CN101668164B

CN101668164B - Method, device and system for delivering internet protocol based TV content

Info

Publication number: CN101668164B
Application number: CN2008101475996A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 夏宏飞; 王东
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: Nanjing ZTE New Software Co Ltd
Priority date: 2008-09-03
Filing date: 2008-09-03
Publication date: 2011-09-21
Anticipated expiration: 2028-09-03
Also published as: CN101668164A

Abstract

The invention discloses a method, a device and a system for delivering internet protocol based TV content. The method comprises the following steps: user equipment forwards information content to an IPTV media function entity; then, the user equipment requests an IPTV service control function entity to update service logic information recorded in the IPTV service control function entity according to the parameter information of the information content; and the user equipment also requests a service selection function entity to add program description information corresponding to the information content according to the attribute information of the information content. According to the technical scheme provided by the invention, the method, the device and the system can increase content services of an IPTV system and improve the competitiveness of the IPTV system.

Description

Content publishing method, device and system based on internet protocol television

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method, an apparatus, and a system for content distribution based on Internet Protocol Television (IPTV).

Background

Currently, the framework structure of Next Generation Networks (NGN) is basically determined. The NGN includes a user plane, a transport plane, a service control plane, an application plane, and the like in addition to a management plane. Among them, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is a main functional entity set in the service control plane. The registration, authentication, Quality of Service (QoS) management and guarantee of the user and the terminal device can be realized through the IMS. Meanwhile, the IMS is a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) based system, and supports access of various users, nomadic and mobility management of users, and interworking with other conventional networks or next generation networks and service convergence. Currently, IMS has become the main technology and architecture for next generation network convergence.

An interactive network television, also called Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), is a generic name of devices that provide services such as live broadcast, on-demand broadcast, and time-shift broadcast of a television program capable of supporting interactive capability to a user through an IP bearer network. The IPTV uses Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) or ethernet to access a broadband network through a telecommunication channel, transmits a television signal through an internet protocol, and provides various digital media services including television programs by using a Set Top Box (STB) as a main terminal.

At present, by fusing the NGN and the IPTV, content services such as on-demand, live broadcast, and video recording can be provided for a user terminal (user equipment, abbreviated as UE), but these content services are all based on traditional services such as live broadcast and on-demand of user equipment, and have no qualitative difference from traditional digital televisions, which results in lower competitiveness of the IPTV system.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of this, the present invention provides a method, an apparatus, and a system for content distribution based on an IPTV, so as to solve the problem that in the prior art, only content services based on live broadcast and on-demand of a user equipment can be provided, which results in low competitiveness of an IPTV system.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a method for content distribution based on an IPTV is provided, which is applied to a next generation network system including an IPTV service control function entity, a service control function entity, an IPTV media function entity, a service selection function entity, and a service discovery function entity.

The IPTV-based content distribution method according to the present invention comprises: the user equipment uploads the information content to an IPTV media functional entity; then, the user equipment requests the IPTV service control functional entity to update the service logic information recorded in the IPTV service control functional entity according to the parameter information of the information content; and the user equipment also requests the service selection functional entity to add the program description information corresponding to the information content according to the attribute information of the information content.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an IPTV-based content distribution system.

An IPTV-based content distribution system according to the present invention includes: user equipment, an IPTV service control function entity, a service control function entity, an IPTV media function entity, a service selection function entity and a service discovery function entity. The user equipment is used for uploading information content to the IPTV media functional entity, requesting the IPTV service control functional entity to update the recorded service logic information, and requesting the service selection functional entity to add program description information corresponding to the information content; the IPTV media function entity is used for receiving the information content uploaded by the user equipment; the IPTV service control function entity is used for responding to the request of the user equipment and updating the recorded business logic information according to the parameter information of the information content; the service selection functional entity is used for responding to the request of the user equipment and adding the program description information corresponding to the information content according to the attribute information of the information content.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a user equipment applied to a next generation network system including an IPTV service control function entity, a service control function entity, an IPTV media function entity, a service selection function entity, and a service discovery function entity.

The user equipment according to the present invention includes: the device comprises an uploading module, a first request module and a second request module. The uploading module is used for uploading information content to the IPTV media functional entity; the first request module is used for requesting the IPTV service control functional entity to update the business logic information recorded in the IPTV service control functional entity according to the parameter information of the information content; the second request module is used for requesting the service selection functional entity to add the program description information corresponding to the information according to the attribute information of the information content.

According to at least one scheme of the invention, the UE actively uploads the information content to the IPTV media control functional entity and displays the program description information corresponding to the uploaded information content in the service selection functional entity, so that other users can order the uploaded information content, a new service for content release generated by the users is realized, the problem that only the traditional services based on user equipment live broadcast, order broadcast and the like are provided is solved, and the competitiveness of the IPTV system is improved.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention and not to limit the invention. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an NGN-based IPTV system;

fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of an IPTV-based content distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a block diagram of a UE according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3B is a block diagram of a UE according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a flowchart of an IPTV-based content distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a flowchart of a specific implementation of an IPTV-based content distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for uploading file content by a UE according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the establishment of a content upload process initiated by a UE in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a flowchart of the establishment of a content upload process initiated by an IPTV media function entity in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a UE requesting an IPTV service control function entity to update service logic information according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating another UE requesting an IPTV service control function entity to update service logic information according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a UE acquiring an address information list of a service selection function entity according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a UE requesting to add program description information to a service selection function entity according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a flowchart illustrating another UE requesting to add program description information to a service selection function entity according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Overview of the function

As described above, the present invention provides a content distribution scheme based on IPTV, for the problem that only live and on-demand content services based on user equipment can be provided in the prior art, in which a UE actively uploads information content to an IPTV media function entity, initiates a request to an IPTV service control function entity, requests the IPTV service control function entity to update its recorded logic information according to parameter information of the uploaded information content, and requests a service selection function entity to add program description information corresponding to the uploaded information content according to attribute information of the uploaded information content after determining that the uploading is successful and the updating is successful.

Specifically, the UE may upload the information content in the form of a content stream or a file, where the information content mainly refers to a media file in a specific implementation process.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and it will be understood that they are described herein for the purpose of illustration and explanation and not limitation.

For ease of understanding, the following first briefly describes an NGN-based IPTV system with reference to fig. 1.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an NGN-based IPTV system, and as shown in fig. 1, the NGN-based IPTV system mainly includes: user Equipment (User Equipment, abbreviated as UE)11, a Service Control function entity (if an IMS system is adopted in the NGN, this entity is core IMS — core IMS)12, an IPTV Service Control function entity (IPTVService Control function, abbreviated as IPTV SCF)13, an IPTV Media function entity (IPTV MF)14, a Transport Processing function entity (TPF) 15, a Service Selection function entity (SSF) 16, a Resource Admission Control Subsystem (RACS) 17, a Service Discovery function entity (SDF) 18, and a User information Service function entity (User Profile Functions, abbreviated as UPSF) 19. The above entities are described separately below.

The UE11 may specifically be a mobile phone with a mobile capability, a set-top box of a fixed network, or a soft terminal implemented based on software and implementing functions of the set-top box, and also includes functional entities such as a home gateway. The UE can realize IPTV services such as on-demand and live broadcast by interacting with the user, and the UE in the embodiment of the invention has to have storage capacity.

The service control functional entity 12 is connected to the UE11 through a Gm interface, connected to the resource admission control subsystem 17 through a Gq' interface, and connected to the IPTV service control functional entity 13 through an ISC interface, which is a set of main functional entities in the service control plane of the NGN and is mainly used for session control, service authentication, charging, and the like in the case of an IMS network, and the entity is a Core IMS. When the service control function entity 12 is Core IMS, the entity mainly includes Core modules such as P-CSCF/I-CSCF/S-CSCF Core call session control. The Core IMS is used to provide a session control mechanism based on SIP, and is also used to provide authentication and authorization for IPTV terminal users, request a resource admission control subsystem to perform resource allocation work, and the like. The Core IMS carries out SIP session by interacting with the IPTV terminal, the IPTV application function entity and the content distribution function entity, and completes the functions of safety, QoS, charging, roaming and the like.

The IPTV service control function entity 13 is connected to the service control function entity 12 through the ISC interface, and may also be connected to the UE11 through a configured Ut interface, and is connected to the user information service function entity through an Sh interface, for providing service authentication when a session is started or modified, including: checking the information of the user to see whether the user can legally use the selected content; credit limits and credit controls; the IPTV media control function entity provides service for the system selection, and the function entity mainly aims at IPTV services such as on-demand, live broadcast, video recording, time shifting and the like. The functional entity is a SIP application server in the case of an IMS network, and is used to actively initiate content push to the UE.

The IPTV MF14 is connected to the UE11 through Xc and Xd interfaces, and includes an IPTV Media Control function (IPTV Media Control Functions, abbreviated as IPTV MCF)141 and an IPTV Media Delivery function (IPTV Media Delivery Functions, abbreviated as IPTV MDF) 143.

The IPTV MCF is connected to the UE11 through an Xc interface, and is mainly used for: controlling media flow of the IPTVMDF, managing media processing of the IPTV MDF, monitoring a state of the IPTV MDF, managing interaction with a terminal (e.g., trick mode command), processing interaction with the IPTV SCF13, accurately monitoring content distribution and states related to different IPTVMDFs controlled by the functional entity, selecting an IPTV MDF providing a service according to a certain policy when one IPTV MCF controls a plurality of IPTVMDFs, and furthermore, the IPTVMCF is further configured to select an IPTV MF functional entity, return a selected result to the IPTVSCF13, and return a redirected session to the selected IPTV MF functional entity (e.g., when requested content is load balanced between the IPTV MF functional entities or IPTV MFs); billing information is generated, such as billing based on the end user viewing the content.

The IPTV MDF143 is connected to the UE11 through the Xd interface, and is mainly used to implement the following functions: handling delivery of the media stream (delivering media traffic to the UE), which may be in the form of RTP streams, and also supporting content download to the UE 11; provide status reports to the IPTV MCF141 (e.g., reporting established IPTV media streams); the storage medium (for example, on-demand content) and also can store the media service related information of some IPTV services; in a specific case, in case that the same task is not completed by the terminal, storing frequently accessed contents or user-related contents (e.g., PVR, time shift, trick mode live service, user-generated contents, etc.); processing, encoding or decoding media to different required media formats if required (e.g. resolution of the television system is dependent on terminal capabilities or user preferences; content protection functions are done (e.g. content encryption; acquisition of IPTV media content is supported; and for live services the functional entity may also act as a multicast source for the live media stream; distribution of content between IPTV MDFs is controlled).

The transmission processing functional entity 15 is a network access connection and IP core functional entity, and is responsible for data transmission on the premise of guaranteeing QoS, and includes: an Elementary Control Function (ECF), an Elementary Forwarding Function (EFF), and a border gateway Function. Wherein,

the EFF is used to forward a data flow received from one flow point entry on to one or more other flow point exits. For unicast, there is only one egress for a streaming point; for multicast, multiple flow point outlets are included.

The ECF is used to process control protocol data (e.g., routing protocol data) for unicast and multicast data received from a streaming point. The functions that may be included are: sending control protocol data to other ECFs (including events that trigger policy evaluation); interacting with one or more EFFs to suggest new or modified EFFs existing forward push behavior; interaction with other functions within the transport processing function.

SSF16 is used to provide service selection information such as a list of services that the terminal may access, etc.

And the RACS17 is used for completing resource control requests from the Core IMS module, determining available transmission resources, and interacting with the bearer layer to complete functions of bandwidth reservation, allocation, packet filtering, network address and port translation and the like.

And a user information service function entity 18, configured to provide information of user data of the IPTV service.

And a service discovery function entity 19 for providing service attachment information or personalized service discovery.

Based on the above system, according to the embodiment of the present invention, firstly, a content distribution system based on IPTV is provided.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an IPTV-based content distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 2, the IPTV-based content distribution system according to the embodiment includes: UE21, IPTV media function 23, IPTV service control function 25, and service selection function 27. The various entities described above are further described below in conjunction with the figures.

The UE21 is configured to upload information content to the IPTV media function entity 23, request the IPTV service control function entity 25 to update recorded service logic information, and request the service selection function entity 27 to add program description information corresponding to the information content;

the IPTV media function entity 23 is connected to the UE21 through the network, and is configured to receive the information content uploaded by the UE 21;

the IPTV service control function entity 25 is connected to the UE21 through the network, and is configured to respond to the request of the UE21, and update the recorded service logic information according to the parameter information of the information content uploaded by the UE 21;

the service selection function entity 27 is connected to the UE21 through the network, and is configured to respond to the request of the UE21, and add program description information corresponding to the information content according to the attribute information of the information content uploaded by the UE 21.

The parameter information of the information content is information related to service logic in description information of the information content, for example, whether the information content is played in a broadcast manner or is played for a specific user group; the IPTV service control function entity 25 updates the recorded relevant service logic information according to the information, for example, if the information content is only for a specific user group, the IPTV service control function entity 25 increases the right to use the information content for each UE in the specific user group.

And the attribute information of the information content includes: the service selection functional entity 27 may add program description information corresponding to the information content according to the information, and display the program description information to the user, and the user may play the uploaded information content by selecting the program description information.

According to the system provided by the embodiment of the invention, the UE can actively upload the information content to the IPTV media function entity, and display the program description information corresponding to the information content to the user through the service selection function, so that other user equipment can select to play the uploaded information content.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, there is also provided a UE, which is applied to a next generation network system including an IPTV service control function entity, a service control function entity, an IPTV media function entity, a service selection function entity, and a service discovery function entity, and the UE can be applied to the IPTV-based content distribution system.

Fig. 3A is a block diagram of a UE according to an embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 3B is a block diagram of a UE according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 3A, the UE according to the embodiment of the present invention includes: an upload module 31, a first request module 33, and a second request module 35. The above-described respective modules are further described below with reference to the drawings.

The uploading module 31 is used for uploading information content to the IPTV media function entity;

the first request module 33 is configured to request the IPTV service control functional entity to update the service logic information recorded in the IPTV service control functional entity according to the parameter information of the information content;

the second request module 35 is connected to the upload module 31 and the first request module 33, and is configured to request the service selection functional entity to add program description information corresponding to the information according to the attribute information of the information content.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 3B, the uploading module 31 may include: a first sending submodule 311, a resource reservation submodule 313, a first receiving submodule 315 and an uploading submodule 317. The first sending submodule 311 is configured to send an initial session request to the IPTV media function entity, where the initial session request is used to request to upload information content; the resource reservation submodule 313 is connected to the first sending submodule 311, and is configured to send an initial session request to the IPTV media functional entity in the first sending submodule 311, where the IPTV media functional entity interacts with the IPTV media functional entity after receiving the initial session request, and establishes a resource for uploading information content; the first receiving submodule 315 is connected to the first sending submodule 311, and is configured to receive a response message of the initial session request returned by the IPTV media function entity, where the response message carries an identifier for confirming uploading of information content; the uploading submodule 317 is connected to the first receiving submodule 315, and is configured to upload the information content to the IPTV media function entity according to the identifier carried in the response message received by the first receiving submodule 315.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 3B, the first request module 33 may include: a second transmitting submodule 331 and a second receiving submodule 333. The second sending submodule 331 is configured to send a request message to an IPTV service control function entity through an interface between the service control function entity or the user equipment and the IPTV service control function entity, where the request message carries parameter information of the information content; the second receiving submodule 333 is connected to the second sending submodule 331, and is configured to receive a response message from the IPTV service control function entity, where the response message carries an identifier indicating whether the update is successful. The first request module 33 may determine whether the service logic information is successfully updated by the IPTV service control function entity according to the response message received by the second receiving sub-module 333.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 3B, the second request module 35 may include: a third transmitting submodule 351 and a third receiving submodule 353. The third sending sub-module 351 is configured to send a request message to the service selection functional entity through the service control functional entity and the IPTV service control functional entity, or through an interface between the service control functional entity and the IPTV service control functional entity, where the request message carries attribute information of information content; the third receiving submodule 353 is connected to the third sending submodule 351, and is configured to receive a response message from the service selection function entity.

Further, as shown in fig. 3B, the UE may further include a third request module 37 connected to the second request module 35, and configured to obtain the address information list of the service selection function entity by sending a request to the service discovery function entity. The second request module is configured to send a request message to one or more service selection functional entities corresponding to the address information list according to the address information list acquired by the third request module 37, and request the one or more service selection functional entities to add program description information corresponding to the information content according to the attribute information of the information content.

According to the UE of the embodiment of the invention, the information content can be actively uploaded to the IPTV media functional entity, and the requests are respectively sent to the IPTV service control functional entity and the service selection functional entity to update or increase the service logic information and the program description information related to the information content.

According to the embodiment of the invention, the invention also provides a content publishing method based on the IPTV, which is applied to the next generation network system comprising an IPTV service control function entity, a service control function entity, an IPTV media function entity, a service selection function entity and a service discovery function entity. The method can be implemented by using the IPTV-based content delivery system or the UE.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of an IPTV-based content distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 4, the IPTV-based content distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention mainly includes the following processes (step S401 to step S405):

step S401: the user equipment uploads the information content to an IPTV media functional entity;

step S403: the user equipment requests an IPTV service control functional entity to update the business logic information recorded in the IPTV service control functional entity according to the parameter information of the information content;

step S405: the user equipment requests the service selection functional entity to add the program description information corresponding to the information content according to the attribute information of the information content.

The details of each of the above-described processes are further described below.

Step S401

In the processing step, the UE, the resource admission control subsystem, the service control function entity, the IPTV service control function entity, and the IPTV media function entity interact, and the UE first sends an initial session request to the IPTV media function entity through the service control function entity and the IPTV service control function entity, where the initial session request is used to request to upload the information content.

In a specific implementation process, in order to enable the IPTV media function entity to identify the information content requested to be uploaded, the identifier of the information content may be requested to be carried in the initial session, and in addition, information such as a name, description information, and a content source of the information content may also be requested to be carried in the initial session. When the initial session request reaches the IPTV service control functional entity, the IPTV service control functional entity authenticates the information content uploaded by the UE request, wherein the authentication content comprises: judging whether the UE can upload information content; the method may further include whether the uploaded information content is legal (e.g., whether the uploaded information content is safe, whether the uploaded information content includes illegal content, etc.), and after the authentication is passed, the IPTV service control function entity forwards the initial session to the IPTV media function entity.

After receiving the initial session request, the IPTV media function entity performs signaling interaction with the UE, reserves and submits resources for uploading information content, and returns a response message to the UE through the IPTV service control function entity and the service control function entity, where the response message carries an identifier indicating whether to accept the information content uploading. After receiving the response message, if the identifier carried in the response message indicates that the IPTV media function entity accepts the uploading of the information content, the UE may upload the information content to the IPTV media function entity in a streaming or file manner.

(II) step S403

The processing of this step has two implementation modes, the first implementation mode is: the UE sends a request message to an IPTV service control functional entity through a service control entity, wherein the request message carries parameter information of the information content; the IPTV service control functional entity updates the service logic information recorded in the IPTV service control functional entity according to the parameter information carried in the request message, and returns a response message to the UE through the service control functional entity, wherein the response message carries an identifier indicating whether the updating is successful.

The second implementation manner is as follows: the UE sends a request message to an IPTV service control functional entity through an interface Ut between the UE and the IPTV service control functional entity, wherein the request message also carries parameter information of the information content; the IPTV service control functional entity updates the service logic information recorded in the IPTV service control functional entity according to the parameter information, and returns a response message to the UE through the interface Ut, wherein the response message carries an identifier indicating whether the updating is successful.

The IPTV service control function entity adds the logic information related to the IPTV service control function entity according to the received parameter information. For example, if the information content is only for a specific user group, the IPTV service control function entity needs to add the right information of the corresponding user equipment for using the information content.

The above steps S401 and S403 may not have a chronological order, that is, step S401 may be performed before step S403, or may be performed after step S403.

(III) step S405

There are also two implementation manners for processing this step, and the first implementation manner is: the UE sends a request message to a service selection functional entity through a service control functional entity and an IPTV service control functional entity, wherein the third request message carries the attribute information of the information content; the service selection functional entity obtains the attribute information of the information content from the request message and generates the program description information corresponding to the information content according to the attribute information.

The second implementation manner is as follows: UE sends request message to the business selection functional entity through Xa interface between the UE and the business selection functional entity, wherein the request message carries the attribute information of the information content; the service selection functional entity obtains the attribute information of the information content from the request message, and adds the program description information corresponding to the information content according to the attribute information.

Wherein the attribute information of the information content includes: the service selection function entity can generate a menu option according to the information such as content name, content description, content keyword, content source, etc., and the menu option is used for playing the information content.

In the specific implementation process, if the user may add another service selection functional entity that is not associated with the user (for example, the information content is in a broadcast or multicast mode, or the user equipment having the viewing right of the information content uploaded by the user equipment is not within the right of the service selection functional entity), before step S405, the method further includes: the UE interacts with the service discovery functional entity, or the service control functional entity, and the user information service functional entity to obtain an address information list of the service selection functional entity that needs to be added, and a detailed description is given to a specific implementation flow of this step in the following embodiments.

After the processing of step S405 is executed, in order to facilitate the user who has the viewing right of the information content to know that the information content is published in time, the IPTV service control function entity may send a message to the user devices to notify the user devices that the information content is published. Specifically, if the uploaded information content is in a broadcast or multicast mode, the IPTV service control function entity may send a broadcast or multicast notification to the UEs in the whole network range or in the multicast address range; if the uploaded information content is specific to a specific user group, a message may be sent to each UE in the user group to inform the UE.

And, if the multimedia subsystem is adopted in the next generation network to which the IPTV-based content distribution method is applied, the service control functional entity is a core multimedia subsystem.

By the content publishing method based on the IPTV provided by the embodiment of the invention, the UE can actively upload the information content to the IPTV media functional entity, and the service selection functional entity displays the menu corresponding to the information content.

In order to further describe the specific implementation of the above method, the following takes the document contents as an example to describe the specific implementation of the above method provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is an implementation flow of the present embodiment, and as shown in fig. 5, the embodiment mainly includes the following steps:

step S501: the UE, the resource admission control subsystem, the service control functional entity, the IPTV service control functional entity and the IPTV media functional entity interact with each other, and the file content is uploaded to the IPTV media functional entity from the UE.

Step S503: the UE interacts with the IPTV service control function entity, or the UE interacts with the IPTV service control function entity and the service control function entity, and updates the service logic recorded in the IPTV service control function entity according to the information related to the service logic in the parameter information of the file content, for example, whether the file content is played in a broadcast manner or only for a specific user group such as friends, and the IPTV service control function entity records the information into the attribute of the corresponding UE in the IPTV service control function entity, and updates the attribute of the UE.

Step S505: the UE interacts with a service discovery functional entity, a service control functional entity and a user information service functional entity to obtain an address information list of a required service selection functional entity; if the UE only adds the program description information corresponding to the uploaded file content to the service selection function entity associated with the UE, for example, the uploaded file content is in a non-broadcast manner, and the UEs having the file content viewing right are all within the right of the service selection function entity, step S507 is directly executed without executing step S505.

Step S507: the UE interacts with the service selection functional entity or the UE interacts with the service selection functional entity, the service control functional entity and the IPTV service control functional entity, adds metadata information (attribute information of the file content, including name of the file content, content description information, classification information, such as classification information of entertainment, sports, and the like) of the uploaded file content into the service selection functional entity, and the service selection functional entity adds program description information corresponding to the uploaded file content according to the information, so that the uploaded file content can be displayed on the service selection functional entity.

In step S507, if step S505 is executed before this step, the service selection function entity in step S507 is one or more service selection function entities corresponding to the address information list acquired by the UE.

After the above steps are executed, the IPTV service control function entity may notify each user equipment, and therefore, the method further includes:

the IPTV service control function entity informs the UE with the authority of watching the file content, the file content is uploaded, or informs the UE to play the file content. Specifically, if the uploaded file content is in a broadcast or multicast mode, the UE may be notified in the broadcast or multicast mode; if the uploaded file content is based on a specific user group, a notification message can be sent to each UE in the user group.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart of a specific implementation of step S501 in this implementation, and as shown in fig. 6, the method mainly includes the following steps:

step S601: UE sends an initial session request for preparing to upload content to a service control function entity;

step S603: the service control function entity forwards the session initial session request to an IPTV service control function entity;

step S605: the IPTV service control function entity authenticates the service of the content uploaded by the UE, wherein the authentication comprises judging whether the UE can upload the content or not, and can also comprise judging whether the uploaded content is legal or not. If the authentication is passed and the user can upload the content, executing the next step; otherwise, the IPTV service control functional entity sends authentication failure information to the UE through the service control functional entity, and the process is finished.

Step S607: the IPTV service control functional entity forwards the initial session request to the IPTV media functional entity;

step S609: the content uploading process is established between the IPTV media function entity and the UE, resources for content uploading are reserved to guarantee the uploaded service quality, and the reserved resources are confirmed to the IPTV media function entity, which may be initiated by the UE (as shown in fig. 7) or initiated by the IPTV media function entity (as shown in fig. 8). The basis of the quality of service guarantee includes information of file size, small code stream, etc. of the content generated by the user.

Step S611: the IPTV media function entity determines whether to accept the uploading of the file content according to whether the content uploading process in step S609 is successful, whether the content file to be uploaded already exists in the IPTV media function entity, whether the size information of the content file exceeds the size information of the space of the IPTV media function entity, and the like, and carries the determination result in the response message of the initial session request, and sends the response message to the IPTV service control function entity;

step S613: and the IPTV service control functional entity forwards the response message from the IPTV media functional entity to the service control functional entity. If the response message is a response message for accepting the media content, continuing to execute step S615, otherwise executing step S617;

step S615: a service control function entity (if an IMS system is adopted in an applied NGN network, the service control function entity corresponds to the P-CSCF of the Core IMS) interacts with a resource admission control function entity, submits all the reserved resource information and opens a channel for uploading the content in a transmission processing function entity;

step S617: the service control functional entity forwards the response message to the UE, if the response message is a response message for receiving the media content, the step S619 is continuously executed, otherwise, the process is ended;

step S619: the UE may upload the content to the IPTV media function entity in a stream or file based manner.

Fig. 7 and fig. 8 are two embodiments of the step S609, respectively, and as shown in fig. 7, the first embodiment (UE-initiated request) of the step S609 mainly includes the following steps:

step S701: UE sends a content uploading request to a service control function entity, wherein the request comprises the establishment of a media content uploading signaling;

step S703: resource reservation is carried out between the service control functional entity and the resource admission control subsystem;

step S705: the service control functional entity initiates a content uploading request to the IPTV service control functional entity;

step S707: the IPTV service control functional entity sends a content uploading request to the IPTV media functional entity;

step S709: the IPTV media functional entity initiates a response message of a content uploading request to the IPTV service control functional entity according to whether the content file exists or not, whether the size information of the content file exceeds the space size information of the IPTV media functional entity or not and the like so as to return information comprising content transmission signaling establishment;

step S711: the IPTV service control function entity forwards the response message to the service control function entity;

step S713: and the service control functional entity and the resource admission control subsystem update the resource reservation according to the response message. In a specific implementation process, the step is an optional step, and may be executed or not executed.

Step S715: and the service control function entity returns the response message to the UE, and the content transmission process is established.

Fig. 8 is a specific execution process of step S609 in fig. 6 initiated by an IPTV media function entity, as shown in fig. 8, which mainly includes the following steps:

step S801: after receiving an initial session request for uploading file content from UE, the IPTV media functional entity judges whether the UE can upload the file content according to whether the content file exists, whether the size information of the content file exceeds the space size information of the IPTV media functional entity, and the like, and if so, sends a content uploading receiving request to the IPTV service control functional entity, wherein the content uploading request is used for requesting the establishment of media content uploading;

step S803: the IPTV service control functional entity forwards the received content uploading request to the service control functional entity;

step S805: the service control functional entity interacts with the resource admission control subsystem, and reserves resources for content uploading according to the received content uploading request;

step S807: the service control function entity forwards the received content uploading request to the UE;

step S809: UE sends a response message for preparing content upload to a service control function entity;

step S811: and updating the reserved resources between the service control functional entity and the resource admission control subsystem according to the content uploading response message. In the specific implementation process, the step is an optional step;

step S813: the service control function entity forwards the content uploading response message to the IPTV service control function entity;

step S815: and the IPTV service control functional entity forwards the content uploading response message to the IPTV media functional entity.

Specifically, the service logic information that the UE requests the IPTV service control function entity to update its record in this implementation (i.e. step S503 in fig. 5) may include two implementations, fig. 9 is a specific flowchart of one implementation of this step, and as shown in fig. 9, this implementation specifically includes the following steps:

step S901: UE sends request information carrying parameter information to a service control function entity, wherein the parameter information is information related to service logic in description information of uploaded file content;

step S903: the service control function entity forwards the request message to an IPTV service control function entity;

step S905: the IPTV service control function entity updates the service logic information recorded in the IPTV service control function entity according to the received parameter information, for example, if the file content only aims at a specific user group, the authority information of corresponding UE for using the file content needs to be added; after the updating is finished, the IPTV service control functional entity sends a success or failure response message for updating the service logic information to the service control functional entity;

step S907: and the service control function entity forwards the successful or failed response message to the UE. The UE can determine whether the IPTV service control function entity is successfully updated according to the response message, thereby determining whether to continue the subsequent steps.

Fig. 10 is a detailed flowchart of another embodiment of step S503 in fig. 5, in which a UE interacts with an IPTV service control function entity through a Ut interface therebetween, as shown in fig. 10, the embodiment specifically includes the following steps:

step S1001: UE sends request information carrying parameter information to IPTV service control function entity through Ut interface;

step S1003: the IPTV service control functional entity updates the service logic information recorded in the IPTV service control functional entity according to the received parameter information; and after the updating is completed, a success or failure response message for updating the service logic information is sent to the UE through the Ut interface.

Specifically, in this embodiment, the step of acquiring, by the UE, the address information list of the service selection function entity (i.e., step S505 in fig. 5) may include a procedure shown in fig. 11, and as shown in fig. 11, an implementation procedure of the step may specifically include the following steps:

step S1101: UE initiates a request for requesting a service selection function entity list to a service control function entity, wherein the request can carry address information of a service discovery function entity discovered in the starting process of the UE and can also carry out service attachment again, namely rediscovery of the service discovery function entity;

step S1103: the service control functional entity forwards the request information to the service discovery functional entity (if the request carries the address information of the service discovery functional entity, the request is directly forwarded to the service discovery functional entity corresponding to the address information, otherwise, the service selection functional entity needs to select a proper service discovery functional entity to receive the request information);

step S1105: the service discovery functional entity interacts with a user information service functional entity or other functional entities to acquire an address information list of the service selection functional entity;

step S1107: the service discovery functional entity returns the address information list of the service selection functional entity to the service control functional entity;

step S1109: and the service control functional entity returns the address information list of the service selection functional entity to the UE.

Specifically, in this embodiment, the UE requesting to add the program description information corresponding to the file content in the service selection function entity (corresponding to step S507 in fig. 5) may also include two implementation manners, fig. 12 shows a flowchart of one implementation manner, and as shown in fig. 12, the method mainly includes the following steps:

step S1201: the UE sends a request message for adding metadata information (i.e., program description information) corresponding to the uploaded file content in the service selection functional entity to the service selection functional entity through an Xa interface, where the request message carries attribute information of the file content, and the request message includes: content name, content description, content keywords, content source, etc.;

step S1203: and the service selection functional entity adds program description information corresponding to the uploaded file content according to the attribute information and sends a response message of the metadata adding result to the UE.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart illustrating another implementation manner of requesting to add the program description information corresponding to the file content in the service selection function entity, and as shown in fig. 13, the method mainly includes the following steps:

step S1301: the UE sends a request message for adding metadata information (i.e., program description information) corresponding to the uploaded file content in the service selection functional entity to the service selection functional entity from the service control functional entity, where the request message carries attribute information of the file content, and the request message includes: content name, content description, content keywords, content source, etc.;

step S1303: the service control function entity forwards the request message to an IPTV service control function entity;

step S1305: the IPTV service control functional entity forwards the request message to the service selection functional entity through the Xs interface;

step S1307: the service selection functional entity adds program description information corresponding to the uploaded file content according to the attribute information and sends a response message for adding a metadata result to the IPTV service control functional entity;

step S1309: the IPTV service control functional entity forwards the response message to the service control functional entity;

step S1311: and the service control function entity forwards the response message to the UE.

In a specific implementation, if the UE cannot configure the service selection functional entity through the Xa interface, an Xs interface needs to be added between the IPTV service control functional entity and the service selection functional entity, the scheme described in fig. 13 is adopted to configure the service selection functional entity, and program description information corresponding to the uploaded content is added to the service selection functional entity; otherwise, without increasing an Xs interface between the IPTV service control function entity and the service selection function entity, the service selection function entity is configured by using the scheme described in fig. 12, and the program description information corresponding to the uploaded content is added to the service selection function entity.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention can be applied to an IMS-based or non-IMS-based system in a next generation network, and the core competitiveness of an IPTV system can be improved.

As described above, according to the present invention, the UE actively uploads the information content to the IPTV media control function entity, and displays the program description information corresponding to the uploaded information content in the service selection function entity, so that other users can request the uploaded information content, a new service for content distribution generated by the users is implemented, the problem that only conventional services based on live broadcast and request broadcast of the user equipment are provided is solved, and the competitiveness of the IPTV system is improved. In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, after the UE uploads the information content, the IPTV service control function entity further sends a notification message to the UE having the viewing right of the information content, so that the UEs can obtain the uploaded information content in time.

The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications and changes will occur to those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A content publishing method based on Internet protocol television is applied to a next generation network system comprising an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service control functional entity, a service control functional entity, an IPTV media functional entity, a service selection functional entity and a service discovery functional entity, and is characterized in that the method comprises the following steps:

the user equipment uploads the information content to the IPTV media functional entity;

the user equipment requests the IPTV service control functional entity to update the service logic information recorded in the IPTV service control functional entity according to the parameter information of the information content;

and the user equipment requests the service selection functional entity to add program description information corresponding to the information content according to the attribute information of the information content.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the process of the user equipment uploading information content to the IPTV media function entity specifically comprises:

the IPTV media function entity receives an initial session request from the user equipment, wherein the initial session request is used for requesting to upload the information content;

the IPTV media function entity interacts with the user equipment and establishes a resource for uploading the information content;

the IPTV media functional entity returns a response message of the initial session request to the user equipment, wherein the response message carries an identifier for confirming the uploading of the information content;

and after receiving the response message, the user equipment uploads the information content to the IPTV media function entity.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein before the IPTV media function entity receives the initial session request from the user equipment, the method further comprises:

the user equipment sends the initial session request to the IPTV service control functional entity through the service control functional entity;

and after the IPTV service control functional entity authenticates the information content uploaded by the user equipment, the IPTV service control functional entity forwards the initial session request to the IPTV media functional entity.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the requesting, by the ue, the IPTV service control function entity to update the service logic information recorded in the IPTV service control function entity according to the parameter information of the information content specifically includes:

the user equipment sends a first request message to the IPTV service control functional entity through the service control functional entity, wherein the first request message carries parameter information of the information content;

the IPTV service control function entity updates the service logic information recorded in the IPTV service control function entity according to the parameter information carried in the first request message, and returns a response message to the user equipment via the service control function entity, where the response message carries an identifier indicating whether the update is successful.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the requesting, by the ue, the IPTV service control function entity to update the service logic information recorded in the IPTV service control function entity according to the parameter information of the information content specifically includes:

the user equipment sends a first request message to the IPTV service control functional entity through an interface between the user equipment and the IPTV service control functional entity, wherein the first request message carries parameter information of the information content;

and the IPTV service control functional entity updates the service logic information recorded in the IPTV service control functional entity according to the parameter information, and returns a response message to the user equipment through the interface, wherein the response message carries an identifier indicating whether the updating is successful.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein if the user equipment having the viewing right of the information content is not in the same service selection function entity as the user equipment uploading the information content, before the user equipment requests the service selection function entity to add the program description information corresponding to the information content according to the attribute information of the information content, the method further comprises:

the user equipment uploading the information content sends a second request message to the service discovery functional entity through the service control functional entity, wherein the second request message is used for indicating the service discovery functional entity to return an address information list of a service selection functional entity of the user equipment with the information content viewing permission;

the service discovery functional entity acquires the address information list by interacting with a user information service functional entity, carries the address information list in a response message of the second request message and sends the response message to the user equipment;

the processing that the user equipment requests the service selection functional entity to add the program description information corresponding to the information content according to the attribute information of the information content is as follows:

and the user equipment requests a service selection functional entity corresponding to the address in the address information list to add program description information corresponding to the information content according to the attribute information of the information content.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of the user equipment requesting the service selection functional entity to add the program description information corresponding to the information content according to the attribute information of the information content specifically comprises:

the user equipment sends a third request message to the service selection functional entity through the service control functional entity and the IPTV service control functional entity, wherein the third request message carries attribute information of the information content;

and the service selection functional entity acquires the attribute information of the information content from the third request message and adds the program description information corresponding to the information content according to the attribute information.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of the user equipment requesting the service selection functional entity to add the program description information corresponding to the information content according to the attribute information of the information content specifically comprises:

the user equipment sends a third request message to the service selection functional entity through an interface between the user equipment and the service selection functional entity, wherein the third request message carries attribute information of the information content;

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein after the user equipment requests the service selection function entity to add the program description information corresponding to the information content according to the attribute information of the information content, the method further comprises:

and the IPTV service control functional entity sends a notice to the user equipment with the information content watching authority.

10. The method according to any of the claims 1 to 9, wherein said service control function entity is a core IP multimedia subsystem if an IP multimedia subsystem is employed in said next generation network.

11. A system for internet protocol television-based content distribution, comprising: user equipment, an IPTV service control function entity, a service control function entity, an IPTV media function entity, a service selection function entity and a service discovery function entity,

the user equipment is used for uploading information content to the IPTV media functional entity, requesting the IPTV service control functional entity to update the recorded service logic information, and requesting the service selection functional entity to add program description information corresponding to the information content;

the IPTV media function entity is used for receiving the information content uploaded by the user equipment;

the IPTV service control function entity is used for responding to the request of the user equipment and updating the recorded business logic information according to the parameter information of the information content;

and the service selection functional entity is used for responding to the request of the user equipment and increasing the program description information corresponding to the information content according to the attribute information of the information content.

12. A ue applied to a next generation network system including an IPTV service control function entity, a service control function entity, an IPTV media function entity, a service selection function entity, and a service discovery function entity, the ue comprising:

the uploading module is used for uploading information content to the IPTV media functional entity;

a first request module, configured to request the IPTV service control function entity to update service logic information recorded in the IPTV service control function entity according to the parameter information of the information content;

and the second request module is used for requesting the service selection functional entity to add the program description information corresponding to the information content according to the attribute information of the information content.

13. The user equipment of claim 12, wherein the uploading module comprises:

a first sending submodule, configured to send an initial session request to the IPTV media function entity, where the initial session request is used to request to upload the information content;

the resource reservation submodule is used for interacting with the IPTV media functional entity and establishing resources for uploading the information content;

a first receiving sub-module, configured to receive a response message of the initial session request returned by the IPTV media function entity, where the response message carries an identifier for confirming uploading of the information content;

and the uploading sub-module is used for uploading the information content to the IPTV media function entity according to the identifier carried in the response message received by the first receiving sub-module.

14. The UE of claim 12, wherein the first request module comprises:

a second sending sub-module, configured to send a request message to the IPTV service control function entity through the service control function entity, or through an interface between the user equipment and the IPTV service control function entity, where the request message carries parameter information of the information content;

and a second receiving submodule, configured to receive a response message from the IPTV service control function entity, where the response message carries an identifier indicating whether the update is successful.

15. The UE of claim 12, wherein the second requesting module comprises:

a third sending sub-module, configured to send a request message to the service selection function entity through the service control function entity and the IPTV service control function entity, or through an interface between the user equipment and the service selection function entity, where the request message carries attribute information of the information content;

and the third receiving submodule is used for receiving a response message from the service selection functional entity.

16. The user equipment of claim 12, wherein the user equipment further comprises:

and the third request module is used for acquiring the address information list of the service selection functional entity by sending a request to the service discovery functional entity.