The present application claims priority from Japanese patent application serial no. JP 2011-003542, filed on Jan. 12, 2011, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application.
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for transmitting a content.
(2) Description of the Related Art
In connection with the above-mentioned technical field, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-155828 describes a playback system with an object “to provide a playback system which allows appropriate reference to a content contained in a plurality of audio-visual equipment and the like connected to a network by users and easy viewing of such a content on a packet-by-packet basis”, and as a solution, the system includes “a communication unit which communicates with a device on a network, a playback unit which decodes and plays a content on a packet-by-packet basis, which obtains by controlling the communication unit management information (VR_MANGR.IFO) of the content stored in a device on a network, indicates the details of the content based on the management information, obtains the content on the device on a packet-by-packet basis via the communication unit depending on the playback direction in response to a playback direction from a user depending on this, a control unit which performs control to reproduce the packet of the obtained content in the playback unit”.
In the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-155828, however, when a content is copied or moved, copying or moving of management information associated with the content is not considered.
In order to solve the above problem, for example, the configuration described in the claims of the present invention is employed.
The above means allows the user, in viewing a copied or moved content, to playback the content from a position which is convenient for the user, improving ease of use for the user.
Embodiment 1 according to the present invention will be described.
This Embodiment relates to the operations of the transmitter and the receiver when a content recorded in the transmitter which manages chapter information indicating a scene break in the content is copied to a receiver on a network. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the form shown in this Embodiment.
A numeral 110 is a transmitter (server) which transmits video, audio and image contents to the receiver (receivers 130 and 140 described later) on a home network 100, and is a device which stores and manages chapter information indicating a scene break in a content according to this Embodiment. Examples of such a transmitter include recorders and television sets with recorders. For example, in the case of a recorder with no display device included, as shown in the figure, a display device 120 (television, etc.) is connected thereto to display a content played. An analog interface or a digital interface which outputs an analog or digital video data/audio data can be used to connect the transmitter 110 and display device 120. A detailed constitutional example of this transmitter 110 will be described later with reference to
Numerals 130 and 140 are receivers (clients) which receive video, audio and image contents from the transmitter 110 on the home network 100 and play or record them. Examples of such receivers include television sets and PCs. Although not shown in the figures, for example in the case of a STB (Set Top Box) with no display device included, a display device (a television set, etc.) is connected to display a played content as in the transmitter 110. A detailed constitutional example of these receivers 130, 140 will be described later with reference to
A detailed constitutional example of the transmitter 110 according to the present invention will be now described with reference to
The transmitter 110 is a device which receives digital broadcasting, records and plays a content, and transmits the content to the receiver on the home network 110. Such recording of a content may be applied to that by receiving and downloading of IP broadcasting through the network. Herein, the functions of the components of the transmitter 110 will be described below, taking as an example the case where digital broadcasting signals encoded by the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) method as an image compression technique and multiplexed by the MPEG2-TS method are handled.
The transmitter 110 includes a tuner decoding unit 201, separation extraction unit 202, decoder 203, display output unit 204, content information controlling unit 205, recording medium 206, content transmitter 207, chapter information generating unit 209, equipment information processing unit 210, chapter information processing unit 211, content information processing unit 212, control unit 220, network I/F unit 213 and storage unit 214. 120 is a display device described in
The tuner decoding unit 201 receives digital broadcasting signals transmitted through broadcasting transmission networks such as wireless (satellite, terrestrial) and cable networks. The frequency of a channel specified by the direction of the user with a remote controller and the like is subjected to tuning and detecting processes. Moreover, MPEG2-TS (transport stream) which has been subjected to digital decoding and error correction processes is output to the separation extraction unit 202.
The separation extraction unit 202 separates and extracts a transport packet of a channel (program) specified by the direction of the user with a remote controller and the like from the input MPEG2-TS. When the received digital broadcasting signals are viewed, visual and audio PES (Packetized Elementary Stream) or ES (Elementary Stream) is separated and extracted from the separated and extracted transport packet, and is output to the decoder 203. When the digital broadcasting signals are recorded, they are recorded in the recording medium 206 with information of a time stamp added to the separated and extracted transport packet. At this time, the information is recorded by performing an appropriate encrypting process via an encryption unit (not shown). Furthermore, content information such as title, genre and format information of the channel (program) recorded in the recording medium 206 is detected from the separated and extracted transport packet, and this information is output to the content information controlling unit 205. This information indicating the title, genre, broadcasting schedule, etc., for example, is contained in PSI (Program Specific Information) or SL (Service information) information of MPEG-TS (the outline of PSI, SI information will be described later with reference to
The decoder 203 decodes the input visual/audio PES or ES into a visual/audio signal, and outputs the signal to the display output unit 204.
The display output unit 204 outputs the decoded visual/audio signal to the display device 120 via a digital-and-analog, or digital-or-analog interface. At this time, operation screen images such as menus to be presented to the user and content list generated in a rendering unit (not shown) are synthesized with the decoded visual signals and output.
The content information controlling unit 205 produces management information (illustrated in
The content transmitter 207 outputs the transport packet of the content processed by the encrypting process for outputting the content to the home network to the network I/F unit 213. Moreover, the content transmitter 207 receives a content transmission control request transmitted from the receivers 130, 140 via the network I/F 208. The content transmission control request is a request to copy a content, a request to stop transmission or the like. The content transmitter 207 which has received the copy request reads the transport packet of the specified content, and outputs to the network I/F unit 213. The content transmission sequence when the copy request is received will be illustrated in
The chapter information generating unit 209 generates chapter information indicating a scene break in a content in the recording medium 206. The chapter information is generated by, for example, the user where he/she views a played content and directs to specify a scene break position with a remote controller or the like. The methods for automatically generating the chapter information include determining a scene break when a scene change is detected from visual signals, and a silent period of audio signals is detected, and detecting character information from subtitle information added to digital broadcasting and telops in programs, and determining a scene break when the detected character information matches predetermined characters specified in advance, or by other methods.
The equipment information processing unit 210 retains information disclosed to a different device on the network by the transmitter 110 on the storage unit 214, and transmits the information of the transmitter 110 itself in response to a request from a different device on the network such as the receivers 130, 140 and service information provided by the transmitter 110.
The chapter information processing unit 211 transmits chapter information via the network I/F unit 213.
The content information processing unit 212 transmits content information managed by the content information controlling unit via the network I/F unit 213.
The network I/F unit 213 outputs the transport packet input from the content transmitter 207 to the receivers 130, 140 via the home network 100 while converting the transport packet into a format in conformity with the transmission standard and controlling the flow of the same. The network I/F unit 213 is also used in transmitting information such as chapter information, equipment information, service description information described later to the receivers 130, 140 on the home network 100 and the like or receiving such information.
The control unit 220 generally controls the operations of the components in the transmitter 110.
A detailed constitutional example of the receivers 130, 140 will be now described with reference to
When digital broadcasting is received and played, the tuner decoding unit 301 receives digital broadcasting signals transmitted through a broadcasting transmission network such as wireless (satellite, terrestrial) and cable networks. The tuner decoding unit 301 performs tuning and detecting processes on the frequency of the channel specified by the direction of the user with a remote controller and the like. The tuner decoding unit 301 also outputs the output to the separation extraction unit 302 via a selector MPEG2-TS (transport stream) which has been subjected to digital decoding and error correction processes (not shown).
The separation extraction unit 302 separates and extracts the transport packet of the channel (program) specified by the direction of the user with a remote controller and the like from the input MPEG2-TS. Visual and audio PES (Packetized Elementary Stream) or ES (Elementary Stream) is further separated and extracted from the separated and extracted from the transport packet, which is output to the decoder 312.
In contrast, when the content received from the transmitter 110 on the home network 100 is played or copied, first, the transport packet of the content transmitted by the transmitter 110 as a result of the direction by the operation of the user using a remote controller or the like is successively received via the network I/F unit 308. The network I/F unit 308 receives the transport packet which is to be output to the content receiving unit 303 via the home network 100 from the transmitter 110 while converting the transport packet from the format in conformity with the transmission standard and controlling the flow. The network I/F unit 308 is also used in transmitting information such as content information, chapter information, equipment information and service description information described later to the transmitter 110 on the home network 100 and the like and/or receiving such information.
When the content received from the transmitter 110 is played, the transport packet received via the network I/F unit 313 is output to the content receiving unit 303, and the output is further output to the separation extraction unit 302 via the selector (not shown). At this time, the content encrypted when transmitted via the network I/F is decoded by a network transmission decoder (not shown). When the content is copied, it is recorded in the recording medium 306.
The content receiving unit 303 also transmits a start position of the transmitted content based on the chapter skip, faster playback, start and end of pause and other commands given by the user using a remote controller and the like to the transmitter 110 via the network I/F unit 311, a request to start transmission, and a request to stop transmission by adding length as a parameter.
The separation extraction unit 302 separates and extracts visual and audio PES (Packetized Elementary Stream) or ES (Elementary Stream) from the transport packet input from the content receiving unit 307 to output to the decoder 303.
The decoder 303 extracts and decodes the visual/audio PES or ES, and the decoded visual/audio PES or ES is output to the display unit 304.
The display unit 304 indicates decoded visual/audio. At this time, operation screen images such as menus, content lists and chapters presented to the user generated in a rendering unit (not shown) are synthesized with the decoded image and indicated.
The content information controlling unit 305 is a means for managing the association of the content recorded in the recording medium 306 with content information and chapter information. The content information controlling unit stores content information and chapter information in the recording medium 306 or storage unit 314, and suitably reads and uses the same. When a content is obtained and copied from the transmitter 110 via the network, the content information controlling unit generates content information in the recording medium which is information for managing the content in the recording medium from the content information obtained from the transmitter 110, and manages the association of the chapter information with the content obtained from the transmitter 110.
The equipment information processing unit 310 is a means for retaining equipment information disclosed to a different device on the network on the storage unit 314 according to the control of the control unit 320, and obtaining and processing such information. The chapter information processing unit 311 receives and processes the chapter information of the content retained by the transmitter 110.
The content information processing unit 312 is a means for receiving and processing the content information of the content retained by the transmitter 110.
The control unit 320 generally controls the operations the components in the transmitter 130.
An example of the equipment information which is transmitted (responded) by the transmitter 110 in response to a request from the receivers 130, 140 will be described with reference to
The equipment information 400 includes device information 410 descriptive of the information of the device itself, a service information list 420 descriptive of the information of services provided by the device, and an extension information list 430. The service information list 420 contains service information (421, 422) descriptive of at least one service. The extension information list 430 is added when the service described by the service information list 420 has an extensive function. It should be noted that the configuration of this equipment information 400 is not unique to the transmitter (server). It is indicated that it is a transmitter (server) by the value of device type of the device information 410.
The device information 410 describes the information of the device itself. As shown in
The service information 421 (422) includes service type 423, service ID for identifying the service, service description URL 424, control URL, event URL and others for each service. The service type 423 describes the service type indicating a service such as “ContentDirectory”, i.e., a content list providing service, and “ConnectionManager”, i.e., a connection manager which provides the format of the protocol of streaming, among others. The service description URL 424 describes a URL indicating the access destination to obtain the service description information, which is detailed information for utilizing the service described in the service type 423. The control URL is a URL which indicates the access destination when the service described in the service description URL 424 is controlled, and the event URL describes a URL which indicates the access destination when an event is notified. In this Embodiment, the transmitter 110 provides a content list of contents distributed with the device type 411 being “MediaServer”. Therefore, the service type 423 of the service information 421 is described as “ContentDirectory”.
The extension information list 430 is added when the service described in the service information list 420 has at least one function extension. When only one service has a function extension, the extension information list 430 includes one piece of extension information. When a plurality of services has function extensions, as many function extensions as the services are added, as extension information 431, 432. The extension information 431 (432) includes service type 433, extended function name 434 and extended service description URL 435. 433 indicates the service type of a service whose function is extended. This service type 433 corresponds to the service type 423 in the service information list 420, and associates this extension information with the extension information of a service. In this Embodiment, the function of transmitting chapter information is an extension of “ContentDirectory”. Therefore, the service type 433 is described as “ContentDirectory”. The extended function name 434 describes the name indicating a function which extends the service described in the service type 433. In this Example, it is described as “Chapterlnfo” as an Embodiment of the function name indicating that a function of transmitting chapter information is provided. The extended function service description URL 435 describes the URL indicating the access destination to obtain service description information which is detailed information for utilizing an extended function of a service.
Such a configuration allows even a receiver which does not enable function extension to use services provided by the transmitter 110 by obtaining the equipment information 400 obtained from the transmitter 110, interpreting the device information 410 and service information list 420, and obtaining detailed information for utilizing a service from the place where the information is stored indicated by the service description URL 424. A receiver which enables function extension can further obtain the extension information 430, interpret the extension information 431 (432), and obtain detailed information for using extended functions of services from the place where the information is stored indicated by the extended function service description URL 435. In the case of this Embodiment, a function of transmitting chapter information “ChapterInfo” which is an extended function of the “ContentDirectory” service can be used.
The information indicating that the service has function extension is optionally described in the device information 410 and service information list 420. In that case, the information indicating the service has the function of transmitting chapter information is optionally described to indicate that it is extension information in the device information 410 and service information list 420 respectively, or at the end.
Subsequently, the service description URL 424, and the service description information obtained from the extended function service description URL 435 will be described with reference to
In
The action indicated by an action name “X_GetChapterFlag” 514 indicates whether or not the transmitter 110 can provide the chapter information of the specified content in response to a get request from the receivers 130, 140. More specifically, the content for which whether or the receivers 130, 140 can provide the chapter information 612 (described later) by the parameter name “object ID” of the parameter 515 is confirmed is specified. The transmitter 110 which has received this get request sets the information which indicates whether the chapter information can be provided in the parameter name “ChapterFlag” of the parameter 516 and returns the information. That is, the action name “X_GetChapterFlag” 514 defines the action of responding the availability of the chapter information for the specified content.
The service value table 520 is a table for describing the types of the input and output parameters of the action, and describes the data types (character string, unsigned 4-byte integer type, etc.) of the type names described in the parameter list of the action list 510 for each type. 520 in
As indicated above, configuring the receivers 130, 140 to refer to the equipment information 400 allows the transmitter 110 to provide the “ContentDirectory” service, and recognize that the function of transmitting chapter information “ChapterInfo” is provided as an extended function of the “ContentDirectory” service. Furthermore, it is possible to obtain a means for obtaining and setting the chapter information by referring to the service description information 500. It should be noted that the names mentioned herein are used as examples, and are not limited to those named herein.
The outline of PSI, SI information will be now described with reference to
In
The content management information, content information in the recording medium, chapter management information, and distributed content information managed by the content information controlling unit 205 of the transmitter 110 will be now described with reference to
In
The content IDs 611, 621, 631 are IDs which uniquely determine the contents in the recording medium, and are assigned to the content information controlling unit 205 when the content is recorded. This content ID mutually links the content information in the recording medium 610, network distributed content information 620, and chapter management information 630 of each content.
The content information in the recording medium 610 includes a content ID 611, chapter flag 612, file name, title, genre, detailed description, recording date and time, format information, content length and other information. The chapter flag 612 is information indicating if the chapter information of this content is present (for example, the value “1” is set when chapter information is present, while the value “0” is set when there is none). The chapter flag 612 is updated by the content information controlling unit 205 when the chapter information is generated or deleted. The information attached to the content such as the title, genre and detailed description is information obtained from the PSI, SI information described in
The network distributed content information 620 includes a content ID 621, object ID 622, URL 623 and the like. The object ID 622 is identification information (ID) of content open to the network. The object ID 622 is a value specified in the parameter “ObjectID” 512 and the like for specifying the content of the action “X_GetChapterList” 511 for providing the chapter information described in
The chapter management information 630 includes the content ID 631 and the chapter information 632 indicating a scene break in the content. The chapter information 632 is generated in the chapter information generating unit 209 (
The configuration of the chapter information 632 will be now described with reference to
The operations of the transmitter and receiver when the content recorded in the transmitter 110 which manages the chapter information of the content is copied to the receivers 130 and 140 will be described with reference to the process sequence drawings in
S710: The control unit 320 of the receiver 130 searches for a server device on the network by using an equipment information processing unit 310. That is, the equipment information processing unit 310 transmits a “server search request” message as a multicast transmission to the network 100 via the network I/F unit 313 according to the control of the control unit 320, and searches for a device having a server function which provides the content. More specifically, the device type, service type or the like is specified in a “to be searched” field of the message. In the case of this Embodiment, the device type “MediaServer” is specified in the “to be searched” field.
S711: When the transmitter 110 receives a “server search request” transmitted as a multicast transmission to the network 100, it analyzes and processes the message in the equipment information processing unit 210. The transmitter 100 refers to the equipment information 400 (
The “response to server search request” message transmitted by the transmitter 110 is analyzed and processed in the equipment information processing unit 310 of the receiver 130, and the control unit 320 obtains the equipment information URL and the like obtained from the “LOCATION” field as target information of the transmitter 110.
S712: The control unit 320 of the receiver 130 which has obtained the equipment information URL of the transmitter 110 controls the equipment information processing unit 310, and has it transmit an “equipment information request” message to the equipment information URL using a request to get HTTP and the like.
S713: The control unit 220 of the transmitter 110 which has received the equipment information URL for the “equipment information request” message controls the equipment information processing unit 210, and has it transmit a “response to request for equipment information” message by using a response message to get HTTP. The equipment information processing unit 210 inserts the equipment information 400 retained by itself into the message body of the response to request for HTTP message in XML and like format, and generates a “response to a request for equipment information” message.
The control unit 320 of the receiver 130 which has received the response “response to equipment information” message from the transmitter 110 can obtain the information of the transmitter 110 device itself and service information from the equipment information 400 obtained, analyzed and processed in the equipment information processing unit 310 (previously described in
The control unit 320 also obtains the control URL 425 which is the access destination when the transmitter 110 is controlled by the action provided by the service. The control URL 425 is the command destination of action commands both when a normal action of the “ContentDirectory” service is used and when the action of the extended function “ChapterInfo” is used.
S714: The control unit 320 of the receiver 130 which has obtained the service description URL of the transmitter 110 controls the equipment information processing unit 310, and has it transmit a “service description information request” message to the service description URL by using a HTTP get request and the like.
S715: The control unit 220 of the transmitter 110 which has received the “service description information request” message for the service description URL controls the equipment information processing unit 210, and has it transmit a “service description information response” message by using the HTTP response message and the like. The equipment information processing unit 210 inserts the service description information 500 retained by itself into the message body of the HTTP response message in a format such as XML, and generates a “response to a request for equipment information” message.
The control unit 320 of the receiver 130 which has received a response “service description response” message from the transmitter 110 can obtain the information (action name, parameter, data type, etc.) of the action to use the service provided by the transmitter 110 from equipment information 400 obtained, analyzed and processed in the equipment information processing unit 310 (previously described in
S716: Subsequently, the receiver 130 transmits a request to get the “extended service description information request” message by using HTTP get request and the like to the extended service description URL 432 as in S714.
S717: The transmitter 110 which has received the “extended service description information request” message for the extended service description URL, as in S715, transmits a “service description information response” message by using the HTTP response message and the like.
As mentioned above, the receiver 130 can search the server (transmitting 110) on the network, and can obtain the service provided by the server and the detailed information of the service. Furthermore, by analyzing and processing the extension information list, the service description information of the extended function can be also obtained by the same procedure as that in the case where the service description information of the normal service is obtained. The receiver 130 in this Embodiment can recognize that the “ContentDirectory” service has an extended function of “Chapterlnfo”, and obtains the extended service description information to use the extended function.
Moreover, by providing the equipment information in the format as shown in
Subsequently, a processing procedure performed when a content which has the chapter information is copied from the transmitter 110 using the information obtained by the service description obtained by the receiver 130 in the sequence in
The receiver 130 issues an action command to the control URL 425 obtained in the sequence (S713) in
S810: In order to determine a content to be copied, the receiver 130 first obtains content list information recorded in the transmitter 110. The content list information can be obtained using a Browse action of the “ContentDirectory” service. The control unit 320 of the receiver 130 controls the content information processing unit 312, and issues a “Browse request” message by using a HTTP POST request and the like to the control URL.
S811: The control unit 220 of the transmitter 110 which has received the “Browse request” message issued for the control URL controls the content information processing unit 212 to have it transmit a “Browse response” message by using the HTTP response message. The content information processing unit 212 refers to the content information in the recording medium 610 and network distributed content information 620 previously described in
The control unit 320 of the receiver 130 which has received a response “Browse response” message from the transmitter 110 can obtain the content information of each content from the content information for Browse response 1100 obtained, analyzed and processed in the content information processing unit 312 (title, genre, URL, etc.). The control unit 320 prompts the user to select a content to copy by displaying information such as the title, recording date and time of the content on the display unit 304 and presenting the same to the user, or by other means. When a content to copy is selected, the control unit 320 gives the content information of the selected content to the content information controlling unit 305, generates the content information as shown in
S812: The receiver 130 transmits a “content copy request” to the URL obtained from the content information for browse response using the HTTP get request and the like.
S813: The control unit 220 of the transmitter 110 transmits the content specified by the URL via the content transmitter 207 to the receivers 130, 140. The receiver 130 receives the content in the content receiving unit 307, and records the content in the recording medium 306 by the file name assigned by the content information controlling unit 305 in S811. When the receiving of the content is complete, the content information controlling unit 305 updates and records the content information in the recording medium 610 with an actually received content length.
S814: When the receiving of the content is complete, the receiver 130 checks if this content has chapter information. The content list information can be obtained by an X_GetChapterFlag action of the extended function “ChapterInfo” of the “ContentDirectory” service. The control unit 320 of the receiver 130 controls the chapter information processing unit 311, and has it issue an “X_GetChapterFlag request” message to the control URL by using the HTTP POST request and the like. The object ID 622 retained in the received content information 650 in S811 is used as an input parameter object ID.
S815: The control unit 220 of the transmitter 110 which has received the “X_GetChapterFlag request” message issued for the control URL controls the chapter information processing unit 211, and has it transmit an “X_GetChapterFlag response” message by using the HTTP response message and the like. The chapter information processing unit 211 refers to the network distributed content information 620 with the input parameter object ID, and obtains the content ID corresponding to the object ID. The chapter information processing unit 211 then specifies the content information in the recording medium 610 of the content by the content ID, and returns the value of the chapter flag 612. The initial value of the chapter flag 612 set is “NotChapter”, indicating that it does not have chapter information, and “IsChapter” is set by the content information controlling unit 305 when the chapter information is generated. The “X_GetChapterFlag response” is transmitted to the receiver 130 by using the HTTP response message and the like.
The chapter information processing unit 311 of the receiver 130 which has received the “X_GetChapterFlag response” updates the value of the chapter flag 612 of the content information in the recording medium 610 with the value of the response. Herein, when the value of the ChapterFlag of the “X_GetChapterFlag response” is “NotChapter”, the content copy process sequence is terminated here.
S816: When the value of ChapterFlag is “IsChapter”, the chapter information processing unit 311 of the receiver 130 transmits a chapter information request to the transmitter 110. The chapter information can be obtained by using an X_GetChapterList action of the extended function “ChapterInfo” of the “ContentDirectory” service. The control unit 320 of the receiver 130 controls the chapter information processing unit 311, and has it issue an “X_GetChapterList request” message to the control URL by using a HTTP POST request and the like. The object ID 622 retained in the received content information 650 in S811 is used as the input parameter object ID.
S817: The control unit 220 of the transmitter 110 which has received the “X_GetChapterList request” message issued for the control URL controls the chapter information processing unit 211, and has it transmit the “X_GetChapterList response” message by using the HTTP response message and the like. The chapter information processing unit 211 refers to the distributed content information 620 by the input parameter object ID, and obtains the content ID corresponding to the object ID. The chapter information processing unit 211 then specifies the content information in the recording medium 610 of the content by the content ID, and refers to the value of the chapter flag 612. When the value of the chapter flag 612 is “NotChapter”, the chapter information of the specified content does not exist, and therefore an error code is returned as a response. When the value of the chapter flag 612 is “IsChapter”, the chapter information processing unit 211 specifies the chapter management information 630 of the content by the content ID, inserts the chapter information 632 in a format such as XML into the message body of the HTTP response message, and sends the information to the receivers 130, 140.
The chapter information processing unit 311 of the receiver 130 which has received the “X_GetChapterList response” does not update the chapter flag 612 when it receives an error code as a response. When the chapter information processing unit 311 receives the chapter information as a response, it updates the chapter flag 612 to “IsChapter”. The obtained chapter information is further stored in the chapter information 632 of the chapter management information 630. The content copy process sequence is completed by the above process. Thus, the control unit 320 of the receiver 130 has the received content information 650 of the content copied to the content information controlling unit 305 deleted.
As mentioned above, with the function to provide the content information which is an extension of the “ContentDirectory” service, the transmitter 110 can also provide the content and the chapter information of the content. When the receiver 130 copies a content in the server (the transmitter 110) on the network, it can also obtain the chapter information of the content. This enables chapter skip and skip playback according to the chapter information when the copied content is played, and improves the ease of use by the user.
Embodiment 2 according to the present invention will be described.
This Embodiment relates to the operations of the transmitter and the receiver when a content recorded in a transmitter for managing chapter information indicating a scene break in a content is moved to a receiver on the network. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the form shown in this Embodiment.
In this Embodiment, the configurations of the transmitter 110 and the receiver 130 are the same as those in
The difference between this Embodiment 2 and Embodiment 1 is the updating process of the content management information (
S1310: The updating process of the content management information is started after the moved content is transmitted (completed) (S1311).
S1311: The control unit 220 sets timeout time until the updating process of the content management information. This timeout is set for each content. Moreover, the control unit 220 is set to, for example, a value “1”, which indicates that the content has been moved, as a MOVE flag 613 of the moved content.
S1312: The control unit 220 judges whether the timeout time has passed. If the timeout time has passed, the process proceeds to S1313. When the timeout time has not yet passed, the process proceeds to S1314.
S1313: The content information controlling unit 205 deletes the content management information by the direction of the control unit 220 of the move content. The move content is specified by the content ID. The content information controlling unit 205 deletes the content information in the recording medium 610, network distributed content information 620, and chapter management information 630, and terminates the updating process of the content management information.
S1314: The control unit 220 confirms whether or not the chapter information request “X_GetChapterList request” is received. When it has been received, the process proceeds to S1315. When it has not been received, the process proceeds to S1312.
S1315: The control unit 220 controls the chapter information processing unit 211, and has the chapter information of the content specified by the parameter object ID transmitted to the receivers 130, 140 as the “X_GetChapterList response” message by using the HTTP response message and the like.
S1316: The control unit 220 confirms whether or not the chapter information transmitted in S1315 is the chapter information of the move content. Whether it is the chapter information of the move content can be determined by whether the parameter object ID is the object ID of the move content. When it is the chapter information of the move content, the process proceeds to S1313. If not, the process proceeds to S1312.
As described above, the present invention according to the transmitter 110 sets the timeout time until the content information is deleted when the content is moved. Accordingly, when the content information request is received after the content is moved and a period of time has passed, the chapter information can be provided within the timeout time. Therefore, the content information can be provided to even a receiver which moves a plurality of contents and then receives the content information, leading to an increased degree of freedom of the process sequence on the receiver side. Although not described herein, such a configuration that allows setting of the time until the moved content information is deleted on the receiver side is also possible.
Moreover, since the content information is deleted after the timeout time has passed, such an incident that the content information of the moved content only is left can be prevented.
Embodiment 3 according to the present invention will be described.
This Embodiment relates to the operations of the transmitter and receiver in the case where a portion of a content recorded in a transmitter for managing chapter information indicating a scene break in the content is copied to the receiver on the network. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the form shown in this Embodiment.
In this Embodiment, the configurations of the transmitter 110 and the receiver 130 are the same as those in
Moreover, in this Embodiment, as shown in
The “X_GetChapterList” request in which the content range is specified, and the process of the transmitter 110 which has received the “X_GetChapterFlag” request will be descried below.
First, a process of receiving the “X_GetChapterList” request will be described with reference to
In
S1701: The control unit 220 starts a process when the chapter information processing unit 211 receives the action “X_GetChapterList” request. The chapter information processing unit 211 notifies the control unit 220 of the receipt of the action “X_GetChapterList” request, as well as of the parameters.
S1702: The control unit 220 refers to the network distributed content information 620 to check the presence or absence of the chapter information of the content specified by the parameter “object ID”, and obtains “content ID”. In addition, the chapter flag 612 of the content information in the recording medium 610 is obtained by “content ID”.
S1703: The control unit 220 judges the presence or absence of chapter information of the specified content by the value of the chapter flag 612. If the value of the chapter flag 612 is “IsChapter”, it is judged that the chapter information of the content is present, and the process proceeds to S1704. Otherwise, it is judged that the chapter information is absent, and the process proceeds to S1708 and an error response is returned.
S1704: When the chapter information of the specified content is present, the control unit 220 refers to the chapter management information 630, and obtains the chapter information position of the range specified by the parameter “ContentRange” of the action “X_GetChapterList” request. Herein it is assumed that the parameter “ContentRange” is set with start position=60000, end position=270000, as shown in
S1705: It is judged from the results of the process in S1704 whether or not the chapter information is contained in the specified content range. That is, it is judged that the chapter information is contained is larger than 0 if the number of the extracted pieces of chapter position information, and the process proceeds to S1706. If not, it is judged that the chapter information is not contained, and the process proceeds to S1708 and an error response is returned.
S1706: The control unit 220 generates “response chapter information” for response using the extracted chapter position information. The chapter information in
Numerals 1800 in
S1707: The chapter information processing unit 211 generates the “X_GetChapterList” response using “response chapter information” according to the direction of the control unit 220, and transmits the same.
S1708: The chapter information processing unit 211 generates an error response with an error code indicating that the content has no chapter information added according to the direction of the control unit 220, and transmits the same.
A process of receiving the “X_GetChapterFlag” request will be now described with reference to
S1901: The control unit 220 starts processing when the chapter information processing unit 211 receives the action “X_GetChapterFlag” request. The chapter information processing unit 211 notifies the control unit 220 of the receipt of the action “X_GetChapterFlag” request, as well as of the parameters.
S1902: The control unit 220 refers to the network distributed content information 620 to confirms the presence or absence of chapter information of the content specified by the parameter “object ID”, and obtains the content ID”. In addition, the control unit 220 obtains the chapter flag 612 of the content information in the recording medium 610 by the “content ID”.
S1903: The control unit 220 judges the presence or absence of chapter information of the specified content by the value of the chapter flag 612. It is judged that the chapter information of the content is present if the value of the chapter flag 612 is “IsChapter”, and the process proceeds to S1904. Otherwise, it is judged that the chapter information is absent, and the process proceeds to S1907.
S1904: When the chapter information of the specified content is present, the control unit 220 refers to the chapter management information 630, and obtains the chapter information position of the range specified by the parameter “ContentRange” of the action “X_GetChapterFlag” request. Herein, as shown in
S1905: It is judged from the results of the process in S1904 whether or not the chapter information is contained in the specified content range. That is, it is judged that the chapter information is contained when the number of the extracted pieces of chapter position information is larger than 0, and the process proceeds to S1906. Otherwise, it is judged that the chapter information is not contained, and the process proceeds to S1907.
S1906: As the chapter information is contained in the specified content range, the control unit 220 sets the value of the output parameter 516 “ChapterFlag” to “IsChapter”.
S1907: As the chapter information is not contained in the specified content range, the control unit 220 sets the value of the output parameter 516 “ChapterFlag” to “NotChapter”.
S1908: The chapter information processing unit 211 generates the “X_GetChapterFlag” response using the output parameter “ChapterFlag” whose value has been set in S1906 or S1907 according to the direction of the control unit 220, and transmits the same.
As mentioned above, the parameter “ContentRange” is added to the action “X_GetChapterList” and action “ChapterFlag” in the transmitter 110 of this Embodiment. Accordingly, even when a portion of the content of a specified range is copied, the chapter information of the portion of the range can be provided. The receiver 130 is enabled to perform chapter skip and skip playback according to the chapter information when only a portion of the copied content is played, and the ease of use by the user can be thus improved.
Embodiment 4 according to the present invention will be described.
This Embodiment relates to the operations of the transmitter and the receiver when a portion of a content recorded in a transmitter for managing chapter information indicating a scene break in the content is moved to a receiver on the network. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the form shown in this Embodiment.
In this Embodiment, the configurations of the transmitter 110 and the receiver 130 are the same as those in
In this Embodiment, the transmitter 110 manages content management information for both the moved portion and unmoved portion of the content after the move content, which is a portion of the content, is transmitted (completed).
Herein, the case where the content ranging from the start position=60000 and the end position=270000 is moved will be described as an example.
The control unit 220 of the transmitter 110 generates the content management information of the content divided into three portions, contents 1800, 2000 and 2001, after the move content, which is a portion of the content, is moved (completed), and retains the information via the content information controlling unit 205.
The content information management process after the move content, which is a portion of the content, has been transmitted (completed) will be described with reference to
Herein, when the content transmission of a portion (start position=60000, end position=270000) of the content is completed by the move request, the transmitter 110 reconstructs the content management information in the content information controlling unit 205 as shown in
The control unit 220 of the transmitter 110 uses the content ID and Object ID assigned to the content 1500 as those for the content 1800 of the moved portion as they are, considering obtaining the chapter information from the receiver which has requested the content. The content 2000 and content 2001 are generated and managed using the content management information (
The chapter flag is determined from the chapter position information and the range of the content of the chapter management information 2130 in
The chapter information is also determined from the chapter position information and the range of the content at the chapter management information 2130 in
As mentioned above, when the transmitter 110 of this Embodiment receives the request to move a portion of the content, it generates the content management information, content information in the recording medium, distributed content information and chapter management information for each of the moved portion and the unmoved portion. Therefore, the chapter information of the portion of the content moved can be provided to the receiver which has obtained the portion. In addition, the chapter information of the rest of the content can be also retained.
This Embodiment relates to the operations of the transmitter and the receiver when a content recorded in a transmitter for managing chapter information indicating a scene break in the content is copied to a receiver on a network. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the form shown in this Embodiment.
In this Embodiment, the configurations of the transmitter 110 and the receiver 130 are the same as those in
The difference between this Embodiment and Embodiment 1 is that a URL for providing the content and chapter information for a content of which the chapter information is available is included in the content list response, in addition to the URL 623 providing the content (hereinafter referred to as chapter content URL).
A numeral 2321 is a URL which provides the content, while a numeral 2322 is a chapter content URL for providing the content and chapter information. Whether the URL provided by the <res> tag is the URL which provides the content or the chapter content URL is identified by the property information of the <res> tag. In this Embodiment, it is identified by the field information of a procolInfo property given to the <res> tag.
The control unit 220 of the transmitter 110 generates the chapter content URL for providing the chapter information and the content when the chapter information of the content is generated by the chapter information generating unit 209, and stores the URL in the distributed content information via the content information controlling unit 205.
S2510: First, the receiver 130 obtains content list information recorded in the transmitter 110 to determine a content to copy. The content list information can be obtained using a Browse action of the “ContentDirectory” service. The control unit 320 of the receiver 130 controls the content information processing unit 312, and has a “browse request” message issued to the control URL “by using a HTTP POST request and the like.
S2511: The control unit 220 of the transmitter 110 which has received the “Browse request” message issued for the control URL controls the content information processing unit 212, and has a “Browse response” message transmitted by using a HTTP response message. The content information processing unit 212 refers to the content information in the recording medium 610 and distributed content information 620 previously described in
The control unit 320 of the receiver 130 which has received a response “browse response” message from the transmitter 110 can obtain the content information of each content from the content information for Browse response 1100 obtained, analyzed and processed in the content information processing unit 312 (title, genre, URL, chapter content URL, etc.). The control unit 320 prompts the user to select a content to copy by displaying information such as the title, recording date and time of the content on the display unit 304 and presenting the same to the user, or by other means. At this time, it is presented that the chapter information is available by icons, characters and the like to have the user decide whether or not to copy the chapter information together with the content. When a content to copy is selected, the control unit 320 gives the content information of the selected content to the content information controlling unit 305, has it generate the content information as shown in
S2512: The receiver 130 transmits a “content copy request” to the URL obtained from the content information for Browse response by using the HTTP get request and the like. In this example, the case where a request is transmitted to the chapter content URL which provides the content and the chapter information added to the content will be described.
S2513: The control unit 220 of the transmitter 110 transmits the content specified by the URL via the content transmitter 207. When the chapter content URL is specified, the content is transmitted first, and then the chapter information is transmitted (described later in S2515). Whether to transmit the content or the chapter information is distinguished by a header.
The receiver 130 receives the content in the content receiving unit 307, judges that it is the receipt of the content from the PayLoadType 2621 of the content header 2620, and records the content in the recording medium 306 by the file name assigned by the content information controlling unit 305 in S811. When the receiving of the content is complete, the content information controlling unit 305 updates and records the content information in the recording medium 610 with an actually received content length, and records the information in the recording medium 306.
S2515: When the transmitter 110 finishes transmitting the content, it transmits the chapter information successively. At this time, the transmitter 110 transmits the PayLoadType 2621 of the content header 2620 with the value “1” indicating the transmission of the chapter information. The receiver 130 receives the content in the content receiving unit 307, judges that it is the receipt of the chapter information from the PayLoadType 2621 of the content header 2620, and stores the obtained content information in the chapter information 632 of the chapter management information 630 of the content received in S2513.
As mentioned above, the receiver can obtain the content and the chapter information together by providing a URL (chapter content URL) for providing the content and the chapter information associated with the content which can provide the chapter information in addition to URL for providing the content as the content list response. Therefore, processing on the receiver side is simplified and more easily implemented.
In this Embodiment, the content list response includes the content and the chapter information associated with the content which can provide the chapter information for providing the URL in addition to the URL for providing the content 623, but the equipment information disclosed to devices on the network may be obtained by the transmitter by the receiver so that the content and the URL for providing the chapter information is contained in the content list response and provided when the chapter information is available for the receiver. Accordingly, the transmitter realizes compatibility with conventional devices since it sends the content list response in a conventional format which does not contain the URL for providing the content and the chapter information to a receiver for which the chapter information is not available. Moreover, since the content list response in a conventional format is sent to a receiver for which the chapter information is not available, a load of processing the content list response is reduced.
In this Embodiment, as already described in connection with the case of the content copy request, the processing sequence of moving the content is also the same. In the case of moving the content, the transmitter 110 after the transmission process in S2515 is completed, the information of the transmitted content, i.e., the content information in the recording medium 610, network distributed content information 620 and chapter management information 630, are deleted. The content is moved when a request to move the content is received by the chapter content URL. Therefore, no such incident that no chapter information get request is sent from the receiver and only the chapter information is left occurs, and thus the processing on the transmitter side is also simplified and facilitated.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2011-003542 | Jan 2011 | JP | national |