CONTENTS DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, AND CONTENTS DISTRIBUTION METHOD

• US 20090075583A1
• Filed: 04/05/2006
• Published: 03/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Softbank BB Corporation (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Softbank BB Corporation (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Son, Masayoshi
• Application Number:
  US11/910,991
• Publication Number:
  US 20090075583A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/3.10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/21815 comprising local storage units
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23106 involving caching operations prefetching while addressing of a memory level in which the access to the desired data or data block requires associative addressing means within memory systems or architectures G06F12/0862; caching at an intermediate stage in a data network H04L67/568
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23424 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for inserting or substituting an advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26283 for associating distribution time parameters to content, e.g. to generate electronic program guide data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26603 for automatically generating descriptors from content, e.g. when it is not made available by its provider, using content analysis techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Contents are distributed through wireless or wired communication means by storing plural pieces of contents data in advance in a content accumulation unit, by weighting the individual pieces of contents data stored in that content accumulation unit, in accordance with their attributes, by selecting the contents data from the content accumulation unit in accordance with that weighting, and by assigning the contents data selected, to a channel on the communication means. When the multichannel is proceeded in the internet TV or cable TV system, it is possible to improve the conveniences of the user for the channel selection and to practice the contents reuse effectively on the contents supplier side.

Claims

1. A content distribution system for distributing content through a wireless or wired communication medium comprising:

a content accumulation unit operable to accumulate a plurality of content pieces;

a content analysis unit operable to assign weighting factors respectively to said content pieces accumulated in said content accumulation unit in accordance with the attributes of said content pieces;

a content selecting unit operable to select content pieces from among said content pieces accumulated in said content accumulation unit in accordance with the weighting factors assigned to said content pieces; and

a channel assigning unit operable to assign the content pieces selected by said content selecting unit to channels of said communication medium.

2. The content distribution system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a broadcast receiving unit operable to receive broadcast content pieces which are broadcasted through radio waves, wherein

said content selecting unit selects content pieces from among the broadcast content pieces which are received by said broadcast receiving unit and the content pieces which are accumulated in said content accumulation unit.

3. The content distribution system as claimed in claim 2 wherein said content selecting unit selects broadcast content pieces on the basis of a program schedule of the broadcast content pieces.

4. The content distribution system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said content selecting unit selects content pieces in accordance with said weighting factors with reference to the order of priority which is set up by user operation, and wherein said channel assigning unit assigns the content pieces selected by said content selecting unit to a user dedicated channel which is freely set up by the user.

5. The content distribution system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said content selecting unit selects content pieces in accordance with said weighting factors with reference to the order of priority which is individually determined for each channel in terms of the attributes, and

wherein said channel assigning unit assigns the content pieces selected by said content selecting unit to the channels in accordance with the attributes of the channels.

6. The content distribution system as claimed in claim 5 wherein said channel assigning unit is capable of assigning the same content piece to a plurality of different channels in the same time slot.

7. A content distribution method for distributing content through a wireless or wired communication medium, wherein a plurality of content pieces are accumulated in a content accumulation unit in advance, said content distribution method comprising:

a step (1) of assigning weighting factors respectively to said content pieces accumulated in said content accumulation unit in accordance with the attributes of said content pieces, and selecting content pieces from said content accumulation unit in accordance with the weighting factors; and

a step (2) of assigning the content pieces selected in said step (1) to channels of said communication medium.

8. The content distribution method as claimed in claim 7 wherein content pieces are selected from among the broadcast content pieces which are broadcasted through radio waves and the content pieces which are accumulated in said content accumulation unit.

9. The content distribution method as claimed in claim 8 wherein broadcast content pieces are selected on the basis of a program schedule of the broadcast content pieces.

10. The content distribution method as claimed in claim 7 wherein

in said step (1), content pieces are selected in accordance with said weighting factors with reference to the order of priority which is set up by user operation, and wherein

in said step (2), the content pieces selected in said step (1) are assigned to a user dedicated channel which is freely set up by the user.

11. The content distribution method as claimed in claim 7 wherein

in said step (1), content pieces are selected in accordance with said weighting factors with reference to the order of priority which is individually determined for each channel in terms of the attributes;

and wherein

in said step (2), the content pieces to be assigned are selected in accordance with the attributes of the channels.

12. The content distribution method as claimed in claim 11 wherein the same content piece can be assigned to a plurality of different channels in the same time slot.