Patent Application
20130139206
This patent application claims priority to French patent application no. FR1160759, filed Nov. 24, 2011, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The present invention relates to a transmission method for Push type video on demand programs comprising the steps according to which:
a broadcasting stream of Push type video on demand program units is transmitted from a remote server over a broadcasting network to multiple decoders connectable to display screens, with each program unit comprising at least a first corresponding metadata field containing a unit identifier and, optionally, a second field with audio/video content,
the program units are stored in the memory of each decoder.
There are three types of services of video on demand, hereinafter referred to as VoD, provided between a streaming server and a decoder connected to a TV screen which receives a video transmitted from the streaming server to a broadcasting network, for example a Hertzian one.
In the live VoD service, the user selects a content and watches it, while his set-top box receives it from a remote service-provider server. This is a “streaming” to a particular user who has selected this content. The user can select instructions of the type “pause”, “stop”, “back”, “view from the beginning”, “jump forward”, etc. Each one of these instructions is sent to the server which adapts the streamed content in teal time depending on the received instructions. For this type of VoD, it is necessary to have available very wide band networks with a return path and very low latency in order to provide a high quality service.
In the “Pull VoD” type of service, the user selects a content, buys it and requests downloading of the content selected from a remote provider server. Once downloaded by the decoder, the content is stored locally by the decoder, prior to be visualized. For this type of VoD, it is necessary to have available wide band networks with a return path and the decoder must have storage space corresponding to the downloaded content.
In the “Push” type VoD service, an operator makes a selection of the content and “pushes” the entire content via a broadcasting network to all decoders in which the content is then stored. At any moment, the user can choose one of the contents and watches it, if he has the right to do it, for example, if he has a subscription which gives him access to the chosen content, or if he has bought it in advance. A classical unidirectional broadcasting network can be used and the current technologies permit to the decoders to have large storage capacity.
However, in the current VoD systems of the “Push” type, it is difficult to take into account in the decoders the evolutions regarding the programs already stored or to define new types and new structures of the programs.
To this effect, according to a first aspect, the object of the invention is a transmission method of the abovementioned type, wherein the stream comprises a first program unit, which contains a first unit identifier and a first audio/video content, a second program unit, which contains a second unit identifier and a second audio/video content, and a third program unit comprising a third unit identifier and, in addition, containing a list with at least the first unit identifier and the second unit identifier, according to which, when the decoder receives a command for playing the third program unit, the decoder proceeds to displaying on the screen the first and second audio/video contents comprised in the first and second program units, depending on the data present in the first metadata field of the third program unit.
In these embodiments, the transmission method according to the invention comprises, in addition, one or several of the following characteristics:
the first field of metadata of the third program unit provides at least one parameter value indicating that:
in the list in the third program unit, at least one corresponding code is associated with the first unit identifier, one corresponding code is associated with the second unit identifier, and each one of these codes indicates:
when the code associated to a unit among the first and second units indicates the case c), the determined condition is based on:
the first program unit includes a fixed image and the list of the third unit includes a duration value corresponding to the identifier of the first unit, and according to which the decoder is set up for displaying, during the playing of the third program unit, the image of the first unit for a duration equal to the said value;
the action comprises the playing or the suppression of the other identified program unit;
the stream includes a fourth program unit which indicates an identifier of a program unit that is different from the fourth program unit; and
the stream includes a suppression command, which indicates a program unit and wherein the decoder suppresses the so defined unit after receiving the said command; and/or wherein the stream includes a suppression command, which indicates a determined date, and wherein the decoder suppresses the memorized program units indicating a date that precedes the determined date;
the first field of metadata of the program units contains a sub-field indicating a “visible” or “hidden” character; and wherein the decoder displays in a program menu information from the first sub-field only for the units containing a sub-field indicating a “visible” character;
upon the selection of a zone presenting on the screen information related to a program unit, the decoder displays on the screen the audio/video content comprised in the said program unit;
the first field of metadata of the program units contains a sub-field indicating a suppression date; and the decoder suppresses the program units depending on the respective data indicated in the said sub-fields.
According to a second aspect, the object of the invention is a decoder set to receive “Push” type video on demand programs and suited for being connected to a display screen; the said decoder contains a memory and means for reception from a broadcasting network a stream containing “Push” type video on demand program units, with each program unit comprising at least a first corresponding field of metadata containing a unit identifier and, optionally, a second field comprising an audio/video content, with the decoder having been set up to store the said program units; the said decoder being suited, while receiving a command for playing a third program unit, the stream containing a first program unit comprising a first unit identifier and a first audio/video content, a second program unit comprising a second unit identifier and a second audio/video content, and a third program unit comprising a third unit identifier and, in addition, comprising a list containing at least the first unit identifier and the second unit identifier, for commanding the successive display on the screen of the first and second audio/video contents included the first and second program units, depending on the data present in the first field of metadata of the third program unit.
The invention will be better understood by reading the following description and examining the figures that accompany it. These figures are provided by way of illustration, but they do not limit the invention in any way. The figures are as follows:
In one embodiment, a video on demand system requires the participation of several participants, among them:
providers of audiovisual contents,
technical operator who prepares, on the basis of the audiovisual contents, metadata associated to each one of these audiovisual contents, and who produces, based on each content and on the associated metadata, a VoD unit, codes the set of VoD units, and prepares the stream to be distributed, which contains these VoD units,
the broadcasting operator, who is in charge of the broadcasting of the stream, the users owners of decoders.
In reference to
The broadcasting network 3 can be, for example, a network for broadcasting of digital television of the MPEG or DVB types. In the present case, the broadcasting network 3 is a network for digital video broadcasting.
Each one of the decoders 4 contains a hard drive 5 for data storage, a microprocessor 6 and a smart card 7. They are designed to receive the stream, to extract the VoD units from the VoD broadcasting files, store the VoD units on the hard drive 5, and then to treat them in a way to make visualized on a display screen the information related to the audio/video contents present in the VoD units and/or the contents themselves.
The display screen is, for example, a TV screen connected to the decoder 4. The metadata are stored uncoded in a database on the hard drive 5 in correspondence with an identifier of the VoD unit to which they belong. In some cases, a content of audio, video or image type, which is present in a VoD unit, is stored in encrypted form on the hard drive and can be played or displayed, i.e. decrypted, and then restored on the screen only if it has been bought by the user of the decoder 4.
It should be noted that some audio, video or image contents, present in a VoD unit, are not in encrypted form and a freely accessible by the used, for example, contents related to trailers, film posters, commercial images or audios/videos . . .
The purchase can be performed in different ways, for example, by subscription and/or online and/or off line transaction.
Once the purchase has been completed, the decoder 4 receives authorization and stores it on the smart card 7, which permits the activation of the decryption by the decoder.
The decoder 4 is designed to determine, depending on the metadata of the VoD units, menus offering the contents of the available VoD units stored on the hard drive 5 after the broadcasting in the “Push” mode, and to display these menus on a screen connected to the decoder.
On a display screen, menus can appear, which are organized, for example, by subject (films, documentaries, children, sport, etc.), offering contents that can be purchased by the user, as well as zones in which, automatically, without selection by the user, audio/video contents are played and/or images are displayed: for example, trailers, commercials, film posters . . .
In addition, the decoder 4 is adapted to play/display then on the screen a content that is present or referenced in a VoD unit corresponding to the selection of the user in a menu (and after verification by the decoder of the access rights, including namely the verification on the smart card 7 of the authorization corresponding to the user).
The service of downloading of Push type VoD content can be active permanently or during predetermined time windows, or also depending on the bandwidth that is currently available on the broadcasting network 3. In one embodiment, the decoders are dynamically informed about the broadcasting periods by means of commands received through the network 3 and are adjusted to monitor the reception of the VoD units only during these periods.
The downloading file of one VoD unit, containing the audio/video, is voluminous, typically several gigabytes. The downloading file of one VoD unit, containing only the metadata, is typically several megabytes.
In the described embodiment of the invention, a VoD unit except the VoD units containing only metadata and not containing image or audio/video or a playlist, contains an element defining a content directly or indirectly, for example, a film, documentary, etc. In one embodiment, such a VoD unit is of “atomic” nature, i.e. if it is not stored entirely or on the basis of a determined parameterizable quality threshold on the hard drive, it is considered unavailable in the menus and its content cannot be played.
A VoD unit is defined uniquely by a VoD unit identifier, for example, a number coded on 32 bits.
One VoD unit comprises, along with its identifier,
In one embodiment, the dynamic content comprises one and only one audio/video sequence or one playlist, but not both, so that the command for playing the VoD is not ambiguous.
One audio/video sequence comprises one video track and/or a certain number of tracks and subtitles.
A VoD unit may not contain dynamic content, but only static content with an image of a background type or an image of a commercial, which could, for example, be used as a background image to display menus on the screen.
A VoD unit may contain neither dynamic content nor image.
The VoD unit contains obligatorily a set of metadata. The only element that is necessary in the metadata of the VoD unit is the identifier of the VoD unit. In one embodiment, an identifier of a VOD unit is not modifiable.
Some of the metadata are of information nature, to be displayed on the screen. Other metadata have a technical impact on the life of the VoD unit.
The metadata can be classified into several categories and sub-categories and can comprise:
In one embodiment, the decoder 4 for a “visible” VoD unit of the audio/video type, for example, containing an audio/video sequence (a film) and an image (for example, the film poster), is set for displaying in menus editorial and classification information as well as the image. After the user has selected this VoD unit from this display, the decoder processes the audio/video content of the VoD unit in order to restitute it on the screen, depending on access control verifications, etc.
In one embodiment, the metadata of a VoD unit take the form of an XML file, in which each different type of information is identified by a respective identifier similar from one VoD unit to the other (for example, the value of the maximum duration will be provided in all VoD units on the basis of a field identification tag).
As indicated above, instead of carrying the audio/video content, a VoD unit can contain a playlist of the VoD unit(s) from one or the other. The playing of such a VoD unit of the list reproduction type means to play the content identified by each entry in the list. An entry in the list contains the identifier of another VoD unit and the specification of the content to be reproduced/displayed in another unit. This constitutes a mechanism for creating on the screen of dynamic banners of commercials, announcement banners, etc.
When a playlist references an image of another VoD unit, the playlist indicates, in addition, the duration of the display of the image.
For example, a playlist is defined as follows:
During the restitution of such a VoD unit, the decoder 4 is set up, in accordance with its characteristics indicated in the VoD unit, to display the image “commercial” of VoD unit 101 for 5 seconds; to display the image “commercial” of VoD unit 102 for 3 seconds; and to display the image “commercial” of VoD unit 103, in this order or in another order (see below).
When a VoD unit of the list type is transmitted to a decoder 4 and is stored there, it is possible that at least one of the VoD units referenced in the list has not yet been broadcast.
By the way, the same VoD unit can be referenced in several playlists.
The metadata of a VoD unit of the playlist type can contain, in addition, the following characteristics indicated in the fields of the XML file which are assigned to them, respectively:
In addition, in the VoD unit of the playlist type, the following particularities can be indicated or not indicated with respect to each entry in the playlist, for example, by indicating the determined codes in the specific fields:
Such playlists permit to define in a flexible and evolutive manner interactions and services of VoD without having to modify the software of the decoder.
A stream of VoD units in Push mode can contain VoD units with dynamic content and/or VoD units which contain only images and/or metadata. The latter ones can be the so-called update VoD, which are distributed with the purpose of updating certain or all metadata (in addition to those related to the access control) and/or images of other VoD units that have already been broadcast and stored in the decoders. They are called sequences for updating other VoD units.
Update sequences comprise VoD units which do not contain audio/video contents but only metadata accompanied or not by images and/or commands intended for the decoders 4.
These commands contain, for example, the command for:
The decoder 4 is set up for treating the VoD units and play/display the contained audiovisual content (or to which it is referenced in the case of a playlist) depending on the information and the constraints stipulated in the metadata of these VoD units.
For example, if the quality of the downloading evaluated by the decoder is lower than the threshold of the minimum quality of the downloading indicated in the metadata of a VoD unit, then the VoD unit is considered as unavailable by the decoder.
In one embodiment, it is possible that the broadcasting file of a VoD unit is sent and received several times by a decoder 4. The latter is set up to reconstruct the content of the VoD unit from these multiple broadcastings, which is useful when there are transmission errors in different areas of each broadcasting.
In one embodiment, the metadata of a VoD unit are transmitted several times in the form of a sequence for updating the metadata, in order to limit the risk of error in the metadata of the VoD units.
In one embodiment, for example, the decoder 4 is set up to suppress all VoD units whose suppression date provided in the metadata is strictly below the current date.
A VoD unit can be accessible freely in the menu or accessible only to the decoder users who have subscribed to a particular subscription and/or accessible as a result of the purchase of the unit itself. These modalities defined by the operator are specified in the metadata (the “access control” part).
The identification of a subscription made by the user is registered in the smart card 7 of the decoder 4. Likewise, when a user buys a VoD unit, a corresponding authorization in the form, for example, of a session number identifying the VoD unit is registered in the smart card 7. Therefore, when the user selects from the displayed menu a VoD unit, which is not freely accessible, the decoder compares the modalities for access to the VoD unit, defined in the metadata, to the information stored in the smart card and plays/displays the selected content only if there is a correspondence. In one embodiment, the audio/video content of the VoD unit, which is transmitted over the broadcasting network, is stored in the decoder 4 in encrypted form, and it is decrypted by the decoder 4 with the help of at least one key stored in the smart card only if there is a match.
In one embodiment, the metadata related to the access control can not be updated through the reception by the decoder of the sequences for updating the metadata. Thus, once the encrypted audio/video content has been sent to the decoders, it is not possible anymore to modify the criteria for access to the content. In order to do that, the content must be re-encrypted according to the new access criteria and sent to all decoders as a new VoD unit.
The creation of the VoD units is described in a reference to
A video unit 21 “Movie 1 content” is created. It contains the audio/video content 23 of a movie named “movie 1” and metadata 22.
These metadata contain different necessary information, including a unique identifier and information, which define that the video unit is “hidden” from the menu of the decoders.
A VoD unit 15 “commercial 1” is created. It contains the audio/video content 17 of the video of a commercial and the metadata 16 containing different necessary information, including a unique identifier and information, which defines that the video unit 15 is “hidden” from the menus of the decoders.
A VoD unit 18 “commercial 2” is created. It contains the audio/video content 20 of the video of a commercial and the metadata 19 containing different necessary information, including a unique identifier and information, which defines that the video unit 18 is “hidden” from the menus of the decoders.
A VoD unit 10 “Movie 1” is created. It contains a playlist 14 and metadata 11 containing different necessary information, including a unique identifier and information, which define that the video unit 10 is “visible” in the menus of the decoders, as well as editorial information on the film 1.
The playlist 14 comprises three entries.
The first entry contains the identifier of the VoD unit 15 “commercial 1”, the specification of the element to be played, which is video 17, in this VoD unit, the “trick-mode forbidden” characteristic and the “ item optional” characteristic.
The second entry contains the identifier of the VoD unit 18 “commercial 2”, the specification of the element to be played here, which is video 20, the “trick-mode forbidden” characteristic and the “ item optional” characteristic.
The third entry contains the identifier of the VoD unit 21 “Movie 1 content”, the specification of the element to be played here, which is video 23, the “trick-mode authorized” characteristic and the “ item obligatory” characteristic.
Thus, in the menu of the contents, which can be visualized and selected, offered by the decoder 4 to the user, only the VoD 10 unit will be visible, but not the VoD units 15, 18, 21.
The VoD unit 10 will be made visualizable by the decoder even if the VoD units 15 and/or 18 are not available provided that the VoD unit 21 is available.
Available means, namely, that the VoD unit is stored by the decoder with a quality of the loading considered satisfactory.
If the user provides to the decoder a command for selection of this unit 10 from the menu presenting the unit and displaying, for example, certain of the editorial pieces of information, then the decoder will display video 17, then video 20, and then video 23.
The decoder will not authorize a jump or the fast play of the videos 17 and 20, but it will authorize this for video 23.
In the menu offered by a decoder depending on the received VoD units, a program of trailers appears in one embodiment.
Let use assume that in week 1 the promotion of two trailers BA1 and BA2 is made in this program, and that in week 2, the promotion of the trailer BA2 and another trailer BA3 is made.
Before week 1, the VoD unit “movie 1” containing the audio/video content of the movie “movie 1” corresponding to the trailer BA1, the VoD unit “BA1” containing the audio/video content of the trailer of the movie “movie 1”, the VoD unit “movie 2” containing the audio/video content of the movie “movie 2” corresponding to the trailer BA2 and the VoD unit “BA2” containing the audio/video content of the trailer of the movie “movie 2” have been broadcasted to the decoders 4.
A VoD unit “program of trailers 1” is also broadcasted.
It contains a playlist with a “loop” characteristic on the entries i defined in the following way in the list, with i=1 to 2:
At the beginning of week 1, a command is transmitted to the decoders via the network 3 ordering them to offer in their menus the trailers program corresponding to the VoD unit “program of trailers 1”.
During week 1, a VoD unit “program of trailers 2” is also broadcasted, as well as the VoD unit “movie 3” containing the audio/video content of the movie “movie 3” corresponding to the trailer BA3 and the VoD unit “BA3” containing the audio/video content of the trailer of the movie “movie 3”.
A VoD unit “program of trailers 2” is also broadcasted.
It contains a playlist with a “loop” characteristic on the entries i defined in the following way in the list, with i=2 to 3:
In another embodiment, by replacing the trailers with images, it is possible to create a promotion program for the films with the help of one VoD unit of the playlist type referring to the VoD units containing movie images.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1160759 | Nov 2011 | FR | national |
