Media contents distribution system and method

• US 20030110213A1
• Filed: 12/06/2002
• Published: 06/12/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Munetsugu, Toshihiko, Tanikawa, Kentaro, Iwata, Yoshiaki, Kajimoto, Kazuo, Nishitani, Kazuhiro
• Granted Patent: US 7,305,484 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23109 by placing content in organized collections, e.g. EPG data repository details of retrieval of video data and associated meta data in video databases G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23439 for generating different versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23614 Multiplexing of additional data and video streams arrangements for simultaneous broadcast of plural pieces of information H04H20/28
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2402 Monitoring of the downstream path of the transmission network, e.g. bandwidth available traffic monitoring in data switching networks H04L43/00; monitoring data switching networks utilization H04L43/0876
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2541 Rights Management protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10; security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42684 Client identification by a unique number or address, e.g. serial number, MAC address, socket ID network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming H04L61/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4348 Demultiplexing of additional data and video streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4586 Content update operation triggered locally, e.g. by comparing the version of software modules in a DVB carousel to the version stored locally deployment, distribution, installation, update of software G06F8/65; error detection or correction of the data by redundancy during software upgrading G06F11/1433; arrangements for updating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/25
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4627 Rights management associated to the content security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/818 OS software
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8193 dedicated tools, e.g. video decoder software or IPMP tool
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8355 involving usage data, e.g. number of copies or viewings allowed
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A server 1 stores a media content and an execution program for processing the media content, and determines a usage rule for the media content to be transmitted to a terminal 2. The server 1 distributes the usage rule, the media content, and the execution program to the terminal 2. The terminal 2 stores the distributed usage rule, media content, and execution program. The terminal 2 executes the stored execution program and processes the stored media content within the bounds of the usage rule as stored. The server 1 may perform a billing process in accordance with the determined usage rule, or select and distribute a media content or an execution program in accordance with the processing ability of the terminal 2 or a state of communications. Moreover, the server 1 may distribute, in addition to the execution program, middleware for constructing an operating environment for the execution program.

Claims

1. A media contents distribution system for distributing a media content via a communication network, comprising a server and a terminal, wherein,

the server comprises:

a server-side storage unit operable to store a media content and an execution program for processing the media content;

a transmission unit operable to transmit the media content and the execution program stored in the server-side storage unit to the terminal; and

a condition setting unit operable to determine a usage rule for the media content to be transmitted to the terminal, and

the terminal comprises;

a reception unit operable to receive the media content and the execution program from the server;

a terminal-side storage unit operable to at least store the execution program received by the reception unit;

a control unit operable to permit use of the media content within bounds of the usage rule determined by the condition setting unit; and

a processing unit operable to, as permitted by the control unit, execute the execution program stored in the terminal-side storage unit, and process the media content received by the reception unit.

2. The media contents distribution system according to claim 1, wherein,

the media content stored in the server-side storage unit comprises video data and/or audio data, and

the condition setting unit determines the usage rule in terms of a mode of use at least including playback.

3. The media contents distribution system according to claim 1, wherein,

prior to using the media content, the transmission unit transmits the media content and the execution program stored in the server-side storage unit and the usage rule determined by the condition setting unit to the terminal,

the reception unit receives the media content, the execution program, and the usage rule from the server,

the terminal-side storage unit stores the media content, the execution program, and the usage rule received by the reception unit,

at a time of using the media content, the control unit permits use of the media content in accordance with the usage rule stored in the terminal-side storage unit, and

the processing unit processes the media content stored in the terminal-side storage unit.

4. The media contents distribution system according to claim 3, wherein,

when the condition setting unit determines a new usage rule for the media content stored in the terminal-side storage unit,

the transmission unit transmits the new usage rule determined by the condition setting unit to the terminal,

the reception unit receives the new usage rule from the server, and

the terminal-side storage unit updates the usage rule stored therein with the new usage rule received by the reception unit.

5. The media contents distribution system according to claim 3, wherein,

when a new execution program is needed for using the media content at the terminal,

the condition setting unit determines a new usage rule for the media content stored in the terminal-side storage unit,

the transmission unit transmits the new execution program stored in the server-side storage unit and the new usage rule determined by the condition setting unit to the terminal,

the reception unit receives the new execution program and the new usage rule from the server, and

the terminal-side storage unit updates the execution program and the usage rule stored therein, respectively with the new execution program and the new usage rule received by the reception unit.

6. The media contents distribution system according to claim 1, wherein,

the server-side storage unit further stores the usage rule determined by the condition setting unit,

the transmission unit transmits the media content and the execution program stored in the server-side storage unit to the terminal prior to using the media content, and at a time of using the media content, transmits the usage rule stored in the server-side storage unit to the terminal,

the reception unit receives the media content, the execution program, and the usage rule from the server,

the terminal-side storage unit stores the media content and the execution program received by the reception unit,

the control unit permits use of the media content in accordance with the usage rule received by the reception unit at the time of using the media content, and

the processing unit processes the media content stored in the terminal-side storage unit.

7. The media contents distribution system according to claim 6, wherein,

when the condition setting unit determines a new usage rule for the media content stored in the terminal-side storage unit, the server-side storage unit updates the usage rule stored therein with the new usage rule determined by the condition setting unit.

8. The media contents distribution system according to claim 6, wherein,

when a new execution program is needed for using the media content at the terminal,

the condition setting unit determines a new usage rule for the media content stored in the terminal-side storage unit,

the server-side storage unit updates the usage rule stored therein with the new usage rule determined by the condition setting unit,

the transmission unit transmits the new execution program stored in the server-side storage unit to the terminal,

the reception unit receives the new execution program from the server, and

the terminal-side storage unit updates the execution program stored therein with the new execution program received by the reception unit.

9. The media contents distribution system according to claim 1, wherein,

the transmission unit transmits the execution program stored in the server-side storage unit and the usage rule determined by the condition setting unit to the terminal prior to using the media content, and transmits the media content stored in the server-side storage unit to the terminal during use of the media content,

the reception unit receives the media content, the execution program, and the usage rule from the server,

the terminal-side storage unit stores the execution program and the usage rule received by the reception unit,

at a time of using the media content, the control unit permits use of the media content in accordance with the usage rule stored in the terminal-side storage unit, and

the processing unit processes the media content received by the reception unit concurrently as reception unit receives the media content.

10. The media contents distribution system according to claim 9, wherein,

when the condition setting unit determines a new usage rule for the media content to be transmitted to the terminal,

the transmission unit transmits the new usage rule determined by the condition setting unit to the terminal,

the reception unit receives the new usage rule from the server, and

the terminal-side storage unit updates the usage rule stored therein with the new usage rule received by the reception unit.

11. The media contents distribution system according to claim 9, wherein,

when a new execution program is needed for using the media content at the terminal,

the condition setting unit determines a new usage rule for the media content to be transmitted to the terminal,

the transmission unit transmits the new execution program stored in the server-side storage unit and the new usage rule determined by the condition setting unit to the terminal,

the reception unit receives the new execution program and the new usage rule from the server, and

the terminal-side storage unit updates the execution program and the usage rule stored therein, respectively with the new execution program and the new usage rule received by the reception unit.

12. The media contents distribution system according to claim 1, wherein,

the server-side storage unit further stores the usage rule determined by the condition setting unit,

the transmission unit transmits the execution program stored in the server-side storage unit to the terminal prior to using the media content, transmits the usage rule stored in the server-side storage unit to the terminal at a time of using the media content, and transmits the media content stored in the server-side storage unit to the terminal during use of the media content,

the reception unit receives the media content, the execution program, and the usage rule from the server,

the terminal-side storage unit stores the execution program received by the reception unit,

the control unit permits use of the media content in accordance with the usage rule received by the reception unit at the time of using the media content,

the processing unit processes the media content received by the reception unit concurrently as the reception unit receives the media content.

13. The media contents distribution system according to claim 12, wherein,

when the condition setting unit determines a new usage rule for the media content to be transmitted to the terminal, the server-side storage unit updates the usage rule stored therein with the new usage rule determined by the condition setting unit.

14. The media contents distribution system according to claim 12, wherein,

when a new execution program is needed for using the media content at the terminal,

the condition setting unit determines a new usage rule for the media content to be transmitted to the terminal,

the server-side storage unit updates the usage rule stored therein with the new usage rule determined by the condition setting unit,

the transmission unit transmits the new execution program stored in the server-side storage unit to the terminal,

the reception unit receives the new execution program from the server, and

the terminal-side storage unit updates the execution program stored therein with the new execution program received by the reception unit.

15. The media contents distribution system according to claim 1,

wherein the server further comprises a billing unit operable to perform a billing process for the terminal in accordance with the usage rule determined by the condition setting unit.

16. The media contents distribution system according to claim 1, wherein,

the server-side storage unit further stores middleware for constructing an operating environment for the execution program stored in the terminal-side storage unit,

the transmission unit further transmits the middleware stored in the storage unit to the terminal,

the reception unit further receives the middleware from the server,

the terminal-side storage unit at least stores the execution program and the middleware received by the reception unit, and

under the operating environment constructed by the middleware stored in the terminal-side storage unit, the processing unit executes the execution program stored in the terminal-side storage unit and processes the media content received by the reception unit.

17. The media contents distribution system according to claim 1, wherein,

the server-side storage unit stores a plurality of said execution programs providing the same function but requiring different levels of processing ability, and

the transmission unit selects one of the plurality of execution programs stored in the server-side storage unit in accordance with a processing ability of the terminal, and transmits the selected execution program to the terminal.

18. The media contents distribution system according to claim 1, wherein,

the server-side storage unit stores a plurality of said media contents directed to the same substance but requiring different levels of processing ability, and

the transmission unit selects one of the plurality of media contents stored in the server-side storage unit in accordance with a processing ability of the terminal, and transmits the selected media content to the terminal.

19. The media contents distribution system according to claim 1, wherein,

the server-side storage unit stores a plurality of said media contents directed to the same substance but differing in data amount per unit time, and

the transmission unit selects one of the plurality of media contents stored in the server-side storage unit in accordance with a state of communications occurring between the server and the terminal, and transmits the selected media content to the terminal.

20. The media contents distribution system according to claim 1, wherein,

the media contents distribution system comprises a plurality of said terminals,

the usage rule determined by the condition setting unit contains identification information of at least one of the plurality of terminals to which the media content is available, and

the control unit permits use of the media content if the identification information of the terminal is contained in the usage rule determined by the condition setting unit.

21. The media contents distribution system according to claim 1, wherein,

the usage rule determined by the condition setting unit contains an allowable section for use of the media content to be transmitted to the terminal, and

the control unit permits use of the media content received by the reception unit only with respect to the allowable section for use contained in the usage rule determined by the condition setting unit.

22. The media contents distribution system according to claim 1, wherein,

the terminal further comprises a history storage unit operable to store a processing history in the processing unit,

the usage rule determined by the condition setting unit contains an allowable number of times of use for the media content to be transmitted to the terminal, and

the control unit permits use of the media content until the allowable number of times of use contained in the usage rule determined by the condition setting unit is reached, by referring to the processing history stored in the history storage unit.

23. The media contents distribution system according to claim 1, wherein,

the terminal further comprises a history storage unit operable to store a processing history in the processing unit,

the usage rule determined by the condition setting unit contains an allowable total time of use for the media content to be transmitted to the terminal, and

the control unit permits use of the media content until the allowable total time of use contained in the usage rule determined by the condition setting unit is reached, by referring to the processing history stored in the history storage unit.

24. The media contents distribution system according to claim 1, wherein,

the usage rule determined by the condition setting unit contains an allowable period of use for the media content to be transmitted to the terminal, and

the control unit permits use of the media content if a current time falls within the allowable period of use contained in the usage rule determined by the condition setting unit.

25. The media contents distribution system according to claim 1, wherein,

the server-side storage unit stores the media content in an encrypted state,

the transmission unit transmits the media content stored in the server-side storage unit to the terminal in the encrypted state,

the reception unit receives the media content from the server in the encrypted state, and

the processing unit decrypts and processes the media content received by the reception unit.

26. The media contents distribution system according to claim 2, wherein the processing unit plays back the media content received by the reception unit.

27. The media contents distribution system according to claim 2, wherein the processing unit duplicates the media content received by the reception unit.

28. The media contents distribution system according to claim 2, wherein the processing unit edits the media content received by the reception unit.

29. A terminal for receiving a media content distributed from a server via a communication network, comprising:

a reception unit operable to receive a media content and an execution program from the server;

a storage unit operable to at least store the execution program received by the reception unit;

a control unit operable to permit use of the media content within bounds of a usage rule determined by the server; and

a processing unit operable to, as permitted by the control unit, execute the execution program stored in the storage unit, and process the media content received by the reception unit.

30. A media content distribution method for distributing a media content from a server to a terminal via a communication network, comprising:

a step, performed by the server, of storing a media content and an execution program for processing the media content;

a step, performed by the server, of transmitting the stored media content and execution program to the terminal;

a step, performed by the server, of determining a usage rule for the media content to be transmitted to the terminal, and

a step, performed by the terminal, of receiving the media content and the execution program from the server;

a step, performed by the terminal, of at least storing the received execution program;

a step, performed by the terminal, of permitting use of the media content within bounds of the usage rule determined by server; and

a step, performed by the terminal, of executing the stored execution program and processing the received media content, as permitted by the step of permitting use of the media content.

31. Encapsulated data distributed from a server to a terminal via a communication network, comprising:

a media content;

an execution program for processing the media content; and

a usage rule, determined by the server with respect to the media content, for the terminal to execute the execution program and process the media content.