Patent Application
20080268770
The present invention relates to a telecommunications system including a server for distributing content and a device for receiving the content during a communication session and for reproducing the content. The invention also relates to a telecommunications device, a server and a method of distributing content.
Transmission of particular types of content, such as video, tends to use a large amount of telecommunications network resources because of the bandwidth required to transmit video content at an acceptable quality. When the device is a mobile device, which communicates wirelessly with a telecommunications network, this high use of telecommunications network resources tends to be costly and problematical.
Reproducing particular types of content on a mobile device, such as video, tends to consume a large amount of power to allow the device to perform the decoding, transcoding and rendering of the video content, utilizing the device's memory, CPU, speakers, and display (with associated drivers). When the device is a battery operated portable device, this high power consumption can vastly reduce the device's operational run time.
It has been observed that some users of devices will operate their devices to receive high telecommunications network resource-consuming and high power-consuming content but do not in fact need the full high quality content being delivered to them as standard within a video and audio stream. For example, for a user consuming content that comprises both audio and video whilst on the move that the user may periodically be unable to view the video content, for example when the user is walking, getting on and off public transport etc.
The reproduction of content that is not observed by the user is wasteful of mobile device power. Further, the transmission of content, the reproduction of which is not observed by the user, is wasteful of telecommunication resources.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a telecommunications system including a server for distributing content and a device for receiving said content during a communication session and for reproducing said content, wherein the device is operable during a said communication session to transmit to said server an indication of a quality of said received content required by the device.
In the embodiments, the device consumes (reproduces) the content during the communication session. The content may be streamed to the device. Typically, the content will be consumed (reproduced) as it is received by the device—for example, in near real time.
The quality required by the device (or its user) may be monitored continuously during the communication session. The device may be operable to transmit the indication of the required quality at any time during the communication session.
The indication of the quality of the content may be an indication of the quality in the sense of the kind or type of content. Additionally, or alternatively, the indication of quality may be an indication of quality in the sense of the fidelity of the received content to the original content source—typically determined by the encoding used and the transmission rate.
The content kinds or types may, for example, be video and audio content types. In this specification, “video” refers to visual content, which does not include audio content.
The quality may be selected by a user of the device, for example, using the user interface of the device. In this arrangement, the user may manually select the quality of respective parts of the content that are required. For example, the user may have a preference for video and/or audio content, and/or may have a preference for high quality audio reproduction but may be less concerned as to the quality of the video reproduction. Accordingly, the user will operate the user interface of the device to input these preferences, which are transmitted to the server. The server then selects or modifies the content transmitted to the device subsequently during the communication session so that it has the preferred audio and video characteristics. Thus, the quality of different aspects (type and or fidelity) of the content can be tailored to a particular user's preferences.
In another arrangement, the quality is selected (automatically) by the device. The quality may be selected automatically in response to a stimulus. The stimulus may be user manipulation of the device—for example to obscure the display (such as when a “clamshell” mobile terminal is closed). Alternatively, the stimulus may be an environmental stimulus. The stimulus may be the detected proximity of the device to a user, or the change in light level—for example, as detected by a photometric or photoelectric sensor on the device, both of which might be in response to the device being stored in a user's pocket or bag.
The device may be a mobile or cellular telecommunications device. The content may be transmitted to the device by a mobile or cellular telecommunications network, such as a GSM or UMTS mobile or cellular telecommunications network.
The content may also be transmitted to the terminal by another means, such as WLAN.
The content may be transmitted by internet protocol (IP). The device may be a fixed device.
The present invention also provides a telecommunications device, a server and a method of distributing content as claimed in the independent claims.
For a better understanding of the present invention, an embodiment will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
In the figures like elements are generally designated with the same reference sign.
In the conventional manner, a multiplicity of other mobile terminals are registered with the mobile telecommunications network 3. These mobile terminals include mobile terminals 11 and 13. The terminals 11 and 13 communicate with the mobile telecommunications network 3 in a similar manner to the terminal 1, that is via an appropriate Node B 5, RNC 7 and SGSN 9.
The mobile telecommunications network 3 includes a gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) 17 which enables IP-based communications with other networks, such as the Internet 19 via an appropriate link 21. A multiplicity of terminals are connected to the Internet (by fixed or wireless links), and a PC terminal 23 and a PDA terminal 25 are shown by way of example.
Each of the mobile terminals 1,11 and 13 is provided with a respective subscriber identity module (SIM) 15. During the manufacturing process of each SIM, authentication information is stored thereon under the control of the mobile telecommunications network 3. The mobile telecommunications network 3 itself stores details of each of the SIMs issued under its control. In operation of the mobile telecommunications network 3, a terminal 1, 11, 13 is authenticated (for example, when the user activates the terminal in the network with a view to making or receiving calls) by the network sending a challenge to the terminal 1,11,13 incorporating a SIM 15, in response to which the SIM 15 calculates a reply (dependent on the predetermined information held on the SIM—typically an authentication algorithm and a unique key Ki) and transmits it back to the mobile telecommunications network 3. The mobile telecommunications network 3 includes an authentication processor 17 which generates the challenge and which receives the reply from the terminal 1,11,13. Using information pre-stored concerning the content of the relevant SIM 15, the authentication processor calculates the expected value of the reply from the mobile terminal 1,11,13. If the reply received matches the expected calculated reply, the SIM 15 and the associated mobile terminal are considered to be authenticated.
It should be understood that such an authentication process can be performed for any terminal provided with a SIM 15 under control of the mobile telecommunications network 3. In the embodiment the terminal communicates wirelessly with the mobile telecommunications network 3 via the network's radio access network, although this is not essential. For example, the terminal may communicate with the network via the fixed telephone network (PSTN), via a UMA “access point” and/or via the Internet. The PC 23 and the PDA 25 may also be provided with a SIM 15 under the control of the network.
The SIM 15 used by the terminal 1,11,13,23,25 may be a SIM of the type defined in the GSM or UMTS standards specifications, or may be a simulation of a SIM—that is, software or hardware that performs a function corresponding to that of the SIM. The SIM may be in accordance with the arrangement described in WO-A-2004 036513.
It should be noted that the authentication process being described does not necessarily authenticate the human identity of the user. For example, mobile telecommunication networks have pre-pay subscribers who are issued with SIMs in return for pre-payment, enabling them to use network services. However, the identity of such pre-pay subscribers may not be known by the network. Nevertheless, such a user cannot make use of the network until the network has authenticated the user's SIM—that is, has confirmed that such user is a particular user who has a particular pre-paid account with a network.
The network shown in
In accordance with the embodiment of the invention, a content server 30 is operable to provide content to terminals 1,11,13,23,25 registered with the telecommunications network 3. The content server 30 may be connected for supplying content directly to the telecommunications network 3 or may be connected for supplying content to the internet 19, from where that content is provided to the telecommunications network 3 via link 21. The content server 30 is connected to the telecommunications network 3 or internet 19 via link 32.
The content server 30 is shown in more detail in
In this embodiment a communication session is established between the terminal 1 and the telecommunications network, during which the content server 30 provides video and audio content, although of course it should be appreciated that other types of content may be provided, such as gaming and still pictures (photographs). The content server 30 receives video content via link 34 and audio content via link 36. The video and audio content may be provided by a third party. The content server 30 includes a variable bit rate (VBR) encoder 38. The encoder 38 receives the video and audio content via links 34,36 and encodes them in a form suitable for transmission via the link 32. The links 34,36 may be to a “live” feed of video and audio, or may be links to a store of video and audio content. Encoder 38 is operable to adjust the output content, transmitted via link 32, for a particular device in dependence upon the requirements of the receiving device. The requirements of a receiving device are transmitted to a requirements analyser 40 of the content server via a link 42 from the telecommunications network 3 or internet 19.
The encoder 38 is operable to generate streaming video and audio content. This content data is sent in a continuous stream and is reproduced by the terminal 1 as it arrives. For example, streaming videos in a sequence of images that is typically sent in compressed form, which is received and decompressed by the mobile terminal 1 and reproduced on arrival. Streamed audio and video content is produced in real time.
The video and audio content provided to the encoder 38 via the links 34,36 may be of high definition TV (HDTV) quality and compact disc (CD) quality. Generally, to transmit the video and audio content to a receiving terminal at this quality would consume an unacceptably large amount of the capacity of the telecommunications network 3. For example, typically television (video and audio) content for reproduction on a mobile terminal will be transmitted on a typical bearer of 128 kb/s. Of this 128 kb, in a conventional arrangement, typically 90 kb is used to transmit video content data, 24 kb is used to transmit audio content data and 14 kb is used for packetisation and to generate headers etc. Such a distribution of data is shown in
These bit rates are given only as an example. Alternatively, the television (video and audio) content may be transmitted on any bearer.
In accordance with an important feature of this embodiment, the content server 30 receives (for example) from the terminal 1 via link 42 and the requirements analyser 40 an indication of a quality of the received content required by the terminal 1 (or the user thereof). Such a “quality” of the content may be whether or not video content is required, whether or not audio content is required, or whether or not some other form of content is required (i.e. the type of content). The quality (i.e. the number of bits per second) with which one or more of the content types is transmitted may also be indicated. As is well know, generally, the more bits per second that are used to transmit content, the more faithfully that content can be reproduced.
For example, if the terminal 1 provides an indication to the requirements analyser 40 via the link 42 that video content is not required at all, the requirements analyser 40 will provide an appropriate instruction to the encoder 38, to encode the content in a particular manner. The content transmitted to the terminal 1 via the link 32 is transmitted on a typical bearer of 128 kbps having a portion “H” of 14 kbps, for example for packetisation and headers etc., as in
The audio content received at the device 1 in accordance with the
As indicated above, it is a feature of this embodiment that the terminal 1 is operable to transmit to the content server 30 an indication of a quality of the received content required by the terminal 1. This indication may be generated automatically by the terminal 1 or may be generated by the user of the terminal 1, for example using the user interface 58 (comprising push-buttons in this example). The quality of the content required by the terminal is dependent on the state of the terminal, for example the operating state, environmental state or physical state.
In certain embodiments of the invention the device includes sensors to detect the environment in which it is located (environmental state). Such devices may include, for example, proximity sensors to detect when the device is in close proximity to other objects or photometric sensors to detect the light conditions in which the device is located. Information provided by the sensors can be used to determine the form of the content required by the device at that time. To provide the indication automatically, the mobile terminal 1 may be provided with a photometric sensor 60 which detects the light level and generates an electrical signal in response to this light level. This signal is processed by the processor mobile terminal 1 to determine whether the light level is indicative, for example, of the terminal 1 being in an environment where the display 50 is unlikely to be viewed—such as, when the mobile terminal is in the user's pocket or bag. If such a determination is made, the processor of the terminal 1 generates a message (or flag) indicating that video content is no longer required. This message (or flag) is transmitted wirelessly in the uplink (back channel) to the node B 5, and from there to the telecommunications network 3 via the RAN 7 and the SGSN 9. The telecommunications network 3 then transmits this signal to the content server 30 via the link 42. The requirements analyser 40 of the content server analyses this signal and instructs the encoder 38 to stop transmitting video content. The content subsequently transmitted to the mobile terminal 1 may have the form as shown in
Additionally, or alternatively, to the photometric sensor 60, the mobile terminal 1 may be provided with a proximity sensor 62 which detects when the sensor 62 is close to the user and generates a signal indicative thereof. In dependence upon the detected proximity to the user, processor of the mobile terminal 1 may generate a message (or flag) that is sent in the uplink/back channel to the content server 30 to adjust the form of the content transmitted to the terminal 1. For example, if the sensors detect that device is enclosed on all sides and in the dark, it may be determined that the device is in the user's pocket and so the video data stream to the device may be deactivated.
Such sensors may make monitor the environmental conditions periodically or detect a change in the environmental conditions. As the environmental conditions change, the system can react to change the data provided to the device. For example, if the sensors detect that state of the device has changed to a location of no close proximity and light, the system could decide that the device has been removed from the user's pocket and should transmit a video data stream along with the audio data stream.
Of course, other types of sensors may also be provided in order to allow the mobile terminal 1 to intelligently and automatically generate message (or flag) in the uplink/back channel to the content server 30 to request content in a form that is determined to be most appropriate for the present conditions in which the mobile terminal 1 is being used.
In further embodiments of the invention the physical state of the terminal is taken into account when determining what data streams to provide to the terminal. The mobile terminal 1 shown in
As indicated above, as an alternative to, or in addition to, the automatic determination by the mobile terminal 1 of the content requirements, the user may select their content requirements or identify the operating state of the terminal. For example, during reproduction of content, the user may manually select, using the user interface 58, to switch from a content configuration of the type shown in
The terminal 1 may be pre-configured by the user with the content reproduction preferences for different types of content stored in a memory of the mobile terminal 1. On receipt of content from the content server 30, the mobile terminal 1 then determines the type of content being reproduced, typically from information included in the part “H”, and then transmits an appropriate signal to the content server 30 to instruct the content server 30 to transmit the content in a form desired for that content type by the user of terminal 1.
In accordance with an important feature of the embodiment, a quality of the received content required by the terminal 1 is transmitted to the telecommunications network 3 during a communication session, and the content server, in response to receipt of that indication, adjusts the content transmitted thereafter accordingly during that communication session.
The embodiment is particularly useful when the content transmitted by the content server is tailored for a particular terminal (by appropriate operation of the encoder 38). That is, the content transmitted by the content server 30 is a one-to-one transmission. The embodiment can also be used where content is multicast to several terminals. The configuration of the content (i.e. the quality of the various content parts) may be selected by one or more of the receiving devices by sending an appropriate indication to the content server 30. The content may be transmitted by Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS), as defined by 3GPP.
Many of the embodiments discussed above include a processor in the terminal which indicates to the server the specific required data streams, for example audio only or a specific bitrate of audio and/or video. However, in further embodiments, the decision of what content to transmit to the terminal is made at the server. In such cases, the terminal will indicate the state of the device, for example clamshell closed or terminal located in dark and close proximity on all sides, and allow the server to determine what type of data should be provided to the terminal for its current state. Such embodiments remove the requirement for the device to make decisions about what content it requires. In such embodiments the indication by the device of the quality of the content that the device requires is, in fact, an indication of the current state of the device. From this information, the server then determines the quality of the content that it will transmit to the device.
The content server 30A according to a second embodiment of the invention is shown in more detail in
In this embodiment a communication session is established between the terminal 1 and the telecommunications network as in the first embodiment. The content server 30 receives (or has previously received) video content via link 34 and audio content via link 36. The video and audio content may be provided by a third party. The content server 30 includes an encoder 38A. The encoder 38A receives the video and audio content via links 34,36 and encodes them in a form suitable for transmission over the telecommunications network. The encoded video content is stored in store 50 and the encoded audio content is stored in store 52. Optionally, the same content may be encoded and stored in multiple forms. For example, high quality encoded video and audio content could be stored in stores 50 and 52 and lower quality encoded content could be stored in stores 50A and 52A.
The requirements of a receiving device are transmitted to a requirements analyser 40 of the content server via a link 42 from the telecommunications network 3 or internet 19. The requirements analyser 40 selects encoded content data from the appropriate store 50,50A,52,52A in dependence upon the received requirements from link 42.
The user of the terminal may manually select the content qualities—for example high quality video and basic audio, (from stores 50,52A), high quality audio only (from store 52), basic video and basic audio (from stores 50A,52A), etc. The content qualities may also be selected automatically by a photosensor 60 and/or proximity sensor 62 or the like, in a similar manner to the first embodiment. The content data from the selected stores is sent in a continuous stream and is reproduced by the terminal 1 as it arrives.
In further embodiments of the invention, the server takes into account the amount of available bandwidth and the content requirements of the terminal. In the situation where the terminal is operating in a state in which both video and audio are required, if the combined audio and video bitrate is above the capacity provided by the current bearer, the bitrates of the audio and video streams are reduced in proportion to remain within the available capacity of the bearer. Alternatively, if, for example, only audio is required, and the audio bitrate is below the capacity of the bearer, the server may release some of the unused capacity.
Although the invention has been described where the terminal that receives the content, and that generates the indication of the required quality of the received content required, is a mobile device, such as a GSM or UMTS mobile or cellular telecommunications terminal, the invention is also applicable to other types of receiver devices that may be coupled to a network by a fixed (cable) connection or a wireless connection. For example, the receiving device could be a computer, IPTV receiver or other uni-cast/streaming receiver. Any of these receivers may advantageously be configured to detect when the video reproduction component (display) is deactivated or is not being used, and this can be communicated to the content server in order to adapt the content generated by the encoder 38 so that video content is thereafter no longer transmitted. With such receivers, the user may also manually select the quality of different content parts of the content in the manner described above.
In the first embodiment a Variable Bit Rate (VBR) encoder is used. However, other types of encoder may be used alternatively or additionally—for example a Constant Bit Rate (CBR) encoder.
It will be clear to those skilled in the art that the content which is transmitted to a particular terminal is specific to the state of that terminal at the time at which the content is transmitted. Therefore, two identical terminals which request the same content from the same server may receive different content streams if they are in different states.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0702789.9 | Feb 2007 | GB | national |
