TWI413009B - Service management method and multimedia system - Google Patents

Abstract

A service management method for a multimedia system is disclosed. The multimedia system conforms to a digital living network alliance (DLNA) standard, and includes a main controller and a plurality of digital media servers (DMSs). The service management method includes the main controller receiving a device information of a DMS of the plurality of DMSs when the DMS connects to the multimedia system, the main controller determining whether the DMS needs to be searched according to the device information of the DMS, and the main controller searching the DMS when the DMS needs to be searched, in order to update an integrated information related to all available services provided by the plurality of DMSs.

Description

Service management method and multimedia system

The present invention relates to a service management method and a multimedia system, and more particularly to a service management method and a multimedia system that provide systemized query services, thereby improving ease of use.

With the continuous development of Digital Home, a wide variety of multimedia digital devices have emerged, bringing unprecedented convenience to users, but also causing troubles in how to transfer data between devices.

"Digital Living Network Alliance" (DLNA) is a consortium of consumer electronics, mobile phones and computer manufacturers. Its goal is to create a set of products that can connect and adapt each other's products. Industry standards to achieve digital life for consumers. Therefore, as long as it is a DLNA-compliant audio-visual equipment, it is possible to directly connect to each other, perform synchronous actions, or even transmit data without installing a driver or using a transfer device.

In detail, the DLNA standard is based on the technology of Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), and then integrates digital multimedia content, including pictures, music and images. DLNA's network is embedded in the middle layer of the original network architecture, supporting Ethernet (IEEE803.3u) and Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g), and supports HTTP standard protocol for content transmission. At the same time, the v1.5 specification published in 2006 also includes various peripherals such as handheld mobile devices and printers, allowing users to achieve a wider range of applications in addition to instant viewing of audio and video.

The DLNA standard classifies devices into Digital Media Server (DMS), Digital Media Player (DMP), Digital Media Controller (DMC), and Digital Media Simulator (Digital). Media Renderer (DMR) and Digital Media Printer (DMPr). The digital media server provides the acquisition, recording, storage, and source device of the media file, and the relationship between the digital media server and the digital media player or the digital media controller can be described in FIG. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a DLNA system 10. In the DLNA system 10, the digital media servers DMS_1 to DMS_n are respectively connected to the databases DBS_1 to DBS_n for storing media files. In FIG. 1, a host 100 can be a digital media player or a digital media controller. If it is a digital media player, it can find, play or output any media file provided by the digital media server DMS_1~DMS_n; if it is a digital media controller, it can be used as a remote control device to find the digital media server DMS_1 ~ Multimedia file on DMS_n, and specify the digital media player that can play the multimedia file to play or control the multimedia file to be transmitted to the digital media server DMS_1~DMS_n.

As the number of digital products supporting the DLNA standard continues to increase, the number of digital media servers that users can operate increases, resulting in problems with multimedia data or service management. Taking the DLNA system 10 as an example, when the user wants to search or play a digital photo IMG_x in a digital media server DMS_x through the host 100, as shown in FIG. 2, the universal plug-and-play interface needs to be connected first. Go to the digital media server DMS_x, read the database DBS_x, select the photo category, and finally select the digital photo IMG_x. In this case, if the digital media server connected to the user does not have the required data, the above operation process needs to be repeated, which obviously causes a lot of inconvenience.

It can be seen from the above that since the conventional DLNA system lacks an effective management mechanism, the user needs to spend a lot of effort on the query, and there is a need for improvement.

Therefore, the present invention mainly provides a service management method and a multimedia system.

The present invention discloses a service management method for a multimedia system that conforms to a digital living network alliance standard and includes a host and a plurality of digital media servers, and the service management method includes the plurality of When the digital media server of the digital media server logs into the multimedia system, the host acquires device information of the digital media server; and according to the device information of the digital media server, the master determines the digital media Whether the server is a digital media server to be queried; and when the digital media server is to query the digital media server, the host queries the digital media server to update the plurality of digital media servos All of the services available to provide integrated information.

The present invention further discloses a multimedia system that conforms to a digital living network alliance standard and includes a plurality of digital media servers; and a host terminal includes a database for performing the following steps: the plurality of digital media servos When one of the digital media servers logs into the multimedia system, the device information of the digital media server is obtained and stored in the database; and the digital media server is determined according to the device information of the digital media server. And when the digital media server is to query the digital media server, the host queries the digital media server to update the plurality of digital media in the database. The server can provide one of the services to integrate information.

Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a schematic diagram of a DLNA system 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The DLNA system 30 is compliant with the DLNA standard, so its architecture is similar to that of the DLNA system 10 of FIG. 1, except that a master terminal 300 of the DLNA system 30 is connected to the digital media server DMS_1 through a universal plug-and-play interface. In addition to DMS_n, a database 302 is connected to store an integrated information INT_info. The integrated information INT_info is related to all available services of the digital media servers DMS_1~DMS_n, and can be sorted or sorted by data for users to quickly search.

In detail, when a digital media server DMS_y among the digital media servers DMS_1 D DMS_n logs into the DLNA system 30, the host terminal 300 acquires device information of the digital media server DMS_y. The content of this device information may vary depending on the system settings, and different operating modes will be derived, as explained below.

First, the most basic device information is the device description data defined by the DLNA standard, that is, the UUID, which is used to identify the digital media server DMS_y. In this case, when the master terminal 300 obtains the device description data of the digital media server DMS_y, the master terminal 300 determines that the digital media server DMS_y is a digital media server to be queried, and then queries the digital media server DMS_y. The service provided to update the integration information INT_info.

In the above example, if the digital media server DMS_y frequently logs in and logs out of the DLNA system 30, the host terminal 300 repeatedly performs the query operation. In this case, the login and logout times of the digital media servers DMS_1 D DMS_n can be further recorded by the host terminal 300, and it is judged whether or not re-inquiry is required. For example, if the difference between the time when the digital media server DMS_y logs into the DLNA system 30 and the previous logout time is less than a preset value, the master terminal 300 can determine that the digital media server DMS_y does not need to be re-queried; otherwise, if the digital media When the difference between the time when the server DMS_y logs into the DLNA system 30 and the previous logout time is greater than the preset value, the master terminal 300 determines that the digital media server DMS_y needs to be re-queried and updates the integrated information INT_info. In this way, the system load can be greatly reduced, and the influence of the frequent login and logout of the digital media server DMS_y can be avoided.

In addition, in addition to the basic device description data, the embodiment of the present invention may further set the digital media server DMS_1~DMS_n to generate service description data that can be queried by the host terminal 300 to indicate the update situation of the service content. That is, after the master terminal 300 obtains the device description data and the service description data of the digital media server DMS_y, if the content of the service description data display digital media server DMS_y is not updated, the master terminal 300 can determine that it is not necessary to re The digital media server DMS_y is queried; otherwise, if the service description data indicates that the content of the digital media server DMS_y has been updated, the host 300 determines that the digital media server DMS_y needs to be re-queried and updates the integrated information INT_info.

Further, when querying the digital media server DMS_y, the host terminal 300 may output a query request message to the digital media server DMS_y to obtain a description of all service contents of the digital media server DMS_y, or in a sorted manner, in order A query instruction is output to obtain a description of the service content of each category. In addition, if the device description data includes the service description data, the host terminal 300 may also query only the description of all the updated service contents of the digital media server DMS_y, or sequentially query the service content of each category in a classified manner. A description of the updated content.

It should be noted that the manner of querying the digital media server DMS_1~DMS_n service content is used to update the integrated information INT_info, and how to obtain the service content of the digital media server DMS_1~DMS_n may be different depending on system setting or design. It should not be limited to this. After obtaining the service content of the digital media server DMS_1~DMS_n, the host terminal 300 can generate or update the integrated information INT_info to integrate the service contents of all the digital media servers DMS_1~DMS_n, so that the user can quickly query or select the required content. Service. Taking digital photo browsing as an example, as shown in FIG. 4A, if the user wants to query a digital photo IMG_y, the main control terminal 300 displays the classification of all the data stored in the digital media server DMS_1~DMS_n according to the integrated information INT_info. In other words, the user does not need to know the storage location of the digital photo IMG_y, and can simply query or select the desired digital photo IMG_y through the host terminal 300. Of course, if the user wants to obtain the information of the storage location of the digital photo IMG_y, the main control terminal 300 can also display related information.

Through the integration of the information INT_info, the main control terminal 300 can effectively classify and provide a query service in a systematic manner, in addition to providing a fast query service. For example, in Figure 4B, if the digital photo IMG_y is captured or related to "Beijing", when the user queries through the host terminal 300, the "category by sight" can be selected, then "Beijing" is selected, and finally, Digital photo IMG_y. Of course, this classification method is only an example, and different classification methods can be set according to different needs, and are not limited thereto.

It can be seen from the above that through the integrated information INT_info, the present invention can provide an efficient query method, so that the user can quickly obtain the required data or service and improve the shortcomings of the prior art. The operation of the DLNA system 30 described above can be further summarized into a service management process 50, as shown in FIG. The service management process 50 includes the following steps:

Step 500: Start.

Step 502: When the digital media server DMS_y logs into the DLNA system 30, the host terminal 300 obtains device information of the digital media server DMS_y.

Step 504: According to the device information of the digital media server DMS-y, the host terminal 300 determines whether the digital media server DMS_y is a digital media server to be queried. If yes, go to step 506: If no, go to step 508.

Step 506: The host terminal 300 queries the digital media server DMS_y to update all the integrated information INT_info related to the digital media servers DMS_1 D DMS_n.

Step 508: End.

For the operation mode of the service management process 50, reference may be made to the foregoing description, and details are not described herein.

In summary, for a DLNA system or a similarly structured multimedia system, the present invention can obtain the service content of the digital media server in different ways, and generate or update relevant integrated information to provide a systematic query service. Thereby improving the convenience of use.

The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all changes and modifications made to the scope of the present invention should be within the scope of the present invention.

10, 30. . . DLNA system

100, 300. . . Master

DMS_1~DMS_n. . . Digital media server

DBS_1~DBS_n, 302. . . database

IMG_x, IMG_y. . . Digital photo

INT_info. . . Integrated information

50. . . Service management process

500, 502, 504, 506, 508. . . step

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional DLNA system.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the DLNA system of Figure 1 searching for a digital photo.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a DLNA system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4A and 4B are schematic diagrams of the DLNA system of FIG. 3 searching for a digital photo.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a service management process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

30. . . DLNA system

300. . . Master

DMS_1~DMS_n. . . Digital media server

DBS_1~DBS_n, 302. . . database

INT_info. . . Integrated information

Claims (14)

A service management method for a multimedia system, the multimedia system conforms to a digital living network alliance standard and includes a host and a plurality of digital media servers, and the service management method includes: the plurality of digital media When the digital media server of the server logs in to the multimedia system, the host obtains device information of the digital media server; and according to the device information of the digital media server, the master determines the digital media server Whether it is a digital media server to be queried; and when the digital media server is to query the digital media server, the host queries the digital media server to update all the digital media servers related to the digital media server Providing one of the services for integrating information; wherein the host records the time when the plurality of digital media servers log in and log out of the multimedia system, and the device information of the digital media server includes only the digital media server One device description data, and the time and time when the digital media server logged out of the multimedia system When the time gap is greater than a predetermined value, it determines that the master is a digital media server to query the DMS. The service management method of claim 1, wherein the master determines whether the digital media server is a digital media server to be queried according to the device information of the digital media server, and includes: The device information of the digital media server includes one of the digital media servers The device description data and a service description data, and the service description data indicates that the digital media server has updated the service content, the master determines that the digital media server is a digital media server to be queried. The service management method of claim 1, wherein the step of the master querying the digital media server comprises: the master outputting a query request message to the digital media server to obtain the digital media servo A description of all the service content of the device. The service management method of claim 3, wherein the query request message comprises a plurality of query instructions, each query instruction being used to obtain a description of the service content of a category in the plurality of categories. The service management method of claim 1, wherein the step of the master querying the digital media server comprises: the master outputting a query request message to the digital media server to obtain the digital media servo A description of all updated service content. The service management method of claim 5, wherein the query request message comprises a plurality of query instructions, each query instruction being used to obtain a description of the updated content in the service content of a category in the plurality of categories. The service management method according to claim 1, wherein the master terminal is a digital media Player or a digital media controller. A multimedia system conforming to a digital living network alliance standard, comprising: a plurality of digital media servers; and a host, comprising a database for performing the following steps: one of the plurality of digital media servers When the digital media server logs in to the multimedia system, the device information of the digital media server is obtained and stored in the database; and based on the device information of the digital media server, whether the digital media server is waiting for the device Querying the digital media server; and when the digital media server is to query the digital media server, the host queries the digital media server to update the database corresponding to the plurality of digital media servers One of the services may be provided to integrate the information; wherein the host further records the time when the plurality of digital media servers are logged in and logged out of the multimedia system, and the digital media server is When the device information only includes one of the device descriptions of the digital media server, the host determines the digital media server A digital media server to be queried. The multimedia system of claim 8, wherein the device information of the digital media server includes a device description data and a service description data of the digital media server, and the service description data indicates that the digital media server has been Update service When the content is content, the host determines that the digital media server is a digital media server to be queried. The multimedia system of claim 8, wherein the host outputs a query request message to the digital media server to obtain a description of all service contents of the digital media server. The multimedia system of claim 10, wherein the query request message comprises a plurality of query instructions, each query instruction being used to obtain a description of the service content of a category in the plurality of categories. The multimedia system of claim 8, wherein the host outputs a query request message to the digital media server to obtain a description of all updated service contents of the digital media server. The multimedia system of claim 12, wherein the query request message includes a plurality of query instructions, each query instruction being used to obtain a description of updated content in a service content of a plurality of categories. The multimedia system of claim 8, wherein the master is a digital media player or a digital media controller.