KR20110071715A - System of iptv service for providing community service - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An IPTV(Internetwork Protocol TV) service system for serving the community service is provided to process the mutual communications between neighbor subscribers in which the IPTV use inclination is similar each other. CONSTITUTION: A community processing unit(311) especially creates the recommendable neighbor list by each subscriber. The community processing unit transmits the recommendable neighbor list to the set-top box of the corresponding subscriber. The community processing unit receives the neighborhood information selected between the recommendable neighbor list from the set-top box of the corresponding subscriber. The community processing unit constitutes the community by each the subscriber. The community processing recommends the content recommendation produced based on the subscribers information inside of the community, and embodies the conversational service serving a communication path inside of the community subscribers on IPTV.

Description

IPTV service system providing community service {System of IPTV service for providing community service}

The present invention relates to an Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) service system for providing a community service. More specifically, the present invention relates to an IPTV service system that provides an environment in which subscribers can communicate with each other by establishing a community on IPTV.

The present invention is derived from a study conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), 2009, as a technical support project for the cultural contents industry. [Task Management Number: 2-09-1205-001-10985-03-004, Task name: Intelligent user-tailored content service technology development].

IPTV service refers to a service that provides information service, moving picture content and broadcasting content to a television receiver using high-speed Internet. IP television has no difference from general cable broadcasting or satellite broadcasting in that it provides broadcasting contents including video, but it is characterized by the added bidirectionality.

These IPTV services have recently provided not only broadcast contents but also mailing services, chat services, and various communication services.

On the other hand, a number of services have been proposed that analyze personality of subscribers in various services including IPTV services and recommend customized contents corresponding to subscribers.

Such services typically provide a list of recommended contents by extracting content priorities based on the content selected by the subscriber or the rating information given by the subscriber after using the specific content. However, this method has a limitation that valid information can be extracted and built only when the subscriber directly evaluates the content consumed by the subscriber.

In addition, there is a content providing service using a social network or human relation network information. In the case of such a content providing service, the service is simply a service of sharing a list of content information purchased or used by each user through community information directly subscribed with a neighbor (ilchon) set by the subscriber.

In addition, a form of providing content recommendation information based on neighbor information automatically calculated using a specific algorithm in a system has recently been proposed. This form extracts neighbor information with similar content preferences by analyzing the content preferences of subscribers, and provides a content recommendation list for the neighbor information as well as the subscriber.

However, in this form, the system unilaterally provides the recommendation information without the subscriber's wishes and details of the details. In other words, the subscriber receives only the final recommended content. Thus, subscribers should see and use only the results that the system provides unilaterally without knowing how their neighbor's network is formed, how they, their community, and their friends are connected, what is similar, and what information they need. There are disadvantages.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention relates to a method and system for providing an IPTV environment capable of mutual communication between neighboring subscribers having a similar tendency to use IPTV services.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an IPTV service apparatus is provided. An apparatus for providing an IPTV service by interworking with a set-top box connected to an IPTV (Internet Protocol TV), the apparatus comprising: a preference analyzer configured to analyze content preferences for each subscriber based on a subscriber profile and usage history of the subscriber's IPTV service; And calculating the similarity of IPTV service usage tendency among subscribers based on the content preferences, generating a recommended neighbor list for each subscriber, transmitting the recommended neighbor list to the settop box of the subscriber, and selecting neighbor information selected from the recommended neighbor list from the subscriber's settop box. And a community processing unit configured to receive and configure a community for each subscriber, and to implement a content recommendation calculated based on information of subscribers in the community and a communication service for providing a communication path on IPTV between subscribers in the community.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an IPTV environment is established in which a subscriber can form an active neighbor network and communicate with each other.

In addition, since recommendation content is provided based on the information of neighbor networks actively configured by the subscriber, it is possible to provide a recommendation item that is close to the content desired by the actual subscriber.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention, and similar drawings are attached to similar parts throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a part is said to "include" a certain component, it means that it can further include other components, without excluding other components unless specifically stated otherwise.

Now, an IPTV (Internet Protocol TeleVision) service system for providing a community service according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram of an IPTV service system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an IPTV service system includes one or more set-top boxes 100, a network 200, and a service device 300.

One or more set-top boxes 100 are terminals supplied to subscribers subscribing to the IPTV service, and are classified by subscribers. One or more set-top boxes 100 implement an interactive broadcast service in cooperation with the service device 300 connected through the network 200.

Here, the interactive broadcasting service is a service that can receive digital multimedia contents such as games, education, and life information through a TV, and viewers can use various services such as games, additional information, and shopping with a simple remote control operation.

In this case, the one or more set-top boxes 100 may implement a communication function such as a messenger, a channel chat, a channel invitation, etc. by receiving the authentication from the service device 300.

The network 200 may use an Internet Protocol (IP) based Internet network, but is not limited to using an IP based Internet network, and is not limited to a specific type as long as it is a wired or wireless communication network that enables the network.

The service device 300 is a server device provided on the IPTV provider side and provides a two-way broadcast service to one or more set-top boxes 100 connected through the network 200.

In this case, the service device 300 provides an environment in which the subscriber can form an active neighbor network on the IPTV by interworking with one or more set-top boxes 100. In addition, the service device 300 provides the recommended content for the neighbor network configured according to the subscriber's selection. In addition, the service device 300 provides a communication environment capable of mutual communication between subscribers constituting the neighboring network.

Next, the configuration of the service device 300 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of a service device 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the service device 300 includes a subscriber profile DB 301, a service usage history DB 303, a service analyzer 305, a preference analyzer 307, a content preference information DB 309, and a community. It includes a processing unit 311, a community DB 313, an STB control unit 315, and a conversation service unit 317.

The subscriber profile DB 301 stores subscriber information registered when the subscriber subscribes to the IPTV service. At this time, the subscriber profile may be configured as shown in Table 1 below.

turn Information value One name Name 2 age number 3 gender m / f 4 residence Name 5 job Name 6 hobby Name

The service usage history DB 303 stores the IPTV service usage history including the broadcast content watched by the subscriber, and may be configured as shown in Table 2.

turn Information value One IPTV Usage Frequency Number of times 2 IPTV Hours time 3 VOD usage history Name 4 Shopping history Name 5 STB area code number

In Table 2, the STB area code is the area information code set at initial installation for each STB. For example, a nation can be divided into several regions and a code can be assigned to each region.

The service analyzer 305 receives viewing log data and content metadata from one or more set top boxes 100. Here, the viewing log data is data recorded based on the broadcast content viewed by the subscriber. In addition, the content metadata is information including the location, type, playback time, media format, etc. of broadcast content viewed by the subscriber.

The service analyzer 305 stores the IPTV service usage information for each subscriber extracted by applying a statistical data mining technique to the viewing log data and the content metadata in the service usage history DB 303.

The preference analyzer 307 receives information stored in the subscriber profile DB 301 and the service usage DB 303 from the service analyzer 305 and extracts content preferences for each subscriber based on the information.

First, the preference analyzer 307 may extract various service usage items such as genres, channels, and detailed genres using the viewing log data and the content metadata to calculate the viewing amount as shown in Table 3 below. Here, the viewing amount is a value obtained by multiplying the viewing ratio by the time.

genre Viewership Detail Genre Viewership
movie

20.8
action 12.7 fear 1.4 ... ...
drama

8.1
mellow 5.0 Sitcom 0.7 ... ... news 4.3 ...

The preference analyzer 307 may calculate a preference for each subscriber based on Table 3 as shown in Table 4.

genre preference Detail Genre Viewership
movie

0.95
action 0.9 fear 0.12 ... ...
drama

0.87
mellow One Sitcom 0.01 ... ... news 0.27 ...

The preference analyzer 307 converts the preference items in Table 4 into vectors as shown in Equation 1 below.

C = (u ₁ , u ₂ ,…, u _k )

The preference analyzer 307 converts metadata of all broadcast contents that can be provided by the service device 300 into attribute information vectors as shown in Equation 2.

P = (w ₁ , w ₂ ,…, w _k )

The preference analyzer 307 calculates the similarity between the content preference and the broadcast content based on the vector of the preference item derived from Equation 1 and Equation 2 and the attribute information vector of the broadcast content.

Based on the similarity calculated using Equation 3, the preference analyzer 307 extracts content similar to the service usage tendency of the subscriber. In this case, the content having a similarity or more than a predetermined threshold may be selected as the content to be recommended to the subscriber.

In addition, the preference analyzer 307 analyzes the subscriber's preference for the recommended content by applying the preference for each subscriber based on Table 3 for each content to be recommended, which can be expressed by Equation 4 below.

Subscriber U's preference for program P = (subscriber U's drama preference = 0.87) ⅹ (subscriber U's KBS2 preference = 0.56)

That is, the subscriber U's preference for the recommended content is calculated using the preference value of the item related to the recommended content extracted by the preference analyzer 307 among the content preference items described in Table 4 of the subscriber U.

The preference analyzer 307 may configure a preference content list as shown in Equation 4 as a recommendation content list as shown in Table 5. The recommended content list is transmitted to the set-top box 100 of the subscriber.

program preference Happy day 0.61 LOST 0.52 Shadow murder 0.66 Golf academy 0.73 ... ...

The content preference information DB 309 stores content preference information for each subscriber extracted by the preference analyzer 307 including Tables 3, 4, and 5.

The community processor 311 classifies the subscribers into groups having similar tendency to use the IPTV service based on the content preference for each subscriber extracted by the preference analyzer 307.

At this time, the community processor 311 analyzes neighbor information similar in service usage tendency for each subscriber. To analyze neighbor information, we apply a clustering algorithm that is commonly used. By using this clustering algorithm, subscribers are randomly classified and intimacy calculation between neighbors is performed between people belonging to the same clustering group.

A representative example of the clustering algorithm is the K-means algorithm. The K-means algorithm is a distance-based clustering technique that decomposes a set of n objects into K clusters. Cluster similarity uses a method of measuring the average value of objects that can be seen as the center of gravity of a cluster and grouping the data near the reference point into a cluster.

The community processor 311 classifies each group, generates a cluster by grabbing a random center point for each group, calculates the actual center point, adjusts the group accordingly, and repeats the calculation by calculating the center point again. If not changed, the whole calculation is stopped.

When the group is determined, the community processor 311 calculates neighbor distances for subscribers belonging to the same group. In calculating the neighbor distance, the subscriber preference items in Table 3 and the STB region information in Table 2 are used. In addition, distance information between metadata of the used content stored in the service usage history DB 303 is used.

The community processor 311 may calculate the neighbor distance as shown in Equation 5 below.

Neighborhood Distance = Physical Local Distance (STB Local Information) + Preference Table Vector Distance + ∑ Distance of Content Used

Here, the preference table vector distance may be calculated through Equation 1. The distance of the content may be expressed as a vector distance by converting the content used by the subscriber into a vector. The vector distance conversion can be used in various ways that are commonly used.

The community processor 311 may calculate and assign weights according to importance or necessity of each of the three items of Equation 5.

The community processor 311 constructs a recommended neighbor list for each subscriber based on the calculated neighbor distance. The community processor 311 may provide a recommendation neighbor list in which distributions of neighbors and neighboring distances are expressed based on subscribers.

In this case, all the subscribers in the group determined through the clustering algorithm may be included in the recommended neighbor list. Alternatively, the recommended neighbor list may be configured with subscribers having a neighbor distance less than or equal to a predetermined threshold by placing a threshold at the neighbor distance.

The community processor 311 transmits the recommended neighbor list to the set-top box 100 of the corresponding subscriber. When the specific neighbor information selected from the recommended neighbor list is received from the set-top box 100 of the subscriber, the community of the subscriber is formed.

The community processor 311 may provide the recommended content for the subscriber's community based on the content preferences of the subscriber and neighbors belonging to the subscriber's community in association with the preference analyzer 307. That is, the preference analysis unit 307 may provide the subscriber's community information to calculate the recommended content for the subscriber's community based on the subscriber profile and the content preferences of the subscriber and neighbors belonging to the subscriber's community.

In addition, the provided recommended content may be transmitted to the set-top box 100 of the subscriber together with the recommended neighbor list.

The community processor 311 provides a community composed of the neighbor list selected by the subscriber and the recommended neighbor list through the IPTV UI provided by the set-top box 100. In this case, the list of recommended neighbors, a list of recommended contents of each neighbor in the community, and a service usage history are provided.

The community DB 313 includes community information including a recommended neighbor list calculated by the community processor 311 and a selected neighbor list for each subscriber.

The STB controller 315 transmits broadcast content and EPG in cooperation with one or more set top boxes 100 and receives a request signal from a subscriber. In addition, by controlling the operation of the set-top box 100 to configure and control the UI for IPTV services on the IPTV.

The conversation service unit 317 operates in conjunction with the community processor 311 and the STB controller 315. The chat service unit 317 is a device for providing a chat service that provides a communication path between neighbors in a community, and may adopt a technology for implementing a chat service in a general IPTV.

 Such conversation services may include messenger services, presenting content, SMS / MMS, call connection services, and the like. In this case, the chat service unit 317 may include a messenger module 317a, a message module 317b, and a call module 317c, respectively, according to the type of the chat service.

The messenger module 317a provides a messenger service including chatting and presenting content between a subscriber and a neighbor belonging to the subscriber's community. The messenger module 317a may display a chat window on the subscriber's IPTV screen in conjunction with the STB controller 315 and provide an environment in which the subscribers can share contents.

The message module 317b provides a message service including a short message service (SMS) or a multimedia message service (MMS) between a subscriber and a neighbor belonging to the subscriber's community. The message module 317b displays a message composition screen on the subscriber's IPTV screen in conjunction with the STB control unit 315 and the mobile communication network, and controls transmission and reception of a message transmitted by the subscriber or a message directed to the subscriber.

The call module 317c provides a call connection function between a subscriber and a neighbor belonging to the subscriber's community. The call module 317c interworks with the STB control unit 315 and the wired / wireless communication network to perform a process related to call origination and call reception between a terminal held by a subscriber and a terminal held by a neighbor.

3 to 5 show the configuration of the IPTV service screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. At this time, it will be described in connection with the configuration of FIG.

First, Figure 3 shows the configuration of the IPTV service menu screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the STB controller 315 displays an IPTV service screen including one or more menu items on the IPTV screen in association with the set-top box 100.

At this time, if the subscriber selects a personalized menu called 'My IPTV' from the one or more menu items through the remote controller, the personalized menu is an item provided with the recommended content extracted by the preference analyzer 307 and extracted by the community processor 311. The community composed of the item provided with the recommended neighbor list and the neighborhood selected by the subscriber provided by the community processor 311 is subdivided into the item provided. As such, the subdivided items are provided in the form of separate menus.

Here, the recommended content item may include recommended content for the subscriber and recommended content for the community of the subscriber.

4 illustrates a configuration of a recommendation neighbor list screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, when the recommended neighbor item is selected in FIG. 3, the community processor 311 displays the recommended neighbor list screen on the IPTV screen in cooperation with the STB controller 315.

The community processor 311 displays three screens, and one screen displays the recommended neighbor list screen 405 for the subscriber. The community processor 311 outputs the recommendation neighbor list in a graphic form. The recommended neighbor list indicates a relationship between subscribers and neighbors having similar tendency to use IPTV service.

The community processor 311 expresses neighbors as nodes of a circle shape. The distance between neighbors is represented by a straight line. In addition, the straight line represents the intimacy between neighbors by varying the thickness. In addition, the colors of the lines connecting the neighbors are the same to represent neighbors belonging to the same group.

Here, neighbors that have many neighbors or are popular are classified as power neighbors and displayed differently from other neighbors. For example, color, pattern thickness, etc. are expressed differently.

In addition, when the subscriber selects a node displaying a particular neighbor from the recommended neighbor list screen 405, the community processor 311 provides the recommended neighbor list screen 407 of the specific neighbor selected by the subscriber. The recommended neighbor list of this particular neighbor is also represented in the same manner as the recommended neighbor list screen 405.

At this time, the community processor 311 displays the information screen 409 for the specific neighbor selected by the subscriber. The information screen 409 displays a neighbor's ID (powerman), service usage history 415, recommended content 417, and content preference 419. In addition, when the subscriber requests the friend request item 413 using the remote controller by displaying the friend request 413 item, the selection signal for the neighbor is transmitted to the community processor 311.

5 illustrates a configuration of a community screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, when a community item is selected in FIG. 3, the community processor 311 displays the community screen on the IPTV screen in association with the STB controller 315.

The community processor 311 outputs a screen 421 displaying different neighbors belonging to the subscriber's community on the subscriber's entire recommended neighbor list. That is, it is the same as the recommended neighbor list screen 405 of FIG. 4, but only neighbors selected by the subscriber as their community are displayed in different colors.

In addition, the community processor 311 displays a screen 423 showing only relationships between neighbors belonging to the subscriber's own community.

In addition, the community processor 311 displays a screen 425 showing information on neighbors and subscribers constituting the subscriber's community. This screen 425 displays information about the subscriber itself and about neighbors in the community. At this time, the information about the subscriber itself includes an ID registered by the subscriber, a message box in which messages received from neighbors who have requested neighbor registration to the subscriber, and personal information of the subscriber.

In addition, the information about the neighbors in the community includes a messenger item, an SMS item, and a call item arranged to enable a conversation service with the neighbor, including the ID of the neighbor. By using these chat service items, subscribers can use various chat services with neighbors registered in their community. When the subscriber clicks on this chat service item, the chat service request is sent to the chat service unit 317.

Embodiments of the present invention are not implemented only through the above-described apparatus and / or method, but may be implemented through a program for realizing a function corresponding to the configuration of the embodiments of the present invention, a recording medium on which the program is recorded, and the like. It may be.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and improvements of those skilled in the art using the basic concepts of the present invention defined in the following claims are also provided. It belongs to the scope of rights.

1 is a block diagram of an IPTV service system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of a service apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 to 5 show the configuration of the IPTV service screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (5)

In the device that provides the IPTV service in conjunction with the set-top box connected to the IPTV (Internet Protocol TV), A preference analysis unit analyzing content preferences for each subscriber based on the subscriber profile and the subscriber's IPTV service usage history; And Based on the content preferences, the similarity of IPTV service usage tendency between subscribers is calculated, and a recommended neighbor list is generated for each subscriber and transmitted to the set-top box of the subscriber, and the neighbor information selected from the recommended neighbor list is received from the set-top box of the subscriber. A community processing unit that implements a communication service that provides a communication path on IPTV between the content recommendation calculated based on the information of the subscribers in the community and the subscribers in the community. Service device comprising a. The method of claim 1, The community processing unit, By using a predefined clustering algorithm, the subscribers are classified into neighbors with similar service usage tendencies to form respective groups, and the neighbor distances and neighbor distances are expressed based on the subscribers by calculating neighbor distances among neighbors belonging to the same group. The service device for providing a list of recommended neighbors to the set-top box. The method of claim 2, The community processing unit, A service device for calculating the neighbor distance using a set-top box area code assigned to each set-top box of each subscriber, a distance vector between items constituting content preference for each subscriber, and a distance vector between contents included in service usage history for each subscriber. . The method of claim 2, The community processing unit, The service device for providing a set-top box with a recommended neighbor list consisting of neighbors of which the neighbor distance is less than a predefined threshold. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, Further comprising a conversation service unit for providing the conversation service between the subscriber and the neighbor belonging to the subscriber's community, The conversation service unit, A messenger module for providing a messenger service including a chat and presenting content between a neighbor belonging to a subscriber's community and the subscriber; A message module for providing a message service including a short message service (SMS) or a multimedia message service (MMS) between the neighbor and the subscriber; And And a call module for providing a call connection function between the neighbor and the subscriber in association with a wired / wireless communication network.

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