Patent Application
20110258673
The present invention relates to a service information provision apparatus and a service information acquisition apparatus of a network data service.
In recent years, internet protocol (IP) based networks including the internet provide, in addition to video contents, information in various types of data formats and data services, and the types of services and provision methods are increasing.
Conventionally, as an internet protocol TV (IPTV) system which sends video contents to a terminal device from a server via an IP network, for example, there is the one disclosed in Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 discloses a method of discovering a video service for searching and selecting video contents, and a method of discovering video contents.
The service supported by the IPTV system of Patent Document 1 is a video service, and disclosed is a service discovery method concerning TV broadcasts and video on-demand contents as the video contents.
According to the IPTV service of the foregoing conventional IPTV system, there is a problem in that only limited types of services can be provided since it relates to the sending and receiving of digital video contents such as TV broadcasts and video on-demand contents and the service discovery for searching and selecting the video contents.
With this kind of conventional IPTV system, since the provided IPTV service is limited to the transmission of video contents, it is not possible to accommodate the numerous data services and information provision services to be enabled by the internet.
The present invention is made in order to resolve the foregoing problems. Thus, an object of this invention is to provide a service information provision apparatus and a service information acquisition apparatus available for data/information provision services corresponding to various types of contents, in addition to video contents services.
The service information provision apparatus according to the invention includes: a data service information table in which specific information of a service provider that provides data is associated with service content information provided by the service provider.
Also, the service information acquisition apparatus according to the invention includes: a unit for requesting service discovery information to a service provider configuration information server; a unit for requesting service offer information to the service server that is specified in specific information of the service server indicated in the service discovery information responded to the request made by the unit for requesting the service discovery information; and a unit for acquiring the service offer information responded to the request by the unit for requesting the service offer information.
According to the service information provision apparatus and the service information acquisition apparatus of the invention, an effect is yielded in that it is possible to provide a service information provision apparatus and a service information acquisition apparatus available for data/information provision services corresponding to various types of contents.
In Embodiment 1 of the present invention, one example of providing service provider service discovery information for discovering an extension service within the scope of the same service provider to a terminal device is now explained.
Next, an operation thereof is described.
The terminal device 100 uses a known multicast address and a port, or uses a known unicast address and requests service provider discovery information to the CDN configuration information server 110 (ST200). In response to this request, the CDN configuration information server 110 sends the service provider discovery information of one or more IPTV service provider configuration information servers (ST210).
The terminal device 100 parses the acquired service provider discovery information, and acquires the address information of the IPTV service provider configuration information server. The terminal device 100 uses the address information and requests service provider service discovery information to the IPTV service provider configuration information server 120 (ST300). In response to this request, the IPTV service provider configuration information server 120 sends the service provider service discovery information (ST310). The acquired information includes information concerning the services provided by the service provider 150. Since this information contains the brief description and address information of the respective services, a user can request detailed information concerning the services that are of interest to that user.
The terminal device 100 requests extension service offer information to the extension service server 140 (ST400). In response to this request, the extension service server 140 sends the extension service offer information (ST410). The acquired information contains the detailed description and address information of the relevant service. Finally, the terminal device 100 uses the extension service by using the address information obtained at ST410 (ST450).
A unicast communication unit 1602 processes a TCP protocol group (for example, TCP/IP, HTTP/TCP/IP, TTS/HTTP/TCP/IP, HTTPS/TCP/IP, RTSP/TCP/IP) in a lower-level IP layer and a higher-level application layer. A multicast communication unit 1603 processes a UDP protocol group (for example, UDP/IP, RTP/UDP/IP, RTP-FEC/UDP/IP, TTS/RTP-FEC/UDP/IP) in a lower-level IP layer and a higher-level application layer. A demultiplexer 1607 performs demultiplex processing of MPEG TS (transport stream) sent from the lower-level layer. An extension service discovery manager 1604 sends a request to the respective servers such as the CDN configuration information server 110, the IPTV service provider configuration information server 120 and the extension service server 140 via the unicast communication unit 1602 and the IP communication unit 1601, receives and stores information from these servers, and performs analysis regarding the available servers and services. A display unit 1606 introduces the available servers and services that are analyzed by the extension service discovery manager 1604 to the user. An input unit 1605 is used for inputting feedback from the user into the extension service discovery manager 1604.
The operation of the terminal device 100 is now described in accordance with the operation sequence of
The extension service discovery manager 1604 sends a request using a known unicast address of the CDN configuration information server 110 in order to acquire service provider discovery information from the CDN configuration information server 110 (ST200). The service provider discovery information is sent at ST210. The extension service discovery manager 1604, in the case of a multicast, detects service provider discovery information from the multicast stream that is received from the demultiplexer 1607 by using a known multicast address (ST210). The extension service discovery manager 1604 stores the service provider discovery information detected at ST210 in a storage device.
The extension service discovery manager 1604 sends a request using the unicast address acquired at ST210 in order to acquire service provider service discovery information from the IPTV service provider configuration information server 120 (ST300). The service provider service discovery information is sent at ST310, and delivered to the extension service discovery manager 1604 through the IP communication unit 1601 and the unicast communication unit 1602. The extension service discovery manager 1604, in the case of a multicast, detects the service provider service discovery information from the multicast stream that is received from the demultiplexer 1607 by using the multicast address acquired at ST210 (ST310). The extension service discovery manager 1604 stores the service provider service discovery information detected at ST310 in a storage device.
The extension service discovery manager 1604 introduces the available services to the user through the display unit 1606 based on the service provider discovery information and the service provider service discovery information.
The user specifies the extension service server 140 that is of interest to that user to the extension service discovery manager 1604 via the input unit 1605.
In order to acquire extension service offer information from the extension service discovery server 140, the extension service discovery manager 1604 sends a request by using the unicast address acquired at ST310 (ST400). The extension service offer information is sent at ST410, and delivered to the extension service discovery manager 1604 through the IP communication unit 1601 and the unicast communication unit 1602. The extension service discovery manager 1604 stores the extension service offer information obtained at ST410 in a storage device.
Finally, the extension service discovery manager 1604 introduces the services to the user through the display unit 1606 based on the detailed information of the services contained in the extension service offer information.
Next, management of the discovery information and extension service offer information in Embodiment 1 of the present invention is explained. XML notation is used for managing information in consideration of its suitability for parsing, search and portability.
The service provider discovery information managed by the CDN configuration information server 310, the service provider service discovery information managed by the IPTV service provider configuration information server 320, and the service offer information managed by the extension service servers 330, 340 are managed, for example, with a table using the XML notation explained below. In the following, it is assumed that the service provider discovery information, the service provider service discovery information, and the service offer information mean the respective recorded pieces of information in the service provider discovery information table, the service provider service discovery information table, and the service offer information table.
@RecordVersion 410 manages the version number of the recording of the service provider discovery information, and @CDNName 411 manages the name for identifying the network provider. The version number is useful in determining the validity of the information that is cached in the terminal device 100 by being updated in the case where there is a change in the value of the element.
Items of the Service Provider List are information for discovering the service provider 150, and manage concerning information “ServiceProvider” of at least one service provider according to the following attributes. @ServiceProviderNetworklD 420 is used for identifying the service provider in the video broadcast service. @ServiceProviderName 421 and @ServiceProviderSerial 424 are items for uniquely identifying the service provider. @ServiceProviderPushURI 422 or @ServiceProviderPullAddress 423 is provided to the terminal device 300 so that the terminal device 300 can acquire the service provider service discovery information of the service provider 320.
In the service provider service discovery information table 500 of
Items of Service Provider manage the basic information of the service provider according to the following elements and attributes. @ServiceProviderDomainName 520 is an item for uniquely identifying the service provider, @ServiceProviderAuthority 521 shows the service provider to be used in a fee-based service, and @ServiceProviderVersion 522 manages the version of the service provider information. The version number is useful in determining the validity of the information that is cached in the terminal device by being updated in the case where there is a change in the value of the element. @ServiceProviderLogoURI 523 is used for designating the server/resource storing the logo of the service provider. ServiceProviderName 524 and ServiceProviderDescription 525 indicate the service name to the user and a brief description of the service contents.
Items of the Service Offer Summary describe the access information to the extension services according to the following elements and attributes. @PushAddress 530 and @PullAddress 531 describe the multicast address and unicast address for accessing the extension service offer information. The same information is obtained regardless of which address information is used. OfferPayloadType@id 532 is used for identifying the type of service. @segmentID 533 is used for requesting service offer information from a specific OfferPayloadType@id. @segmentVersion 534 is used for confirming whether service offer information of a specific OfferPayloadType@id is stored in the memory. Although the elements and attributes of @PushAddress 540 to @segmentVersion 544 differ from the foregoing @PushAddress 530 to @segmentVersion 534 with respect to the provided services, equivalent information elements and attributes are managed.
Since a user private area is used, the extension services provided by the respective service providers can be freely added. Moreover, even if two service providers use OfferPayloadType@id of the same user private area in different extension services, since the pair of “OfferPayloadType@id” and “service provider domain name (ServiceProviderDomainName)” is unique, identification is possible. @segmentID (segment ID) and @segmentVersion (segment version) are described in the cases of dividing an XML document into segments and sending them to a terminal. The terminal uses the segment ID and segment version and requests information of a specific OfferPayloadType@id.
In the E-newspaper service offer information table 600 of
Based on the above, a service information provision apparatus comprising as the data service information table: the service provider service discovery information table 500 of the IPTV service provider configuration information server 120; the E-newspaper service offer information table 600; and the RSS Feed service offer information table 700 as an extension service of the extension service server 140 can thereby be configured.
Note that this service information provision apparatus may also be configured to have a data service information table including the service provider discovery information table 400 of the CDN configuration information server 110.
Also, the server configuring the service information provision apparatus may be implemented as a system of distributing the functions to a plurality of server machines via a network rather than supporting all functions with a single server machine.
Further, configured is a terminal device as the service information acquisition apparatus comprising: a unit for requesting service discovery information to the service provider configuration information server 120 that is specified in the specific information of the service provider; a unit for requesting the service offer information to a service server specified in specific information of the extension service server 140 indicated in the service discovery information to be returned in response to the request by the unit for requesting the service discovery information; and a unit for acquiring the service offer information to be returned in response to the request by the unit for requesting the service offer information.
Note that the terminal device as the service information acquisition apparatus may include: a unit for requesting service provider discovery information to the CDN configuration information server 110, and be configured to request service discovery information to the service provider configuration information server 120 specified in the specific information of the service provider indicated in the service provider discovery information that is returned in response to the request by the unit for requesting the service provider discovery information.
The operation sequence shown in
As described above, according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, the IPTV service provider configuration information server can provide, to the terminal device, service provider service discovery information for discovering an extension service other than the transmission of video contents as the basic IPTV service, and the terminal device can access the extension service server based on the address information of the extension service server described in the service provider service discovery information. Consequently, the terminal device, which could only consume video contents transmission services in the past, is able to access and provide to the user new data services such as news distribution.
In the aforementioned Embodiment 1 of the present invention, explained is one example of providing, to a terminal device, service provider service discovery information for discovering an extension service within the scope of the same service provider. An example of enabling the service discovery of an extension service belonging to a separate service provider is explained in Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
Next, an operation thereof is described.
The terminal device 900 uses a known multicast address and a port, or uses a known unicast address and requests service provider discovery information to the CDN configuration information server 910 (ST500). In response to this request, the CDN configuration information server 910 sends the service provider discovery information of one or more IPTV service provider configuration information servers (ST510).
The terminal device 900 parses the acquired service provider discovery information, and acquires the address information of the IPTV service provider configuration information server A 920. The terminal device 900 uses the address information and requests service provider service discovery information to the IPTV service provider configuration information server A 920 (ST600). In response to this request, the IPTV service provider configuration information server A 920 sends the service provider service discovery information (ST610). The acquired information includes information concerning the services provided by the service provider B 980. Since this information contains the brief description and address information of the respective services, and the address information to the IPTV service provider configuration information server B 960 belonging to the external service provider B 980, a user can request detailed information concerning the services that are of interest to that user or concerning the external service provider B 980. Note that it is necessary to access the external IPTV service provider configuration information server B 960 prior to acquiring the service discovery information of the extension service server 970 belonging to the external service provider B 980.
The terminal device 900 requests service provider service discovery information by using the address of the IPTV service provider configuration information server B 960 acquired at ST610 (ST700). In response to this request, the external IPTV service provider configuration information server 960 sends the service provider service discovery information (ST710).
The terminal device 900 requests extension service offer information to the extension service server 970 (ST800). In response to this request, the extension service server 970 sends the extension service offer information (ST810). The acquired information contains the detailed description and address information of the relevant service. Finally, the terminal device 900 uses the external extension service by using the address information obtained at ST810 (ST850).
Next, management of the discovery information and extension service offer information in Embodiment 2 of the present invention is explained. XML notation is used for managing information in consideration of its suitability for parsing, search and portability.
The service provider discovery information managed by the CDN configuration information server 1110, the service provider service discovery information managed by the IPTV service provider configuration information server A 1120, the service provider service discovery information managed by the IPTV service provider configuration information server B 1170, and the service offer information managed by the extension service server 1180 are managed, for example, as a table using the XML notation explained below.
The elements of the service provider discovery information managed by the CDN configuration information server 1110 are the same as the service provider discovery information table 400, which indicates the service provider discovery information in XML, managed by the CDN configuration information server 310 explained with reference to
@RecordVersion 1210 manages the version of the recording of the service provider service discovery information. The version number is useful in determining the validity of the information that is cached in the terminal device by being updated in the case where there is a change in the value of the element.
Items of the Service Provider manage the basic information of the service provider according to the following elements and attributes. @ServiceProviderDomainName 1220 is an item for uniquely identifying the service provider, @ServiceProviderAuthority 1221 shows the service provider to be used in a pay service, and @ServiceProviderVersion 1222 manages the version of the service provider information. The version number is useful in determining the validity of the information that is cached in the terminal device by being updated in the case where there is a change in the value of the element. @ServiceProviderLogoURI 1223 is used for designating the server resource storing the logo of the service provider. ServiceProviderName 1224 and ServiceProviderDescription 1225 indicate the service name to the user and a brief description of the service contents.
Items of the Service Offer Summary describe the access information to the extension services according to the following attributes. @PushAddress 1230 and @PullAddress 1231 describe the multicast address and unicast address for accessing the extension service offer information. The same information is obtained regardless of which address information is used. OfferPayloadType@id 1232 is used for identifying the type of service. @segmentID 1233 is used for requesting service offer information of a specific OfferPayloadType@id. @segmentVersion 1234 is used for confirming whether service offer information of a specific OfferPayloadType@id is stored in the memory.
Since a user private area is used, the extension services provided by the respective service providers can be freely added. Moreover, even if two service providers use OfferPayloadType@id of the same user private area in different extension services, since the pair of “OfferPayloadType@id” and “service provider domain name (ServiceProviderDomainName)” is unique, identification is possible. @segmentID (segment ID) and @segmentVersion (segment version) are described in cases of dividing an XML document into segments and sending them to a terminal. The terminal uses the segment ID and segment version, and requests information of a specific OfferPayloadType@id.
Moreover, items of the Service Offer Summary describe the access information to the IPTV service provider configuration information server belonging to the external service network according to the following elements and attributes. @PushAddress 1240 and @PullAddress 1241 of Service Offer Summary describe the multicast address and unicast address for accessing the service provider service discovery information of the external IPTV service provider configuration information server 1170. The same information is obtained regardless of which address information is used. OfferPayloadType@id 1242 is used for identifying the type of service. The identification value of the type of service similarly uses the value of the foregoing table 1400 defining the identification value of the type of service of
In the service provider service discovery information table 1300 of
Items of the Service Provider manage the basic information of the service provider according to the following elements and attributes. @ServiceProviderDomainName 1320 is an item for uniquely identifying the service provider, @ServiceProviderAuthority 1321 shows the service provider to be used in a fee-based service, and @ServiceProviderVersion 1322 manages the version of the service provider information. The version number is useful in determining the validity of the information that is cached in the terminal device by being updated in the case where there is a change in the value of the element. @ServiceProviderLogoURI 1323 is used for designating the server resource storing the logo of the service provider. ServiceProviderName 1324 and ServiceProviderDescription 1325 indicate the service name to the user and a brief description of the service contents.
Items of the Service Offer Summary describe the access information to the extension services provided by the external service provider according to the following attributes. @PushAddress 1330, 1340 and @PullAddress 1331, 1341 describe the multicast address and unicast address for accessing the extension service offer information. The same information is obtained regardless of which address information is used. OfferPayloadType@id 1332, 1342 are used for identifying the type of service. @segmentID 1333, 1343 are used for requesting service offer information of a specific OfferPayloadType@id. @segmentVersion 1334, 1344 are used for confirming whether service offer information of a specific OfferPayloadType@id is stored in the memory. As in the service provider service discovery information table 1200, the identification value of the type of service similarly uses the value of the foregoing table 1400 defining the identification value of the type of service of
Since a user private area is used, the extension services provided by the respective service providers can be freely added. Also, even if two service providers use OfferPayloadType@id of the same user private area in different extension services, since the pair of “OfferPayloadType@id” and “service provider domain name (ServiceProviderDomainName)” is unique, identification is possible. @segmentID (segment ID) and @segmentVersion (segment version) are described in cases of dividing an XML document into segments and sending them to a terminal. The terminal uses the segment ID and segment version and requests information of a specific OfferPayloadType@id.
In the SMS service offer information table 1500 of
Based on the above, a service information provision apparatus comprising as the data service information table: the service provider service discovery information tables 1200, 1300 of the IPTV service provider configuration information servers A 920, B 960; and the SMS service offer information table 1500 as the extension service of the extension service server 140 can thereby be configured.
Note that this service information provision apparatus may also be configured to have a data service information table including the service provider discovery information table 400 of the CDN configuration information server 110.
Also, the server configuring the service information provision apparatus may be realized as a system of distributing the functions to a plurality of server machines via a network instead of supporting all functions with a single server machine.
Further, configured is a terminal device as the service information acquisition apparatus comprising: a unit for requesting first service discovery information to the service provider configuration information server A 920 specified in the specific information of the service provider; a unit for requesting second service discovery information to the service provider configuration information server B 960 specified in the specific information of the service provider indicated in the service discovery information that is returned in response to the request by the unit for requesting the first service discovery information; a unit for requesting service offer information to the service server specified in the specific information of the extension service server 970 indicated in the service discovery information that is returned in response to the request by the unit for requesting the second service discovery information; and a unit for acquiring the service offer information that is returned in response to the request by the unit for requesting the service offer information.
Note that the terminal device as the service information acquisition apparatus may include: a unit for requesting service provider discovery information to the CDN configuration information server 110, and be configured to request service discovery information to the service provider configuration information server 120 specified in the specific information of the service provider indicated in the service provider discovery information that is returned in response to the request by the unit for requesting the service provider discovery information.
The operation sequence shown in
As described above, according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention, the IPTV service provider configuration information server provides service provider discovery information of the external IPTV service provider, and the external IPTV service provider configuration information server provides, to the terminal device, service provider service discovery information for discovering the extension service. Consequently, the terminal device can access the extension service server of the external IPTV service provider.
In the aforementioned Embodiment 1 of the present invention, explained is one example of providing, to a terminal device, service provider service discovery information for discovering an extension service within the scope of the same service provider. Moreover, in Embodiment 2 of the present invention, explained is one example of enabling the service discovery of an extension service belonging to a separate service provider. One example of enabling the service discovery of an extension service on the standard internet without being limited to a CDN by using a service provider configuration information server is explained in Embodiment 3 of the present invention. In this case, there is no need to use the service provider configuration information server of the service provider to which the extension service belongs. Moreover, although the extension service server of this example explains a Widgets service that provides a plurality of services, it may also be a single service.
Next, an operation thereof is described.
The terminal device 1700 uses a known multicast address and a port, or uses a known unicast address and requests service provider discovery information to the CDN configuration information server 1710 (ST1000). In response to this request, the CDN configuration information server 1710 sends the service provider discovery information of one or more IPTV service provider configuration information servers (ST1010).
The terminal device 1700 parses the acquired information, and acquires the address information of the IPTV service provider configuration information server 1720. The terminal 1700 uses the address information and requests service provider service discovery information to the IPTV service provider configuration information server 1720 (ST1100). In response to this request, the IPTV service provider configuration information server 1720 sends the service provider service discovery information (ST1110). The acquired service provider service discovery information includes information concerning the extension services provided by the arbitrary service provider 1780 including the standard internet. Since this information contains the brief description and address information of the respective services, a user can directly request detailed information concerning the services that are of interest to that user or concerning the arbitrary service provider 1780 on the internet.
The terminal device 1700 requests extension service offer information to the extension service server 1770 (ST1200). In response to this request, the extension service server 1770 sends the extension service offer information (ST1210). The acquired information contains the detailed description and address information of the relevant service. Finally, the terminal device 1700 uses the extension service of an arbitrary service provider including the open internet by using the address information obtained at ST1210 (ST1250). In addition, the extension service server providing the service and the server providing the service offer information do not need to be the same server. The terminal device 1700 can also use the service of an extension service server 1760 that is different from the server 1770 providing the service offer information (ST1260).
Next, management of the discovery information and extension service offer information in Embodiment 3 of the present invention is explained. XML notation is used for managing information in consideration of its suitability for parsing, search and portability.
The service provider discovery information managed by the CDN configuration information server 1910, the service provider service discovery information managed by the IPTV service provider configuration information server 1920, and the service offer information managed by the extension service server 1980 are managed, for example, a table using the XML notation explained below.
The elements of the service provider discovery information managed by the CDN configuration information server 1910 are the same as the service provider discovery information table 400, which indicates the service provider discovery information in XML, managed by the CDN configuration information server 310 explained with reference to
Items of the Service Provider manage the basic information of the service provider according to the following elements and attributes. @ServiceProviderDomainName 2020 is an item for uniquely identifying the service provider, @ServiceProviderAuthority 2021 shows the service provider to be used in a fee-based service, and @ServiceProviderVersion 2022 manages the version of the service provider information. The version number is useful in determining the validity of the information that is cached in the terminal device by being updated in the case where there is a change in the value of the element. @ServiceProviderLogoURI 2023 is used for designating the server resource storing the logo of the service provider. ServiceProviderName 2024 and ServiceProviderDescription 2025 indicate the service name to the user and a brief description of the service contents.
Items of the Service Offer Summary describe the access information to the extension services according to the following attributes. @PushAddress 2030 and @PullAddress 2031 describe the multicast address and unicast address for accessing the extension service offer information. The same information is obtained regardless of which address information is used. In the case of an extension service server based on the standard internet, only the URL information of @PullAddress 2031 is generally provided. OfferPayloadType@id 2032 is used for identifying the type of service. @segmentID 2033 is used for requesting service offer information of a specific OfferPayloadType@id. @segmentVersion 2034 is used for confirming whether service offer information of a specific OfferPayloadType@id is stored in the memory. @WebPortalURL 2035 is an address for accessing the web pages that describe the extension service offer information in the formats of HTML, XHTML, JavaScript (registered trademark), Ajax, Flash (registered trademark), ActionScript and the like. In the foregoing case, the terminal device needs to be compatible with a sophisticated display unit and user interface unit such as a web browser, but abundant information can be acquired in addition to the extension service offer information. Moreover, the service provider may also additionally indicate the Service Offer Summary access information of a plurality of servers. In one example of
Since a user private area is used, the extension services provided by the respective service providers can be freely added. Moreover, even if two service providers use OfferPayloadType@id of the same user private area in different extension services, since the pair of “OfferPayloadType@id” and “service provider domain name (ServiceProviderDomainName)” is unique, identification is possible. @segmentID (segment ID) and @segmentVersion (segment version) are described in the cases of dividing an XML document into segments and sending them to a terminal. The terminal uses the segment ID and segment version and requests information of a specific OfferPayloadType@id.
In the Widgets service offer information table 2200 of
As mentioned above, a service information provision apparatus comprising as the data service information table: the service provider service discovery information table 2000 of the IPTV service provider configuration information server 1720; and the Widgets service offer information table 2200 as the extension service of the extension service server 1770 can thereby be configured.
Note that this service information provision apparatus may also be configured to have a data service information table including the service provider discovery information table 400 of the CDN configuration information server 110.
Moreover, the server configuring the service information provision apparatus may also be realized as a system of distributing the functions to a plurality of server machines via a network rather than supporting all functions with a single server machine.
Moreover, configured is a terminal device as the service information acquisition apparatus comprising: a unit for requesting service discovery information to the service provider configuration information server 1720 specified in the specific information of the service provider; a unit for requesting service offer information to the service server specified in the specific information of the extension service server 1770 indicated in the service discovery information that is returned in response to the request by the unit for requesting the second service discovery information; and a unit for acquiring the service offer information that is returned in response to the request by the unit for requesting the service offer information.
Note that the terminal device as the service information acquisition apparatus may include: a unit for requesting service provider discovery information to the CDN configuration information server 110, and be configured to request service discovery information to the service provider configuration information server 120 specified in the specific information of the service provider indicated in the service provider discovery information that is returned in response to the request by the unit for requesting the service provider discovery information.
The operation sequence shown in
As described above, according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention, the IPTV service provider configuration information server provides, to the terminal device, service provider service discovery information for discovering the external extension service including the standard internet. Consequently, the terminal device can access the extension service server of the external IPTV service provider.
In the aforementioned Embodiment 1 of the present invention, explained is one example of providing, to a terminal device, service provider service discovery information for discovering an extension service within the scope of the same service provider. In Embodiment 2 of the present invention, explained is one example of enabling the service discovery of an extension service belonging to a separate service provider. Moreover, in Embodiment 3 of the present invention, explained is one example enabling the service discovery of an extension service on the standard internet without being limited to a CDN by using a service provider configuration information server. In this case, there is no need to use the service provider configuration information server of the service provider to which the extension service belongs.
Embodiment 4 of the present invention explains one example of enabling the use of the service provider discovery server on the standard internet, without using the content delivery network (CDN) or CDN configuration information server provided by a network provider, so as to discover the service provider. In this case, even after discovering the service provider, the IPTV service provider configuration information server, the basic video service server, and the extension service server can be accessed via the standard internet.
Next, an operation thereof is described.
The terminal device 2300 uses a known URI or URL address and requests a web page provided by the Web-based service provider discovery server 2310 (ST2000). In response to this request, the Web-based service provider discovery server 2310 returns, to the terminal device 2300, the hyper link information to the Web-based IPTV service discovery server 2320 of one or more service providers 2350, and the web page document containing icons and related information of the service providers 2350 (ST2010).
The terminal device 2300 parses the acquired web page document and displays a web page. Icons and related information of available service providers 2350 are displayed on the web page. An end user can select the service provider 2350 by referring to the icons and related information. Since the icon is linked with the hyper link information to the service provider 2350, the web page provided by the Web-based IPTV service discovery server 2320 is requested by selecting an icon by using the UI or the like of the terminal (ST2100). The Web-based IPTV service discovery server 2320 returns, to the terminal device 2300, a web page document containing the hyper link information to the extension service server 2340 belonging to the same service provider 2350 and/or the extension service server 2370 of the arbitrary service provider 2380, as well as the icons and related information of the service (ST2110). The acquired service information web page document contains information concerning the extension service provided by the arbitrary service provider 2380 including the standard internet. Since this information contains the brief description and address information of the respective services, a user can directly request detailed information concerning the services that are of interest to the user or concerning the arbitrary service provider 2380 on the internet.
The terminal device 2300 requests a service detailed web page document containing extension service offer information to the extension service server 2340 (ST2200). In response to this request, the extension service server 2340 sends the service detailed web page document containing the extension service offer information (ST2210). The acquired web page document contains the detailed description and hyper link address information of the relevant service. Finally, the terminal device 2300 uses the extension service of an arbitrary service provider 2380 including the open Internet by using the hyper link address information obtained at ST2210 (ST2250). In addition, the extension service server providing the service and the server providing the service offer information do not need to be the same server. The terminal device 2300 can also use the service of an extension service server 2370 that is different from the extension service server 2340 providing the service offer information (ST2260).
Next, management of the discovery information and extension service offer information in Embodiment 4 of the invention is explained. XML notation is used for managing information in consideration of its suitability for parsing, search and portability.
The service provider discovery information managed by the Web-based service provider discovery server 2510, the service discovery information managed by the Web-based IPTV service discovery server 2520, and the service offer information managed by the extension service server 2580 are managed, for example, as a table using the XML notation explained below.
The elements of the service provider discovery information managed by the Web-based service provider discovery server 2510 are the same as the service provider discovery information table 400 (refer to
The elements of the service discovery information managed by the Web-based IPTV service discovery server 2520 are the same as the service discovery information table 500 (refer to
The elements of the service offer information managed by the extension service server 2580 are the same as the service offer information tables 600, 700, 1500, 2200 (refer to
As described above, with the service information provision apparatus and the service information acquisition apparatus of the invention, the IPTV service provider configuration information server configuring the service information provision apparatus can provide, to the terminal device as the service information acquisition apparatus, service provider service discovery information for discovering an extension service other than the transmission of video contents as the basic IPTV service, and the terminal device can access the extension service server based on the address information of the extension service server described in the service provider service discovery information.
Moreover, with the service information provision apparatus and the service information acquisition apparatus of the invention, the IPTV service provider configuration information server configuring the service information provision apparatus provides service provider discovery information of the external IPTV service provider, and the external IPTV service provider configuration information server provides service provider service discovery information for discovering the extension service, to the terminal device as the service information acquisition apparatus, and the terminal device can thereby access the extension service server of the external IPTV service provider.
With the service information provision apparatus and the service information acquisition apparatus of the invention, the terminal device as the service information acquisition apparatus, which could only consume video contents transmission services in the past, is able to access and provide to the user new data services such as news distribution.
Note that, although the tables managed by the respective servers configuring the service information provision apparatus of the invention are explained in XML notation, they may also be indicated in languages and formats that are different from XML. Moreover, the tables may also contain items, elements and attributes of other uses that are not used in the foregoing descriptions.
The service information provision apparatus and the service information acquisition apparatus according to the invention are suitable for use in data/information provision services corresponding to various types of contents in addition to video contents services.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-290084 | Nov 2008 | JP | national |
| 2009-205895 | Sep 2009 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2009/006014 | 11/11/2009 | WO | 00 | 5/11/2011 |
