WO2013113207A1 - Method, device and system for charging for streaming media service - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are a method, device and system for charging for a streaming media service. The method comprises: obtaining the quality price rates set for media data code streams of different qualities in the same streaming media content, the quality price rate of the code stream of each quality being determined by referring to the relationship between an actual price and a standard price of the data code stream of that quality, and the standard price being an actual price of a data code stream of a specific quality in the streaming media content; according to the quality of a downloaded code stream segment in each time segment in the process for broadcasting the streaming media content, and according to the quality price rate, determining a pay rate of broadcasting the streaming media content; according to the obtained pay rate and the standard price, obtaining an actual cost of a terminal to broadcast the streaming media content; and charging a user according to the actual cost. The charging method in the embodiments of the present invention is more flexible.

Description

 Charging method, device and system for streaming media service

 This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application filed on January 30, 2012 by the Chinese Patent Office, Application No. 201210021090.3, and the invention titled "Billing Method, Device and System for Streaming Media Services", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference. Combined in the present application.

 The present invention belongs to the field of streaming media technologies, and in particular, to a charging method, device and system for streaming media services. Background technique

 Currently, there are more and more streaming services, such as online music, online video, digital TV and so on. At present, the charging methods of streaming media services are mainly: pricing for a certain quality streaming service, users need to pay first before using streaming media services, for example, users need to pay online first before watching paid high-definition movies through online video sites. Approximately the cost of the yuan, then you can get permission to watch a specific HD movie, and then watch the movie.

 However, due to the terminal's ability to process media data and network bandwidth, the quality of streaming media is often not guaranteed in actual viewing. Especially in an open Internet environment, there may be delays, packet loss, and transmission. Errors and other phenomena appear. In the prior art, only the initial selection of the user is considered when charging the streaming media service, and the charging method is not flexible enough. Summary of the invention

 The embodiments of the present invention provide an adaptive charging method, device, and system for a streaming media service, which can make the charging method more flexible.

 An embodiment of the present invention provides a charging method for a streaming media service, including:

 Obtaining a quality price rate set by a different quality media data stream of the same streaming media content, the quality price rate of each quality code stream is determined by referring to a relationship between the actual price of the quality data stream and the standard price, Said standard price is the actual price of a particular quality data stream of said streaming media content;

According to the stream stream segment downloaded in each time segment in the process of playing the streaming media content Quality, determining a payment rate for playing the streaming media content according to the quality price rate;

 Obtaining an actual fee for the terminal to play the streaming media content according to the obtained payment rate and the standard price;

 The user is charged based on the actual cost.

 In another aspect, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a charging device for a streaming media service, including: a quality price rate obtaining unit, configured to acquire a quality price rate set for a media data stream of different quality of the same streaming media content, The quality price rate of each quality stream is determined by reference to the relationship between the actual price of the quality data stream and the standard price, the standard price being the actual price of a particular quality data stream of the streaming content ;

 a payment rate statistics unit, configured to determine, according to the quality price rate, a payment rate for playing the streaming media content according to a quality of the code stream segment downloaded in each time segment during the playing of the streaming media content;

 And a charging unit, configured to calculate the obtained charging rate and the standard price, obtain an actual fee for the terminal to play the streaming media content, and charge the user according to the actual fee.

 In a further aspect, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a network system, including a server, a charging device and a terminal for a streaming media service, where

 The server is configured to generate media data stream segments of different quality for downloading and playing by the terminal; the charging device of the streaming media service is configured to acquire media data streams of different qualities of the same streaming media content by the server. a quality price rate, the quality price rate of each quality code stream is determined by reference to a relationship between an actual price of the quality data stream and a standard price, the standard price being a specific quality of the streaming media content The actual price of the data stream stream is determined according to the quality of the stream stream segment downloaded in each time segment during the playing of the streaming media content, and the charging rate for playing the streaming media content is determined according to the quality price rate; The payment rate and the standard price are obtained by the terminal to play the actual content of the streaming media content; the user is charged according to the actual fee;

 The terminal is configured to download a code stream segment for each time segment during the process of playing the streaming media content.

It can be seen that the method provided by the embodiment of the present invention counts the actual fee for playing the streaming media content according to the quality of the stream segment downloaded in each time segment during the process of playing the streaming media content. Use, this makes the billing method more flexible. DRAWINGS

 In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly described below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only It is a certain embodiment of the present invention, and other drawings can be obtained from those skilled in the art without any creative work.

 1 is a schematic diagram of an adaptive charging method of a streaming media service according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an adaptive charging method of a streaming media service according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; FIG. 3 is an AHS streaming media data. Schematic diagram of the code stream;

 Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of an MPD file;

 Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a PMPD file formed by adding a quality price rate based on the MPD file in Figure 4;

 6 is a schematic diagram of a process of selecting a code stream segment that is completed by the entire streaming media content; FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an adaptive charging device of the streaming media server according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 8 is a charging rate statistical unit of FIG. Schematic diagram of a specific embodiment;

 9 is a schematic diagram of another specific implementation manner of the payment rate statistical unit in FIG. 7;

 10 is a schematic diagram of still another specific implementation manner of the payment rate statistical unit in FIG. 7;

 11 is a schematic diagram of a specific embodiment of an embodiment of the system of the present invention. detailed description

 The embodiments of the present invention are further described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings and embodiments.

The charging method of the streaming media service provided by the embodiment of the present invention is implemented on the basis of the adaptive streaming media technology. Adaptive streaming technology includes Adaptive Http Streaming (AHS) technology. The basic idea of AHS technology is: Generate a media data stream with multiple code rates on the server, for example, corresponding to m kinds of quality, which are respectively recorded as Q0, Ql, Q2 ······, Qm-1; It is divided into n segments, and the corresponding time lengths are T0, Tl, Τ2, I, Τη-1. Adaptive stream download can be implemented in two modes: server push and terminal driver, where the server In the push mode, the server selects the code stream of the corresponding quality according to the characteristics of the terminal and the network condition; in the terminal-driven mode, the terminal selects and downloads the code stream segment of the corresponding quality according to its processing capability and network condition. This adaptive process changes over time. The server generates a Media Presentation Description (MPD) file to be sent to the terminal, in which information such as the code rate and Http address of each stream segment is indicated. The terminal can select and switch the corresponding stream according to the MPD file and the network environment and the terminal processing. If the media content is copyright protected, the terminal also needs to provide a user rights data file for playing the media content, and the user rights data file is used to decrypt the media content at the terminal. Generally, the user rights data file includes the following parameters: content key, expiration date start time, expiration date end time, viewing rights (browsing, downloading, forwarding, etc.). In the embodiment of the present invention, the quality price rate information may be added to the media presentation description MPD file or the user authority data file.

 Referring to FIG. 1, a charging method of a streaming media service according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: Step S101: Acquire a quality price rate of a media stream of different quality of the same streaming media content, and a quality price of each quality stream. The rate is determined by reference to the relationship between the actual price of the data stream of the quality and the standard price, the standard price being the actual price of the data stream of a particular quality of the streaming media content;

 Wherein, the quality price rate of each quality stream is equal to the ratio between the actual price of the quality data stream and the standard price.

 Step S102: determining, according to the quality price rate, a charging rate for playing the streaming media content according to the quality of the code stream segment downloaded in each time segment during the playing of the streaming media content; Step S103: according to the payment obtained in step S102 The rate and the above standard price, the actual cost of playing the above streaming media content by the terminal.

 Step S104: The user is charged according to the actual fee obtained in step S103.

The execution body in the above steps S101 to S104 may be a charging device, and the charging device may be disposed in each terminal. At this time, the charging device is only responsible for the streaming media charging function of the terminal where it is located; The device may also be disposed in the central control device, and the charging device in the central control device is responsible for the streaming media service meter of all terminals within the network area governed by the central control device. Fee function.

 It can be seen that the method provided by the present invention counts the actual cost of playing the streaming media content according to the quality of the stream segment downloaded by the terminal in the process of playing the streaming media content, which makes the final actual cost considered. The cost changes caused by the switching of the code stream quality during the viewing process make the actual cost more fair and reasonable.

 Specific implementations of the invention are described in detail below with a few specific examples.

 Embodiment 1

 In this embodiment, the AHS streaming media is used, and the downloading of the adaptive streaming media data stream is performed by using a terminal driving method. The method includes the following steps:

 Step S201: The server generates an AHS streaming media data stream, and an MPD file. The specific implementation of this step is currently described in the 3GPP standard on AHS technology, and is only briefly described here.

 Suppose the server generates m quality media data streams, m is a natural number greater than or equal to 1, and the quality of these streams can be recorded as Q0, Ql, Q2 Qm-1, respectively. Among them, Q0>Q1>Q2>... > Qm-l. Each quality media data stream is divided into n segments, n is a natural number greater than or equal to 1, and the lengths of these segments are T0, T1, T2, ..., Tn-l, respectively. The generated code stream structure can be seen in the figure.

3.

 The generated MPD file can contain information such as the quality of the media data stream, the length of time, and the Http address. In the MPD file shown in Figure 4, "Representation" represents a certain quality stream, "Quality" represents the quality of the stream, and "segmentLength" represents the length of the stream segment. In practice, the quality of the data stream can be measured by various parameters that reflect the quality of the stream, such as the resolution of each frame in the stream, the sample rate of the stream, and the code rate (PSNR) of the stream. It should be noted that only the information of each segment of the m-1th code stream in the MPD file is expanded in Fig. 4, and in fact, the information of each segment of the other code stream is of course also present in the MPD file.

Step S202: The server defines an actual price of a specific quality streaming media data stream of the same streaming media content as a standard price. In practice, the price of the highest quality media data stream in the media data streams of the plurality of different qualities generated for the same streaming content can be defined, of course It is also possible to define the price of the lowest quality multimedia data stream.

 Step S203: The server defines a quality price rate for the media data stream of different quality of the same streaming media content based on the quality of the adaptive streaming media data stream, and the quality price rate reflects the price and the step of the quality data stream. The ratio between the standard prices defined in S202, and the higher the quality, the larger the ratio; the higher the mass, the smaller the ratio.

 For example, if the price of the highest quality media data stream is defined as the standard price, that is, the media data stream with the quality Q0 is defined as the standard price, it may be recorded as C. Then the quality price rate of each quality media data will satisfy:

In practice, the quality threshold Q ^T1 can be set, and the corresponding charging is performed when the quality of the data stream only viewed is not lower than the threshold. Then, for the quality price rate, the following constraints are imposed:

Ri=0, if Qi<Q ^T1

 Where i e {0,1,2,...,m-l}.

Of course, the quality threshold Q ^T2 can also be set. When the quality of the viewed data stream is higher than the threshold, the same rate calculation is used. Then, for the quality price rate, the following constraints are imposed:

Ri=l if Qi>Q ^T2

 Wherein IE {0, 1, 2, ..., ml} Step S204: The server transmits the quality price rate defined above to the terminal. In this embodiment, the server may add the quality price rate to the generated MPD file for sending. Give the terminal.

 The new file generated by the J server adding the quality price rate to the MPD file can be called a PMPD file.

FIG. 5 shows the content of the PMPD file formed by adding the quality price rate based on the MPD file in FIG. 4, where QualityPriceRatei represents the quality price rate corresponding to the i-th code stream, {0, 1, 2, ... , ml}. Mode; can also be transferred to the terminal in the permission data file of the user terminal, generally, the user right The limit data file contains the following parameters: content key, expiration date start time, expiration date end time, viewing rights (browsing, downloading, forwarding, etc.); the quality price rate can also be separately transmitted to the terminal in other ways.

 Step S205: The terminal parses the information in the PMPD file, obtains information about the quality, time length, and Http address of the code stream in the MPD file, and obtains the quality price rate information of each code stream added thereto.

 In practice, the above parameters and the values of the parameters can be resolved by parameter identification. Of course, if the quality price rate information is not added to the MPD file, the terminal needs to parse the quality price rate information to obtain the quality price rate information. If the quality price rate information is separately transmitted to the terminal through other forms, then the terminal only The quality price rate information can be obtained by parsing the separately transmitted information.

 In any case, as long as the quality price rate is not added to the MPD file and passed to the terminal, the server sends the original MPD file to the terminal, and the terminal parses the MPD file.

 Step S206: The terminal adaptively selects a code stream for each time segment, and the process of the adaptive code stream includes: determining, according to its own processing capability of the media data and the current network condition (for example, bandwidth), the quality of the currently requested code stream. .

 The terminal's own processing capability for the media data can be obtained by reading the hardware setting information of the terminal; and the current network status can be obtained by reading the network setting information. When combining the above two factors to determine the quality of the code stream that should be requested, the quality of the code stream that should be requested can be determined by the lower of the two factors.

The quality of the currently requested code stream determined should belong to the code stream quality defined by the server, such as the quality of the code stream carried by the PMPD file or other files, but in practice, the processing power of the media data and the current network bandwidth are considered. The directly determined code stream quality often does not exactly match the server's predefined code stream quality, so there is a question of which code stream in the PMPD file is used as the quality of the currently requested code stream. . In this embodiment, a comparison method is used to determine, specifically, if the quality of the code stream directly determined by considering the processing capability of the media data and the current network bandwidth is q, the m types in the PMPD file are compared. The code stream quality that is closest to the q and not greater than q in the code stream quality is the quality of the currently determined code stream that should be requested. The code stream quality parameter includes a code rate example. If the media code stream with the maximum code rate B that can be currently processed is determined by the processing capability of the media data and the current network bandwidth, then by comparing the plurality of code streams in the PMPD file. The code rate parameter in the quality finds that the code rate of the code stream of quality Q ^B is smaller than the maximum of B, so it is determined that the code stream segment of quality Q ^B should be requested at present.

 Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the terminal needs to adaptively select the quality of the next received code stream according to the current actual situation. It is assumed that the selection process of the code stream segment experienced by the final terminal receiving the entire streaming media content is as shown in FIG. 6, where S represents the j+1th code stream segment of the code stream of quality, between the streams of each quality. The crossed solid line indicates the selected trajectory of the selected code stream segment at each time segment, and finally the media data code stream completely received by the terminal is

S ₀ , ₀ , S ₀ , i ,

Composed of n code stream segments.

 Step S207: After the terminal adaptively selects the code stream segment for each time segment, the terminal downloads the content according to the address of the code stream segment parsed in the PMPD file, and plays the content of the segment.

 Of course, if the server does not add the quality price rate through the MPD file, then in step S207, the terminal parses the MPD original file.

 Step S208: The terminal counts the payment rate p of the streaming media content according to the quality of the selected stream segment in each time segment played by the same streaming media content.

 In this embodiment, three specific statistical payment rates may be adopted, which are: Mode 1: Statistics of the viewing length of the media data stream of different code streams, the specific process is: selecting for each time segment in the terminal When the code stream segment is recorded, the quality of the code stream in which the code stream segment is located and the time length of the code stream segment are recorded, and finally the quality price rate of all selected code stream segments in the streaming media content playing process is performed according to the weighting factor of the quality price rate. Weighted summation, and the payment rate p is obtained. In calculating the weighted summation, the weighting factor of each stream segment is the ratio of the length of time of the stream segment to the total length of time of the stream of the entire streaming media content.

For example, if T is the length of time of the i+1th selected codestream segment, where ie {0, 1, 2, ..., η-1 }. The total length of the code stream of the entire streaming media content is T= To+T^.-.+Tn.^ Then the process of calculating the payment rate by the above weighted summation can be expressed as:

(Τ ₀ Ι + + T ₂ R ₂ ' +... + H

 Ρ '

 Τ where R' {R. , is the quality price rate of the code stream where the i+1th selected media stream segment is located. For example, if the stream segment is selected, then the above weighted summation formula, R' R

 Manner 2: The frequency of switching the media stream segments of different code streams is calculated. The specific process is as follows:

 First, when the quality of the selected code stream segments of the two adjacent time segments are different, it is determined that the code stream switching occurs, for example, in the code stream segment selection process shown in FIG. 6, when the third time segment is selected, Since the second time segment selects the code stream segment So and the third time segment selects the code stream segment S^, the quality of the code streams in which the two adjacent code stream segments are located is different, so the code occurs. Stream switching.

 Next, the number of times the code stream switching occurring in the entire streaming media content playback is counted is denoted as L. The switching flag is set between the two selected stream segments. When the code stream is switched, the corresponding switching flag is set to 1, otherwise it is set to 0. Finally, the sum of all the flag bits is calculated, and the number of code stream switching is obtained. Of course, you can also set a register, initially set to zero, accumulate each time a code stream switch occurs.

1. After all the stream segments of the streaming media content are selected, the result in this register is the number of times the stream is switched.

 Then, the charging rate p is calculated. The charging rate is the ratio of the number of times the code stream switching does not occur in the maximum number of times of the stream switching in the playback of the streaming media content, and the ratio of the maximum number of times of the preset stream switching.

 The preset maximum number of code stream switching times is equal to the maximum number of stream switching times that can occur during streaming media content playback.

Still taking FIG. 6 as an example, when the number of stream segments of the streaming media content is n, it is not difficult to find that the number of times the code stream switching can occur at most is n-1, that is, the preset number of code stream switching times is the largest. Value For n-1, the number of times the code stream switching does not actually occur is nlL. Therefore, calculating the payment rate can be achieved by the following formula:

 p=(n-l-L)/(n-l)

 Mode 3: Calculate the switching frequency of media stream segments with different code stream quality, and consider the quality gap of the switched code streams. The specific process is as follows:

 First, referring to the implementation scheme in the above manner 2, the number of times of code stream switching that occurs in the entire streaming media content playback is counted.

At the same time, the distance D _{k of} each code stream switching is calculated, {0, 1, 2, ..., L-1 }, l ≤ D _k < m. The distance of the code stream switching may be defined as the absolute value of the difference between the quality sequence number of the previous code stream segment where the code stream switching occurs and the quality sequence number of the latter code stream segment, where the quality sequence number of the code stream segment is based on The quality of the code stream in which the code stream segment is located is determined by the ranking of the quality of all code streams of the same streaming media content. The distance _sum of the actual code stream switching during the playback of the streaming media content is counted according to the distance D _{k of} each code stream switching.

 For example, if the code stream quality of the previous code stream segment is the code stream quality of the latter code stream segment is Qj, the distance between the two code stream segments is |ij|, where II is the absolute value. Operation.

 Then, the charging rate p is calculated, and the charging rate is the maximum distance and the maximum value of the switching code stream that can be generated during the playback of the streaming media content, the distance of the actual code stream switching, and the distance between the obtained difference and the switch code stream that can be generated. The quotient of the maximum.

 When the same streaming media content has m different quality media data streams, and each media data stream is divided into n segments, the maximum value of the sum of the switching streams that can be generated in the streaming media content is played. The case is that code stream switching occurs between two adjacent time segments (ie, the actual number of code stream switching times is n-1), and the code stream switching is always between the lowest quality code stream and the highest quality code stream. This is done (each switching distance is m-1), so the maximum value of the sum of the switching code stream distances that can be generated is equal to (n - 1) * (m - 1).

Specifically, the payout rate p can be calculated by the following formula:

Or ν _ _λ D ₀ + D ₁ + - + D _L _ ₁

 (η - 1) * (m - 1) Step S209: Calculated according to the pay rate p obtained in step S208 and the actual price of the media data stream of the specific quality of the previously defined media content, that is, the standard price C. The actual cost of the user watching the streaming content.

 For the post-paid method, the system will deduct the actual cost of the user watching the streaming media content after the user has finished watching;

 For the pre-paid method, the system will start to charge the fee according to the standard price, and then pay more and less according to the actual cost. For example, if the system defines the standard price according to the price of the highest quality multimedia data stream, the user will spend the highest possible payment when prepaid, and when the user finishes watching, the actual cost calculated by the system is often lower than this label. The price, so the system will also compensate the difference between the two to the user for return.

 It should be noted that the foregoing steps S208 and S209 may be performed by the terminal, or may be performed by the central control device. For example, in the home network, the central control device performing step S208 and step S209 may be a home gateway device in the home network. The control center or the STB can realize the statistics and charging of the viewing quality of multiple media terminals in the home through the central control device.

 In addition, since the terminal driving is adopted in the foregoing embodiment, the quality of the code stream segment is selected by the terminal driving manner in step S206, and in another alternative embodiment, the server stream driving method may also be used to select the code stream segment. The quality of the stream segment downloaded by the terminal is selected in step S206. The server selects the quality of the stream segment downloaded by the terminal according to the processing capability of the terminal and the current network condition for each time segment, and instructs the terminal to download the quality. A stream of quality streams. The embodiment of the present invention further provides a charging device for a streaming media service. As shown in FIG. 7, the device includes: a quality price rate obtaining unit 701, a charging rate statistical unit 702, and a charging unit 703.

The quality price rate obtaining unit 701 is configured to acquire the server for the same streaming media content. a quality price rate set by different quality media data streams, the quality price rate of each quality code stream being determined by reference to a relationship between an actual price of the quality data stream and a standard price, the standard price being the stream The actual price of a particular quality data stream for media content.

 The quality price rate of each of the above-described code streams may be equal to the ratio of the quality price rate of the data stream of the quality equal to the actual price of the data stream of the quality to the standard price.

 The specific process of setting the quality price rate and the definition of the standard price are the same as those in the above method embodiment, and will not be described here.

 The payment rate statistics unit 702 is configured to determine a payment rate for playing the streaming media content according to the quality price rate according to the quality of the code stream segment downloaded by the terminal in each of the time segments during the playing of the streaming media content. The specific manner of determining the payment rate can also adopt the three modes listed in the above embodiments. According to these three modes, the payment rate statistical unit 702 can have three specific structures as shown in FIG. 8-10.

 The charging unit 703 is configured to obtain, according to the obtained charging rate and the standard price, an actual fee for the terminal to play the streaming media content, and charge the user according to the actual fee.

 The billing unit 703 can calculate a product between the obtained pay rate and the standard price, thereby obtaining an actual fee for the terminal to play the streaming media content.

 The specific implementation of the payment rate statistics unit 702 will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 8-10.

 As shown in FIG. 8, in a specific embodiment, the charging rate statistics unit 702 specifically includes: a stream segment information recording unit 70211, configured to record a stream segment when the terminal downloads a stream segment for each time segment. Quality and length of the stream segment;

 a weighting and summing unit 70221, configured to perform weighted summation on a quality price rate of a code stream in which all the stream segments downloaded in the media playing content process are obtained, to obtain a charging rate; in the weighted summation process, each code stream segment The weighting factor of the quality rate of the code stream is the ratio of the length of time of the stream segment to the sum of the lengths of time of all stream segments.

As shown in FIG. 9, in another specific embodiment, the charging rate statistics unit 702 specifically includes: a code stream switching detecting unit 70212, and a quality of a stream segment of the adjacent two time segments downloaded by the terminal. At the same time, it is determined that the code stream switching occurs; The code stream switching number statistics unit 70222 is configured to count the number of times the code stream switching occurs during the entire streaming media content playing process;

 The ratio calculation unit 70232 is configured to calculate a ratio of the number of times the code stream switching does not occur in the number of code stream switching times that can occur at the time of playing the streaming media content, and the ratio of the number of times the code stream is switched may be generated, and obtain a payment rate.

 As shown in FIG. 10, in another specific embodiment, the charging rate statistics unit 702 specifically includes: a code stream switching detecting unit 70213, and a quality of a stream segment of the adjacent two time segments downloaded by the terminal. At the same time, it is determined that the code stream switching occurs;

 The single distance calculation unit 70223 is configured to record the distance of each code stream switching, where the distance of the code stream switching is the quality serial number of the previous code stream segment where the code stream switching occurs and the quality serial number of the latter code stream segment. The absolute value of the difference between;

 The switch distance summation statistics unit 70233 is configured to calculate a distance between the actual code stream switching during the entire streaming media content playing process;

 The code stream switching number statistics unit 70243 is configured to count the number of times the code stream switching occurs during the entire streaming media content playing process;

 The second ratio calculating unit 70253 is configured to calculate a distance and a maximum value of the switching code stream that can be generated during the playing of the streaming media content, subtract the distance of the actual code stream switching, and the distance between the obtained difference and the generated switching code stream. And the quotient of the maximum value, get the payment rate.

In addition, for the case where the server is sent by adding the quality price rate information to the specific file, the quality price rate obtaining unit in the charging device specifically includes: a parsing unit and a result obtaining unit. The parsing unit is configured to parse a file sent by the server that includes quality price rate information set for different quality media data streams of the same streaming media content, where the quality price rate of each quality stream is a reference. Determining the relationship between the actual price of the quality data stream and the standard price, the standard price being the actual price of the data stream of a particular quality of the streaming media content; the result obtaining unit is configured to analyze the result according to the parsing unit Obtain the quality price rate. The file here can be a PMPD file or a user rights data file. The embodiment of the present invention further provides a network system, where the network system includes the charging device, the server, and the terminal of the streaming media service in the foregoing embodiment. The terminal includes a downloading unit, and the downloading unit is configured to download a stream segment for each time segment during the playing of the streaming media content.

 As mentioned above, the quality of the terminal download stream segment can be either terminal driven or server driven.

 When the terminal is used, the terminal further includes: a code stream segment selecting unit, configured to select, according to the processing capability of the terminal and the current network condition, the quality of the downloaded code stream segment for each time segment, and notify the downloading The unit downloads the stream segment of the quality.

 When the terminal driving mode is adopted, the terminal further includes: a code stream segment selection result receiving unit, configured to receive, by the server, the quality of the code stream segment downloaded by the terminal according to the processing capability of the terminal and the current network condition for each time segment, and The download unit is notified to download the code stream segment of the quality.

 In practice, the charging device of the streaming media service in the network system may be set in each terminal, and the charging device of the streaming media service is only responsible for the streaming media service charging function of the terminal where the terminal is located. Of course, in practice, it is also possible that a central control device is responsible for uniformly managing all terminals within the network under its jurisdiction within a specific network range. At this time, the charging device of the above streaming media service can be set in each center. In the control device, it is responsible for the streaming service charging function of all terminals in the network area under the jurisdiction of the central control device.

 The network under the control of the above central control device may be a home network.

 Specifically, as shown in FIG. 11, the foregoing network system includes:

The server 1101 is configured to generate media data stream segments of different quality for downloading and playing by the terminal. The charging device 1103 of the streaming media service is configured to obtain a quality price rate set by different media data streams of the same streaming media content, and the quality price rate of each quality code stream is referenced to the quality data stream of the quality Determining the relationship between the actual price and the standard price, the standard price being the actual price of the data stream of a specific quality of the streaming media content; according to the code stream downloaded for each time segment in the process of playing the streaming media content a quality of the segment, determining a payment rate for playing the streaming media content according to the quality price rate; obtaining the final payment rate according to the obtained payment rate and the standard price Ending the actual cost of the streaming media content; charging the user based on the actual cost.

 Desktop 1105: Used to download stream segments for each time segment during streaming content.

 Handheld 1107: Used to download stream segments for each time segment during streaming content.

 Laptop 1109: Used to download stream segments for each time segment during streaming content.

 The types of terminals listed above are merely illustrative and do not constitute a limitation on the type of terminal to be applied. Other terminals having equivalent functions are still included in the scope of the embodiments of the present invention.

 Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the present invention can be implemented by means of software plus necessary general hardware including general-purpose integrated circuits, general-purpose CPUs, general-purpose memories, general-purpose components, and the like. Of course, it can also be realized by dedicated hardware including an application specific integrated circuit, a dedicated CPU, a dedicated memory, a dedicated component, etc., but in many cases, the former is a better implementation. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, which is essential or contributes to the prior art, may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a readable storage medium, such as a floppy disk of a computer. A hard disk or optical disk, etc., includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to perform the methods of various embodiments of the present invention.

 The sequence of the steps in the foregoing method embodiments may be adjusted according to actual application requirements, and each step may be combined to form a new solution according to actual application requirements. The units and modules in the above device embodiments may be divided according to actual application requirements, or may be recombined.

 The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and it should be noted that those skilled in the art can also make several improvements and retouchings without departing from the principles of the present invention. It should be considered as the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

Claim

A charging method for a streaming media service, characterized in that:

 Obtaining a quality price rate set for a different quality media data stream of the same streaming media content, the quality price rate of each quality code stream being determined by referring to a relationship between an actual price of the quality data stream and a standard price, The standard price is an actual price of a particular quality data stream of the streaming media content;

 Determining a pay rate for playing the streaming media content according to the quality price rate according to the quality of the stream segment downloaded in each time segment during the playing of the streaming media content;

 Obtaining an actual fee for the terminal to play the streaming media content according to the obtained payment rate and the standard price;

 The user is charged based on the actual cost.

 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining a charging rate for playing the streaming media content according to the quality price rate comprises:

 When downloading a stream segment for each time segment, recording the quality of the stream segment and the length of time of the stream segment;

 The quality price rate of the code stream in which all the stream segments downloaded during the media playing content are weighted and summed according to the weighting factor of the quality price rate, and the payment rate is obtained;

 In the process of weighting and summing the quality price rate of the code stream in which all the stream segments downloaded during the media playing content process, the weighting factor of the quality price rate of the code stream of each stream segment is the stream segment The ratio of the length of time to the sum of the lengths of time of all stream segments.

 The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, according to the quality price rate, the charging rate for playing the streaming media content comprises:

 Counting the number of code stream switchings that occur during the playback of the entire streaming media content, wherein the code stream switching that occurs is that the quality of the code stream segments of the adjacent two time segments downloaded by the terminal is different;

 The ratio of the number of times the code stream switching does not occur in the maximum number of code stream switching times preset in the playback of the streaming media content is calculated as the ratio of the maximum number of switching times of the code stream, and the charging rate is obtained.

The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, according to the quality price rate, the charging rate for playing the streaming media content comprises: Recording the distance of the code stream switching every time, wherein the code stream switching refers to the quality of the code stream segments of the two adjacent time segments downloaded by the terminal, and the distance of the code stream switching is where the code stream switching occurs. The absolute value of the difference between the quality serial number of the previous stream segment and the quality sequence number of the latter stream segment;

 Counting the number of code stream switchings that occur during the playback of the entire streaming media content, and counting the distance between the actual code stream switching;

 Calculating the quotient of the distance and the maximum value of the switching code stream that can be generated during the playback of the streaming media content minus the distance of the actual code stream switching and the obtained difference between the distance and the maximum value of the distance and the above-mentioned switchable code stream can be generated. rate.

 The method according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining a quality price rate set for a different quality media data stream of the same streaming media content comprises:

 The quality price rate is obtained by parsing a file sent by the server containing quality price rate information set for a different quality media data stream of the same streaming media content.

 The method according to claim 5, wherein the file containing quality price rate information set for different quality media data streams of the same streaming media content comprises:

 The media joining the quality rate information presents a user rights data file describing the MPD file or joining the quality rate information.

 The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the method further comprises:

 When playing the streaming media content, the terminal selects the quality of the downloaded code stream segment according to the processing capability of the terminal itself and the current network condition for each time segment, and downloads the code stream segment of the quality.

 The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the quality price rate of the code stream of each quality is equal to the actual price of the data stream of the quality and the standard price proportion.

 A charging device for a streaming media service, comprising:

a quality price rate obtaining unit, configured to obtain a quality price rate set for different quality media data streams of the same streaming media content, and a quality price rate of each quality code stream is an actual price and a reference to the quality data stream of the quality Determined by the relationship of the standard price, the standard price is the streaming media content The actual price of a particular quality data stream;

 a payment rate statistics unit, configured to determine, according to the quality price rate, a payment rate for playing the streaming media content according to a quality of the code stream segment downloaded in each time segment during the playing of the streaming media content;

 And a charging unit, configured to obtain, according to the obtained charging rate and the standard price, an actual fee for the terminal to play the streaming media content, and charge the user according to the actual fee.

 10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the payment rate statistics unit comprises:

 a stream segment information recording unit, configured to record a quality of the stream segment and a length of the stream segment when the stream segment is downloaded for each time segment;

 a weighted summation unit, configured to perform weighting and summing the quality price rate of the code stream in which all the stream segments downloaded in the process of playing the media content are weighted according to the weighting factor of the quality price rate, to obtain a charging rate; In the process of weighted summation of the quality price rate of the code stream in which all the stream segments downloaded in the process are performed, the weighting factor of the quality price rate of the code stream of each code stream segment is the time length of the code stream segment occupies all the code streams. The ratio of the sum of the lengths of the fragments.

 11. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the payment rate statistics unit comprises:

 a code stream switching detecting unit, configured to determine that a code stream switching occurs when the quality of the code stream segments of the two adjacent time segments downloaded by the terminal are different;

 The code stream switching number statistics unit is configured to count the number of times the code stream switching occurs during the entire streaming media content playing process;

 The first ratio calculating unit is configured to calculate a ratio of the number of times the code stream switching does not occur in the maximum number of times of the preset stream switching in the playback of the streaming media content, and the ratio of the maximum number of times of the stream switching, to obtain a charging rate.

 12. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the payment rate statistics unit comprises:

 a code stream switching detecting unit, configured to determine that a code stream switching occurs when the quality of the code stream segments of the two adjacent time segments downloaded by the terminal are different;

a single distance calculation unit, configured to record a distance at which a code stream switching occurs each time, the code stream switching The distance is the absolute value of the difference between the quality sequence number of the previous stream segment at which the code stream switch occurs and the quality sequence number of the latter stream segment;

 The switching distance summation statistics unit is configured to count the distance between the actual code stream switching during the entire streaming media content playing process;

 The code stream switching number statistics unit is configured to count the number of times the code stream switching occurs during the entire streaming media content playing process;

 a second ratio calculating unit, configured to calculate a distance and a maximum value of the switching code stream that can be generated during the playing of the streaming media content, subtract the distance of the actual code stream switching, and obtain a distance difference between the generated difference and the generated switching code stream. The maximum value of the quotient, get the pay rate.

 13. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the quality price rate obtaining unit comprises:

 a parsing unit, configured to parse a file sent by the server and containing quality price rate information set by different quality media data streams of the same streaming media content; in the file, a quality price rate of each quality code stream is a reference Determining the relationship between the actual price of the quality data stream and the standard price, the standard price being the actual price of the data stream of a particular quality of the streaming media content; the result obtaining unit, for parsing according to the parsing unit As a result, the quality price rate is obtained.

A network system, comprising: a server, a charging device and a terminal of a streaming media service, wherein

 The server is configured to generate media data stream segments of different quality for downloading and playing by the terminal; the charging device of the streaming media service is configured to acquire media data streams of different qualities of the same streaming media content by the server. a quality price rate, the quality price rate of each quality code stream is determined by reference to a relationship between an actual price of the quality data stream and a standard price, the standard price being a specific quality of the streaming media content The actual price of the data stream stream is determined according to the quality of the stream stream segment downloaded in each time segment during the playing of the streaming media content, and the charging rate for playing the streaming media content is determined according to the quality price rate; The payment rate and the standard price are obtained by the terminal to play the actual content of the streaming media content; the user is charged according to the actual fee;

The terminal is configured to download a code stream segment for each time segment during the process of playing the streaming media content.

The network system according to claim 14, wherein the charging device of the streaming media service comprises:

 a quality price rate obtaining unit, configured to obtain a quality price rate set for different quality media data streams of the same streaming media content, and a quality price rate of each quality code stream is an actual price and a reference to the quality data stream of the quality Determining the relationship of the standard price, the standard price being the actual price of a particular quality data stream of the streaming media content;

 a payment rate statistics unit, configured to determine, according to the quality price rate, a payment rate for playing the streaming media content according to a quality of the code stream segment downloaded in each time segment during the playing of the streaming media content;

 And a charging unit, configured to obtain, according to the obtained charging rate and the standard price, an actual fee for the terminal to play the streaming media content, and charge the user according to the actual fee.