WO2008049365A1

WO2008049365A1 - An one-way network video-on-demand portal system

Info

Publication number: WO2008049365A1
Application number: PCT/CN2007/070907
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chungen Liu; Weizhong Li; Peng Yan; Xinghe Huang; Zhenzhong Dai
Original assignee: Star Software Technology Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2006-10-19
Filing date: 2007-10-16
Publication date: 2008-05-02
Also published as: CN1946052A

Abstract

A video-on-demand portal system is provided, the system includes: service processing unit (11), for receiving the video-on-demand request sent by the access end (2), and sending the request to the video-on-demand background (3); information notification unit (12), for distributing the video-on-demand information to the customer end (4), the video-on-demand information is returned by the video-on-demand background (3) according to the request from the service processing unit (11). The video-on-demand portal system provided in the present invention can realize the VOD service development in the one-way network, and can realize the VOD service based on the one-way HFC network.

Description

One-way network video on demand portal system

The present application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 20061014096, filed on Jan. 19, 2006, entitled,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, in.

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of video on demand, and in particular to a portal system for one-way network video on demand.

Background technique

VOD (Video On Demand, Video On Demand) is actually an interactive service, the most typical interactive service provided by cable TV operators. The interactive business application is divided into two parts, a client and a server, which run on the software and hardware platforms of the set top box and the server side respectively, and the server side includes a platform and an application to interact with the external system.

In a two-way VOD system, the SRM (Session Resource Management Module) is responsible for establishing a session and managing session resources such as frequency and bandwidth. VS (Video on demand server, video on demand server) is responsible for storing broadcast video programs, responding to users' fast-forward and fast forward requirements. BMS (Business Management Server) is responsible for coordinating the basic work of communication between different modules, media asset management, and billing user interface, and provides services for AS (Application Server). These three parts belong to the platform layer. The application server is responsible for the processing of the application-related logic. Set-top boxes and SRM, as well as SRM and BMS, communicate via SSP (Session Setup Protocol). The set-top box and the video-on-demand server VS communicate through LSCP (Lightweight Stream Control Protocol). Since the client and server side of the application are developed by a developer to jointly complete a business logic, the set-top box and the application server AS communicate through a proprietary protocol. VS, AS and BMS communicate through the ISA (Interactive Service Architecture) specification. ISA is an open specification proposed by Time Warner and is now the de facto industry standard. The BMS communicates with the billing system through the PBI (Public Billing Interface). All of the above agreements are open.

The interaction process between the VOD on-demand set-top box and the front-end of the two-way network: In the two-way network, after the user orders the program, the set-top box first sends an SSP request to establish a session (Client Session Setup Request) to the background. The request contains a lot of information, such as the program number of the main broadcast, and the user's information. SRM Retention and allocation of resources through a series of interactions with the BMS and the AS. The SRM then tells the client the information assigned to the client's resources, the address of the video server, the handle of the video stream, and the like in the Client Session Setup Confirm. In this way, a session is established between the client and the backend system, and the session and the resources allocated for the session are maintained until the end of the session. During the entire session, the client also frequently sends some heartbeat information to the SRM to tell the SRM client the status, so that SRM does not mistakenly think that the client has a problem and delete the session and recycle resources. During the session, the client can also interact with the video server through LSCP to control the fast forward and backward of the program.

In the existing two-way network-based VOD system, customers can interact with the background through the SRM system, and the customer and SRM can only communicate through the two-way SSP/UDP protocol. The SRM system does not support other access methods.

At present, VOD services based on a one-way HFC (Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial) network are difficult to implement. This is because the one-way HFC network does not have a return channel, and the return information from the user to the VOD backend cannot be delivered. The use of other return channels, such as short messages, IVR (Interactive Voice Response), Internet and other interactive voice response can not directly access the VOD backend system. Moreover, a single user cannot obtain information for the user from the background through a two-way protocol and specification like a two-way network.

Therefore, how to implement the VOD service interaction based on the one-way HFC network and how to implement the information for the single user through the bidirectional protocol and the specification from the background through the bidirectional network is a technical problem that needs to be solved.

Summary of the invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a portal system for one-way network video on demand, which can implement VOD services in a unidirectional network and implement VOD services based on a one-way HFC network.

To this end, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

A portal system for one-way network video on demand, comprising:

a service processing unit, configured to receive a video on demand request sent by the access terminal, and send the request to a video on demand background;

The information notification unit is configured to deliver the on-demand information returned by the video on-demand background according to the request of the service processing unit to the client. Preferably, the portal system is further connected to the subscriber management system; the video on demand request sent by the access terminal includes the identifier of the client; and the subscriber management system determines the corresponding client according to the identifier of the client in the video on demand request. End, and return the information of the client to the portal system.

Preferably, the service processing unit includes:

And a communication unit, configured to implement communication between the access end and the video on demand background and the information notification unit.

a video on demand service unit, configured to invoke the communication unit, process video on demand information, and implement video on demand.

Preferably, the service processing unit further includes a short message access gateway, the short message access gateway is connected to the video on demand service unit, and is interconnected as a client with the subscriber management system.

Preferably, the service processing unit further includes an interactive voice system access gateway, an Internet on Demand request access gateway, and the interactive voice system access gateway and the Internet on Demand request access gateway are connected to the video on demand service unit, And each is interconnected as a client with the subscriber management system.

Preferably, the communication unit includes an access communication unit and an internal communication unit, where the access communication unit is connected to the access terminal and the internal communication unit for implementing communication with the access terminal; The internal communication unit is connected to the access communication unit, the information notification unit, and the video on demand background for implementing communication with the information notification unit and the video on demand background.

Preferably, the internal communication unit further includes a session resource management access gateway, a server access gateway, and a frequency point information advertisement gateway; the session resource management access gateway is configured to communicate with the session resource management; the server access gateway And configured to communicate with a video on demand server; the frequency point information advertisement gateway is configured to communicate with the information notification unit.

Preferably, the information notification unit includes a parameter receiving unit and a parameter advertisement unit; the parameter receiving unit is connected to the communication unit to implement message transmission and reception; and the parameter advertisement unit is configured to maintain data to be delivered, and Webcasts are issued.

Preferably, the information notification unit includes a parameter receiving unit and a parameter advertisement unit; the parameter receiving unit is connected to the internal communication unit, and is configured to implement message transmission and reception; and the parameter advertisement unit is configured to maintain data to be delivered. And distributed via webcast.

Preferably, the information notification unit includes a parameter receiving unit and a parameter broadcast unit; the parameter receiving unit is connected to the frequency information broadcast gateway, and is configured to implement message sending and receiving; The unit is used to maintain the data that needs to be delivered and is delivered through the network broadcast.

As can be seen from the technical solution provided by the present invention, the portal system includes a service processing unit that implements interaction between the access end and the video on demand background, and the video on demand information generated by the on-demand broadcast is sent to the The information notification unit of the client. In this way, the receiving client can send the message sent by the access terminal in another access mode, and then the user and the SRM are used to interact with the SSP according to the user's request, thereby realizing the VOD service of the one-way network.

DRAWINGS

1 is a schematic structural view of a portal system according to the present invention;

2 is a block diagram of an internal implementation of the portal system of the present invention;

3 is a static model diagram of the service processing unit of the present invention;

4 is a static model diagram of the information notification unit of the present invention.

detailed description

The object of the present invention is to provide a unidirectional network video on demand portal system for implementing VOD services in a unidirectional network and implementing VOD services based on a unidirectional HFC network.

The technical solution of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1 , it is a schematic structural diagram of a portal system according to the present invention.

The portal system 1 of the present invention includes a service processing unit 11 and an information notification unit 12.

The service processing unit 11 is connected to the access terminal 2 and the video on demand background 3, and is configured to receive a video on demand request sent by the access terminal 2, and send the request to the video on demand background 3.

The information notification unit 12 is connected to the video on demand background 3 and the client 4 for transmitting the corresponding on-demand information to the client 4 according to the request of the service processing unit 11 .

Referring to FIG. 2, it is a block diagram of an internal implementation of the portal system according to the present invention.

The service processing unit 11 includes a communication unit 111 and a video on demand service unit 112.

The communication unit 111 is connected to the access terminal 2 and the video on demand background 3 and the information notification unit 12, and is configured to implement the access terminal 2 and the video on demand background 3 and the information notification unit. Communication between 12.

The video on demand service unit 112 is connected to the communication unit 111, and invokes the communication unit. 111. It is used to process video on-demand information, and realize video on demand of a network such as a unidirectional optical fiber coaxial cable hybrid network. The video on demand service unit 112 is configured to process the VOD information, and invoke the communication unit in the portal system 1 to replace the client 4 in all the unidirectional networks and the video on demand background 3 to implement the one-way HFC intra-network VOD function.

The client 4 can be a set top box or other client.

The portal system 1 is also connected to a subscriber management system 5. The video on demand request sent by the access terminal 2 includes the identifier of the client 4; the subscriber management system 5 determines the corresponding client 4 by using the identifier of the client in the video on demand request.

The service processing unit 11 also includes a subscriber management gateway 113. The subscriber management gateway 113 is connected to the video on demand service unit 112 and is interconnected as a client with the subscriber management system 5. The subscriber management gateway 113 provides support for SMS communication for a plurality of services. The subscriber management gateway 113 acts as a client to interconnect with the SMS, forwards various messages to the SMS, and sorts messages from the SMS. Help VOD prepare data and forward non-VOD messages.

The portal system of the present invention can be used only to support VOD services, so that sorting data can achieve the purpose of distinguishing various requests of VOD.

The communication unit 111 includes an access communication unit 111a and an internal communication unit 111b.

The access communication unit 111a connects the access terminal 2 and the internal communication unit 111b for implementing communication with the access terminal 2. The access communication unit 111a serves as a server, and provides a listening port and an access terminal 2 (such as an IVR) to interconnect, send and receive information, and sort and access messages.

The internal communication unit 111b connects the access communication unit 111a and the video on demand background

3, for implementing communication with the information notification unit 12 and the video on demand background 3. The internal communication unit 111b is dedicated to the VOD service. It is interconnected with the SRM, the video on demand background 3 and the information notification unit 12 as a client, and transmits and receives information, and assists in implementing VOD on-demand, playback control, and delivery parameters.

The internal communication unit 111b further includes a session resource management access gateway, a server access gateway, and a BC (Frequency Information Broadcasting) gateway.

The session resource management access gateway serves as a client to communicate with the SRM, and assists in creating and maintaining the program on-demand.

The server access gateway is configured to communicate with the video on demand background 3. The server access gateway is configured The client communicates with the video on demand background 3 to realize the control of the broadcast program.

The BC gateway is for communicating with the information notification unit 12. The BC gateway communicates with the information notification unit 12 as a client, and broadcasts the frequency information generated by the on-demand to the client 4 through the information notification unit 12.

The service processing unit 11 of the present invention further includes a service log unit 114 for recording logs. The information notification unit 12 includes a parameter receiving unit 121 and a parameter distribution unit 122. The parameter refers to the necessary information included in the client receiving the video program.

The parameter receiving unit 121 is connected to the communication unit 111 of the service processing unit 11 to implement message transmission and reception. The parameter receiving unit 121 acts as a server to transmit and receive messages to the service processing unit 11.

The parameter advertised unit 122 is configured to maintain the data to be delivered and deliver the data through a network broadcast. The information notification unit 12 of the present invention further includes a "memory unit 123" for recording logs. The following briefly describes the data flow of the video on demand in conjunction with FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, which specifically includes: First step, input terminal 2 input On-demand request.

In the second step, the portal portal system 1 sends an on-demand request to the SMS subscriber management system 5 for user authentication.

In the third step, the SMS subscriber management system 5 verifies whether the on-demand request is a legitimate user. After the verification succeeds, the client in the on-demand request is returned to the portal portal system 1.

In the fourth step, the portal portal system 1 sends an on-demand request to the video on demand background 3.

In the fifth step, the portal portal system 1 sends the video information generated by the on-demand broadcast to the client 4.

In the sixth step, the portal portal system 1 sends the on-demand success information to the access terminal 2.

The specific media playback control data flow is as follows:

1) The access terminal 2 inputs a media playback control request, such as fast forward;

2) The portal portal system 1 parses the request and sends a playback control request to the media server in the form of the LSCP protocol.

Referring to FIG. 3, it is a static model diagram of the service processing unit according to the present invention.

The business processing unit 11 instantiates other various class objects. Class objects of these classes are public, with access link (Inlink) 31, request manager (ReqMgr) 32, on-demand parameter manager (SesMgr) 33. The configuration (Config) 34, the frequency information broadcast link (BCLink) 35, the server link (ServerLink) 36, the session resource management link (SRMLink) 37, and the subscriber management system link (SMSLink) 38 respectively correspond. After the business subsystem is started, each public class object only generates one instance, providing methods or member variables for other class access.

The ReqMgr class object is used to process on-demand requests. The ReqMgr class object implements the on-demand parameters for storing the request status, and maps the data in the disk. The data on the disk and the content of the on-demand parameters in the memory to store the request status remain the same at all times.

The SesMgr class object is used to manage the on-demand parameters that have started normal playback. The SesMgr class object implements the contents of the disk at the same time as the contents of the memory.

SRMLink class object, used to interact with the SRM system.

The BCLink class object is used to interact with the information notification unit 12.

The SMSLink class object, used to interact with the SMS system, saves a bit of the user parameters required for the broadcast.

A ServerLink class object that is used to interact with the video on demand background to control the start of the broadcast.

InLink class object, used to interact with various access terminals. The InLink class object saves the on-demand parameters that are not played normally before restarting. After the restart, the system no longer continues to implement these on-demand applications, notifying the user that the on-demand is not successful.

Logger is a log class object that is used as a log management class.

Referring to FIG. 4, it is a static model diagram of the information notification unit according to the present invention.

The information notification unit 12 preferably runs in the redhat linux environment and is compiled using the compiler provided by linux. The information notification unit 12 is configured to deliver the frequency information of the on-demand success to the client 4, so that the client 4 adjusts to the corresponding frequency to play the program. The information notification unit 12 first reads in the configuration item and then instantiates the other various class objects. These class objects are public, and each class object produces only one instance. The information notifying unit 12 corresponds to the service link 41 and the setup time slot 42, respectively. The information notification unit 12 can also operate in other Unix system environments.

The process of video on demand according to the present invention is specifically described below with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, which specifically includes: 1. The access terminal 2 invokes a ReqMgr class object, and transmits a binding on-demand request. Submitting the received request to the business processing unit 11, storing the content of the on-demand request in the ReqMgr array, and generating The VOD program list browsed by the user queries the parameters of the VOD program list from the database, and replaces the VOD program list used by the client to implement the on-demand process.

2. ReqMgr triggers the notification of the SMSLink object for subsequent processing, and SMSLink detects this change in status.

3. SMSLink calls the ReqMgr class object to find which on-demand requests need to query the data from the SMS system, and send a query request to identify the status of the on-demand request to be added to the node construction message and send it to the SMS via the SMSLink connection.

4. The receiving thread of SMSLink receives the message from the SMS and recognizes that it is a response message prepared by the VOD data, and then calls the ReqMgr class object, and writes the queried user parameters into the corresponding node.

5, ReqMgr trigger notification SRMLink object for subsequent processing. SRMLink detects changes in this state.

6. SRMLink calls ReqMgr to find the node construction message that the on-demand request is the required parameter from the SMS and sends it to SRM via SRMLink.

7. After receiving the response from the SRM, the SRMLink determines that it is the CSSC (Client Session Establishment Confirmation) message, and then calls ReqMgr to find the corresponding node, and writes the frequency information and the LSCP on-demand parameters in the message to the node.

8. ReqMgr triggers the notification of the ServerLink object for subsequent processing, and ServerLink listens for this state change.

9. ServerLink call ReqMgr query status identifies the node on which the on-demand session resource has been successfully created, constructs the LSCP message, and sends the message to the video on demand background through ServerLink.

10. After receiving the response from the video on-demand background, ServerLink calls ReqMgr to find the corresponding node and modify the node status.

11, ReqMgr trigger notification BCLink object for subsequent processing, BCLink listens to this state change.

12. BCLink calls the ReqMgr status to identify the node on which the program requested by this request has started playing, and sends private data.

13. ReqMgr calls the SesMgr request successful node information to store all the on-demand parameters in the normal playing state. 14. ReqMgr calls InLink to send an on-demand request success message to the user.

At this point, the implementation of an on-demand request ends.

The portal system of the present invention includes a service processing unit that implements interaction between the access terminal and the video on demand background, and an information notification unit that sends the video on demand information generated by the on-demand to the set top box through the whole network broadcast mode. In this way, the receiving client can send the message to the access terminal in the other access mode, and the user can interact with the SRM according to the user's request to implement the VOD service of the single-directional network.

While the invention has been described by the embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that

Claims

Rights request

A portal system for one-way network video on demand, which is characterized by comprising:

The information notification unit is configured to deliver the on-demand information returned by the video on-demand background according to the request of the service processing unit to the client.

The portal system according to claim 1, wherein the portal system is further connected to a subscriber management system; the video on demand request sent by the access terminal includes an identifier of the client; and the subscriber management system is configured according to The identifier of the client in the video on demand request determines a corresponding client, and returns the information of the client to the portal system.

3. The portal system according to claim 2, wherein the service processing unit comprises:

a communication unit, configured to implement communication between the access end and the video on demand background and the information notification unit;

The portal system according to claim 3, wherein the service processing unit further comprises a short message access gateway;

The short message access gateway is connected to the video on demand service unit as the client is interconnected with the subscriber management system.

The portal system according to claim 4, wherein the service processing unit further comprises an interactive voice system access gateway, and an Internet on Demand request access gateway;

The interactive voice system access gateway and the Internet on Demand request access gateway are both connected to the video on demand service unit, and are respectively interconnected as the client with the subscriber management system.

The portal system according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the communication unit comprises an access communication unit and an internal communication unit;

The access communication unit is configured to connect the access terminal and the internal communication unit, to implement communication with the access terminal;

The internal communication unit is connected to the access communication unit, the information notification unit, and the view And a frequency on-demand background, configured to implement communication with the information notification unit and the video on demand background.

The portal system according to claim 6, wherein the internal communication unit further comprises:

a session resource management access gateway, configured to communicate with the session resource management;

a server access gateway for communicating with a video on demand server;

A frequency point information advertisement gateway is configured to communicate with the information notification unit.

The portal system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the information notification unit comprises:

a parameter receiving unit, configured to implement sending and receiving of a message;

The parameter advertised unit is used to maintain the data to be delivered and is delivered through the network broadcast.

The portal system according to claim 7, wherein the information notification unit comprises a parameter receiving unit and a parameter broadcast unit;

The parameter receiving unit is connected to the internal communication unit, and is configured to implement sending and receiving of a message. The parameter advertised unit is configured to maintain data to be delivered, and is delivered through a network broadcast.

The parameter receiving unit is connected to the frequency information broadcast gateway, and is configured to implement sending and receiving of a message. The parameter broadcast unit is configured to maintain data to be delivered, and is delivered by using a network broadcast.