KR20150082074A - Service server and method for providing contents information - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to: a method of a service sever, which provides a smart TV service, for providing contents information; and the same service server. More specifically, according to the present invention, recording schedule by contents is arranged based on recording setting information input by a user through a reception terminal; a service of which recording reservation is immediately available is provided; or a VOD of a previous episode is searched and provided to the reception terminal in other words the user when contents specified by the user are a series.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a service server and a content information providing method for providing content information.

The present invention relates to a content information providing method and a service server of a service server providing a smart TV service. Specifically, the present invention estimates and provides a recording reservation setup ranking for each content based on the recording setting information input by the user through the receiving terminal, or if the content specified by the user is a series, To a receiving terminal, that is, a user, and a service server therefor.

Smart TV service is a digital general cable broadcasting service. It provides high-quality, multi-channel and highly interactive services as well as HD quality and CD-quality high quality. Real-time video (RVOD: Real Video on demand, data broadcasting, T-commerce, T-government via TV, and broadband broadband Internet.

Based on digital cable TV technology, this service is based on Smart TV service which enables RF broadcasting service, IP-based interactive service and Internet service through a terminal (set-top box) equipped with Android OS

There are several patents related to smart TV, including domestic patent publication No. 10-2009-0059082.

In recent years, it has become common to provide a so-called scheduled recording service that enables a user to set a recording schedule for specific contents of a specific channel among various smart TV services.

However, at this time, the number of viewable channels is much higher than that of the conventional smart TV, and various contents are provided for each channel. Therefore, when a user wants to use the reserved recording service, There are a lot of cases that have difficulties in the field.

In the case of another problem of the scheduled recording service of the Smart TV service, when the specific content that the user desires to schedule recording is a serial, only information about the content to be recorded has been provided to the user in the related art. It is not possible to receive information about other contents in the sequence relation with the contents, that is, the contents of the previous times, and in order to view the contents information or the VOD data of the previous contents, the user has to directly search the corresponding VOD through various steps I have been. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, .

A service server providing a Smart TV service provides information related to content to be scheduled recording when a recording reservation request is made from a receiving terminal of each user.

Particularly, the present invention provides a method of statistically analyzing recording setting information collected from a receiving terminal to estimate a recording reservation setting order, and to provide content information to a receiving terminal based on the ranking.

The present invention also provides a method of searching for a VOD of a previous content when the content to be scheduled to be scheduled is a series based on the recording setting information collected from the receiving terminal and providing the content information including the identification information of the VOD to the receiving terminal The problem is solved.

The service server according to the present invention includes: a communication unit for receiving the recording setting information including the metadata of the content from the receiving terminal and transmitting the content information to the receiving terminal; A content information generating unit for generating content information according to a preset reference based on the received recording setting information; A content database storing VODs for respective contents; And a control unit for controlling the communication unit, the content information generating unit, and the content database.

In the service server, the content information may include at least one of a content title, a content unique number, metadata of the content, start time, end time, running time, channel programming information, do.

Further, the content information may further include an image or an image for each content.

In the service server, the recording setting information may further include at least one of a recording reservation time, a subscriber identification information, and a receiving terminal identification information.

In the service server, the content information generating unit analyzes the collected recording setting information to calculate a content recording reservation setting order, and generates content information including the recording reservation setting ranking.

At this time, the generated content information further includes content-based recording reservation rate information.

Meanwhile, in the service server, the content information generating unit may search for a VOD of a time before the content if the content corresponds to a sequence, and generate content information including the VOD identification information of the found VOD have.

In this case, the content information generating unit may search the content associated with the VOD by referring to the content metadata and the VOD identification information, and may generate content information including the searched content or the searched content list.

The service server further includes a recording unit for receiving a recording command for the content selected by the user and recording the selected content.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a content information providing method comprising the steps of: (a) collecting recording setting information including meta data of a specific content from one or more receiving terminals; (b) generating content information according to a predetermined criterion based on the collected recording setting information; And (c) transmitting the content information to the receiving terminal.

In the content information providing method, the step (b) may include calculating a content-based recording reservation setting ranking from the collected recording setting information; And generating content information including the content-based recording reservation setting order.

On the other hand, in the content information providing method, the step (b) may include: determining whether the content corresponds to a sequence; Searching for a VOD of a content preceding the content if the content is a sequence; Generating content information including VOD identification information of the searched VOD; . ≪ / RTI >

The method further includes the steps of: (d) receiving a recording command for the content selected by the user; (e) recording the selected content.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide detailed information on contents in providing a smart TV service, thereby making it possible for users to use services more easily.

In particular, according to the present invention, a user can grasp a content-based recording reservation setting order on a real-time basis on a smart TV provided with various contents, and can refer to the recording reservation setting.

In addition, according to the present invention, there is an effect that the user can more specifically grasp the preference of the corresponding content of the content by further providing the content-based recording reservation rate information.

Further, according to the present invention, when a user desires to record a sequence of contents, the user can receive VOD identification information of the contents of the previous contents, so that the user can refer to the overview of the progress of the contents.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a smart TV service system including a service server according to the present invention.
2 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of a service server according to the present invention.
3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a content information providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 illustrates an example of content information transmitted to a receiving terminal according to the content information providing method of FIG.
5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a content information providing method according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate examples of content information transmitted to the receiving terminal according to the content information providing method of FIG.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The embodiments disclosed herein should not be construed or interpreted as limiting the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the description including the embodiments of the present specification has various applications. Accordingly, any embodiment described in the Detailed Description of the Invention is illustrative for a better understanding of the invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to embodiments.

 The functional blocks shown in the drawings and described below are merely examples of possible implementations. In other implementations, other functional blocks may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the following detailed description. Also, although one or more functional blocks of the present invention are represented as discrete blocks, one or more of the functional blocks of the present invention may be a combination of various hardware and software configurations that perform the same function.

In addition, the expression "including any element" is merely an expression of an open-ended expression, and is not to be construed as excluding the additional elements.

Further, when an element is referred to as being connected or connected to another element, it should be understood that other elements may be present in the middle, although the element may be directly connected or connected to the other element.

Hereinafter, the service server 100 and the receiving terminal 300 constituting the smart TV service system will be schematically described with reference to FIG.

The service server 100 is generally operated by a subject providing a smart TV service and is assumed to be connected to one or more receiving terminals 300 through a network 200. [

The service server 100 not only serves as an intermediary for delivering the real-time contents received from the external broadcasting server to the receiving terminal 300 but also can transmit various additional information to the receiving terminal 300, 300, < / RTI > Further, the service server 100 may internally include a database to store reproduction data of contents, and may utilize the provided data to provide a VOD according to a user's request.

In particular, the service server 100 receives the user's recording setting information for the specific content from the receiving terminal 300 and generates content information for providing the user with the recording setting information.

The recording setup information is generated by the receiving terminal 300 by receiving input from a user. The recording setup information may include at least one of target contents to be recorded, recording reservation time, subscriber identification information, and terminal identification information.

Meanwhile, the service server 100 according to the present invention calculates the content-based recording reservation setting ranking based on the recording setting information collected from one or more receiving terminals 300, and stores the content information including the recording reservation setting ranking And provides it to the receiving terminal 300.

In addition, the service server 100 according to the present invention determines whether or not the content to be recorded corresponds to a sequence based on the recording setting information collected from one or more receiving terminals 300, Searches for VOD identification information on contents having an earlier precedence than the content, generates content information including the VOD identification information, and provides the content information to the receiving terminal 300.

On the other hand, the receiving terminal 300, which is one of the components of the smart TV service system, receives contents information including various kinds of additional information as well as contents such as broadcasting and VOD from the service server 100, .

The input terminal 300 may include a keyboard, a mouse, a remote controller, a smart phone, and the like, which are interlocked with the receiving terminal 300. The receiving terminal 300 may include a separate input unit for receiving a control command from a user. Are to be construed as being without limitation.

Meanwhile, the receiving terminal 300 may provide various contents received from the service server 100 to the user through an output device that is interlocked with the user. At this time, an output device installed in a specific place such as a digital TV, Or a portable output device including a smart phone, a PDA, and the like.

On the other hand, the service server 100 and the receiving terminal 300 are connected to each other through the network 200. In this case, the network 200 can process high-capacity multimedia information such as text, voice, As long as it plays the role of established network. Preferably, the network 200 may utilize a broadband integrated information communication network, and the broadband integrated information communication network may use an asynchronous transmission scheme to accommodate broadband service data characteristics and distribution.

Hereinafter, the detailed configuration of the service server 100 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

2, the service server 100 includes a communication unit 110, a content information generation unit 120, a content database 130, and a control unit 140.

The communication unit 110 is a functional unit that enables the service server 100 to transmit and receive data to and from the receiving terminals 300 through the network 200. [ Specifically, the communication unit 110 transmits the content information generated in the service server 100 to the receiving terminal 300 or receives the recording setting information from the receiving terminal 300. At this time, the content information or the recording setting information is merely an example of data that the service server 100 and the receiving terminal 300 can exchange, and it is understood that data including various information can be transmitted and received something to do.

The content information generating unit 120 is configured to perform a series of calculations based on the recording setting information received from the receiving terminal 300 by the communication unit 110. Specifically, the content information generating unit 120 generates content information according to a preset reference.

In this case, the recording setting information referred to when generating the content information is data generated by the receiving terminal 300, which is generated when the user inputs a recording command for the specific content. The recording setting information includes information such as metadata (content title, unique number, series number, etc.) of the content to be recorded, recording reservation time and end time, subscriber identification information, identification information of the receiving terminal 300, 300) and identification information of contents to be recorded by the user.

In the same context, the content information may include various types of identification information so that the user or the receiving terminal 300 may distinguish one or more contents. For example, the title, the unique number, Information that can be utilized to distinguish specific contents such as a time, a start time and an end time of each content, a run time, and the like.

Meanwhile, the content information generating unit 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention generates content information including two contents. First, content information including a recording reservation setting order for each content, And generates the content information including the identification information of the VODs of the preceding times.

The process of generating each content information will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 3 and the following description.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the service server 100 further includes a content database 130. The content database 130 refers to a storage space in which contents that can be provided to the receiving terminal 300 are stored in the form of multimedia data such as video, audio, and images.

Particularly, the content database 130 stores video data generated in the form of video data, that is, VOD, so that it can be provided in real time when there is a transmission request from the receiving terminal 300 in the future.

Finally, the service server 100 according to the present invention further includes a control unit 140 for controlling the above-mentioned components, that is, the communication unit 110, the content information generating unit 120, and the content database 130. At this time, the control unit 140 may include at least one computing unit. The computing unit may be a general central processing unit (CPU), a programmable device element (CPLD, FPGA) May be a semiconductor computing device (ASIC) or a microcontroller chip.

Meanwhile, the service server 100 according to the present invention receives a recording command instructing the user to record the specific content selected from the recording reservation setting order included in the contents information or the VOD identification information of the previous contents, And a recording unit (not shown) for recording the selected specific content.

That is, the user can select a specific content from a series of lists provided to him or her, and immediately press a recording button to issue a recording command. The recording unit in the service server 100 receives the content and performs recording of the content.

Hereinafter, a content information providing method according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The first embodiment of the method of providing the content information to the receiving terminal 300 by the service server 100 relates to providing the content preference rank information to the user. More specifically, Based on the recording setting information, calculates and registers a list of recording schedule for which content is set, and transmits the list to the receiving terminal 300 by placing it in the content information.

Referring to FIG. 3, the first embodiment of the content information providing method includes a step S310 of receiving the recording setting information preferentially.

The recording setting information is generated by the receiving terminal 300 when the user inputs a recording command for a specific content to the receiving terminal 300. The recording setting information includes metadata of the content to be recorded Information that can distinguish the subscriber or the receiving terminal 300, such as a number, a title, a serial number, etc.), a recording reservation time and end time, subscriber identification information, and identification information of the receiving terminal 300, Identification information may be included.

At this time, the user inputs a recording command to the receiving terminal 300 in various manners. For example, the user can input a recording command for a specific content through a remote control device linked to the receiving terminal 300. Alternatively, the user may input a recording command for a specific content through a mobile communication terminal connected to the receiving terminal 300, for example, an application installed in the smart phone. In particular, when utilizing an application installed in a mobile communication terminal, a user can input a recording command for a desired content regardless of time and place.

Next, the service server 100 calculates a content-based recording reservation setting ranking based on the collected recording setting information. (S320). That is, the service server 100 analyzes the recording setting information collected from one or more receiving terminals 300 to determine which recording command has the largest number of recording commands, Rank the rankings.

At this time, the collection of the recording setting information may be performed in real time, or may be collected only at a predetermined time according to a predetermined period. The user can manually set such a recording setting information collection time.

At this time, there may be a variety of methods for estimating the content-based recording reservation setting order. For example, every time the meta data (title, content specific number) of the content in the recording setting information is received, It is possible to acquire the number of times of recording reservation setting and calculate the recording reservation setting order according to the number of times of acquisition.

On the other hand, the estimation result of the recording reservation may be different according to the time of the recording setting information. For example, in the case of calculating the recording reservation setting ranking up to the present, it is possible to calculate a ranking based on the current time, ), It is possible to calculate the content ranking in which the recording reservation setting is the greatest based on the content broadcast in September. Also, in the same context, it is possible to calculate the content ranking having the largest recording reservation setting based on contents scheduled to be broadcasted next month (November).

At this time, the service server 100 may further consider other matters when calculating the content-based recording reservation setting order. For example, it is also possible to calculate the recording reservation setting ranking for each age group by extracting the age of the user from the subscriber identification information included in the recording setting information, and applying the extracted age to the calculation process.

In the same way, it is also possible to apply the gender of the user to the calculation process and to calculate the ranking of the recording reservation according to each gender.

Also, it is possible to provide a list of various recording reservation setting ranks for each channel, preferred genre, and viewing age by using related metadata (a combination channel, a genre, a viewing age, etc.) of the content.

Meanwhile, the method for estimating the order of the recording reservation setting of the service server according to the present invention is not limited to the above.

After step S320, the service server 100 generates the content information including the content-based recording reservation setting ranking calculated as described above, and transmits the content information to the receiving terminal 300. [ (S330)

The content information is defined to collect data including information on one or more contents that the service server 100 generates for providing to the user.

In the meantime, the content information generated by the service server 100 in the first embodiment includes a recording reservation setting ranking calculated in step S320. The content information may be provided in the form of a list or a graph so that the recording reservation setting order can be easily read, i.e., to improve readability, and may further include an image or a thumbnail image or an image for distinguishing one or more contents.

On the other hand, the content information including the recording reservation setting order may be transmitted to the receiving terminal 300 and then output to the receiving terminal 300, such as an output device such as a digital TV, And distributed to the mobile output device. Particularly, when the content information is transmitted to a mobile communication terminal such as a smart phone, a user can input a recording command for a desired content by referring to the content information regardless of time and place.

FIG. 4 shows content information generated by the first embodiment of the content information providing method.

Referring to FIG. 4, it can be seen that the content information is displayed in the list B according to the order of the recording reservation for each content.

On the other hand, the content information may provide a separate image (A) or image for the content having the highest priority of the recording reservation setting so that the user can easily recognize the current popular content. At this time, the content information may include an image or a thumbnail image or an image of all the contents present in the list as well as specific contents. In addition, the content information may include supervisor / performer information of the content, storyline, and rating information (rating) evaluated by the user and other users.

Meanwhile, when a separate image is provided for each content, if the image can not be normally transmitted, the image may be replaced with an image instead of the corresponding image, and the image may be provided to the user.

In addition, the content information may further include content-based recording reservation rate information (C). The recording reservation rate is a numerical value indicating the proportion of the total content of the collected recording setting information. The user can determine which content has a high preference through the recording reservation rate information.

Further, the content information may further include a change rate of a recording reservation setting order, a ranking change status, a reservation rate, and the like so that a user can know popular contents in real time. On the other hand, the user can input a recording command by selecting specific contents based on the above-described recording reservation setting order and related information. The content information including the recording reservation setting order and the related information can be updated upon entry into the recording reservation menu, re-entry or in real time. You can enter the same recording command.

In this case, if the specific content selected by the user is a series, the receiving terminal 300 may allow the user to select whether to schedule only the contents of the corresponding series or to schedule all the series of contents to be broadcast in the future Menu can be provided.

In addition, for the content for which the user has set the recording schedule, an indication, for example, an icon, etc., can be displayed to notify that the corresponding content is in the status of the current recording reservation setting.

Hereinafter, a content information providing method according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The second embodiment of the method of providing the content information to the receiving terminal 300 of the service server 100 searches for the previous VOD of the corresponding content if the target content for which the user has made the recording setting is a series, To the receiving terminal 300. The receiving terminal 300 transmits the content information to the receiving terminal 300. [

Referring to FIG. 5, the second embodiment of the content information providing method starts from the step S510 of receiving the recording setting information as in the first embodiment.

The subscriber or the receiving terminal 300, such as the metadata (title, unique number, etc.) of the content to be recorded, the recording reservation time and end time, the subscriber identification information, the receiving terminal 300 identification information, The information that can be distinguished and the identification information of the content that the user wants to record may be included as described above.

Next, the service server 100 determines whether the content to be scheduled for recording corresponds to a series based on the metadata of the content in the collected recording setting information (S520).

For this purpose, the service server 100 internally classifies each content into attributes, for example, a sequence, an animation, a movie, and the like, and stores the information in a database or the like, and checks content metadata in the recording setting information It can be determined whether or not the content belongs to the series.

If the content to be scheduled to be recorded belongs to a sequence, the service server 100 checks whether a VOD of a content preceding the content exists or searches for a VOD of a content preceding the content (S530). At this time, the VOD of the precedence of the content means that the content broadcasted earlier than the time when the user sets the recording reservation currently exists in the form of video data. The service server 100 may store the VODs of various contents in the contents database 130. If necessary, the service server 100 may search the contents database 130 to determine whether VODs exist for specific contents.

Meanwhile, when the VOD of the content preceding the content is searched, the service server 100 generates content information including the identification information of the VOD and transmits the content information to the receiving terminal 300. (S540)

As in the first embodiment, the content information according to the present embodiment may further include a thumbnail image or an image for each time such that the VOD identification information can be easily recognized by the user. In addition, the content information may include supervisor / performer information of the content, storyline, and rating information (rating) evaluated by the user and other users.

Meanwhile, the service server 100 may further recommend the related content by referring to the metadata of the collected content and the VOD identification information of the searched VOD. For example, referring to the supervisor, performer, or genre information in the metadata or VOD identification information of the content, other content having the same information may be searched, and the searched content may be recommended to the user.

FIG. 6 shows an actual implementation example of content information generated according to the second embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 6, the content information includes at least one of the target content set by the user for recording reservation, the identification information of the sequence content, for example, the title of the target content (Every Monday / Tuesday 20:00), and furthermore, an image (A) of the content may be further included.

In addition, the content information may include a separate menu button (B) for providing a VOD of a time before the content to be reserved for recording.

On the other hand, at this time, the user can refer to the identification information of the target content set for the recording reservation and output the related content in a list format. The content list may further include a thumbnail image or an image for each content to help distinguish or identify the content. Furthermore, it may further include a related content recommendation list based on the supervision of the content, actors and genres, and the like.

In addition, as described above, the user can select a specific content based on the above-described content information and input a recording command.

7 shows another embodiment of the content information generated according to the second embodiment.

7, the content information includes the identification information C of the target content set by the user for recording, and may further include the image A for the content.

In addition, the content information may include a link (B) in a list form that can be connected to the VOD of an earlier position than the current target content. Further, as described above, the user can select a specific content based on the above-described content information and input a recording command. On the other hand, if the target content scheduled to be recorded is a rebroadcast, the service server 100 generating the content information can insert a separate notification indication so that the user can easily know that the content is rebroadcast. By doing so, There is an effect that it is possible to inform in advance that the recording reservation is not set for the content.

Meanwhile, the content information may further include a thumbnail image or an image for each VOD in order to distinguish or identify the VOD of each turn. Further, the content information may include a thumbnail image or an image for each VOD, May also be included.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

100: service server
110:
120: Content information generating unit
130: Content database
140:
200: Network
300a to 300c:

Claims (13)

A communication unit for receiving the recording setting information including the metadata of the content from the receiving terminal and transmitting the content information to the receiving terminal;
A content information generating unit for generating content information according to a preset reference based on the received recording setting information;
A content database storing VODs for respective contents; And
A control unit for controlling the communication unit, the content information generating unit, and the content database;
/ RTI >
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the content information includes at least one of a content title, a content unique number, metadata of a content, a start time, an end time, a running time, channel programming information, server.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the content information further includes an image or an image for each content.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the recording setting information further includes at least one of a recording reservation time, subscriber identification information, and receiving terminal identification information.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the content information generating unit analyzes the collected recording setting information to calculate a content recording reservation setting ranking and generates content information including the recording reservation setting ranking.
6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the content information further includes content-based recording reservation rate information.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the content information generating unit searches for a VOD of a time sequence preceding the content if the content corresponds to a sequence and generates content information including VOD identification information of the found VOD.
8. The method of claim 7,
The content-
Searching the content associated with the VOD by referring to the content metadata and the VOD identification information, and generating content information including the searched content or the searched content list.
The method according to claim 5 or 7,
A recording unit for receiving a recording command for content selected by a user and recording the selected content;
Further comprising:
A method for providing content information by a service server,
(a) collecting recording setting information including meta data of a specific content from one or more receiving terminals;
(b) generating content information according to a predetermined criterion based on the collected recording setting information;
(c) transmitting content information to a receiving terminal;
To the content information.
11. The method of claim 10,
The step (b)
Calculating a content-based recording reservation setting ranking from the collected recording setting information;
Generating content information including the content-based recording reservation setting order;
Wherein the content information providing method comprises:
11. The method of claim 10,
The step (b)
Determining whether the content corresponds to a sequence;
Searching for a VOD of a content preceding the content if the content is a sequence;
Generating content information including VOD identification information of the searched VOD;
Wherein the content information providing method comprises:
13. The method according to claim 11 or 12,
(d) receiving a recording command for the content selected by the user;
(e) recording the selected content;
Further comprising the steps of:

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