Content supply device, content supply method, program, terminal device, and content supply system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016150273-A1
Application number	US-201414899237-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 16, 2014
Priority date	Jun 26, 2013
Publication date	May 26, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a content supply device, a content supply method, a program, a terminal device, and a content supply system, which are capable of implementing rapid zapping between channels in DASH. The content supply device of the present disclosure generates a zapping segment stream by delimiting zapping streaming data among a plurality of pieces of streaming data into minimum units when reception of the streaming data is switched, according to a common timing with another channel, unicast-delivers the zapping segment stream, multicast-delivers the zapping segment stream, and generates a metafile for a reception side to receive the zapping segment stream that is unicast-delivered and multicast-delivered. The present disclosure can be applied to a system that delivers content in a streaming manner.

First claim

1 . A content supply device that supplies a plurality of pieces of streaming data that include content of a same subject and differ in attribute through a same channel, according to an adaptive streaming technique, the content supply device comprising:
a zapping segment stream generating unit configured to generate a zapping segment stream by dividing zapping streaming data among the plurality of pieces of streaming data into second durations shorter than first durations into which viewing streaming data is temporally divided to be encoded and encoding the zapping streaming data; a unicast delivery unit configured to unicast-deliver the zapping segment stream; a multicast delivery unit configured to multicast-deliver the zapping segment stream; and a metafile generating unit configured to generate metadata serving as a metafile for a reception side to receive the zapping segment stream that is unicast-delivered and multicast-delivered, the metadata describing the second duration into which the zapping streaming data is temporally divided.

2 . The content supply device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the zapping segment stream generating unit generates the zapping segment stream by dividing the zapping streaming data into the second durations with the other channel belonging to a same group and encoding the zapping streaming data.

3 . The content supply device according to claim 2 ,
wherein the unicast delivery unit HTTP-unicast-delivers the zapping segment stream, and wherein the multicast delivery unit FLUTE-multicast-delivers a zapping FLUTE stream based on the zapping segment stream.

4 . The content supply device according to claim 2 , further comprising:
an RTP stream generating unit configured to generate a zapping RTP stream based on the zapping streaming data among the plurality of pieces of streaming data, wherein the metafile generating unit generates a metafile for the reception side to receive the zapping segment stream that is HTTP-unicast-delivered, the zapping FLUTE stream that is FLUTE-multicast-delivered, and the zapping RTP stream that is RTP-multicast-delivered, and wherein the multicast delivery unit also RTP-multicast-delivers the zapping RTP stream.

5 . (canceled)

6 . (canceled)

7 . The content supply device according to claim 2 ,
wherein the metafile generating unit generates an extended MPD as the metafile.

8 . The content supply device according to claim 2 , further comprising:
a collecting unit configured to collect the metadata for zapping and supply the metadata to the reception side.

9 . The content supply device according to claim 8 ,
wherein the collecting unit collects the metadata for the zapping based on the second duration into which the zapping streaming data is temporally divided, the second duration being described in the metafile.

10 . The content supply device according to claim 8 ,
wherein the metafile generating unit describes attribute information indicating that the zapping segment stream is for zapping in the metafile, and wherein the collecting unit collects the metadata for the zapping based on the attribute information that is described in the metafile and indicates that the zapping segment stream is for zapping.

11 . The content supply device according to claim 8 ,
wherein the metafile generating unit describes attribute information indicating a group to which the channel belongs in the metafile, and wherein the collecting unit collects the metadata for the zapping based on the attribute information that is described in the metafile and indicates the group to which the channel belongs.

12 . A content supply method of a content supply device that supplies a plurality of pieces of streaming data that include content of a same subject and differ in attribute through a same channel, according to an adaptive streaming technique, the content supply method comprising:
a zapping segment stream generating step of generating, by the content supply device, a zapping segment stream by dividing zapping streaming data among the plurality of pieces of streaming data into second durations shorter than first durations into which viewing streaming data is temporally divided to be encoded and encoding the zapping streaming data; a unicast delivery step of unicast-delivering, by the content supply device, the zapping segment stream; a multicast delivery step of multicast-delivering, by the content supply device, the zapping segment stream; and a metafile generating step of generating, by the content supply device, metadata serving as a metafile for a reception side to receive the zapping segment stream that is unicast-delivered and multicast-delivered, the metadata describing the second duration into which the zapping streaming data is temporally divided.

13 . A program causing a computer that supplies a plurality of pieces of streaming data that include content of a same subject and differ in attribute through a same channel, according to an adaptive streaming technique to function as:
a zapping segment stream generating unit configured to generate a zapping segment stream by dividing zapping streaming data among the plurality of pieces of streaming data into second durations shorter than first durations into which viewing streaming data is temporally divided to be encoded and encoding the zapping streaming data; a unicast delivery unit configured to unicast-deliver the zapping segment stream; a multicast delivery unit configured to multicast-deliver the zapping segment stream; and a metafile generating unit configured to generate metadata serving; as a metafile for a reception side to receive the zapping segment stream that is unicast-delivered and multicast-delivered, the metadata describing the second duration into which the zapping streaming data is temporally divided.

14 . A terminal device that receives streaming data supplied from a content supply device that supplies a plurality of pieces of streaming data that include content of a same subject and differ in attribute through a same channel, according to an adaptive streaming technique,
wherein the content supply device includes a zapping segment stream generating unit configured to generate a zapping segment stream by dividing zapping streaming data among the plurality of pieces of streaming data into second durations shorter than first durations into which viewing streaming data is temporally divided to be encoded and encoding the zapping streaming data, a unicast delivery unit configured to unicast-deliver the zapping segment stream, a multicast delivery unit configured to multicast-deliver the zapping segment stream, and a metafile generating unit configured to generate metadata serving as a metafile for a reception side to receive the zapping segment stream that is unicast-delivered and multicast-delivered, the metadata describing the second duration into which the zapping streaming data is temporally divided, and wherein the terminal device acquires the metafile, and switches reception of the zapping segment stream that is unicast-delivered and multicast-delivered through different channels, based on the acquired metafile.

15 . A content supply system composing:
a content supply device configured to supply a plurality of pieces of streaming data that include content of a same subject and differ in attribute through a same channel, according to an adaptive streaming technique; and a terminal device configured to receive the streaming data, wherein the content supply device includes
a zapping segment stream generating unit configured to generate a zapping segment stream

Assignees

• Sony Corp

Inventors

• Yamagishi Yasuaki

Classifications

• H04N21/26258

  for generating a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlist, or scheduling item distribution according to such list (retrieval of multimedia data based on playlists G06F16/40) · CPC title

• H04N21/6125

  involving transmission via Internet (transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82) · CPC title

• H04N21/4384 Primary

  involving operations to reduce the access time, e.g. fast-tuning for reducing channel switching latency · CPC title

• H04N21/6408

  Unicasting · CPC title

• H04N21/631

  Multimode Transmission, e.g. transmitting basic layers and enhancement layers of the content over different transmission paths or transmitting with different error corrections, different keys or with different transmission protocols · CPC title