WO2011029355A1

WO2011029355A1 - Program delivery method, set-top box and electronic program guide

Info

Publication number: WO2011029355A1
Application number: PCT/CN2010/075729
Authority: WO
Inventors: 李海滨; 黄志华; 孟凡忠
Original assignee: 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Priority date: 2009-09-08
Filing date: 2010-08-05
Publication date: 2011-03-17
Also published as: CN101662658A; CN101662658B

Abstract

A program delivery method, Set-Top Box (STB) and Electronic Program Guide (EPG) are provided in the present disclosure. The method includes the following steps: the STB sends a request message for downloading a program to the EPG according to the program selected by a user (S102); the STB receives information of a Content Delivery Network (CDN) agent transmitted from the EPG and saves the information of the CDN agent and the program download task in a download queue (S104); the STB executes the download according to the download queue (S106). The present disclosure achieves effects of reducing the load of streaming media servers and the communication network and improving user experience.

Description

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular to a program push method and a set top box.

(Set-Top Box, referred to as STB) and Electronic Program Guide (EPG). BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Interactive Personality TV (IPTV) provides powerful interactive capabilities and a new way of viewing multimedia content, bringing people a new audiovisual-risk. Users can customize a variety of multimedia services and video programs according to individual needs. Video on Demand (VOD) is the most important IPTV video service except live broadcast, and the electronic program menu is the subsystem of IPTV, which is the portal for users to enter IPTV. The Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a content distribution subsystem of IPTV, which is mainly composed of a content distribution network manager (CDN Manager) and a content distribution network agent (CDN Agent), wherein the content distribution network manager is The main control server in the content distribution subsystem is responsible for connecting the streaming media to the IPTV service management system, and the content distribution network proxy is a node server, and together with the streaming media system, form a distributed streaming media node. In addition, the JavaScript (JS) module is a JavaScript book that runs on a digital TV set-top box device. It uses real-time transmission 3⁄4ϊ Realtime Transmission Stream Protocol (RTSP) for transmission.

The way IPTV users usually process favorite programs is recording or collecting. Recording (except for local recording) is to record the live source as a program by the remote server for the user to watch on-demand, and the collection is to save the shortcut of the target program. In the above two methods, the network communication is still used to send a connection request to the remote streaming server, which is not fundamentally different from the traditional live broadcast. The on-demand program must be navigated in the template page provided by the operator, or it may be added to the collection by itself, which lacks flexibility; if the on-demand quantity of the program is high, it will inevitably increase the data transmission traffic, causing congestion in the IPTV communication network, even if multiple settings are used. The method of distributing network traffic by program copies also distributes a large number of program copies in the system, resulting in waste of resources and increased management costs. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the problem that the IPTV user lacks flexibility in viewing programs and causes congestion of the IPTV communication network in the related art. To this end, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a program pushing scheme to solve the above problems. In order to achieve the above object, according to an aspect of the present invention, a program push method is provided, the method comprising: a set top box transmitting a download program request information to an electronic program menu according to a program selected by a user; the set top box receiving a content distribution network sent by the electronic program menu The agent's information, and the content distribution network agent's information and program download tasks are saved in the download queue; the set-top box performs the download according to the download queue. Preferably, before the set top box sends the download program request information to the electronic program menu according to the program selected by the user, the method further includes: the set top box displaying the program push program list in the browser, and receiving the program selected by the user from the program push program list. Preferably, the downloading of the set top box according to the download queue comprises: the set top box loops out the download task in the download queue to perform the download. Preferably, the downloading of the download task in the set-top box looping out the download queue comprises: the set top box requests the content distribution network agent to download the address information to perform the download; or the set top box obtains the download address information via the multi-level content distribution network proxy node to perform the download. Preferably, after the downloading of the set-top box in the download queue, the method further includes: if the download is successful, the set-top box plays the downloaded program according to the user's selection. In order to achieve the above object, according to an aspect of the present invention, a program pushing method is further provided, the method comprising: receiving an program information from a service management platform by an electronic program menu, and transmitting program information to the set top box, so that the set top box program The information is displayed to the user; the electronic program menu receiver downloads the program request information sent by the top box, and transmits the information of the content distribution network agent to the set top box according to the downloaded program request information. Preferably, before the electronic program menu receives the program information from the service management platform, the method further includes: the service management platform making the content to be published into a program, and storing the program in the local download area; the service management platform to the electronic program The menu transmits program information corresponding to the stored program. Preferably, the service management platform sends the program information to the electronic program menu, including: The station sends a timely message to the electronic program menu and carries the program information therein. In order to achieve the above object, according to another aspect of the present invention, a set top box is provided, the set top box includes: a first sending module, configured to send download program request information to an electronic program menu according to a program selected by a user; Information for receiving a content distribution network agent sent by the electronic program menu; a saving module, configured to save the information of the content distribution network agent and the download task of the program in the download queue according to the information of the content distribution network agent received by the first receiving module The download module is used to perform the download according to the download queue. In order to achieve the above object, in another aspect of the present invention, an electronic program menu is further provided, the electronic program menu includes: a second receiving module, configured to receive program information from a service management platform; and a second sending module, And transmitting program information to the set top box according to the program information received by the second receiving module, so that the set top box displays the program to the user according to the program information; the third receiving module is configured to download the program request information sent by the receiver set top box; and the third sending module is configured to: The information of the content distribution network agent is sent to the set top box according to the download program request information received by the third receiving module. Through the invention, the method for simulating the push program to the user STB by the operator solves the problem that the IPTV user lacks flexibility in watching the program and causes congestion of the IPTV communication network in the related art, thereby achieving the reduction of the streaming media server and the communication network. Burden, and improve the user experience. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are set to illustrate,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a program pushing method (STB side) according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a program pushing method (EPG side) according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a program push timely message notification according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a JS module background control download program file according to an embodiment of the present invention; A schematic diagram of an STB download program flow according to an embodiment of the present invention; 7 is a structural block diagram of an STB according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a preferred structure of an STB according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 9 is a structural block diagram of an EPG according to an embodiment of the present invention. The present invention provides a program pushing method and apparatus, which utilizes local storage hardware configured by the STB to store streaming media files, and the operator can use the related art to lack the flexibility of the IPTV user to view the program and cause the IPTV communication network to be congested. The program is pushed to the user STB, and the user is allowed to select the accepted content according to the preference, so that the user can store the favorite or need to repeatedly watch the program file in the STB for offline viewing. This method ensures that the viewing quality is not affected by the network. Operators can take full advantage of STB's storage capacity and multi-level node tandem approach to CDN distributed networks, reducing the burden on streaming media servers and communication networks, and increasing customer loyalty. It should be noted that the embodiments in the present application and the features in the embodiments may be combined with each other without conflict. The invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings in conjunction with the embodiments. Method Embodiment 1 According to an embodiment of the present invention, a program push method is provided. 1 is a flowchart of a program push method (STB side) according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the method includes the following steps S102 to S106. Step S102: The STB sends the download program request information to the EPG according to the program selected by the user. Step S104: The STB receives the information of the CDN Agent sent by the EPG, and saves the information of the CDN Agent and the download task of the program in the download queue (ie, the program download mechanism). Step S106: The STB performs downloading according to the download queue. In this embodiment, the user is allowed to select the accepted content according to the preference, and then the local storage hardware configured by the STB is used to store the streaming media file, so that the user can store the favorite or repeatedly viewed program files in the STB for offline viewing. . This method ensures that the viewing quality is not affected by the network. Operators can take full advantage of STB's storage capacity and multi-level node tandem approach to CDN distributed networks, reducing the burden on streaming media servers and communication networks, and increasing customer loyalty. Before step S102, the STB displays the program push section in the download area of the browser template page. The list of destinations, and receiving the program selected by the user from the program push program list, so that the program download process (ie, the message notification mechanism;) can be automatically entered after the user selects the program. Specifically, the STB loops out the download task in the download queue to perform the download. The STB may request the CDN Agent to download the address information to perform the download; or the STB may also obtain the FTP download address through the multi-level CDN Agent node, and then download the program according to the information (ie, the program download mechanism;). Then, if the download is successful, the STB can play the downloaded program according to the user's selection. For example, the user will be prompted to select whether to watch immediately. In addition, enter the set-top box local page to view the storage status and program content list in the set-top box local disk, and optionally play the local program (ie, the program viewing mechanism;). Method Embodiment 2 FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a program pushing method (EPG side) according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the method includes the following steps S202 to S204. Step S202: The EPG receives the program information from the service management platform, and transmits the program information to the STB, so that the STB displays the program to the user according to the program information (ie, the program production and distribution mechanism;). Step S204: The EPG receives the download program request information sent by the STB, and sends the CDN Agent information to the STB according to the download program request information. Before the step S202, the service management platform creates the content to be published into a program, and stores the program in the local download area. The service management platform selects the user group, and uses the timely message mechanism to send the program information corresponding to the stored program to the EPG. The program information sent by the service management platform to the EPG includes a timely message carrying the program information. The implementation process of the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to examples. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a program push structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the service management platform, a local download server, a capability interface machine, a CDN agent, an EPG, and an STB are included. Specifically, the operator selects a program for the 4th and the gift in the service management platform, and stores the above program in the download server and simultaneously issues it to the Agent. Then, the service management platform sends a timely message to the EPG through the capability interface machine, so that the EPG will save the timely message, etc. Waiting for STB's query. After the user selects the accepted program, the entire RTSP can implement the process of link access, redirection, download, reception, and storage in the background. Among them, STB also includes JavaScript (JS) module, local page, browser and FTP download process. The JS module runs in the STB and is used to display timely messages to the browser. The real-time transmission from the EPG is stored in the FTP download process and controlled by the Realtime Transmission Stream Protocol (RTSP) link. Redirect and file download of the FTP download process. The above process will be discussed separately in Figures 4-6. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a program push timely message notification according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the method includes the following steps S402 to S408: Step S402: The service management platform sends the program to the download area. Step S404: The service management platform sends a timely message to the IPTV capability platform interface machine. Step S406: The interface machine sends the message to all EPGs and saves the timely message by the EPG. Step S408: The timing task initiated by the JS module of the STB. Step S410: The STB queries the qualified timely message saved by the EPG. Step S412: Displayed in the STB browser to notify the user of the selection. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a JS module background control download program file according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the following steps include: S42 to S4. Step S502: The user enters the download area according to the prompt of the timely message. Step S504: The JS module determines whether the current STB supports recording and downloading. Step S506: If it is not supported, the program cannot be downloaded by clicking the page, and the user is prompted. Step S508: If supported, the program list is displayed, and after the user selects a program, the download page is entered. Step S510: The JS module queries whether the currently to-be-downloaded program has been downloaded. Step S512: If the download has been made, the download button is updated to gray, and the user is not allowed to repeat the download. Step S514: If not downloaded, wait for the user to click the download button. Step S516: The JS module sends a download program request to the EPG to request to download the content. Step S518: The EPG returns the RTSP address of the home service agent of the STB according to the home node information of the user. The home node information is the information of the CDN Agent. Step S520: The JS module sends the description information of the RTSP and the program to be downloaded to the STB, and the STB is saved in the FTP download queue. Step S522: The STB determines whether the program is successfully downloaded. Step S524: If the download is not successful, the STB links the CDN network in the background, takes out the download task in the queue, performs downloading one by one, and completes each download task. Once the JS module initiates the download process, the subsequent process is guaranteed by the STB. If an abnormal situation such as network disconnection, shutdown, or full disk occurs, the STB will ensure the success of the download. Step S526: If the download is successful, the message notifies the STB to pop up a dialog box, prompting the user to view the local page. Step S528: After the user clicks OK to enter the play or 10 seconds, the prompt dialog box is exited. 6 is a schematic diagram of a STB download program flow according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, the process of downloading a program by the STB fully utilizes the characteristics of the CDN distributed network, and can be directly downloaded for online on-demand after multi-level convergence. The program, this process needs to interact with the node agent for thousands of times. While downloading the program, the user can perform other operations such as channel switching, on-demand programming, and the like. The above process includes the following steps S602 to S612. Step S602: The STB download process first initiates a request to the service agent by using the RTSP address sent by the JS module, and attempts to obtain the FTP address, the username, and the password of the download server. Step S604: The Agent determines whether the download server is set. If the agent side is provided with a download server, the process proceeds to step S612. Step S606: If the download server is not set on the Agent side, the Agent sends a request to the Manager to obtain the address of the Agent that can be connected. Step S608: The Manager obtains the redirected Agent address by querying the dependent node of the node, and returns to the STB to enter the STB official download process. Step S610: The STB initiates an RTSP request to the Agent. Step S612: The STB parses the RTSP response returned by the Agent, and then starts the FTP client, logs in the content directory of the download server, and downloads the specified program content by FTP at high speed. After the STB download is successful, the user is prompted to enter the play by clicking the prompt box. If the user does not respond within 10 seconds, the prompt dialog box is exited. Or in the template collection page, when the focus moves to the Local Recorded item, you can view the video content on the local hard disk and select play. The user can also view the storage status of the local hard disk: Total storage space, remaining space, The percentage of the hard disk used by the file, etc. The above technical solution can implement the method of sending the program to the STB in an analog push manner, thereby satisfying the requirement for the user to watch the program offline. Through the invention, the purpose of pushing the program to the STB can be realized, and the operator can be introduced or presented to the client, and the STB can be played offline to reduce the burden of the communication network. It should be noted that the steps shown in the flowchart of the accompanying drawings may be performed in a computer system such as a set of computer executable instructions, and, although the logical order is shown in the flowchart, in some cases, The steps shown or described may be performed in an order different than that herein. Apparatus Embodiment 1 According to an embodiment of the present invention, an STB is provided, and the STB can be used to implement the program pushing method in Embodiment 1 of the foregoing method. FIG. 7 is a structural block diagram of an STB according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the STB 71 is connected to the EPG 91. The STB 71 includes: a first sending module 72, a first receiving module 74, and a saving module. 76. Download module 78. The above structure will be described below. The first sending module 72 is configured to send the download program request information to the EPG 91 according to the program selected by the user; the first receiving module 74: receiving the information of the CDN Agent sent by the EPG 91; the saving module 76, connecting to the first The receiving module 74 is configured to save the information of the CDN Agent and the download task of the program in the download queue according to the information of the CDN Agent received by the first receiving module 74. The downloading module 78: is connected to the saving module 76, and configured to save the module according to the saving module. 76 saved download queue to perform the download. In this embodiment, the user is allowed to select the accepted content according to the preference, and then the local storage hardware configured by the STB is used to store the streaming media file, so that the user can store the favorite or repeatedly viewed program files in the STB for offline viewing. . This method ensures that the viewing quality is not affected by the network. Operators can take full advantage of STB's storage capacity and multi-level CDN distributed network Node tandem mode reduces the burden on streaming media servers and communication networks and increases customer loyalty. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a preferred structure of an STB according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, the STB of the present invention further includes a display module 81, a fourth receiving module 82, a judging module 87, and a playing module 88, and the above downloading The module also includes a fetch submodule 83, a first request submodule 84, a second request submodule 85, and a download submodule 86. The download module may select the first request sub-module 84 or the second request sub-module 85 to obtain the download address information and perform the download. The above structure will be described in detail below. The display module 81 is configured to display a program push program list in the browser for the user to select a program; the fourth receiving module 82 is configured to receive a program selected by the user from the program push program list; the determining module 87 is connected to the download module 78, It is used to determine whether the downloading of the downloading module 78 is successful; the playing module 88 is connected to the determining module 87, and configured to play the downloaded program according to the user's selection if the determination result of the determining module 87 is YES. The sub-module 83 is configured to cyclically fetch the download task in the download queue. The first request sub-module 84 is connected to the fetch sub-module 83, and is configured to request downloading from the CDN agent according to the download task in the download queue taken out by the fetch sub-module 83. Address information; a second request sub-module 85, connected to the take-out sub-module 83, configured to obtain download address information via the multi-level CDN Agent node tandem according to the download task in the download queue taken out by the take-out sub-module 83; the download sub-module 86, The first request sub-module 84 and the second request sub-module 85 are connected to perform downloading according to the download address information obtained by the first request sub-module 84 or the second request sub-module 85. Apparatus Embodiment 2 According to an embodiment of the present invention, an EPG is further provided, and the EPG can be used to implement the program pushing method of Embodiment 2 of the foregoing method. FIG. 9 is a structural block diagram of an EPG according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, the EPG 91 includes: a second receiving module 92, a second sending module 94, a third receiving module 96, and a third sending module 98. The above structure will be described in detail below. The second receiving module 92 is configured to receive program information from the service management platform. The second sending module 94 is connected to the second receiving module 92, and configured to send the program information to the STB 71 according to the program information received by the second receiving module 92. So that the STB 71 displays the program to the user according to the program information; the third receiving module 96 is configured to receive the download program request information sent by the STB 71; the third sending module 98 is connected to the third receiving module 96, for receiving according to the third The download program request information received by the module 96 transmits the information of the CDN Agent to the STB 71. In addition, before the second receiving module 92 receives the program information from the service management platform, the service management platform needs to make the content to be published into a program and store it in the local download area. Then, the service management platform will send corresponding program information to the electronic program menu according to the stored program. In summary, according to the above embodiment of the present invention, the simulated mode of pushing a program to a client disclosed by the present invention, the operator promotes or gives a program to the client through program push according to the business strategy, achieving good operation and promotion purposes. For programs with a high amount of on-demand, it can also be pushed to the user STB, which effectively reduces the burden of streaming media servers and communication networks brought by the traditional mode of live-on-demand; on the other hand, users can watch favorite programs offline, which can guarantee The quality of viewing is completely unaffected by the communication network. Obviously, those skilled in the art should understand that the above modules or steps of the present invention can be implemented by a general-purpose computing device, which can be concentrated on a single computing device or distributed over a network composed of multiple computing devices. Alternatively, they may be implemented by program code executable by the computing device, such that they may be stored in the storage device by the computing device, or they may be separately fabricated into individual integrated circuit modules, or they may be Multiple modules or steps are made into a single integrated circuit module. Thus, the invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software. The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications and changes can be made to the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the scope of the present invention are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

Claim

A program pushing method, comprising:

The set top box sends the download program request information to the electronic program menu according to the program selected by the user;

Receiving, by the set top box, information of a content distribution network agent sent by the electronic program menu, and saving the information of the content distribution network agent and the download task of the program in a download queue;

The set top box performs downloading according to the download queue.

The method according to claim 1, wherein before the sending of the program request information to the electronic program menu by the set-top box according to the program selected by the user, the method further includes:

The set top box displays a program push program list in a browser and receives the program selected by the user from the program push program list.

The method according to claim 1, wherein the performing, by the set top box, the downloading according to the download queue comprises:

The set top box cyclically fetches the download task in the download queue to perform downloading.

The method according to claim 3, wherein the downloading of the download task in the download queue by the set top box comprises:

The set top box requests the content distribution network agent to download address information to perform downloading; or

The set top box acquires the download address information via a multi-level content distribution network proxy node to perform downloading.

The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein after the downloading of the set-top box according to the download queue, the method further comprises:

If the download is successful, the set top box - plays the downloaded program according to the user's selection.

6. A program push method, characterized in that it comprises:

The electronic program menu receives program information from the service management platform, and transmits the program information to the set top box, so that the set top box displays the program to the user according to the program information; the electronic program menu receives the download program request information sent by the set top box. And transmitting information of the content distribution network agent to the set top box according to the downloading program request information.

The method according to claim 6, wherein before the electronic program menu receives the program information from the service management platform, the method further includes:

The service management platform creates the content to be published into a program, and stores the program in a local download area;

The service management platform transmits the stored program information corresponding to the program to the electronic program menu.

The method according to claim 7, wherein the sending, by the service management platform, the program information to the electronic program menu comprises:

The service management platform sends a timely message to the electronic program menu and carries the program information therein.

A set top box, comprising: a first sending module, configured to send download program request information to an electronic program menu according to a program selected by a user; and a first receiving module, configured to receive content sent by the electronic program menu Distribute information about network agents;

a saving module, configured to save the information of the content distribution network agent and the download task of the program in a download queue according to the information of the content distribution network agent received by the first receiving module;

And a downloading module, configured to perform downloading according to the download queue.

10. An electronic program menu, characterized by comprising:

a second receiving module, configured to receive program information from the service management platform, where the second sending module is configured to send the program information to the set top box according to the program information received by the second receiving module, so that the set top box is configured according to the Program information is displayed to the user; a third receiving module, configured to receive the downloading program request information sent by the set top box, and a third sending module, configured to send the content distribution network proxy to the set top box according to the downloading program request information received by the third receiving module information.