Metadata editing apparatus, metadata reproduction apparatus, metadata delivery apparatus, metadata search apparatus, metadata re-generation condition setting apparatus, metadata delivery method and hint information description method

• US 8,811,800 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2007
• Issued: 08/19/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Moriya, Yoshimi, Nishikawa, Hirofumi, Sekiguchi, Shunichi, Asai, Kohtaro, Yamada, Yoshihisa, Otoi, Kenji, Kuroda, Shinichi, Ogawa, Fuminobu
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhao, Daquan
• Assistant Examiner(s): HASAN, SYED Y
• Application Number:
  US11/980,648
• Publication Number:
  US 20080071838A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,484 Days
• Field of Search: 386/52, 386/46, 386/E5.001, 386/230, 386/234, 386/241, 386/243, 386/244, 386/248, 386/282, 386/290, 348/222.1, 348/231.6, 348/239, 348/E5.042, 348/E7.073, 360/13, 369/83, 707/101, 707/102, 707/104.1, 707/203, 707/E17.009, 707/E17.028, 725/87, 725/91, 725/98, 719/320, 719/321
• US Class Current: 386/280
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/71 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/78 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/785 using colour or luminescence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/786 using motion, e.g. object motion or camera motion
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/80 of semi-structured data, e.g. markup language structured data such as SGML, XML or HTML content-based retrieval of web data G06F16/95
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/40 in video content extracting overlay text G06V20/62; video retrieval G06F16/70; processing of video elementary streams in video servers H04N21/234; processing of video elementary streams in video clients H04N21/44
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/28 by using information signals recorded by the same method as the main recording G11B27/22 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234336 by media transcoding, e.g. video is transformed into a slideshow of still pictures or audio is converted into text
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234363 by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for clients with a lower screen resolution
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4668 for recommending content, e.g. movies
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8405 represented by keywords
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8543 using a description language, e.g. Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group [MHEG], eXtensible Markup Language [XML] information retrieval of semistructured data, the underlying structure being taken into account, e.g. mark-up language structure data G06F16/80

Abstract

Multimedia content containing moving pictures and audio is divided into multiple scenes and metadata is generated for each of the scenes obtained as a result of the division. It is possible to generate metadata containing scene structure information metadata that describes the hierarchical structure of the content in addition to scene section information and titles. Also, a name or an identifier of each descriptor contained in the metadata is described as hint information for manipulation of metadata composed of at least one descriptor describing semantic content, a structure, and characteristics of content.

Claims

1. A hint information description method comprising:

receiving metadata hint information for manipulation of metadata composed of at least one descriptor describing semantic content, a structure, and characteristics of content; and

describing, by utilizing a hint information analysis unit, as said metadata hint information, a location of a syntax file defining syntax of the metadata;

setting, by utilizing a metadata regeneration condition setting unit, a metadata re-generation condition based on a result of analysis outputted from the hint information analysis unit wherein the condition setting corresponds to selection of each descriptor that is unnecessary for the metadata regeneration condition setting unit from among various descriptors contained in the metadata hint information; and

regenerating the metadata based on said metadata hint information and the location of the syntax file defining syntax of the metadata satisfying said metadata re-generation condition.

2. A hint information description method comprising:

receiving metadata hint information for manipulation of metadata composed of at least one descriptor describing semantic content, a structure, and characteristics of content; and

describing, by utilizing a hint information analysis unit, as metadata hint information, information indicating whether each descriptor judged as possibly having child elements with reference to a location of a syntax file defining syntax of the metadata actually contains every child element in the metadata;

setting, by utilizing a metadata regeneration condition setting unit, a metadata re-generation condition based on a result of analysis outputted from the hint information analysis unit wherein the condition setting corresponds to selection of each descriptor that is unnecessary for the metadata regeneration condition setting unit from among various descriptors contained in the metadata hint information; and

regenerating the metadata based on said metadata hint information and the location of the syntax file defining syntax of the metadata actually contains every child element in the metadata satisfying said metadata re-generation condition.

3. A hint information description apparatus comprising:

a metadata description unit that receives metadata hint information for manipulation of metadata composed of at least one descriptor describing semantic content, a structure, and characteristics of content;

a hint information analysis unit for describing, as said metadata hint information, a location of a syntax file defining syntax of the metadata; and

a metadata regeneration condition setting unit that sets a metadata re-generation condition based on a result of analysis outputted from the hint information analysis unit wherein the condition setting corresponds to selection of each descriptor that is unnecessary for the metadata regeneration condition setting unit from among various descriptors contained in the metadata hint information and regenerates the metadata based on said metadata hint information and the location of the syntax file defining syntax of the metadata satisfying said metadata re-generation condition.

4. A hint information description apparatus comprising:

a metadata description unit that receives metadata hint information for manipulation of metadata composed of at least one descriptor describing semantic content, a structure, and characteristics of content; and

a hint information analysis unit for describing, as metadata hint information, information indicating whether each descriptor judged as possibly having child elements with reference to a location of a syntax file defining syntax of the metadata actually contains every child element in the metadata;

a metadata regeneration condition setting unit that sets a metadata re-generation condition based on a result of analysis outputted from the hint information analysis unit wherein the condition setting corresponds to selection of each descriptor that is unnecessary for the metadata regeneration condition setting unit from among various descriptors contained in the metadata hint information and regenerates the metadata based on said metadata hint information and the location of the syntax file defining syntax of the metadata actually contains every child element in the metadata satisfying said metadata re-generation condition.