METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISCOVERING INTERNET PROTOCOL TELEVISION SERVICE (IPTV) PROVIDER AND IPTV SERVICE BY USING SESSION INITIATION PROTOCOL

• US 20090138923A1
• Filed: 11/26/2008
• Published: 05/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: RHIM, Eun-hee, HWANG, In-chul, KIM, Mun-jo
• Granted Patent: US 8,838,676 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/87
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1104 Session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/611 for multicast or broadcast systems for broadcast or conference H04L12/18; arrangements for broadcast or distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/00; arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time H04H60/00; selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS], H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6402 Address allocation for clients address allocation in data networks H04L61/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64322 IP

Abstract

Provided are a method and apparatus by which a first entity receives information about one or more Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service providers or information about one or more IPTV services from a second entity by using a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of receiving information about one or more service providers in a network comprising a first entity and a second entity, the method comprising:

generating a first Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message requesting information about one or more service providers providing a service;

transmitting the first SIP message to the second entity; and

in response to the first SIP message, receiving a second SIP message including the information about the one or more service providers from the second entity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the service comprises an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first SIP message comprises a SIP SUBSCRIBE message requesting information about one or more IPTV service providers.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the SIP SUBSCRIBE message comprises an event header requesting the information about the one or more IPTV service providers.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the event header is expressed according to a ua-profile event package.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the event header comprises information about a domain address of a service provider that the first entity desires to receive a service from.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the event header is expressed according to a separate event package defined to express the event header requesting the information about the one or more IPTV service providers.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the transmitting of the first SIP message further comprises receiving a SIP 200 OK message from the second entity, wherein the SIP 200 OK message indicates that the first SIP message has been received.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the second SIP message comprises a SIP NOTIFY message comprising information about one or more IPTV service providers.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the SIP NOTIFY message comprises an event header providing the information about the one or more IPTV service providers.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the event header is expressed according to a ua-profile event package.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the SIP NOTIFY message comprises Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) information about an entity capable of discovering one or more services provided from a service provider.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the SIP NOTIFY message comprises information about at least one from among a protocol and an icon which are used when discovering the one or more services provided from the service provider.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the event header is expressed according to a separate event package defined to express the event header providing the information about the one or more IPTV service providers.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the receiving of the second SIP message further comprises transmitting a SIP 200 OK message to the second entity, wherein the SIP 200 OK message indicates that the second SIP message has been received.

16. The method of claim 2, wherein the first entity defined in an Open IPTV forum architecture is an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) Gateway Functional Entity (IG entity) allowing an Open IPTV Terminal Functional Entity (OITF entity) to access a network service according to an IMS core network.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the second entity defined in an Open IPTV forum architecture is an IPTV service provider discovering entity providing information necessary for an OITF entity to select an IPTV service provider.

41. A computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the method of claim 1.

18. A method of providing information about one or more service providers to a first entity, wherein the providing is performed by a second entity, the method comprising:

receiving a first SIP message requesting information about one or more service providers providing a service;

in response to the first SIP message, generating a second SIP message comprising the information about the one or more service providers; and

transmitting the second SIP message to the first entity.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the service comprises an IPTV service.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the first SIP message comprises a SIP SUBSCRIBE message requesting information about one or more IPTV service providers.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the SIP SUBSCRIBE message comprises an event header requesting the information about the one or more IPTV service providers.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the event header is expressed according to a ua-profile event package.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the event header comprises information about a domain address of a service provider that the first entity desires to receive a service from.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the event header is expressed according to a separate event package defined to express the event header requesting the information about the one or more IPTV service providers.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein the receiving of the first SIP message further comprises transmitting a SIP 200 OK message to the first entity, wherein the SIP 200 OK message indicates that the first SIP message has been received.

26. The method of claim 19, wherein the second SIP message comprises a SIP NOTIFY message comprising information about one or more IPTV service providers.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the SIP NOTIFY message comprises an event header providing the information about the one or more IPTV service providers.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the event header is expressed according to a ua-profile event package.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the SIP NOTIFY message comprises URI information about an entity capable of discovering one or more services provided from a service provider.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the SIP NOTIFY message comprises information about at least one from among a protocol and an icon which are used when discovering the one or more services provided from the service provider.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein the event header is expressed according to a separate event package defined to express the event header providing the information about the one or more IPTV service providers.

32. The method of claim 26, wherein the transmitting of the second SIP message further comprises receiving a SIP 200 OK message from the first entity, wherein the SIP 200 OK message indicates that the second SIP message has been received.

33. The method of claim 19, wherein the first entity defined in an Open IPTV forum architecture is an IG entity allowing an OITF entity to access a network service according to an IMS core network.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the second entity defined in an Open IPTV forum architecture is an IPTV service provider discovering entity providing information necessary for an OITF entity to select an IPTV service provider.

42. A computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the method of claim 18.

35. An information receiving apparatus for receiving information about one or more service providers in a network comprising a first entity and a second entity, the information receiving apparatus comprising:

a message generating unit generating a first SIP message requesting information about one or more service providers providing a service;

a message transmitting unit transmitting the first SIP message to the second entity; and

a message receiving unit receiving a second SIP message comprising the information about the one or more service providers from the second entity, in response to the first SIP message.

36. The information receiving apparatus of claim 35, wherein the service comprises an IPTV service.

37. The information receiving apparatus of claim 36, wherein the first SIP message comprises a SIP SUBSCRIBE message requesting information about one or more IPTV service providers, and the second SIP message comprises a SIP NOTIFY message comprising information about one or more IPTV service providers.

38. An information providing apparatus for providing information about one or more service providers in a network comprising a first entity and a second entity, the information providing apparatus comprising:

a message receiving unit receiving a first SIP message requesting information about one or more service providers providing a service;

a message generating unit generating a second SIP message comprising the information about the one or more service providers, as a response to the first SIP message; and

a message transmitting unit transmitting the second SIP message to the first entity.

39. The information providing apparatus of claim 38, wherein the service comprises an IPTV service.

40. The information providing apparatus of claim 39, wherein the first SIP message comprises a SIP SUBSCRIBE message requesting information about one or more IPTV service providers, and the second SIP message comprises a SIP NOTIFY message comprising information about one or more IPTV service providers.