Timing decision apparatus and timing decision method

• US 7,610,395 B2
• Filed: 05/25/2005
• Issued: 10/27/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: S&S Industries Incorporated (Fastech Asia Ltd.), NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Kasai, Hiroyuki, Kawasaki, Norihiro, Yamazaki, Kenichi
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, PHUOC H
• Application Number:
  US11/136,567
• Publication Number:
  US 20050265690A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,616 Days
• Field of Search: 709231-233, 370/229
• US Class Current: 709/232
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/262 Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists scheduling strategies for dispatcher in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/4881; arrangements for scheduling broadcast services or broadcast-related services H04H60/06; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a time schedule or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/62
• 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 21/2747 Remote storage of video programs received via the downstream path, e.g. from the server
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4131 home appliance, e.g. lighting, air conditioning system, metering devices home automation data switching networks exchanging configuration information on appliance services H04L12/2807
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• 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 7/17309 Transmission or handling of upstream communications

Abstract

A timing decision apparatus includes: an adaptability decision unit configured to decide a correspondence between a feature quantity of media as encoded data capable of being replayed and an adaptability showing a degree of adaptation for providing a specific service; an adaptability storage unit configured to store the correspondence; and a timing decision unit configured to decide timing of providing the specific service in response to a value of the adaptability stored in the adaptability storage unit.

Claims

1. A timing decision apparatus, comprising:

an adaptability decision unit configured to determine a correspondence between a feature quantity of encoded data and an adaptability value defining a degree of adaptation for providing a predetermined service;

an adaptability storage unit configured to store the correspondence;

a timing decision unit configured to determine a time when the adaptability value stored in the adaptability storage unit exceeds a threshold value, as a timing of providing the predetermined service; and

a trigger transmission unit configured to transmit a trigger to disconnect with a media transmitter to a first media receiver, and transmit a trigger to connect with the media transmitter to a second media receiver, wherein

the predetermined service is a service movement that moves encoded data, which is being transmitted from the media transmitter and being replayed on the first media receiver, to the second media receiver.

2. The timing decision apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an adaptability estimation unit configured to estimate a future adaptability value based on a past adaptability value stored in the adaptability storage unit and the feature quantity of the encoded data.

3. The timing decision apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adaptability decision unit includes

a feature quantity extraction unit configured to extract the feature quantity of the encoded data at a designated time,

a media replay unit configured to replay the encoded data,

an adaptability acquisition unit configured to acquire an assessment result for the designated time as the adaptability value, and

a correspondence creation unit configured to associate the feature quantity at the designated time and the assessment result for the designated time with each other.

4. The timing decision apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the feature quantity is classified into a low-level feature quantity calculated from a measurement value of the encoded data and a high-level feature quantity capturing a semantic aspect of the encoded data.

5. The timing decision apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when the encoded data is video data, the low-level feature quantity includes at least one of a color, a texture, a shape, a motion, and a region, of an overall frame or a subject.

6. The timing decision apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when the encoded data is music data, the low-level feature quantity includes at least one of a size, a pitch, and a spectrum analysis signal of a sound.

7. A timing decision method of a timing decision apparatus, comprising:

determining, with an adaptability decision unit of the timing decision apparatus, a correspondence between a feature quantity of encoded data and an adaptability value defining a degree of adaptation for providing a predetermined service;

storing the correspondence in a memory of the timing decision apparatus;

determining, with a timing decision unit of the timing decision apparatus, a time when the adaptability value stored in the adaptability storage unit exceeds a threshold value, as a timing the predetermined service; and

transmitting, with a trigger transmission unit of the timing decision apparatus, a trigger to disconnect with a media transmitter to a first media receiver, and transmitting a trigger to connect with the media transmitter to a second media receiver, wherein

the predetermined service is a service movement that moves encoded data, which is being transmitted from the media transmitter and being replayed on the first media receiver, to the second media receiver.

8. The timing decision method of a timing decision apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

estimating, with an adaptability estimation unit of the timing decision apparatus, a future adaptability value based on a past adaptability value stored in the past and the feature quantity of the encoded data.

9. The timing decision method of a timing decision apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the step of determining the correspondence includes extracting the feature quantity of the encoded data at a designated time, replaying the encoded data, acquiring an assessment result for the designated time as the adaptability value, and associating the feature quantity at the designated time and the assessment result for the designated time with each other.

10. A timing decision apparatus, comprising:

an adaptability decision unit configured to determine a correspondence between a feature quantity of encoded data and an adaptability value defining a degree of adaptation for providing a predetermined service;

an adaptability storage unit configured to store the correspondence;

a timing decision unit configured to determine a time when the adaptability value stored in the adaptability storage unit exceeds a threshold value, as a timing of providing the predetermined service; and

a trigger transmission unit configured to transmit a predetermined trigger at the timing determined by the timing decision unit, wherein

the predetermined service is an advertisement insertion service that inserts an advertisement into the encoded data being transmitted from a media transmitter and replayed on a media receiver, and

the trigger transmission unit transmits a first trigger and a second trigger to the media receiver, the first trigger is a trigger to request the media transmitter to stop transmitting the encoded data, and the second transmitter is a trigger to request the media transmitter to transmit advertisement data to the media receiver.

11. A timing decision apparatus, comprising:

an adaptability decision unit configured to determine a correspondence between a feature quantity of encoded data and an adaptability value defining a degree of adaptation for providing a predetermined service;

an adaptability storage unit configured to store the correspondence;

a timing decision unit configured to determine a time when the adaptability value stored in the adaptability storage unit exceeds a threshold value, as a timing of providing the predetermined service; and

a trigger transmission unit configured to transmit a trigger to disconnect with a media transmitter to a first media receiver, and transmit a trigger to connect with the media transmitter to a second media receiver, wherein the trigger transmission unit is further configured to transmit at least one trigger for at least one of turning on and off a light and raising and dropping a room temperature to an actuator instrument, and

the predetermined service includes an actuator interlocking service that interlocks the actuator instrument with a replay of the encoded data on a media receiver receiving the encoded data from the media transmitter.

12. A timing decision method of a timing decision apparatus, comprising:

determining, with an adaptability decision unit of the timing decision apparatus, a correspondence between a feature quantity of encoded data and an adaptability value defining a degree of adaptation for providing a predetermined service;

storing the correspondence in a memory of the timing decision apparatus;

determining, with a timing decision unit of the timing decision apparatus, a time when the adaptability value stored in the adaptability storage unit exceeds a threshold value, as a timing the predetermined service; and

transmitting, with a trigger transmission unit of the timing decision apparatus, a trigger to disconnect with a media transmitter to a first media receiver, and transmitting a trigger to connect with the media transmitter to a second media receiver, the transmitting, with the trigger transmission unit, further includes transmitting a predetermined trigger at the time determined by the timing decision unit, wherein

the predetermined service includes an advertisement insertion service that inserts an advertisement into the encoded data being transmitted from a media transmitter and replayed on a media receiver, and

the transmitting, with the trigger transmission unit, further includes transmitting a first trigger and a second trigger to the media receiver, the first trigger is a trigger to request the media transmitter to stop transmitting the encoded data, and the second transmitter is a trigger to request the media transmitter to transmit an advertisement data to the media receiver.

13. A timing decision method of a timing decision apparatus, comprising:

determining, with an adaptability decision unit of the timing decision apparatus, a correspondence between a feature quantity of encoded data and an adaptability value defining a degree of adaptation for providing a predetermined service;

storing the correspondence in a memory of the timing decision apparatus;

determining, with a timing decision unit of the timing decision apparatus, a time when the adaptability value stored in the adaptability storage unit exceeds a threshold value, as a timing the predetermined service; and

transmitting, with a trigger transmission unit of the timing decision apparatus, a trigger to disconnect with a media transmitter to a first media receiver, and transmitting a trigger to connect with the media transmitter to a second media receiver, wherein

the transmitting includes transmitting at least one trigger for at least one of turning on and off a light and raising and dropping a room temperature to the actuator instrument, and the predetermined service includes an actuator interlocking service that interlocks an actuator instrument with a replay of the encoded data on a media receiver receiving the encoded data from a media transmitter.