Information processor, information processing method and program

• US 10,547,880 B2
• Filed: 09/23/2014
• Issued: 01/28/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Saturn Licensing LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Saturn Licensing LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kitazato, Naohisa
• Primary Examiner(s): Harold, Jefferey F
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sanders, Justin B
• Application Number:
  US14/493,721
• Publication Number:
  US 20150012955A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,953 Days
• Field of Search: 725 97
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/38 Arrangements for distribution where lower stations, e.g. receivers, interact with the broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/93 which locates resources of other pieces of information, e.g. URL [Uniform Resource Locator]
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/13 Arrangements for device control affected by the broadcast information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2358 for generating different versions, e.g. for different recipient devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2665 Gathering content from different sources, e.g. Internet and satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4358 for generating different versions, e.g. for different peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4725 using interactive regions of the image, e.g. hot spots details of information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/854 Content authoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02

Abstract

An information processor includes: a content acquisition section adapted to acquire linked content that includes a plurality of scenarios, each made up of content data and control information used to control the reproduction of the content data; a control information acquisition section adapted to acquire the control information; and a reproduction control section adapted to control the reproduction of the linked content by reproducing the content data according to the control information, wherein the control information acquisition section acquires, as an event adapted to allow a move from the current scenario to another scenario, the control information including an absolute time-of-day event that occurs at a specific date and time on the scenario time axis, and the reproduction control section allows a move from the current scenario to another scenario if the absolute time-of-day event occurs.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus comprising:

receiver circuitry configured to receive a digital television broadcast signal; and

processing circuitry configured to

acquire first control information associated with a first scenario, the first control information including location information of second control information for a second scenario to which the first scenario is linked and defining an event that allows a move from the first scenario to the second scenario,

acquire first content data associated with the first scenario based on the first control information,

control the decoding of the first content data according to the first control information,

determine the event that allows the move from the first scenario to the second scenario based on the first control information,

allow the move from the first scenario to the second scenario when the event occurs, and

acquire second content data associated with the second scenario from the digital television broadcast signal when the second scenario to which the first scenario is linked is of a broadcast type.

2. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to

acquire the second control information, associated with the second scenario, based on the location information included in the first control information, and

acquire the second content data, associated with the second scenario, based on the second control information.

3. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to

acquire the first content data and the first control information via the Internet, and

acquire the second content data associated with the second scenario from the digital television broadcast signal.

4. The information processing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to

acquire the second control information, associated with the second scenario, based on the location information included in the first control information,

acquire the second content data based on a channel specified in the second control information, and

control decoding of the second content for display according to the second control information associated with the second content data.

5. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to automatically cause the move from the first scenario to the second scenario when the event occurs.

6. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to cause the move from the first scenario to the second scenario when the event occurs and when so instructed by a user operation.

16. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first scenario corresponds to a moving image scenario, a still image scenario, a slideshow scenario, an application scenario or a broadcast scenario.

17. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first control information corresponds to VSI (Video Scenario Information) information.

18. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first control information defines a user interface that is displayed when the event is activated.

19. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein information processing apparatus is a television receiver.

7. A method for decoding content, the method comprising:

acquiring, by circuitry of an information processing apparatus, first control information associated with a first scenario, the first control information including location information of second control information for a second scenario to which the first scenario is linked and defining an event that allows a move from the first scenario to the second scenario;

acquiring first content data associated with the first scenario based on the first control information;

controlling, by the circuitry, the decoding of the first content data according to the first control information;

determining, by the circuitry, the event that allows the move from the first scenario to the second scenario based on the first control information;

allowing, by the circuitry, the move from the first scenario to the second scenario when the event occurs; and

acquiring, by the circuitry, second content data associated with the second scenario from a digital television broadcast signal when the second scenario to which the first scenario is linked is of a broadcast type.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

acquiring the second control information, associated with the second scenario, based on the location information included in the first control information, and

acquiring the second content data, associated with the second scenario, based on the second control information.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein

the acquiring includes acquiring the first content data and the first control information via the Internet, and

the method further includes acquiring the second content data from the digital television broadcast signal.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

acquiring the second control information, associated with the second scenario, based on the location information included in the first control information,

controlling decoding of the second content for display according to the second control information associated with the second content data, wherein

the acquiring the second content data includes acquiring the second content data based on a channel specified in the second control information.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

automatically causing the move from the first scenario to the second scenario when the event occurs.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

causing the move from the first scenario to the second scenario when the event occurs and when so instructed by a user operation.

20. The method of claim 7, wherein the first control information defines a user interface that is displayed when the event is activated.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program which when executed by a computer causes the computer to perform a method for decoding content, the method comprising:

acquiring first control information associated with a first scenario, the first control information including location information of second control information for a second scenario to which the first scenario is linked and defining an event that allows a move from the first scenario to the second scenario;

acquiring first content data associated with the first scenario based on the first control information,

controlling the decoding of the first content data according to the first control information;

determining the event that allows the move from the first scenario to the second scenario based on the first control information;

allowing the move from the first scenario to the second scenario when the event occurs; and

acquiring second content data associated with the second scenario from a digital television broadcast signal when the second scenario to which the first scenario is linked is of a broadcast type.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

acquiring the second control information, associated with the second scenario, based on the location information included in the first control information, and

acquiring second content data, associated with the second scenario, based on the second control information.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein

the acquiring includes acquiring the first content data and the first control information via the Internet, and

the method further includes acquiring second content data from the digital television broadcast signal.