INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM

• US 20080250100A1
• Filed: 03/27/2008
• Published: 10/09/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Ueda, Kenjiro, Suzuki, Hidehito, Kasai, Koichi, HATANAKA, Kentaro, Torii, Shinnichiro
• Granted Patent: US 7,991,832 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/735 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/78 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/7847 using low-level visual features of the video content
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/235 Multilayer discs, i.e. multiple recording layers accessed from the same side
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2541 Blu-ray discs; Blue laser DVR discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/11 by using information not detectable on the record carrier

Abstract

An information processing apparatus, that obtains pieces of content information relating to content recorded in an information recording medium, includes a content identifier generation unit configured to read a content certificate which is recorded in the recording medium and which corresponds to the content stored in the information recording medium, and generates a content identifier by combining hash values which correspond to the content and which are included in data stored in the content certificate, a data transmitting unit configured to transmit the content identifier generated using the content identifier generation unit to a content information provision server, a data receiving unit configured to receive, from the content information provision server, the pieces of content information relating to the content which is specified on the basis of the content identifier, and a data outputting unit configured to output the pieces of content information received using the data receiving unit.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus that obtains pieces of content information relating to content recorded in an information recording medium, the information processing apparatus comprising:

a content identifier generation unit configured to read a content certificate which is recorded in the recording medium and which corresponds to the content stored in the information recording medium, and generate a content identifier by combining hash values which correspond to the content and which are included in data stored in the content certificate;

a data transmitting unit configured to transmit the content identifier generated using the content identifier generation unit to a content information provision server;

a data receiving unit configured to receive, from the content information provision server, the pieces of content information relating to the content which is specified on the basis of the content identifier; and

a data outputting unit configured to output the pieces of content information received using the data receiving unit.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the content certificate includes content hash table digests generated as digest values on the basis of the hash values which are recorded in a content hash table and which are generated on the basis of hash units included as configuration data in the content recorded in the information recording medium, and

the content identifier generation unit obtains the content hash table digests recorded in the content certificate and concatenates the obtained content hash table digests to generate the content identifier.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the content certificate includes the content hash table digests generated on a clip-by-clip basis, a clip being a unit of reproduction of the content recorded in the information recording medium, and

the content identifier generation unit obtains the content hash table digests on a clip-by-clip basis recorded in the content certificate and concatenates the obtained content hash table digests in clip order and the content identifier is generated.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the content certificate is recorded in each of a plurality of recording layers in the information recording medium so that a plurality of content certificates are included in the information recording medium, and

the content identifier generation unit obtains content hash table digests recorded in the plurality of content certificates for individual recording layers, and concatenates the obtained content hash table digests in clip order and in layer order to generate the content identifier.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the content identifier generation unit generates the content identifier by combining the hash values included in the data of the content certificate and a content certificate identifier (CCID) including a combination of the following pieces of data recorded in the content certificate, that is,

(a) an applicant identifier which is an identifier used to specify a provider of the content recorded in the information recording medium or a disc manufacturer which is a manufacturer of the information recording medium, and

(b) a content sequence number which is an identifier corresponding to the applicant identifier and the content recorded in the information recording medium.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the content identifier generation unit records the content identifier generated on the basis of the data included in the content certificate recorded in the information recording medium so as to correspond to the content recorded in the information recording medium in a storage unit as history data,

the data transmitting unit transmits the content identifier history data recorded in the storage unit to the content information provision server, and

the data receiving unit receives, from the content information provision server, pieces of content information relating to recommendation content specified on the basis of the content identifier history data.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the content certificate includes the content certificate identifier, pieces of data including content hash table digests, and a digital signature assigned thereto, and

the content identifier generation unit checks validity of the digital signature recorded in the content certificate so as to check validities of the content certificate and the content, and only when it is determined that the content certificate and the content are valid, that is, the content is not falsified, obtains the data from the content certificate, and generates the content identifier on the basis of the obtained data.

8. An information processing apparatus serving as a server that receives a content identifier from a client apparatus and that provides a client apparatus with pieces of content information relating to the received content identifier, the information processing apparatus comprising:

a data receiving unit configured to receive, from the client apparatus, the content identifier generated using hash values which correspond to content stored in the information recording medium and which are pieces of data recorded in the content certificate which is recorded in the information recording medium loaded in the client apparatus;

a database which includes content identifiers and pieces of content information which relate to pieces of content corresponding to the content identifiers;

a data retrieving unit configured to obtain the pieces of content information relating to the content which is specified on the basis of the content identifier received using the data receiving unit; and

a data transmitting unit configured to transmit the pieces of content information obtained using the data retrieving unit to the client apparatus.

9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8,

wherein the content certificate includes content hash table digests generated as digest values on the basis of the hash values which are recorded in a content hash table and which are generated on the basis of hash units included as configuration data in the content recorded in the information recording medium,

the data receiving unit receives the content identifier generated by concatenating the content hash table digests, and

the data retrieving unit searches the database for the pieces of content information relating to the content specified on the basis of the content identifier generated by concatenating the content hash table digests, and obtains the pieces of content information relating to the content specified on the basis of the content identifier from the database.

10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 9,

wherein the content hash table digests are recorded in the content certificate on a clip-by-clip basis, a clip being a unit of reproduction of content recorded in the information recording medium,

the data receiving unit receives the content identifier generated by concatenating the content hash table digests on a clip-by-clip basis, and

the data retrieving unit recognizes individual clips included in the content identifier and performs retrieving processing on the database on the basis of results of recognition.

11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8,

wherein the data receiving unit receives the content identifier generated using the hash values included in the data of the content certificate and a content certificate identifier (CCID) including a combination of the following pieces of data recorded in the content certificate, that is,

(a) an applicant identifier which is an identifier used to specify a provider of the content recorded in the information recording medium or a disc manufacturer which is a manufacturer of the information recording medium, and

(b) a content sequence number which is an identifier corresponding to the applicant identifier and the content recorded in the information recording medium.

12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising:

a usage history database that stores pieces of history data corresponding to content identifiers transmitted from client apparatuses,

wherein the data retrieving unit analyzes a user'"'"'s preference by comparing the content identifier transmitted from the client apparatus with data stored in the usage history database, selects recommendation content in accordance with the user'"'"'s preference, and obtains pieces of content information relating to the selected recommendation content from the database, and

the data transmitting unit transmits the pieces of content information obtained using the data retrieving unit to the client apparatus.

13. The information processing apparatus according to claim 12,

wherein the data retrieving unit performs processing of selecting the recommendation content which matches the user'"'"'s preference in accordance with a collaborative filtering algorithm.

14. An information processing method for obtaining pieces of content information relating to content recorded in an information recording medium, the information processing method comprising the steps of:

reading a content certificate which is recorded in the recording medium and which corresponds to the content stored in the information recording medium, and generating a content identifier by combining hash values which correspond to the content and which are included in data stored in the content certificate;

transmitting the generated content identifier to a content information provision server;

receiving, from the content information provision server, the pieces of content information relating to the content which is specified on the basis of the content identifier; and

outputting the received pieces of content information.

15. The information processing method according to claim 14,

wherein the content certificate includes content hash table digests generated as digest values on the basis of the hash values which are recorded in a content hash table and which are generated on the basis of hash units included as configuration data in the content recorded in the information recording medium, and

the content hash table digests recorded in the content certificate are obtained and concatenated and the content identifier is generated.

16. The information processing method according to claim 15,

wherein the content certificate includes the content hash table digests generated on a clip-by-clip basis, a clip being a unit of reproduction of the content recorded in the information recording medium, and

the content hash table digests recorded in the content certificate on a clip-by-clip basis are obtained and concatenated in clip order and the content identifier is generated.

17. The information processing method according to claim 16,

wherein the content certificate is recorded in each of a plurality of recording layers in the information recording medium so that a plurality of content certificates are included in the information recording medium, and

content hash table digests recorded in the plurality of content certificates for individual recording layers are obtained and concatenated in clip order and in layer order and the content identifier is generated.

18. The information processing method according to claim 14,

wherein the content identifier is generated by combining the hash values included in the data of the content certificate as data and a content certificate identifier (CCID) including a combination of the following pieces of data recorded in the content certificate, that is,

(a) an applicant identifier which is an identifier used to specify a provider of the content recorded in the information recording medium or a disc manufacturer which is a manufacturer of the information recording medium, and

(b) a content sequence number which is an identifier corresponding to the applicant identifier and the content recorded in the information recording medium.

19. The information processing method according to claim 14, further comprising the steps of:

recording the content identifier generated on the basis of the data included in the content certificate recorded in the information recording medium so as to correspond to the content recorded in the information recording medium in a storage unit as history data;

transmitting the content identifier history data recorded in the storage unit to the content information provision server; and

receiving, from the content information provision server, pieces of content information relating to recommendation content specified on the basis of the content identifier history data.

20. The information processing apparatus according to claim 14,

wherein the content certificate includes the content certificate identifier, pieces of data including content hash table digests, and a digital signature assigned thereto, and

validity of the digital signature recorded in the content certificate is checked so as to check validities of the content certificate and the content, and only when it is determined that the content certificate and the content are valid, that is, the content is not falsified, the data is obtains from the content certificate and the content identifier is generated on the basis of the obtained data.

21. An information processing method of an information processing apparatus serving as a server that receives a content identifier from a client apparatus and that provides a client apparatus with pieces of content information relating to the received content identifier, the information processing method comprising the steps of:

receiving, from the client apparatus, the content identifier generated using hash values which correspond to content stored in the information recording medium and which are pieces of data recorded in the content certificate which is recorded in the information recording medium loaded in the client apparatus;

searching a database which includes content identifiers and pieces of content information which relate to pieces of content corresponding to the content identifiers for the pieces of content information relating to the content which is specified on the basis of the received content identifier; and

transmitting the obtained pieces of content information to the client apparatus.

22. The information processing method according to claim 21,

wherein the content certificate includes content hash table digests generated as digest values on the basis of the hash values which are recorded in a content hash table and which are generated on the basis of hash units included as configuration data in the content recorded in the information recording medium,

the content identifier generated by concatenating the content hash table digests is received, and

the database is searched for the pieces of content information relating to the content specified on the basis of the content identifier generated by concatenating the content hash table digests, and the pieces of content information relating to the content specified on the basis of the content identifier are obtained from the database.

23. The information processing method according to claim 22,

wherein the content hash table digests are recorded in the content certificate on a clip-by-clip basis, a clip being a unit of reproduction of content recorded in the information recording medium,

the content identifier generated by concatenating the content hash table digests on a clip-by-clip basis is received, and

the content identifier is recognized as individual clips and retrieving processing is performed on the database on the basis of results of recognition.

24. The information processing method according to claim 21,

wherein the content identifier generated using the hash values included in the data of the content certificate and a content certificate identifier (CCID) including a combination of the following pieces of data recorded in the content certificate are received, that is,

(a) an applicant identifier which is an identifier used to specify a provider of the content recorded in the information recording medium or a disc manufacturer which is a manufacturer of the information recording medium, and

(b) a content sequence number which is an identifier corresponding to the applicant identifier and the content recorded in the information recording medium.

25. The information processing method according to claim 21, further comprising the steps of:

analyzing a user'"'"'s preference by comparing the content identifier transmitted from the client apparatus with pieces of history data which are included in a usage history database and which correspond to content identifiers transmitted from client apparatuses, selecting recommendation content in accordance with the user'"'"'s preference, and obtaining pieces of content information relating to the selected recommendation content from the database; and

transmitting the obtained pieces of content information to the client apparatus.

26. The information processing method according to claim 25,

wherein processing of selecting the recommendation content in accordance with the user'"'"'s preference is performed in accordance with a collaborative filtering algorithm.

27. A computer program that causes an information processing apparatus to perform processing of obtaining pieces of content information relating to content recorded in an information recording medium, the computer program comprising the steps of:

reading a content certificate which is recorded in the recording medium and which corresponds to the content stored in the information recording medium, and generating a content identifier by combining hash values which correspond to the content and which are included in data stored in the content certificate;

transmitting the generated content identifier to a content information provision server;

receiving, from the content information provision server, the pieces of content information relating to the content which is specified on the basis of the content identifier; and

outputting the received pieces of content information.

28. A computer program that causes an information processing apparatus serving as a server that receives a content identifier from a client apparatus and that provides a client apparatus with pieces of content information relating to the received content identifier to perform information processing, the computer program comprising the steps of:

receiving, from the client apparatus, the content identifier generated using hash values which correspond to content stored in the information recording medium and which are pieces of data recorded in the content certificate which is recorded in the information recording medium loaded in the client apparatus;

searching a database which includes content identifiers and pieces of content information which relate to pieces of content corresponding to the content identifiers for the pieces of content information relating to the content which is specified on the basis of the received content identifier; and

transmitting the obtained pieces of content information to the client apparatus.