Content communication system, content communication method, and communication terminal apparatus

• US 8,010,489 B2
• Filed: 08/21/2006
• Issued: 08/30/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Idei, Nobuyuki, Takai, Motoyuki, Sako, Yoichiro, Terauchi, Toshiro, Miyajima, Yasushi, Takehara, Mitsuru
• Primary Examiner(s): Alam; Shahid A
• Assistant Examiner(s): CONYERS, DAWAUNE A
• Application Number:
  US11/507,328
• Publication Number:
  US 20070067311A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,835 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 707/628
• US Class Current: 707/628
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/907 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually

Abstract

A content communication system is disclosed which includes a communication terminal apparatus and a server, the apparatus having category IDs, the server delivering contents corresponding to the category IDs. The communication terminal apparatus includes a category holding device that holds a category ID; a sender device that sends the category IDs; a receiver device that receives contents from the server; and a storage device that stores the received contents. The server includes a receiver device that receives category IDs from the communication terminal apparatus; a database device that stores the contents corresponding to the categories; a search device that searches for and retrieves the contents corresponding to the main category and the sub-categories represented by the received category IDs from the database device; and a sender device that sends the retrieved contents to the communication terminal apparatus.

Claims

1. A content communication system comprising:

a communication terminal apparatus having category IDs; and

a server delivering contents corresponding to said category IDs;

wherein said communication terminal apparatus includes;

an interface to communicate with a module removably coupled to the interface, the module comprising a category holding device, the category holding device comprising a first read-only memory to store unrewritably a first category ID representing a predetermined main category and a second memory to store one or more second category IDs representing a variable number of sub-categories of said main category, the interface being adapted to read the first category ID and the one or more second category IDs from the module and to edit the one or more second category IDs stored on the module;

first sender means configured to send the first category ID representing said main category and the second category IDs representing said sub-categories to said server;

first receiver means configured to receive said contents from said server corresponding to the sub-categories; and

storage means configured to store the contents received by the first receiver means; and

wherein said server includes;

second receiver means configured to receive the first and second category IDs from said communication terminal apparatus;

database means configured to store the contents corresponding to categories;

search means configured to search for and retrieve from said database means category contents corresponding to the first and second category IDs received by the second receiver means; and

second sender means configured to send the category contents retrieved from said database means to said communication terminal apparatus.

2. The content communication system according to claim 1,

wherein said contents are any of such variations as music, voice, still pictures, moving pictures, text information, advertisement information, and meta data attached to contents, and any combination of said variations.

3. The content communication system according to claim 1, wherein

said communication terminal apparatus is capable of communicating with an other communication terminal apparatus for exchange of the one or more second category IDs retrieved from said module of each communication terminal apparatus, and

the contents corresponding to the one or more second category IDs received by the first receiver means are retrieved from said storage means and sent from one communication terminal apparatus to the other communication terminal apparatus.

4. The content communication system of claim 1, wherein the communication terminal apparatus further comprises:

a category input interface to receive first input from a distributor of the communication terminal apparatus of the first category ID representing the main category and to store the first category ID in the module in an unrewritable manner;

a subcategory input interface to receive second input from a user regarding the second category IDs representing the sub-categories, wherein the subcategory input interface is adapted to permit the second input from the user after the first input from the distributor has been received.

5. The content communication system of claim 4, wherein the first receiver circuit is further configured to receive a listing of said sub-categories from which a set of sub-categories identified by the second category IDs may be selected by the user following receipt of the first input from the distributor.

6. A content communication method for sending and receiving contents between a communication terminal apparatus and a server, said communication terminal apparatus having category IDs, said server delivering the contents corresponding to said category IDs, said content communication method comprising:

retrieving from a module removably coupled to the communication terminal apparatus a first ID representing a predetermined main category and one or more second IDs representing a variable number of sub-categories of the main category, the module comprising a category holding device, the category holding device comprising a first read-only memory and a second memory, the first ID being unrewritably stored in the first read-only memory;

sending from said communication terminal apparatus to said server the first ID representing the predetermined main category and the one or more second IDs representing the variable number of sub-categories subsumed under said main category;

receiving contents from said server by said communication terminal apparatus corresponding to the sub-categories;

storing the contents received from said server into storage means on said communication terminal apparatus;

receiving at said server the second IDs representing the variable number of sub-categories from said communication terminal apparatus;

searching for and retrieving, from database means which stores the contents corresponding to the categories, on the server, the contents the second IDs; and

sending the contents retrieved from said database means from the server to said communication terminal apparatus.

7. The content communication method according to claim 6, wherein

said communication terminal apparatus is capable of communicating with an other communication terminal apparatus, the other communication terminal apparatus comprising a second module unrewritably storing a same first ID for a same main category as the predetermined main category, for exchange of second IDs representing sub-categories, and

when said communication terminal apparatus detects that a second ID received from the other communication terminal apparatus matches a second ID stored in the module of the communication terminal apparatus, the communication terminal apparatus retrieves the contents corresponding to the second ID from said storage means and sends the retrieved contents to the other communication terminal apparatus.

8. A communication terminal apparatus for use with a content communication system comprising said communication terminal apparatus and a server, said communication terminal apparatus having category IDs, said server delivering contents corresponding to said category IDs, said communication terminal apparatus comprising:

an interface to communicate with a module removably coupled to the interface, the module comprising a category holding device, the category holding device comprising a first read-only memory to store unrewritably a first category ID representing a predetermined main category and a second memory to store one or more second category IDs representing a variable number of sub- categories subsumed under said main category, the interface being adapted to read the first category ID and the one or more second category IDs from the module and to edit the one or more second category IDs stored on the module;

first communication means configured to send the first category ID representing said main category and the second category IDs representing said sub-categories to said server and to receive first contents from said server corresponding to the sub-categories;

second communication means configured to send the first category ID representing said main category and the second category IDs representing said sub-categories to another communication terminal apparatus and to receive second contents corresponding to the sub-categories from the other communication terminal apparatus; and

storage means configured to store the first contents received from said server and the second contents received from the other communication terminal apparatus.

9. The communication terminal apparatus according to claim 8,

wherein said second communication means receives other category IDs from the other communication terminal apparatus, searches for and retrieves local contents, stored on the storage means, corresponding to the other category IDs received from the other communication terminal apparatus, and sends the local contents to the other communication terminal apparatus.

10. A content communication system comprising:

a communication terminal apparatus having category IDs; and

a server delivering contents corresponding to said category IDs;

wherein said communication terminal apparatus includes;

an interface to communicate with a module removably coupled to the interface, the module comprising a category holding device, the category holding device comprising a first read-only memory to store unrewritably a first category ID representing a predetermined main category and a second memory to store one or more second category IDs representing a variable number of sub-categories subsumed under said main category, the interface being adapted to read the first category ID and the one or more second category IDs from the module and to edit the one or more second category IDs stored on the module;

a first transmission circuit configured to send to said server the first category ID representing said main category and the second category IDs representing said sub-categories subsumed under said main category;

a first receiver circuit configured to receive contents from said server corresponding to said sub-categories; and

at least one third memory configured to store the contents received by the receiver circuit; and

wherein said server includes;

a second receiver circuit configured to receive the first and second category IDs from said communication terminal apparatus;

at least one fourth memory storing at least one database configured to store the contents corresponding to the categories;

at least one processor configured to search for and retrieve from said database device the contents corresponding to said main category and said sub-categories represented by the category IDs received by the second receiver circuit; and

a second transmission circuit configured to send the retrieved contents to said communication terminal apparatus.

11. A communication terminal apparatus for use with a content communication system constituted by said communication terminal apparatus and a server, said communication terminal apparatus having category IDs, said server delivering contents corresponding to said category IDs, said communication terminal apparatus comprising:

an interface to communicate with a module removably coupled to the interface, the module comprising a category holding device, the category holding device comprising a first read-only memory to store unrewritably a first category ID representing a predetermined main category and a second memory to store one or more second category IDs representing a variable number of sub-categories subsumed under said main category, the interface being adapted to read the first category ID and the one or more second category IDs from the module and to edit the one or more second category IDs stored on the module;

a transmission circuit configured to send the first category ID representing said main category and the second category IDs representing said sub-categories subsumed under said main category to said server;

a receiver circuit configured to receive contents from said server corresponding to said sub-categories; and

at least one third memory configured to store the contents received by the receiver device.

12. A content communication system for exchange of content data corresponding to categories between a server and a client terminal,

wherein the client terminal comprises

an interface to communicate with a module removably coupled to the interface, the module comprising a first read-only memory to store unrewritably a first category ID relating to a main category and a second memory to store a set of one or more second category IDs relating to sub-categories of the main category, the interface being adapted to read the first category ID and the one or more second category IDs from the module and to edit the one or more second category IDs stored on the module,

a user interface to receive from a user an indication of one or more selected sub-categories of the main category and for storing the second category IDs corresponding to the selected sub-categories in the second memory;

a first network adapter to communicate over a network to the server, the first network adapter transmitting the first category IDs and the set of second category IDs to the server and receiving from the server content data corresponding to the categories identified by the first category ID and the set of one or more second category IDs, and

a third memory to store the content data received by the network adapter; and

wherein the server comprises

a fourth memory to store the sets of content data corresponding to one or more main categories and one or more sub-categories; and

a second network adapter to communicate over the network to the client terminal, the second network adapter receiving the first and second category IDs from the client terminal and transmitting corresponding content data.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the first, second, and third memories are different portions of a single memory.

14. A communication terminal for exchanging information with a server, the communication terminal comprising:

an interface to communicate with a module removably coupled to the interface, the module comprising a category holding device, the category holding device comprising a first read-only memory to store unrewritably a first category ID relating to a main category and a second memory to store a set of one or more second category IDs relating to sub-categories of the main category, the interface being adapted to read the first category ID and the one or more second category IDs from the module and to edit the one or more second category IDs stored on the module;

a network adapter to communicate over a network to a second communication terminal, the network adapter transmitting the first category ID and the set of second category IDs to the second communication terminal and receiving from the second communication terminal content data corresponding to the categories identified by the first category ID and the set of one or more second category IDs; and

a third memory to store the content data received by the network adapter.

15. The communication terminal of claim 14, wherein the communication terminal apparatus further comprises:

at least one interactive assembly to receive first input from a distributor of the communication terminal regarding the first category ID representing the main category and to store the first category ID in the module in an unrewritable manner; and

at least one user-interactive assembly to receive second input from a user regarding the second category IDs representing the sub-categories, the at least one user-interactive assembly comprising at least one display device and at least one user input device, wherein the at least one user-interactive assembly is adapted to permit the second input from the user after the first input from the distributor has been received.

16. The communication terminal of claim 15, wherein the network adapter is configured to receive a listing of said sub-categories, corresponding to the main category permanently stored, from which a set of sub-categories identified by the second category IDs may be selected by a user, following receipt of the first input from the distributor.

17. The communication terminal of claim 14, further comprising:

at least one processor adapted to;

determine whether any other communication terminals are in range of the communication terminal;

when other communication terminals are in range, determine whether any subset of the other communication terminals in range share one or more sub-categories with the communication terminals; and

when any communication terminals are determined to be in the subset sharing one or more sub-categories with the communication terminal, transmit, using the network adapter, the content data of a shared sub-category to at least one communication terminal that shares the shared sub-category.

18. The communication terminal of claim 14, wherein the apparatus further comprises a second network adapter to communicate over a second network to a server, the second network adapter transmitting the first category ID and the set of second category IDs to the server and receiving from the server content data corresponding to the categories identified by the first category ID and the set of one or more second category IDs, and

wherein the third memory further stores the content data received by the second network adapter.

19. A method comprising:

retrieving a first category ID identifying a main category from a first read-only memory of a communication terminal, the first read-only memory storing the first category ID unrewritably, the first memory being disposed within a category holding device of a module removably coupled to the communication terminal;

accepting input from a user regarding one or more second category IDs identifying one or more sub-categories of the main category and storing the second category IDs in a second memory, the second memory being disposed within the category holding device of the module removably coupled to the communication terminal;

transmitting, over a communication network, the first and second category IDs to a second communication terminal;

when a response is received from the second communication terminal indicating a sub-category match, receiving from the second communication terminal content data corresponding to the first and second category IDs; and

storing the content data received from the second communication terminal in a third memory.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

when no response is received from the second communication terminal indicating a sub-category match, transmitting, over a second communication network, the first and second category IDs to a remote server;

receiving from the remote computing device content data corresponding to the first and second category IDs; and

storing the content data received from the remote computing device in the third memory.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving, over the communication network, other first and second category IDs from the second communication terminal;

determining whether there is a match between the first and second category IDs and the other first and second category IDs, the match being indicative of a commonality of at least one subcategory of the second category IDs and the other second category IDs; and

when there is a match, transmitting an indication of the match and content data corresponding to the at least one subcategory indicated by the match to the second communication terminal.