Content editing apparatus, content editing method, content editing program, and computer-readable storage medium

• US 20020054071A1
• Filed: 08/10/2001
• Published: 05/09/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Shimizu, Hidekazu, Yamaguchi, Koichiro, Fujita, Kimikazu
• Granted Patent: US 7,240,286 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/723
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/38 Arrangements for distribution where lower stations, e.g. receivers, interact with the broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/16 on playing information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26216 involving the channel capacity, e.g. network bandwidth admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a schedule or organising the servicing of application requests taking into account QoS H04L67/61
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26233 involving content or additional data duration or size, e.g. length of a movie, size of an executable file
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26266 for determining content or additional data repetition rate, e.g. of a file in a DVB carousel according to its importance arrangements for broadcast or for distribution of identical information repeatedly in broadcast distribution systems H04H20/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/025 Systems for the transmission of digital non-picture data, e.g. of text during the active part of a television frame transmission of digital non-picture data during the vertical blanking interval only H04N7/088
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309

Abstract

A content editing apparatus that edits digital broadcast content that is composed of a plurality of data carousels for realizing pseudo-interaction is provided. An operation reception unit receives identification information and a transmission start time and a transmission end time of each module that constitutes a data carousel from an operator. A control unit stores the received information as module information into a module information storage unit. A data carousel definition unit sorts each transmission start time and transmission end time included in the module information, defines a carousel time period of each data carousel based on the sorted times, and selects modules to be transmitted during each carousel time period.

Claims

1. A content editing apparatus that edits digital broadcast content that is composed of a plurality of data carousels for realizing pseudo-interaction, the content editing apparatus comprising:

reception means for receiving, from an operator, transmission start times and transmission end times of modules forming each data carousel; and

data carousel definition means for

(a) sorting the received transmission start times and the transmission end times into a time order,

(b) defining a carousel time period of each of the plurality of data carousels separated by the sorted transmission start times and the transmission end times, and

(c) selecting modules to be transmitted during the carousel time period.

2. The content editing apparatus of claim 1,

wherein the reception means includes:

a time axis display unit for displaying a time axis with time divisions;

a module specification unit for specifying a module, using identification information that is composed of a module ID and a version; and

a transmission time specification unit for receiving, from the operator, specification of locations on a display displayed by the time axis display unit, so as to specify a transmission start time and a transmission end time of the specified module, the locations each corresponding to a time division on the time axis.

3. The content editing apparatus of claim 2,

wherein the reception means further includes a bar graph display unit for displaying a bar graph that is parallel to the time axis, and

the transmission time specification unit receives an operation of the operator to specify the transmission start time and the transmission end time, the operation being (a) drag-and-drop of a start of the bar graph to the location corresponding to the transmission start time and (b) drag-and drop of an end of the bar graph to the location corresponding to the transmission end time, the start of the bar graph and the end of the bar graph at an initial state respectively corresponding to a broadcast start time and a broadcast end time of the digital broadcast content.

4. The content editing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising

module information storage means for storing a list of the transmission start times and the transmission end times of the modules received by the reception means,

wherein the data carousel definition means includes:

a time sort unit for sorting the transmission start times and the transmission end times into the time order;

a carousel definition unit for defining the carousel time period of each of the plurality of data carousel separated by the sorted transmission start times and the transmission end times;

a module selection unit for selecting modules to be transmitted during the carousel time period; and

a carousel transmission information storage unit for storing identification information of each module to be transmitted during the carousel time period.

5. The content editing apparatus of claim 4,

wherein the data carousel definition means further includes

a carousel time period display unit for displaying each carousel time period stored by the carousel transmission information storage unit, so as to be in correspondence with the time divisions on the time axis displayed by the time axis display unit.

6. The content editing apparatus of claim 4, further comprising:

module storage means for storing modules, identification information for identifying each module, and items of each module, and

content structure display control means for displaying a structure of the digital broadcast content in a form that can be viewed by the operator, the structure being a hierarchy including a broadcast content, data carousels, identification information for modules forming each data carousel, identification information for items of each module, in a stated order.

7. The content editing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

transmission bit rate reception means for receiving specification of a transmission bit rate for each data carousel from the operator;

module storage means for storing a size of each module; and

standard response time calculation means for summing up sizes of the modules selected by the data carousel definition means to be transmitted during the carousel time period, and dividing a resulting value by the transmission bit rate for the data carousel, to obtain a standard response time for the data carousel, the standard response time being a transmission time period of one cycle of the data carousel when each module included therein is transmitted at once sequentially.

8. The content editing apparatus of claim 7, further comprising

standard response time display means for displaying the standard response time for each data carousel calculated by the standard response time calculation means.

9. The content editing apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

transmission bit rate change means for receiving, from the operator, specification of a transmission bit rate for a data carousel, when the standard response time of the data carousel displayed by the response time display means needs to be changed;

standard response time re-calculation means for re-calculating the standard response time of the data carousel; and

standard response time change display means for displaying the standard response time re-calculated by the standard response time re-calculation means instead of the standard response time previously displayed.

10. The content editing apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

standard response time change operation means for receiving, from the operator, input of a standard response time of the data carousel, when the standard response time of the data carousel displayed by the response time display means needs to be changed;

data transmission bit rate calculation means for dividing a total size of the data carousel by the input standard response time to obtain the transmission bit rate; and

data transmission bit rate display means for displaying the calculated transmission bit rate.

11. A content editing method for editing digital broadcast content that is composed of a plurality of data carousels for realizing pseudo-interaction, the content editing method comprising:

a reception step for receiving, from an operator, transmission start times and transmission end times of modules forming each data carousel; and

a data carousel definition step for

(a) sorting the received transmission start times and the transmission end times into a time order,

(b) defining a carousel time period of each of the plurality of data carousels separated by the sorted transmission start times and the transmission end times, and

(c) selecting modules to be transmitted during the carousel time period.

12. A program for making a computer execute a content editing method for editing digital broadcast content that is composed of a plurality of data carousels for realizing pseudo-interaction, the content editing method comprising:

a reception step for receiving, from an operator, transmission start times and transmission end times of modules forming each data carousel; and

a data carousel definition step for

(a) sorting the received transmission start times and the transmission end times into a time order,

(b) defining a carousel time period of each of the plurality of data carousels separated by the sorted transmission start times and the transmission end times, and

(c) selecting modules to be transmitted during the carousel time period.

13. A computer-readable storage medium that can be applied to a content editing apparatus that edits digital broadcast content that is made up of a plurality of data carousels for realizing pseudo-interaction, the computer-readable storage medium storing a program comprising:

a reception step for receiving, from an operator, transmission start times and transmission end times of modules forming each data carousel; and

a data carousel definition step for

(a) sorting the received transmission start times and the transmission end times into a time order,

(b) defining a carousel time period of each of the plurality of data carousels separated by the sorted transmission start times and the transmission end times, and

(c) selecting modules to be transmitted during the carousel time period.

14. A content editing apparatus that edits content stored at a site on a network in a state of being available for a validity period, comprising:

reception means for receiving, from an operator, transmission start times and transmission end times of modules forming content; and

module definition means for

(a) sorting the transmission start times and the transmission end times of the modules into a time order,

(b) defining validity periods separated by the sorted transmission start times and the transmission end times, and

(c) selecting modules to be made available for each defined validity period.