Image down-loading apparatus and system, and image down-loading method

• US 7,296,287 B2
• Filed: 03/07/2005
• Issued: 11/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Watanabe, Ikuo, Kazama, Yoichi
• Primary Examiner(s): BUI, KIEU OANH T
• Application Number:
  US11/072,395
• Publication Number:
  US 20050198213A1
• Time in Patent Office: 981 Days
• Field of Search: 725/12, 725/42, 725/87, 725/92, 725/98, 725113-116, 725/145, 725/146, 725/148, 3482111-2114, 348/211.14, 348/211.99
• US Class Current: 725/113
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2187 Live feed
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23424 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for inserting or substituting an advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25833 involving client hardware characteristics, e.g. manufacturer, processing or storage capabilities allocation of resources considering hardware capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5044; allocation of resources considering software capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5055
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26208 the scheduling operation being performed under constraints
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• 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 21/6543 for forcing some client operations, e.g. recording remote booting in general G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/631 Graphical user interfaces [GUI] specially adapted for controlling image capture or setting capture parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/661 Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A switching apparatus of a camera server switches to down-load advertisement for a predetermined period at predetermined intervals while down-loading an image sensed by a camera, in response to a request for the image sensed by the camera.

Claims

1. An image down-loading apparatus for down-loading an image to a plurality of clients via internet, comprising:

a switch adapted to switch between a first output device which outputs a moving image picked up by a connected camera and a second output device which outputs an image that is independent of the moving image; and

a switch controller adapted to control said switch so as to select said first output device after said second output device is selected for a first predetermined period and to make a request for down-loading the moving image effective after a second predetermined period, which is shorter than the first predetermined period, has elapsed since the start of down-loading the image from the second output device,

wherein, in case that the request is received while said second output device is selected, said switch controller controls said switch to switch to said first output device even if the first predetermined period has not elapsed.

2. An image down-loading method of down-loading an image to a plurality of clients via internet, comprising:

a first down-loading step of down-loading a moving image picked up by a camera;

a second down-loading step of down-loading an image that is independent of the moving image;

a switching step of switching from said second down-loading step to said first down-loading step after a first predetermined period has elapsed; and

a control step of making a request for initiating said first down-loading step effective after a second predetermined period, which is shorter than the first predetermined period, has elapsed since the start of said second down-loading step,

wherein, in case that the request is received during said second down-loading step, control of switching to said first down-loading step to down-load the moving image is performed even if the first predetermined period has not elapsed.

3. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable and executable program code means embodied in said medium for down-loading an image to a plurality of clients via internet, said product including:

first computer readable program code means for down-loading a moving image picked up by a camera;

second computer readable program code means for down-loading an image that is independent of the moving image;

third computer readable program code means for switching from the down-loading of the image by said second computer readable program code means to the down-loading of the moving image by said first computer readable program code means after a first predetermined period has elapsed; and

fourth computer readable program code means for making a request for initiating the down-loading of the moving image effective after a second predetermined period, which is shorter than the first predetermined period, has elapsed since the start of down-loading the image by said second computer readable program code means,

wherein, when the request is received during the down-loading of the image by said second computer readable program code means, control of switching to the down-loading of the moving image by said first computer readable program code means is performed even if the first predetermined period has not elapsed.

4. An image receiving apparatus receiving a moving image picked up by a camera and an image that is independent of the moving image, comprising:

a receiving device adapted to receive the moving image and the image that is independent of the moving image and received in advance of the moving image;

a memory control device adapted to control to store the received image independent of the moving image in a memory; and

a display control device adapted to execute a display of the image which is independent of the moving image and is stored in the memory in advance until the moving image is provided, and to switch the display of the image independent of the moving image to a display of the moving image in response to receiving of the moving image.

5. A display method in an image receiving apparatus receiving a moving image picked up by a camera and an image that is independent of the moving image from an image providing apparatus, comprising:

receiving and storing the image independent of the moving image in a memory in response to accessing the camera;

displaying the image which is independent of the moving image and is stored in the memory in advance until the moving image is provided; and

switching the display of the image independent of the moving image to a display of the moving image in response to receiving of the moving image.

6. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program to execute a displaying method in an image receiving apparatus receiving a moving image picked up by a camera and an image that is independent of the moving image from an image providing apparatus, said computer readable program executing:

receiving and storing the image independent of the moving image in a memory in response to accessing the camera;

displaying the image which is independent of the moving image and is stored in the memory in advance until the moving image is provided; and

switching the display of the image independent of the moving image to a display of the moving image in response to receiving of the moving image.

7. An image down-loading apparatus of down-loading an image to a plurality of clients via internet, comprising:

a switch adapted to switch between a first output device which outputs a moving image and a second output device which outputs an advertisement which is independent of the moving image; and

a switch controller adapted to control said switch, in response to a request for the moving image from any of said plurality of clients, to temporarily select the advertisement output from said second output device at a predetermined interval while down-loading the requested moving image;

a down-loading unit adapted to down-load the requested moving image and the temporarily selected advertisement in response to the request.

8. The image down-loading apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the clients are classified into a plurality of groups, and the image down-loading apparatus further comprises a discrimination unit adapted to discriminate a group to which a client belongs,

wherein said switch controller controls said switch so as to make a period to temporarily select the advertisement shorter for a client which belongs to a first group than for a client which belongs to a second group.

9. An image down-loading method of down-loading via internet to a plurality of clients a moving image output by a first output device and an advertisement, output from a second output device, which is independent of the moving image output from said first output device, comprising:

receiving a request for the moving image from any of said plurality of clients;

controlling, in response to the request, to temporarily select the advertisement output from said second output device at a predetermined interval while down-loading the requested moving image; and

down-loading the requested moving image and the temporarily selected advertisement in response to the request.

10. The image down-loading method according to claim 9, wherein the clients are classified into a plurality of groups, and the image down-loading method further comprises discriminating a group to which a client belongs,

wherein in said controlling, it is controlled so as to make a period to temporarily select the advertisement shorter for a client which belongs to a first group than for a client which belongs to a second group.

11. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program to execute an image down-loading method of down-loading via internet to plurality of clients a moving image output by a first output device and an advertisement, output from a second output device, which is independent of the moving image output from said first output device, said computer readable program executing:

receiving a request for the moving image from any of said plurality of clients;

controlling, in response to the request, to temporarily select the advertisement output from said second output device at a predetermined interval while down-loading the requested moving image; and

down-loading the requested moving image and the temporarily selected advertisement in response to the request.

12. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the clients are classified into a plurality of groups, and the computer program product further executes discriminating a group to which a client belongs,

wherein in said controlling, it is controlled so as to make a period to temporarily select the advertisement shorter for a client which belongs to a first group than for a client which belongs to a second group.