102 cooperates with the service providing system 104 to provide various information such as metadata and content to the user. For example, the set top box 102 responds to a request for video content on demand by a user, requests the video content on demand from the service providing system 104 via the network 108, and requests the service from the service providing system 104. Video content data and the like.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the set top box 102 may first connect to the headend server 302 to receive content information from the headend server 302. In this case, the set-top box 102 may store address (eg, IP address) information that can be directly connected to the headend server 302, and an identifier (eg, a domain name) that can be converted into the direct access address. ) May be stored. If the domain name is stored in the set-top box 102, the set-top box transmits the domain name to the DNS server 106 via the network 108, and the IP address corresponding to the domain name from the DNS server 106. Received, and can be connected to the head-end server 302 using the received IP address. The content information received from the headend server 302 may include an identifier of the content server 304 in which the actual content is stored and an identifier (eg, a file name) of the content in the corresponding content server 304. When the user wants to watch a specific content, the set-top box 102 uses an identifier of the content server 304 in which the content is stored and an identifier (eg, a file name) of the content in the content server 304. The server accesses the content server 304, receives the corresponding content, and displays the content through a display unit (not shown). Various information such as content information and content data transmitted through the network 108 may be processed by the set-top box 102 and then provided to the user through the display unit.

The identifier of the content server 304 may be an address (for example, an IP address) for directly accessing an actual content server, but may be a server name (for example, a domain name) that may correspond to a plurality of content servers 304. It may be. In this case, the set top box 102 may be configured to pass through the load balancer server 306 to receive content from the actual content server 304 using the identifier of the content server 304. According to one embodiment, the set-top box 102 transmits the identifier of the content server 304 to the load balancer server 306, the load balancer server 306 is a plurality of identifiers corresponding to the identifier of the content server 304 Selecting an optimal content server 304 in consideration of factors such as traffic among the content servers of the server, and configured to respond to the set-top box 102 an address (for example, an IP address) that can directly access the selected content server 304 Can be. The set top box 102 may store the address of the content server 304 received from the load balancing server 306 in a storage such as a RAM 214.

In the above, the load balancing server 306 has been described separately from the headend server 302, but according to one embodiment, the load balancing server 306 will be co-located on the same server as the headend server 302. Can be. In addition, the set-top box 102 has been described as receiving the content information from the head-end server 302, and requests the actual content server address to the load balancer server 306, according to one embodiment, the head-end server 302 Prior to sending the content information to the set top box 102, the headend server 302 communicates with the load balancer server 306 to select the optimal content server 304, which is selected as the set top box 102. It may also be configured to send an address directly accessible to the content server 304. In this case, the set top box 102 does not need to communicate with the load balancer server 306. In addition, a load balancer server 306 is present between the one or more content servers 304 and the set-top box 102 to receive a request from the set-top box 102 to select a content server selected from the one or more content servers 304. It is also possible to be configured to forward to 304.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when a plurality of independently existing contents have a predetermined relationship, for example, the plurality of contents are combined with each other to form one completed content, such as the above-described "lover of Paris". When the completed contents are related to each other, such as a series or a general son 1 and a general son 2, these series or series are grouped into a group. In the above, the case where the series or series is grouped into one group has been described, but it is not necessary that the grouping or grouping into one group is necessarily a series or series, and one or more contents related to each other by a predetermined criterion or selection is sufficient. Do.

Such grouping information may be maintained at the headend server 302, where the service providing system 104 may further include a storage, such as a content group database 308, for maintaining grouping information. The end server 302 may be linked with the content group database 308. For example, "Paris Lovers 1-20" can be grouped under the group name "Paris Lovers", in which case the content group database 308 includes the group names "Paris Lovers" and "Paris Lovers 1-20". Connection information can be stored. As a specific example, the content group database 308 may be configured to have a structure as shown in Table 1, for example, as a relational database. However, this is merely illustrated to schematically describe an embodiment of the present invention, and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various data structures that can be conceived by those skilled in the art can be used without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. .

Content group Play order contents Download address ... Paris Lovers One Lovers in Paris 1 http://contents.hanaro.com/paris01 ... Paris Lovers 2 Paris Lovers 2 http://contents.hanaro.com/paris02 ... ... ... ... ... ... Paris Lovers 20 Paris Lovers 20 http://contents.hanaro.com/paris20 ...

Hereinafter, a method of continuously playing back a plurality of grouped independent contents according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 4. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating a method of continuously playing a plurality of grouped independent contents according to an embodiment of the present invention.

When the user selects a specific group, for example, the group name "Lovers in Paris," in response to the selection, the set-top box 102 requests the headend server 302 for content information about the selected content group (S402). . Upon receiving the request, the headend server 302 collects content information of the corresponding content group and transfers the collected content information to the set top box 102 (S404). In order to collect the content information, the headend server 302 may refer to the content group database 308, and the collected content information includes a list of individual contents belonging to the content group, that is, the content group "Lovers in Paris". In this case, a list such as "Lovers in Paris 1", "Lovers in Paris 2", ..., and "Lovers in Paris 20" may be included. The collected content information also includes information about the entire content group, that is, a description of the drama "Paris Lover" in the case of the content group "Paris Lover" (for example, director, actor, summary plot, etc.). It may be included as. Although not shown, the headend server 302 receives user information of the user before collecting the content information or delivering the collected content information to the set-top box 102 and based on the received user information. Authentication and access authority can be performed.

The set-top box 102 receiving the content information requests the content server 304 to transmit specific content (hereinafter referred to as "first content") among the contents included in the selected content group (S406). In this case, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the set-top box 102 provides the user with a list of contents included in the selected content group as a selection window to determine the first content, and the user selects from the list of contents. The user may select content to watch. For example, in the case of the "Paris Lovers" group, the set-top box 102 is connected to the "Paris Lovers 1", "Paris Lovers 2", "Paris Lovers 3", ... and "Paris Lovers 20" via the display unit. The user may provide a selection window including “,” and the user 128 may select the content to be viewed, and receive the corresponding selection signal through the input signal receiving unit 112. Assuming that the user has already watched up to three lovers in Paris, the user may choose to play four lovers in Paris.

Herein, the set-top box 102 provides a selection window to the user and receives a selection signal from the user in order to determine the content to be played. However, this is merely illustrative, and in some cases, the first policy may be set according to a predetermined policy. The content may be selected automatically. In addition, when there is only one content included in the content group, the content group may be configured to immediately request the corresponding content without providing a selection window. In addition, in the process of requesting the content server 304 to transmit the content to the set-top box 102, an additional operation such as selecting an appropriate content server 304 among the one or more content servers through the load balancing server 306 or the like. This can be done, in which case an additional effect of load balancing can occur.

The content server 304 that has been requested to transmit the first content from the set top box 102 begins to transmit the requested first content to the set top box 102, and the set top box 102 includes the content server 304. Downloading of the first content transmitted from the server is started (S408). On the other hand, when the first content is one of the grouped contents, the content server 304 delivers the first content to the set-top box 102, and the next next content of the first content from the selected content group. Information for specifying the is transmitted to the set-top box 102. As a specific example, when "Paris Lover 4" is requested as the first content in the "Lovers in Paris" content group, the content server 304 may request "Lovers 4 in Paris," which is the first content requested to the set-top box 102. In addition, the request message for downloading the next round content "lover of Paris 5" may be delivered together with the content "lover of Paris 4". According to a specific embodiment, a request message for requesting "Lovers 5 in Paris" may be inserted in the header of the "Paris Lovers 4" content.

Meanwhile, when at least a portion of the first content is downloaded, the set top box 102 may start playback of the first content and provide it to the user through the display unit (S410). In this case, in parallel with the playback of the first content (S410), the download of the first content (S408) may be continued. According to a specific embodiment, the data processing and control unit 206 of the set-top box 102 stores the content data downloaded from the content server 304 in the content storage unit 216, where the data processing and control unit 206 Even if only a part of the entire contents (for example, 24MB of 3GB) is stored, it can command the start of content reproduction, in which case the download of the content continues in parallel with the content being played. When the start of content reproduction is commanded, the encrypted content is decrypted using the restoration algorithm stored in the restoration algorithm storage unit 212 and transmitted to the decoder 208, and the decoder 208 transmits the decrypted content to the decoder 208. The content can be displayed on the display using a content execution program stored in

Subsequently, when the download of the first content (S408) is completed, even if playback of the first content (S410) is being continued, the set-top box 102 transmits the next turn content (hereinafter referred to as "second content"). The content server 304 may be requested to give (S412). That is, even while the first content is being played back (S410), the second content may be requested to be sent (S412). Accordingly, the second content may be downloaded (S414). According to the above example, when the download of the content "Paris Lover 4" is completed, a message requesting to transmit the next next content "Paris Lover 5" is delivered to the content server 304 even if there is no input by the user. Download can be started. In addition, when the downloading of the second content (S414) is in progress, when the reproduction of the first content (S410) is completed, the reproduction of the second content (S416) may be started soon. By repeatedly performing the above process until the next next content does not exist, independent grouped content can be continuously played. According to the above example, the content server 404 that has received the request "S Paris lover 20" which is the last round of the "Lovers in Paris" content group (S412) sets the content "Paris Lover 20" in step S420 in the set-top box. In step 102, since the next round does not exist in the corresponding content group, the next round is not transmitted. When the set-top box 102 finishes downloading the content "Paris Lover 20", the next round of content does not exist, so the continuous playback of the content is terminated at this point.

In the above, the configuration in which continuous playback is performed by transmitting a request message for requesting the next round content together with the first content selected from the content server 304 has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, according to another embodiment of the present invention, when the content server 304 receives the request for delivery of the first content, the content server 304 transmits the first content, and in addition to the selected content group, All request messages for all content located after the first content may be delivered to the set top box 102, and the set top box 102 may be configured to request transmission of all subsequent content based thereon.

Hereinafter, an operation performed in the set top box according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 5. The set top box 102 first determines whether a specific content group is selected by the user (S502). When a specific content group is selected by the user, the set top box 102 requests the headend server 302 to send a list of contents included in the selected content group (S504). The set top box 102 receives a list of contents from the headend server 302 (S506), and provides a list of the received contents to the user through, for example, a selection window (S508) to select a content to download from the user. Receive input.

The set-top box 102 determines whether the content to download is selected (S510), and if the content to download is selected, requests the corresponding content from the content server 304 (S512). At this time, the content server 304, when the requested content is one of the grouped content, the server for downloading the information of the next round content corresponding to the next round of the requested content in the content group, for example, the next round content As the next round content request message including the address and the file name is transmitted to the set top box 102, the set top box 102 receives the information of the next round content from the content server 304 (S514). In addition, the set-top box 102 also initiates the download of the requested content transmitted from the content server 304 (S516). In this case, the set-top box 102 may be configured to start playback of the request content if only at least a portion of the request content is downloaded, even before the entire request content is downloaded.

The set-top box 102 detects whether the download is complete (S518), and if the download of the requested content is completed, based on the received information of the next turn content, the set top box 102 determines whether the next turn content exists (S520). If there is a next turn content, the set top box 102 returns to step S512 and requests the content server 304 to send the next turn content. By repeating such a process until it is determined in step S520 that there is no next turnover content, the set-top box 102 continuously plays back the grouped content that exists independently even if there is no separate input of the user. To the user.

Hereinafter, an operation performed in a content server according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 6. When the content server 304 receives the content request from the set top box 102 (S602), it determines whether the requested content is one of the grouped contents (S604). The determination may be made based on, for example, whether an identifier indicating a content group exists in the request message for requesting the content, and whether the content requested in the content group database 308 belongs to a predetermined content group. It may be made by a variety of methods that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art. If it is determined in step S604 that the requested content corresponds to one of the grouped contents, the content server 304 is the information of the next round of content corresponding to the next round of the requested content among the grouped contents. For example, the URI (Universal Resource Identifier) required for downloading the next round of content is inquired in the content group database 308 (S606), and the information on the next round of inquired content is transmitted to the set-top box 102 (S608). . In addition, the content server 304 also transmits the requested content itself to the set top box 102 (S610). In addition, the information of the next next content may be transmitted together with the requested content, or the requested content may be transmitted in time earlier than the information of the next next content. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S604 that the requested content does not correspond to one of the grouped contents, since there is no next next content, the process proceeds directly to step S610 to request the requested content. To the set top box 102.

In the present specification, "grouped contents" refers to contents collectively managed as a group. They exist independently. Users can arbitrarily select one of the grouped contents. By this selection, the next episode content is automatically downloaded. Specifically, in "XXX1", "XXX2", "XXX3" and "XXX4" belonging to a specific group name "XXX", each of these selections are made independently, but when "XXX2" is selected, "XXX3" and " Download and display of XXX4 "are done automatically.

While various embodiments of the invention have been described above, these are presented by way of example only, and not limitation of the invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

The method according to the invention facilitates the viewing of a plurality of independent contents produced in series. Specifically, when the user selects the content to watch, the content located after the selected content is automatically downloaded and provided to the user. Therefore, closely related contents such as series, series, and the like are continuously reproduced, and viewing thereof becomes more convenient.

Claims (19)

As a method of receiving and playing a plurality of contents from a content server continuously over a network, a) requesting the content server to transmit first content; b) in addition to receiving the first content from the content server, when the first content is one of a plurality of grouped contents, second content having a predetermined relation with the first content among the plurality of grouped contents. Receiving information from, c) requesting transmission of the second content to the content server when reception of the first content from the content server is completed; A continuous playback method of a plurality of content comprising a. The method of claim 1, And a second content having a predetermined relation with the first content is next next content of the first content. The method of claim 1, The method of continuously playing back the plurality of contents is executed in a set top box including a content storage unit capable of storing the received first content. The method of claim 3, In response to the portion of the first content being stored in the content store, initiating playback of the first content The method of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of contents. The method of claim 4, wherein Initiating storage of the second content in the content storage while the first content is playing. The method of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of contents. The method of claim 1, wherein before step a) aa) requesting a headend server for content group information including a list of the grouped plurality of contents; ab) receiving the content group information from the headend server The method of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of contents. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, Repeating steps b) and c) until all of the grouped contents have been received; The method of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of contents. A method of continuously transmitting a plurality of contents to a terminal through a network, a) receiving a request for transmission of first content from the terminal; b) determining whether the first content is one of a plurality of grouped contents; c) when the first content is one of the grouped plurality of contents, collecting information of the second content having a predetermined relation with the first content among the plurality of grouped contents; d) transmitting information of the second content together with the first content to the terminal; Including, a continuous transmission method of a plurality of content. The method of claim 8, And a second content having a predetermined relation with the first content is next next content of the first content. A terminal connected to a content server through a network to receive a plurality of contents, A data receiver configured to receive first content from the content server; A content storage unit for storing the first content for a predetermined period of time; A content processing and control unit for processing and controlling the first content; Decoder for decoding the first content and providing the user Including; When the first content is one of a plurality of grouped contents, the data receiver further receives information of the second content having a predetermined relation with the first content among the plurality of grouped contents from the content server. , When the reception of the first content is completed, the content processing and control unit requests the content server to transmit the second content. terminal. The method of claim 10, The second content having a predetermined relation with the first content is the next next content of the first content. The terminal of claim 10, wherein the content processing and control unit starts playback of the first content when some data of the entire data of the first content is stored in the content storage unit. The terminal of claim 10, wherein the content processing and control unit starts storing the second content in the content storage unit while the first content is being played. The terminal according to any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein the terminal is a user set top box. A content providing system for continuously transmitting a plurality of contents to a terminal through a network, A content group database for maintaining content group information about a plurality of grouped contents; A content server for maintaining the plurality of grouped contents and transmitting the contents to the terminal in response to a request from the terminal; Including, the content providing system. The content server of claim 15, wherein the content server transmits the content to the terminal, and transmits information of a next round content corresponding to a next round of the content among the grouped pieces of content to the terminal. Provide system. The system of claim 15, wherein the content group information includes an identifier for identifying all of the plurality of grouped contents and information about each of the contents included in the grouped plurality of contents. The method of claim 15, A headend server for providing the terminal with content group information including a list of the grouped plurality of contents. Further comprising, the content providing system. 19. The content providing system according to any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein the network is an IP based network.

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