KR20090103701A - Apparatus and method for providing contents in internet broadcasting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An apparatus and a method for providing contents in an internet broadcasting system are provided to supply user preferred contents through the user's own channel without requiring the user to change a channel. CONSTITUTION: A content provider(100) includes a main body for providing a service provider(200) with IPTV-related contents, and may be a broadcasting station or a user because a user may create and provide contents in person. The contents provided by the content provider may be divided into two types; contents scheduled according to a time schedule transmitted in real time, and contents transmitted at the request of a user regardless of time. The service provider includes a main body for managing IPTV services and providing them to a user. The service provider may simply retransmit contents, received from the content provider, without processing them, or may manipulate contents and transmit the manipulated contents to a terminal(400) at the request of a user or for the profit of the service provider. A set-top box(300) is an initial access apparatus of a user network that receives IPTV services, and serves to manage a home terminal which may include wireless terminals, and to transmit contents to the terminal. The user terminal refers to a terminal through which a user directly uses IPTV services, and includes a wireless terminal, a conventional TV set, a DLNA(Digital Living Network Alliance) device, etc. Also, the terminal may represent a plurality of terminals.

Description

Apparatus and method for providing contents in an internet broadcasting system {APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING CONTENTS IN INTERNET BROADCASTING SYSTEM}

The present invention relates to an internet broadcasting system that supports a broadcasting service (IPTV service) using IP (IP), which is an internet data transmission protocol, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for providing only a user's preferred content in an internet broadcasting system.

In the age of convergence based on IP, the convergence of communication and broadcasting is attracting attention as one of the next generation market leading technologies as a new marketable next generation new business model. In particular, IPTV, the largest axis of convergence convergence service, is a technology that enables the creation of more diverse business models and services by providing interactive services as well as providing services that combine or combine existing TV, voice, and data technologies into one. In particular, such IPTV technology is a fixed terminal such as set-top box, PC, TV, mobile terminal such as mobile phone, PDA (Personal Digital Assitant), and the like such as wired and wireless network or broadcasting network, etc. By providing a service regardless of the network, the same service can be provided and applied in various environments, and various types of services can be found by considering various environments.

1 is a diagram showing an entire domain and a value chain related to IPTV. In order to provide IPTV to a user 1100 using a service in IPTV, a consumer domain 1101, a network provider domain 1102, a platform provider domain 1103 ), IPTV Service Provider Domain 1104, and Content Provider Domain 1105 may be divided into five domains. First, the consumer domain 1101 is a domain consuming an IPTV service and may be configured as a terminal for receiving and using a service and a network (eg, a home network) composed of several terminals. The terminal may include not only a set-top box but also a portable terminal supporting a wireless environment such as a mobile phone and a PDA. The network provider domain 1102 connects users and platforms or service providers and delivers various types of services and contents. The transmission system of the network provider domain 1102 may support various transmission technologies such as wired / wireless and broadcasting, and is generally composed of an access network and a core or backbone network. The platform provider domain 1103 is a domain that provides a common service to an IPTV service provider. For example, user authentication, charging, and the like are provided. The IPTV service provider domain 1104 is a domain that provides IPTV service to the consumer domain 1101, receives content from a content provider, and packages it as a service. The content provider domain 1105 is a domain that owns and owns the content or content assets. In addition to the scheduled content service and content on-demand service in the five domains described above, various IPTV services can be provided. Form a value chain. First, the content production unit 1109 is located in the content provider domain 1105 and serves to create and edit the actual content, and the content aggregation unit 1108 is the IPTV service provider domain. It is located at 1104 and receives content from various content providers and configures various services. The content delivery unit 1107 includes a platform provider domain 1103 and a network provider domain ( It is located in the 1102 to deliver the Aggregated Contents provided from the IPTV service provider to the consumer domain (1101), the content reconstitution unit (1106) is located in the consumer domain (1101) It converts and provides the received content into a form that users can see.

In addition, IPTV services are largely divided into a managed model and an unmanaged model (Open Internet) according to whether a quality of service (QoS) is provided. According to the model, the managed model is a service provider integrated platform platform domain 1103, network provider domain 1102, IPTV service provider domain 1104, the unmanaged model is a service provider and network provider In this case, the service provider belongs to the area of the IPTV service provider domain 1104 and can be divided into separate types of transmission to other network providers (network provider domain 1102 and platform provider domain 1103).

2 is a flowchart illustrating a conventional content providing method.

As described above, the service provider 1201 may explain a corresponding role by being divided into a managed model and an unmanaged model. In the case of the unmanaged model, the network provider has a role in FIG. Although not shown in the drawings, the description will refer to the role of the network operator.

The content provider 1200 generates content and detailed information about the content in step 1204, and provides the generated content and information to the service provider 1201 in step 1205. The service provider 1201 receiving the content and the content information generates an electronics program guide (EPG) based on the received content information in step 1206. The generated EPG provides the user with detailed information about the service and content provided by the service provider 1201, a purchase method, a connection method, and the like. In step 1207, the service provider 1201 delivers the EPG to the set-top box 1202. The set top box 1202 receiving the EPG processes the EPG in step 1208 to provide processing information to the TV 1203, and the TV 1203 transmits the received processing information to the user 1100. Display.

The user 1100 selects desired content through the EPG displayed in step 1209, and transmits a request for receiving the selected content to the set-top box 1202 in step 1210, and the set-top box 1202 responds to the request message in step 1221. Processing to request the service provider 1201 to deliver the content selected by the user.

In addition, the content selected in step 1212 is delivered to the user, in which the content is delivered in various forms according to the policy of the operator, such as delivering the content stored in the service provider 1201 or received from the content provider 1200. It can be provided, and the transmission method and content type can be various forms such as streaming / downloading and real-time / non real-time. The received content is displayed to the user in step 1213.

As described above, when the internet broadcasting system supports a large number of channels using the internet network, the user has difficulty in searching for a desired channel. Accordingly, there is a need for a method of providing a user with only desired content without a procedure of searching for and moving a channel by searching for content desired by the Internet broadcasting system.

The present invention provides an apparatus and method for providing only content preferred by a user in an internet broadcasting system.

In addition, the present invention provides an apparatus and method for providing a user with only the preferred content through a user's own channel (hereinafter, referred to as a user channel) without changing the channel in the Internet broadcasting system.

In the Internet broadcasting system according to the present invention, a content providing apparatus includes a program guide search unit for searching contents corresponding to a user's preference through a program guide including all content information, and extracting the searched contents to a specific channel of the user. A user channel constructing unit constituting a user interface, a overlapping content processing unit for determining a method of processing overlapping contents when the display time overlaps between the searched contents, and corresponding contents according to a result of processing the overlapping contents. It includes a content transmission unit for providing a user.

In addition, the content providing method in the Internet broadcasting system according to the present invention, the process of searching for content that matches the user's preferences through a program guide including all the content information, and extracts the searched content to configure the specific channel of the user Determining a method of processing the overlapping contents, and providing the corresponding contents to the user according to the result of processing the overlapping contents. Include.

The present invention provides a service that continuously displays the contents desired by the user without having to search and move the channel, which is more convenient and convenient for the user to watch the Internet protocol broadcast, and the service provider provides such services. Can create.

1 is a diagram showing an entire domain and a value chain related to IPTV,

2 is a flowchart illustrating a conventional content providing method;

3A is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for providing content according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3B is a view illustrating a case in which the content providing device 2000 according to an embodiment of the present invention is located in the set top box 300;

4 is a block diagram illustrating a content search and processing unit of FIG. 3 in detail;

5 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of an epg;

6 is a flowchart illustrating a content providing method according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of configuring a user channel in step 625 of FIG. 6 in detail;

8 is a flowchart illustrating a content providing method according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

9 is a flowchart illustrating steps 855 to 875 of FIG. 8 in detail;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of selecting and selecting information provided by a user to know a propensity for content according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

11 is a view showing an example of a user channel according to the user reference of FIG. 10 among received EPGs according to an embodiment of the present invention;

12 is a flowchart illustrating a content providing method according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings a detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. It should be noted that the same components in the figures represent the same numerals wherever possible.

In addition, specific details appear in the following description, which is provided to help a more general understanding of the present invention, and it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. Will do. In the following description of the present invention, detailed descriptions of related well-known functions or configurations will be omitted when it is determined that the detailed descriptions may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention.

 In the following description will be presented a representative embodiment in the present invention for achieving the above technical problem. In addition, for convenience of description of the present invention, the names of entities defined in the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), which is an asynchronous mobile communication standard, or OIF (Open IPTV Forum), which is a standard organization of Internet protocol TV, will be identically used. And names do not limit the scope of the invention, but are of course applicable to systems having a similar technical background.

3A is a block diagram illustrating a content providing apparatus 2000 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3B illustrates a case in which the content providing apparatus 2000 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is located in the set top box 300. Drawing.

Referring to FIG. 3A, a content providing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is configured with each logical object and a function for configuring each object required for the present invention in an existing IPTV apparatus. The configuration of the content providing apparatus 2000 of FIG. 3A will be described below as the configuration of the set-top box 300 of FIG. 3B.

Referring to FIG. 3A, a content providing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is configured with each logical object and a function for configuring each object required for the present invention in an existing IPTV apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 3B, the content provider 100 may be a broadcasting station as a subject providing IPTV-related content to the service provider 200, or may be a user because the user directly generates and provides the content. The content provided by the content provider 100 may be classified into content transmitted according to a user's request regardless of the scheduled content and time according to a time schedule transmitted in real time.

The service provider 200 manages and provides an IPTV service to a user. The service provider 200 may simply retransmit the content received from the content provider 100 without processing, or may manipulate and transmit the content to the user at the request of the user or for the profit of the service provider.

The set-top box 300 is an initial access device of a user network that receives an IPTV service and manages various terminals 400 in a home including a wireless terminal and transmits contents to the terminal 400.

The user terminal 400 refers to a terminal where a user directly uses an IPTV service, and includes a wireless terminal, a conventional TV, and a DLNA device.

The set top box 300 is made by adding a logical object having a specific function to a conventional set top box that serves to retransmit real-time content according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The content providing apparatus 2000 of FIG. 3A configured in the set-top box 300 may include an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) receiver 310, a content receiver 320, a first command transceiver 330, and the like. Private video recording (PVR) local storage 340, a second command transmission / reception unit 350, a content transmission unit 360, a user channel configuration unit 370, a content retrieval unit 380, , A user symbol storage unit 420, and an EPG transmitter 365. The logical objects in FIG. 3A are only in accordance with one embodiment of the invention and do not limit the rights of the invention.

The EPG receiver 310 receives the EPG provided by the service provider for the IPTV service and delivers the EPG to the content search and processing unit 380. The EPG is a program guide that contains information about the contents provided for the IPTV service. For example, tag information representing a channel name, a program name, a viewing time, a genre, and a feature may be formed as shown in FIG. 5. 5 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment 510 of an EPG.

The content search and processing unit 380 searches for at least one content corresponding to the user's preference based on the user's preference stored in advance using the transferred EPG.

The user channel configuration unit 370 reconstructs the delivered contents into one channel. When the content broadcast time overlaps, a necessary method is determined to transmit a related command to the first command transmitter / receiver 330 for nPVR (Non Private Video Recording) and to command content recording to the PVR local storage 340. In addition, the content transmitter 360 transmits a signal to the terminal according to the reconfigured user channel. The PVR local storage 340 stores the delivered content in a home storage. The content stored in the PVR local storage 340 is content in which the user channel configuration unit 370 gives a PVR command among contents received by the content receiving unit 320.

The content transmitter 360 transmits content to the terminal by configuring a user channel. The content receiver 320 functions to receive content from the service provider 200. The first command transceiver 330 transmits and receives a command between the service provider 200 and the set-top box 300. In the present invention, the set-top box 300 transmits and receives an nPVR request related command to the service provider 200.

The second command transmitter / receiver 350 transmits and receives commands between the terminals 400, and according to the present invention, requests / receives user's preference information.

The user preference storage unit 420 is a block for storing the content consumption tendency of the user, and may be directly input by the user, or the set-top box 300 may analyze and store the content consumption tendency of the dictionary. The EPG transmitter 365 receives the reconfigured EPG from the user channel configuration unit 370 and transmits the EPG to the terminal.

4 is a block diagram illustrating in detail the user channel configuration unit 370 of FIGS. 3A and 3B.

Referring to FIG. 4, a recording location determiner 430, an overlapping content processing method determiner 440, and a content screening time checker 450 are included.

The content screening time checker 450 checks the screening time of the extracted content to determine whether there is overlapping content.

The overlapping content processing method determination unit 440 determines how to process overlapping content. For example, the overlapping content of the overlapping content is recorded by using the PVR or nPVR function, and then the screening of the content that was previously viewed is performed. Send when finished. The recording location determiner 430 is a block that determines where to store the overlapping display time, and is stored on the network of the service provider 200 to be stored in the PVR local storage 340 in the set-top box 300. Decide if you want to store it in the repository.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a content providing method according to a first embodiment of the present invention. A content providing apparatus for a user channel is located in a home IPTV device, that is, the set-top box 300, and the user channel configuration is set-up box 300. Pertains to an embodiment to be implemented.

Referring to FIG. 6, the content provider 100 generates information about content to be provided in step 605. In operation 607, the content provider 100 delivers the generated content information to the service provider 200. The service provider 200 generates an EPG for the IPTV service based on the received content information in step 610 and delivers the generated EPG to the set-top box 300 in step 620. Before that, the set-top box 300 grasps content consumption tendency for each user or terminal through interaction with the terminal 400.

In operation 613, the set-top box 300 requests the terminal 400 for the user's preferences. In step 615, the terminal 400 transmits the content symbol to the set top box 300 for each user ID or terminal ID. Then, when the user wants to experience the service for the user channel, the terminal 400 transmits a service request message to the set-top box 300 including the user ID or the device ID in step 617. The set-top box 300 receiving the user channel service request message configures what content is transmitted to the user and when the user channel is transmitted in step 625 based on the EPG received in step 620. In operation 670, the set-top box 300 transmits content to the terminal 400 according to the configured user channel.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of configuring a user channel in step 625 of FIG. 6.

Referring to FIG. 7, the set-top box 300 checks the broadcasting time by looking at the EPG received in step 630 to check whether there is overlapping content, and in step 635, the PVR local storage 340 displays the content that is partially overlapped. Decide if you want to record on the network or storage on the network. In operation 640, the message request for recording of the corresponding content is transmitted to the service provider (storage on the network) 200 including the user ID and the content ID. In step 645, the service provider 200 receiving the message requesting the recording of the content records the content on the network. The set top box 300 records in local storage in the set top box in step 650.

In operation 655, the content provider 100 transmits real-time content to the set-top box 300. The transmission of the real-time content is a process that continues continuously after step 620. Meanwhile, steps 640 and 650 are indicated by dotted lines as a required process or not depending on the result of step 635.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a content providing method according to a second embodiment of the present invention, while viewing a user channel including an exception that may occur when a broadcast time of a content becomes long, unlike a conventional schedule, during a real-time broadcast. A message flow diagram for an embodiment of reconfiguring a user channel is shown.

In the present embodiment, C1 means content that is currently being broadcast, and C2 means content that has already begun before broadcasting of C1 ends.

Referring to FIG. 8, steps 805 to 825 are the same processes as described in steps 605 to 625 of FIG. 6.

The content provider 100 broadcasts the real-time content to the set-top box 300 through the service provider 200 in step 850. The content provider 100 transmits the content C1 included in the user channel configuration generated in step 825 among many contents broadcast in step 851. The set-top box 300 transmits the content C1 to the terminal 400 according to the user channel configuration in step 853. In operation 855, the set-top box 300 confirms that the broadcast of the content C2 included in the user channel configuration is started during the broadcast of the content C1. In step 857, the set-top box 300 notifies the terminal 400 of the start of new content C2 and asks whether to stop watching C1 and watch C2. When the terminal 400 responds to the set-top box 300 to see the new content C2 later in step 859, the terminal 400 proceeds to step 861. In the process, step 857 and step 859 are ancillary processes and the set-top box 300 may directly proceed to step 861 without asking the user.

The set top box 300 automatically determines whether to nPVR or PVR for C2 in step 861. In the calculation process, a difference between a start time of C2 and an end time of C1, a capacity of a local storage, a network bandwidth, and the like may be considered, and parameters required for calculation may be variously considered according to a service environment and a policy. In operation 863, the set-top box 300 starts broadcasting of content C2 and receives C2 from the content provider 100.

The set top box 300 PVR C2 in step 865. In step 869, the set-top box 300 that PVR C2 requests the nPVR from the service provider 200 including the user ID and the content ID. In operation 869, the content provider 100 transmits the content C2 to the service provider 200 at the same time as the broadcasting of the content C2 is started. The service provider 200 nPVR C2 in step 871. The service provider 200 nPVR C2 transmits the nPVR C2 to the set-top box 300 in step 873. The set-top box 300 receiving the nPVR C2 transmits C2 to the terminal 400 when the broadcast of C1 ends in step 875. Steps 865 to 873 described above may or may not be necessary depending on the result of step 861.

9 is a flowchart illustrating steps 855 to 875 of FIG. 8 in detail, for example.

In step 910, if the contention time conflict between the contents C1 and C2 occurs, the set-top box 330 checks whether the terminal 400 is to watch C2 now in step 920. If you are not watching now, proceed to step 940.

In step 930, the set-top box 330 stops broadcasting of C1 and transmits C2.

On the other hand, in step 940, the set-top box 300 checks whether the wireless bandwidth (BW) for receiving the two contents C1, C2 is sufficient, if the wireless bandwidth is sufficient as a result of the check in step 960 inside the set-top box 300 Make sure you have enough local storage for the PVR for C2. When the local storage for the PVR for the C2 in the set-top box 300 is sufficient, the set-top box 300 executes the PVR for the C2 in step 990. On the other hand, if there is not enough local storage for the PVR for the C2 in the set-top box 300, in step 980, the service provider 200 requests the nPVR for the C2, and the service provider 200 stores the C2 content. After receiving the nPVR C2 from the service provider 200 in step 302, the C2 content is provided to the terminal 400 in step 930.

On the other hand, if the wireless bandwidth for the set-top box 300 to receive the two contents C1, C2 in step 940 is not enough, in step 950 to request the nPVR to the service provider. In operation 970, the set-top box 300 checks whether the storage capacity of the nPVR is sufficient. If the storage capacity of the nPVR is sufficient, the set-top box 300 proceeds to step 971 to execute the nPVR for C2. To provide. On the other hand, if the storage capacity of the nPVR is not sufficient in step 973 set-top box 300 requests the PVR for the C2 to the service provider 200, and in step 975 receives the CVR PVR from the service provider 200 In step 930, the terminal 400 provides C2 content.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of selecting and using information provided by a user to know a propensity for content according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Reference number 1010 divides content preference into a program genre, a favorite channel, and a favorite entertainer.

When the user (son) selects the entertainment program, drama, MBC, and Yoo Jae-suk through reference numeral 1010 (1020), the entertainment program, drama, MBC, and Yoo Jae-seok are stored in the user reference 1030.

11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user channel according to the user reference of FIG. 10 among received EPGs according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 11, reference numeral 1040 illustrates an embodiment of an EPG and shows content information according to time and a channel. Reference numeral 1050 denotes a user channel configured according to a user (son) reference selected in FIG. 10. The contents overlapping the broadcast time of the selected programs are automatically recorded by determining whether to set up the PVR or nPVR in the set-top box 300 automatically, and then automatically broadcast the content broadcast currently being broadcast to the terminal 400 when the previous content broadcast ends. Can provide.

12 is a flowchart illustrating a content providing method according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

According to a third embodiment of the present invention, a content providing device 2000 for a user channel exists in an operator's network, configures a user channel, and transmits it to the terminal 400 by including it in an existing EGP.

Referring to FIG. 12, in step 1301, the service provider 200 requests the terminal 400 for a past viewing record viewed by the user using the terminal 400 or a viewing preference of the user. In step 1303, the terminal 400 transmits a user's past viewing record or a viewing preference of the user to the service provider 200.

Steps 1305 through 1309 are the same as steps 605 through 610 of the first embodiment of the present invention. That is, in step 1305, the content provider 100 generates content information and transmits the generated content information to the service provider 200 in step 1307. In operation 1309, the service provider 200 generates an EPG by referring to the received content information.

In operation 1311, the service provider 200 may generate a program guide for the user channel based on the program information (ex, time information, genre) program information of the generated EPG and the user preference information received from the operation 1309. Configure.

In operation 1313, the service provider 200 generates a new EPG by combining the generated EPG with a program guide for a user channel. In operation 1315, the service provider 200 generates the new EPG through the set-top box 300. To send). In operation 1317, the terminal 400 requests a user channel service according to a user's request. Accordingly, in step 1319, the content provider 100 transmits the content corresponding to the requested user channel service to the terminal 400 so that the user can view it.

Claims (4)

In the content providing apparatus in the Internet broadcasting system, A program guide search unit for searching contents that match user's preferences through a program guide including all contents information, A user channel configuration unit configured to extract the searched contents and configure a specific channel of the user; An overlapping content processing unit for determining a method of processing the overlapping contents when the display time overlaps with the searched contents; And a content transmitter for providing a corresponding content to a user according to a result of processing the overlapping contents. The method of claim 1, wherein the overlapping content processing unit, Determining an order of providing the overlapping contents to the user, and determining a method of storing the overlapping contents according to a storage capacity. In the content providing method in the Internet broadcasting system, Searching the contents according to the user's preference through a program guide including all the content information; Extracting the searched contents to configure a specific channel of the user; Determining a method of processing the overlapping contents when the show time overlaps between the searched contents; And providing the corresponding content to the user according to a result of processing the overlapping contents. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining Determining an order of providing the overlapping contents to the user, and determining a method of storing the overlapping contents according to a storage capacity.