Data distribution method and apparatus, and data receiving method and apparatus

• US 6,792,577 B1
• Filed: 06/20/2000
• Issued: 09/14/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kimoto, Yosuke
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild, Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN BA, PAUL H
• Application Number:
  US09/597,944
• Time in Patent Office: 1,547 Days
• Field of Search: 715/513, 715/501.1, 715/500, 715/514, 715/523, 715/522, 715/526, 707/102, 707/1, 707/3, 707/10, 707/200, 705/26, 705/50, 705/67, 705/71, 380/255, 380/258, 709/203
• US Class Current: 715/235
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/748 Hypervideo linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object in the context of video distribution systems H04N21/858
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/94 Hypermedia Hyperlinking G06F40/134
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3829 involving key management

Abstract

Style sheets which define the expression form, etc., of documents in a meta-language (for example, XML) format in which tags which can be defined arbitrarily are used are managed appropriately. A style sheet is given a unique style ID. Since a receiving system is capable of storing style sheets separately from XML documents and managing them, it is unnecessary to add a style sheet to each XML document body and to transmit it, and thus the amount of the data to be transmitted can be reduced. Also, it is possible to protect the style sheets from unauthorized use by attaching key data to the XML document body, so that the style sheets can be managed as authored works. Furthermore, by specifying the other party or by providing a device for performing authentication, limited use of the style sheet becomes possible.

Claims

1. A data distribution method for distributing a distribution data content described by a computer language to a receiving apparatus, comprising the steps of:

adding a content identifier, which is unique to the distribution data content in a computer language format, to the distribution data content;

adding a style identifier, which is unique to a style sheet which defines an expression form of the distribution data content, to the distribution data content;

producing a style using-right key on the basis of the content identifier and style identifier; and

adding the style using-right key to the distribution data content;

wherein the style using-right key is compared with the content identifier and style identifier at the receiving apparatus.

2. The data distribution method according to claim 1, wherein the style using-right key is validated when the distribution data content is purchased.

3. The data distribution method according to claim 1, wherein said adding step adds a plurality of style identifiers selectable at the receiving apparatus.

4. A data distribution apparatus for distributing a distribution data content described by a computer language to a receiving apparatus, comprising:

content identifier adding means for adding a content identifier, which is unique to the distribution data content in a computer language format, to the distribution data content;

style identifier adding means for adding a style identifier, which is unique to a style sheet which defines an expression form of the distribution data content, to the distribution data content;

producing means for producing a style using-right key on the basis of the content identifier and style identifier; and

style using-right key adding means for adding the style using-right key to the distribution data content;

wherein the style using-right key is compared with the content identifier and style identifier at the receiving apparatus.

5. The data distribution apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the style using-right key is validated when the distribution data content is purchased.

6. The data distribution apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said style identifier adding means adds a plurality of style identifiers selectable at the receiving apparatus.

7. A data receiving method for receiving distribution data content described by a computer language from a distribution apparatus, comprising the steps of:

receiving the distribution data content identified by a content identifier in a computer language format;

receiving a style sheet identified by a style identifier, which defines an expression form of the distribution data content;

producing a style using-right key on the basis of the content identifier and style identifier; and

determining whether the style using-right key produced in the producing step was added to the received distribution data content from the distribution apparatus.

8. The data receiving method according to claim 7, wherein the style using-right key is validated when the distribution data content is purchased.

9. The data receiving method according to claim 7, further comprising a step of selecting a style sheet from a plurality of style identifiers added to the distribution data content.

10. A data receiving apparatus for receiving distribution data content described by a computer language from a distribution apparatus, comprising the steps of:

receiving means for receiving the distribution data content identified by a content identifier in a computer language format;

said receiving means further receiving a style sheet identified by a style identifier, which defines an expression form of the distribution data content;

producing means for producing a style using-right key on the basis of the content identifier and style identifier; and

determining means for determining whether the style using-right key produced by the producing means was added to the received distribution data content from the distribution apparatus.

11. The data receiving apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the style using-right key is validated when the distribution data content is purchased.

12. The data receiving apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising selecting means for selecting a style sheet from a plurality of style identifiers added to the distribution data content.

13. A data distribution method for distributing a distribution data content to a receiving apparatus in a markup language format in which tags that can be defined arbitrarily are used, comprising the steps of:

adding a content identifier, which is unique to the distribution data content in the markup language format, to the distribution data content;

adding a style identifier, which is unique to a style sheet which defines an expression form of the distribution data content, to the distribution data content;

producing a style using-right key on the basis of the content identifier and style identifier; and

adding the style using-right key to the distribution data content;

wherein the style using-right key is compared with the content identifier and style identifier at the receiving apparatus.

14. The data distribution method according to claim 13, wherein the style using-right key is validated when the distribution data content is purchased.

15. The data distribution method according to claim 13, wherein said adding step adds a plurality of style identifiers selectable at the receiving apparatus.

16. A data distribution apparatus for distributing a distribution data content to a receiving apparatus in a markup language format in which tags that can be defined arbitrarily are used, comprising:

content identifier adding means for adding a content identifier, which is unique to the distribution data content in the markup language format, to the distribution data content;

style identifier adding means for adding a style identifier, which is unique to a style sheet which defines an expression form of the distribution data content, to the distribution data content;

producing means for producing a style using-right key on the basis of the content identifier and style identifier; and

style using-right key adding means for adding the style using-right key to the distribution data content;

wherein the style using-right key is compared with the content identifier and style identifier at the receiving apparatus.

17. The data distribution apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the style using-right key is validated when the distribution data content is purchased.

18. The data distribution apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said style identifier adding means adds a plurality of style identifiers selectable at the receiving apparatus.

19. A data receiving method for receiving distribution data content described from a distribution apparatus in a markup language format in which tags that can be defined arbitrarily are used, comprising the steps of:

receiving the distribution data content identified by a content identifier in the markup language format;

receiving a style sheet identified by a style identifier, which defines an expression form of the distribution data content;

producing a style using-right key on the basis of the content identifier and style identifier; and

determining whether the style using-right key produced in the producing step was added to the received distribution data content from the distribution apparatus.

20. The data receiving method according to claim 19, wherein the style using-right key is validated when the distribution data content is purchased.

21. The data receiving method according to claim 19, further comprising a step of selecting a style sheet from a plurality of style identifiers added to the distribution data content.

22. A data receiving apparatus for receiving distribution data content described from a distribution apparatus in a markup language format in which tags that can be defined arbitrarily are used, comprising the steps of:

receiving means for receiving the distribution data content identified by a content identifier in the markup language format;

said receiving means further receiving a style sheet identified by a style identifier, which defines an expression form of the distribution data content;

producing means for producing a style using-right key on the basis of the content identifier and style identifier; and

determining means for determining whether the style using-right key produced by the producing means was added to the received distribution data content from the distribution apparatus.

23. The data receiving apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the style using-right key is validated when the distribution data content is purchased.

24. The data receiving apparatus according to claim 22, further comprising selecting means for selecting a style sheet from a plurality of style identifiers added to the distribution data content.