CN102546191B - The charging method of streaming media service, Apparatus and system - Google Patents

Abstract

The embodiment of the present invention provides a streaming media service billing method, device and system, the method comprising: acquiring the quality price rate set for different quality media data streams of the same streaming media content, and the quality price rate set for each quality stream The quality price rate is determined with reference to the relationship between the actual price of the data code stream of this quality and the standard price, and the standard price is the actual price of a specific quality data code stream of the streaming media content; In the process, for the quality of the code stream segments downloaded in each time segment, determine the payment rate for playing the streaming media content according to the quality price rate; obtain the terminal to play the stream according to the obtained payment rate and the standard price. The actual cost of the media content; the user is billed according to the actual cost. The billing method in the embodiment of the present invention is more flexible.

Description

Billing method, device and system for streaming media service

technical field

The invention belongs to the technical field of streaming media, and in particular relates to a charging method, device and system for streaming media services.

Background technique

Currently, there are more and more streaming media services, such as online music, online video, digital TV, etc. The current billing methods for streaming media services are mainly: pricing for streaming media services of a specific quality, and users need to pay before using streaming media services. For example, users need to pay online for 5 For a fee of around RMB, you can then obtain a license to watch a specific high-definition movie, and then watch that movie.

However, limited by the terminal's ability to process media data and network bandwidth conditions, the quality of service of streaming media is often not guaranteed in actual viewing, especially in an open Internet environment, there may often be delays, packet loss, transmission Phenomena such as bit errors occur. However, in the prior art, only the user's initial choice is considered when charging the streaming media service, and this charging method is not flexible enough.

Contents of the invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide an adaptive charging method, device and system for streaming media services, which can make the charging method more flexible.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a charging method for streaming media services, including:

The quality-price rate set for media data streams of different qualities to obtain the same streaming media content. The quality-price rate of each quality stream is determined by referring to the relationship between the actual price and the standard price of the data stream of this quality. The above-mentioned standard price is the actual price of a specific quality data stream of the streaming media content;

According to the quality of the code stream segment downloaded in each time segment during playing the streaming media content, determine the payment rate for playing the streaming media content according to the quality price rate;

Obtain the actual cost of playing the streaming media content by the terminal according to the obtained payment rate and the standard price;

The user is billed according to the actual cost.

On the other hand, the embodiment of the present invention also provides a billing device for streaming media services, including:

The quality price rate acquisition unit is used to obtain the quality price rate set by media data streams of different qualities of the same streaming media content, and the quality price rate of each quality code stream refers to the actual price and standard of the data code stream of this quality Determined by the relationship between prices, the standard price is the actual price of a specific quality data stream of the streaming media content;

A payment rate statistical unit is used to determine the payment rate for playing the streaming media content according to the quality price rate according to the quality of the code stream segments downloaded in each time segment during the playback of the streaming media content;

The billing unit is configured to calculate the obtained payment rate and the standard price to obtain the actual cost for the terminal to play the streaming media content, and charge the user according to the actual cost.

In yet another aspect, an embodiment of the present invention also provides a network system, including a server, a billing device for streaming media services, and a terminal, wherein,

The server is used to generate media data stream segments of different qualities for the terminal to download and play;

The billing device of the streaming media service is used to obtain the quality price rate set by the media data code streams of different qualities of the same streaming media content, and the quality price rate of the code streams of each quality refers to the data code streams of the quality determined by the relationship between the actual price and the standard price, the standard price being the actual price of a specific quality data code stream of the streaming media content; The quality of the stream segment, determine the payment rate for playing the streaming media content according to the quality price rate; obtain the actual cost of the terminal playing the streaming media content according to the obtained payment rate and the standard price; User billing;

The terminal is configured to download code stream segments for each time segment during the playback of streaming media content.

It can be seen that the method provided by the embodiment of the present invention counts the actual cost of playing the streaming media content according to the quality of the code stream segments downloaded in each time segment during the playing of the streaming media content, which makes the billing method more efficient. flexible.

Description of drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the following will briefly introduce the drawings that need to be used in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art can also obtain other drawings based on these drawings without any creative effort.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an adaptive charging method for a streaming media service provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an adaptive charging method for streaming media services provided by Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is the schematic diagram of AHS streaming media data stream;

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of an MPD file;

Fig. 5 is the schematic diagram that adds the PMPD file that quality price rate is formed on the basis of the MPD file in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of the selection process of the code stream segments experienced by the completion of the entire streaming media content;

7 is a schematic diagram of an adaptive billing device for a streaming media server provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a specific embodiment of the payment rate statistics unit in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of another specific embodiment of the payment rate statistics unit in Fig. 7;

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of another specific embodiment of the payment rate statistics unit in Fig. 7;

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of a specific embodiment of the system embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments It is a part of embodiments of the present invention, but not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by persons of ordinary skill in the art without making creative efforts belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

The billing method for the streaming media service provided by the embodiment of the present invention is realized on the basis of the adaptive streaming media technology. Adaptive streaming technology includes Adaptive Http Streaming (AHS) technology. The basic idea of AHS technology is: generate media data streams with multiple code rates on the server, for example, corresponding to m kinds of quality, which are respectively recorded as Q0, Q1, Q2..., Qm-1; each code stream is divided into n pieces , respectively corresponding to the length of time T0, T1, T2, ..., Tn-1. Adaptive code stream download can be realized through two modes: server push and terminal drive. The terminal chooses to download code stream segments of corresponding quality according to its own processing capability and network conditions. This adaptive process is time-varying. The server will generate a Media Presentation Description (MediaPresentation Description, MPD) file and send it to the terminal, in which information such as the code rate and Http address of each code stream segment is indicated. The terminal can select and switch the corresponding code stream according to the MPD file, network environment and terminal processing. If the media content is protected by copyright, the user terminal also needs to provide a user rights data file when playing the media content, and the user rights data file is used to decrypt the media content at the user end. Generally, the user rights data file includes the following parameters: content key, valid period start time, valid period end time, viewing authority (browsing, downloading, forwarding, etc.) and so on. In the embodiment of the present invention, the quality price rate information may be added to the above-mentioned media presentation description MPD file or user rights data file.

Referring to Fig. 1, the billing method of the streaming media service that the embodiment of the present invention provides, comprises:

Step S101: Obtain the quality-price ratios of different qualities of media data streams of the same streaming media content, the quality-price ratio of each quality code stream is determined by referring to the relationship between the actual price and the standard price of the data streams of this quality, The standard price is the actual price of a specific quality data stream of the streaming media content;

Wherein, the quality-price rate of a code stream of each quality is equal to the ratio between the actual price of the data code stream of this quality and the standard price.

Step S102: According to the quality of the code stream segment downloaded in each time segment during the playback of the streaming media content, the payment rate for playing the streaming media content is determined according to the above-mentioned quality price rate;

Step S103: According to the payment rate obtained in step S102 and the above-mentioned standard price, the actual fee for the terminal to play the above-mentioned streaming media content is obtained.

Step S104: Charge the user according to the actual fee obtained in step S103.

The execution subject in the above-mentioned steps S101 to S104 may be a billing device, which can be set in each terminal. At this time, the billing device is only responsible for the streaming media billing function of the terminal where it is located; in addition, the billing device The device can also be set in the central control device, and the charging device in the central control device is responsible for the streaming media service charging function of all terminals within the network range under the jurisdiction of the central control device.

It can be seen that the method provided by the present invention calculates the actual cost of playing the streaming media content according to the quality of the code stream segments downloaded by the terminal in each time segment in the process of playing the streaming media content, which makes the final actual cost take into account The cost changes caused by the switching of the stream quality during the viewing process make the final actual cost more fair and reasonable.

The specific implementation of the present invention will be described in detail below with several specific examples.

Embodiment one

In this embodiment, the AHS streaming media and the downloading of the adaptive streaming media data code stream adopt the terminal-driven mode as an example for illustration. The method includes the following steps:

Step S201: the server generates an AHS stream media data stream and an MPD file. The specific implementation of this step is already described in the current 3GPP standard about the AHS technology, and it is only briefly described here.

Assuming that the server generates media data streams of m qualities, m is a natural number greater than or equal to 1, and the qualities of these streams can be recorded as Q0, Q1, Q2, ..., Qm-1 respectively. Among them, Q0>Q1>Q2>...>Qm-1. The media data code stream of each quality is divided into n segments, where n is a natural number greater than or equal to 1, and the time lengths of these segments are T0, T1, T2, . . . , Tn-1. Refer to Figure 3 for the generated code stream structure.

The generated MPD file may contain information such as the quality, time length and address of the media data stream. In the MPD file shown in Figure 4, "Representation" indicates a code stream of a certain quality, "Quality" indicates the quality corresponding to the code stream, and "segmentLength" indicates the time length of a code stream segment. In practice, the quality of the data stream can be measured by various parameters that can reflect the quality of the stream, such as the resolution of each frame in the stream, the sampling rate of the stream, and the code rate (PSNR) of the stream. It should be noted that, in FIG. 4 , only the information of each segment of the m-1th code stream in the MPD file is expanded, and in fact, the MPD file certainly also has information of each segment of other code streams.

Step S202: The server defines the actual price of a streaming media data stream of a certain quality of the same streaming media content as a standard price. In practice, the price of the media data stream of the highest quality among the multiple media data streams of different qualities generated for the same streaming media content can be defined, and of course the price of the multimedia data stream of the lowest quality among them can also be defined.

Step S203: Based on the quality of the adaptive streaming media data stream, the server defines a quality-price rate for media data streams of different qualities in the same streaming media content, and the quality-price rate reflects the price and steps of the data stream of this quality The ratio between the standard prices defined in S202, and the higher the quality, the larger the ratio; the lower the quality, the smaller the ratio.

For example, if the price of the media data stream with the highest quality is defined as the standard price, that is, the media data stream with quality Q0 is defined as the standard price, it may be recorded as C. Then the quality-price rate of media data of each quality will satisfy:

1=R ₀ >=R ₁ >=...>=R _m-1 >=0

In practice, the quality threshold Q ^T1 can be set, and only when the quality of the watched data stream is not lower than this threshold, the corresponding billing will be performed. Then the quality price rate has the following constraints:

R _i =0, if Qi<Q ^T1

where i ∈ {0, 1, 2, ..., m−1}.

Of course, you can also set the quality threshold Q ^T2 , and use the same rate calculation when the quality of the watched data stream is higher than this threshold, then there are the following constraints on the quality price rate:

R _i =1, if Qi>Q ^T2

where i ∈ {0, 1, 2, ..., m-1}

Step S204: The server transmits the quality-price rate defined above to the terminal. In this embodiment, the server may add the quality-price rate into the generated MPD file and send it to the terminal.

Thus, the new file generated by the server adding the quality price rate to the MPD file may be called a PMPD file.

Fig. 5 shows the content of the PMPD file formed by adding the quality-price rate on the basis of the MPD file in Fig. 4, wherein QualityPriceRate _i represents the quality-price rate corresponding to the i-th code stream, i∈{0,1,2, ..., m-1}, .

It should be noted that the quality price rate is not limited to the above-mentioned method of passing through the PMPD file; it can also be transferred to the terminal in the permission data file of the user terminal. Generally, the user permission data file contains the following parameters: content key , validity period start time, validity period end time, viewing rights (browsing, downloading, forwarding, etc.), etc.; the quality price rate can also be transmitted to the terminal separately in other ways.

Step S205: The terminal parses the information in the PMPD file to obtain the information about the quality, time length and address of the code stream contained in the MPD file itself, and can also obtain the quality and price information of each code stream added to it.

In practice, the above parameters and their values can be parsed through parameter identifiers.

Of course, if the quality price rate information is not added to the MPD file, then the terminal needs to parse the quality price rate file to obtain the quality price rate information. If the quality price rate information is passed to the terminal separately through other forms, then the terminal only It is necessary to analyze the information transmitted separately to obtain the quality price rate information.

In any case, as long as the quality price rate is not added to the MPD file and passed to the terminal, the server sends the original MPD file to the terminal, and the terminal parses the MPD file.

Step S206: The terminal adaptively selects a code stream for each time segment. The process of adaptive code stream includes: determining the quality of the currently requested code stream according to its own processing capability for media data and current network conditions (such as bandwidth) .

The processing capability of the terminal itself for media data can be obtained by reading the hardware setting information of the terminal; and the current network status can be obtained by reading the network setting information. When determining the quality of the requested code stream based on the above two factors, the quality of the requested code stream can be determined based on the lower of the two factors.

The determined quality of the currently requested code stream should belong to the code stream quality defined by the server, such as the code stream quality carried by the PMPD file or other files, but in practice, considering the processing capability of media data and the current network bandwidth The directly determined code stream quality often cannot fully match the code stream quality predefined by the server, so there is a question of which code stream quality in the PMPD file is used as the determined currently requested code stream quality. In this embodiment, the method of comparison is used to determine, specifically, when the quality of the code stream directly determined by considering the processing capability of the media data and the current network bandwidth is q, then compare and find m kinds of code stream quality in the PMPD file The quality of the code stream that is closest to the q and not greater than q is the finally determined quality of the currently requested code stream. Taking the parameters of code stream quality including code stream as an example, if the media code stream with the maximum code rate B that can be processed is determined by the processing capability of media data and the current network bandwidth, then by comparing the multiple code streams in the PMPD file The code rate parameter in the quality finds that the code rate of the code stream with the quality Q ^B is less than the maximum among B, so it is determined that the code stream segment with the quality Q ^B should be requested at present.

It can be seen that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the terminal needs to adaptively select the quality of the code stream to be received next according to the current actual situation. Assuming that the final terminal receives the entire streaming media content and completes the code stream segment selection process as shown in Figure 6, where S _{i, j} represents the j+1th code stream segment of the code stream with quality Q _i , in each quality The solid line drawn between the code streams indicates the selection trajectory of the selected code stream segments in each time segment, and the media data code stream completely received by the terminal is composed of S _0,0 , S _0,1 , S _{1, 2} ... S _{m-1, n-2} and S _{1, n-1} are composed of n code stream segments.

Step S207: After adaptively selecting a code stream segment for each time segment, the terminal will download the content according to the address of the code stream segment parsed from the PMPD file, and play the content of the segment.

Of course, if the server does not add the quality price rate through the MPD file, then in step S207, what the terminal parses is the original MPD file.

Step S208: The terminal calculates the payment rate p of the streaming media content according to the quality of the code stream segments selected in each time segment of playing the same streaming media content.

In this embodiment, three specific ways of counting the payment rate can be adopted, which are:

Method 1: Count the viewing length of media data streams with different stream qualities. The specific process is:

When the terminal selects a code stream segment for each time segment, record the quality of the code stream where the code stream segment is located and the time length of the code stream segment, and finally calculate the quality and price ratio of all selected code stream segments during streaming media content playback according to The weighting factors of the quality-price rate are weighted and summed to obtain the payment rate p. When calculating the weighted sum, the weight factor of each code stream segment is the ratio of the time length of the code stream segment to the total time length of the code stream of the entire streaming media content.

For example, suppose T _i is the time length of the i+1th selected code stream segment, where i∈{0, 1, 2, . . . , n-1}. The total time length of the code stream of the entire streaming media content is T=T ₀ +T ₁ +...+T _n-1 .

Then the above weighted sum calculation process of payment rate can be expressed as:

$\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; p</span>}<span\; class="notranslate">\; =</span>\frac{<span\; class="notranslate">\; (</span>{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; T</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; 0</span>}}{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; R</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; 0</span>}}^{<span\; class="notranslate">\; \&prime;</span>}<span\; class="notranslate">\; +</span>{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; T</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; 1</span>}}{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; R</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; 1</span>}}^{<span\; class="notranslate">\; \&prime;</span>}<span\; class="notranslate">\; +</span>{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; T</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; 2</span>}}{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; R</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; 2</span>}}^{<span\; class="notranslate">\; \&prime;</span>}<span\; class="notranslate">\; +</span><span\; class="notranslate">\; .</span><span\; class="notranslate">\; .</span><span\; class="notranslate">\; .</span><span\; class="notranslate">\; +</span>{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; T</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; no</span>}<span\; class="notranslate">\; -</span>\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; 1</span>}}{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; R</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; no</span>}<span\; class="notranslate">\; -</span>\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; 1</span>}}^{<span\; class="notranslate">\; \&prime;</span>}<span\; class="notranslate">\; )</span>}{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; T</span>}}$

Wherein, R' _i ∈ {R ₀ , R ₁ , R ₂ , ..., R _n-1 } is the quality-price ratio of the code stream where the i+1th selected media code stream segment is located. For example, if the code stream segment S _j,i is selected, then in the above formula for calculating the weighted sum, R' _i =R _j .

Method 2: Count the switching frequency of media stream segments with different stream qualities. The specific process is as follows:

First, when the quality of the code stream segments selected by two adjacent time segments is different, it is determined that code stream switching occurs. For example, in the code stream segment selection process shown in Figure 6, when the third time segment is selected, Since the second time segment selects the code stream segment S _0,1 , and the next third time segment selects the code stream segment S _1,2, the quality of the code stream where the two adjacent code stream segments are located different, so stream switching occurs.

Next, count the number of stream switching times that occur during the entire streaming media content playback, and denote it as L.

There are many specific implementation methods for counting the number of code stream switching. For example, a switching flag can be set between every two adjacent selected code stream segments. When code stream switching occurs, the corresponding switching flag position is set to 1. Otherwise set to 0. Finally, the sum of all flag bits is calculated to obtain the number of stream switching times. Of course, it is also possible to set a register, which is initially set to zero, and accumulates 1 whenever a code stream switch occurs. After all the code stream segments of the streaming media content are selected, the result in the register is the number of code stream switching times.

Then calculate the payment rate p, the payment rate is the ratio of the number of times that no code stream switching actually occurs in the preset maximum number of code stream switching times in the streaming media content playback process to the above preset maximum number of code stream switching times.

The above preset maximum number of code stream switching times is equal to the maximum number of code stream switching times that can occur during streaming media content playback.

Still taking Figure 6 as an example, when the number of code stream segments of the streaming media content is n, it is not difficult to conclude that the maximum number of code stream switching that can occur is n-1, that is, the preset number of code stream switching times If the maximum value is n-1, then the number of times that no code stream switching actually occurs is n-1-L. Therefore, the calculation of the payment rate can be achieved by the following formula:

p=(n-1-L)/(n-1)

Method 3: Count the switching frequency of media stream segments with different bit rates and qualities, and consider the quality gap between the switched bit streams. The specific process is as follows:

Firstly, referring to the implementation scheme in the above-mentioned mode 2, the number of stream switching times that occur during the entire streaming media content playback is counted.

At the same time, calculate the distance D _k of each stream switching, k∈{0, 1, 2, ..., L-1}, 1≤D _k <m. The distance of code stream switching can be defined as the absolute value of the difference between the quality sequence number of the previous code stream segment and the quality sequence number of the next code stream segment where the code stream switching occurs, where the quality sequence number of the code stream segment is based on the The quality of the code stream where the code stream segment is located is determined by the ranking among the quality of all code streams of the same streaming media content. According to the distance Dk of each code stream switching, the sum of the actual code stream switching distances in the process of playing streaming media content is counted.

For example, if the code stream quality of the previous code stream segment is Q _i , and the code stream quality of the subsequent code stream segment is Q _j , then the switching distance between these two code stream segments is |ij|, where | | is the operation of taking the absolute value.

Then calculate the payment rate p, the payment rate is the maximum value of the distance sum of the switching code stream that can be generated during the playback of the above-mentioned streaming media content minus the distance of the actual code stream switching and the resulting difference and the above-mentioned distance sum of the switching code stream that can be generated The quotient of the maximum value of .

When the same streaming media content has m media data streams of different qualities, and each media data stream is divided into n sections of code stream segments, then the maximum value of the sum of the switching code stream distances that can be generated in the above-mentioned playback of the streaming media content In the case of , the code stream switching occurs between two adjacent time segments (that is, the actual number of code stream switching is n-1), and the code stream switching is always between the code stream with the lowest quality and the code stream with the highest quality (each switching distance is m-1), so the maximum value of the sum of the switching code stream distances that can be generated is equal to (n-1)□(m-1).

Specifically, the payment rate p can be calculated by the following formula:

or

Step S209: According to the payment rate p obtained in step S208 and the previously defined actual price of the media data stream of a specific quality of the streaming media content, that is, the standard price C, calculate the actual cost for the user to watch the streaming media content.

For the post-paid method, the system will deduct the user's actual cost of watching the streaming media content after the user finishes watching;

For the prepaid method, the system will initially charge the standard price first, and then refund the excess and make up for the excess according to the actual cost. For example, if the system defines the standard price according to the price of the highest-quality multimedia data stream, the user will pay the highest possible fee when pre-paying, and when the user finishes watching, the actual fee calculated by the system is often lower than this mark. Price, so the system will also compensate the difference between the two to the user and return it.

It should be noted that the above step S208 and step S209 can be executed by the terminal or by the central control device. For example, in a home network, the central control device that executes step S208 and step S209 can be a home gateway device in the home network , control center or STB, so that the statistics and billing of viewing quality of multiple media terminals in the home can be realized through the central control device.

In addition, since the above-mentioned embodiment is driven by a terminal, in step S206 the quality of the code stream segment is selected in a terminal-driven manner, and in another alternative embodiment, the code stream segment can also be selected in a server-driven manner At this time, in step S206, it will be replaced by the terminal when playing streaming media content. For each time segment, the server selects the quality of the code stream segment downloaded by the terminal according to the terminal's processing capability and current network conditions, and instructs the terminal to download the stream. Quality codestream fragments.

The embodiment of the present invention also provides a billing device for streaming media services. As shown in FIG.

Wherein, the quality-price rate acquisition unit 701 is used to obtain the quality-price rate set by the server for the media data streams of different qualities of the same streaming media content, and the quality-price rate of each quality code stream refers to the data code stream of the quality The relationship between the actual price and the standard price is determined, and the standard price is the actual price of a data code stream of a specific quality of the streaming media content.

The quality-price rate of the above-mentioned code stream of each quality may be equal to the quality-price rate of the data code stream of the quality equal to the ratio between the actual price and the standard price of the data code stream of the quality.

The specific process of setting the quality-price rate and the definition of the standard price are the same as those in the above-mentioned method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

The payment rate statistics unit 702 is used to determine the payment rate for playing the streaming media content according to the quality price rate according to the quality of the code stream segments downloaded by the terminal in each time segment during the playback of the streaming media content. The specific method of determining the payment rate can also adopt the three methods listed in the above-mentioned embodiments. According to these three methods, the payment rate statistics unit 702 can have three specific structures as shown in Fig. 8-10.

The charging unit 703 is configured to obtain the actual fee for the terminal to play the streaming media content according to the obtained payment rate and the standard price, and charge the user according to the actual fee.

The charging unit 703 may calculate the product of the obtained payment rate and the standard price, so as to obtain the actual fee for the terminal to play the streaming media content.

The specific implementation of the payment rate statistics unit 702 will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 8-10 .

As shown in Figure 8, in a specific embodiment, the payment rate statistics unit 702 specifically includes:

A code stream segment information recording unit 70211, configured to record the quality of the code stream segment and the time length of the code stream segment when the terminal downloads the code stream segment for each time segment;

The weighted sum unit 70221 is used to carry out weighted summation of the quality and price rates of the code streams where all code stream segments are downloaded during the media playback process to obtain the payment rate; in the weighted summation process, each code stream segment The weighting factor of the quality price rate of the code stream is the ratio of the time length of the code stream segment to the sum of the time lengths of all code stream segments.

As shown in Figure 9, in another specific embodiment, the payment rate statistics unit 702 specifically includes:

The code stream switching detection unit 70212 is used to determine that code stream switching occurs when the quality of the code stream segments of two adjacent time segments downloaded by the terminal is different;

Code stream switching counting unit 70222, used to count the number of code stream switching that occurs during the entire streaming media content playback process;

The ratio calculation unit 70232 is used to calculate the ratio of the maximum number of code stream switching times that can occur during the streaming media content playback that does not actually occur to the maximum number of code stream switching times that can occur, and obtain the payment rate.

As shown in Figure 10, in another specific embodiment, the payment rate statistics unit 702 specifically includes:

The code stream switching detection unit 70213 is used to determine that code stream switching occurs when the quality of the code stream segments of two adjacent time segments downloaded by the terminal is different;

The single distance calculation unit 70223 is used to record the distance of each code stream switch, and the distance of the code stream switch is between the quality sequence number of the previous code stream segment and the quality sequence number of the next code stream segment where the code stream switch occurs The absolute value of the difference between;

The switching distance summing statistics unit 70233 is used for counting the distance sum of the actual code stream switching during the whole streaming media content playing process;

Code stream switching counting unit 70243, used to count the number of code stream switching that occurs during the entire streaming media content playback process;

The second ratio calculation unit 70253 is used to calculate the distance between the maximum value of the distance sum of the switching code stream that can be generated during the playback of streaming media content minus the distance sum of the actual code stream switching and the above-mentioned distance between the switching code stream that can be generated The quotient of the maximum value of and to get the payment rate.

In addition, for the case where the server sends the information by adding the quality price rate information into a specific file, the quality price rate acquisition unit in the above charging device specifically includes: an analysis unit and a result acquisition unit. Wherein the parsing unit is used for parsing the file sent by the server that contains the quality-price rate information set to the media data streams of different qualities of the same streaming media content, in the file, the quality-price rate of the code stream of each quality is a reference The relationship between the actual price of the data code stream of this quality and the standard price is determined, and the standard price is the actual price of a specific quality data code stream of the streaming media content; the result acquisition unit is used to analyze the result according to the analysis unit Get Get the Quality Price Rate. The file here can be a PMPD file or a user authority data file.

The embodiment of the present invention also provides a network system correspondingly, and the network system includes the billing device for the streaming media service in the above embodiment, a server and a terminal. The terminal includes a downloading unit, and the downloading unit is used for downloading code stream segments for each time segment during playing the streaming media content.

As mentioned above, the quality of the code stream segment downloaded by the terminal may be driven by the terminal or driven by the server.

When the terminal-driven method is adopted, the above-mentioned terminal also includes: a code stream segment selection unit for selecting the quality of the downloaded code stream segment for each time segment according to the processing capability of the terminal itself and the current network condition, and notifying the downloaded The unit downloads bitstream segments of that quality.

When the terminal-driven method is adopted, the above-mentioned terminal also includes: a code stream segment selection result receiving unit, which is used to receive the quality of the code stream segment selected by the server for each time segment according to the terminal's processing capability and current network conditions, and The downloading unit is notified to download the code stream segment of the quality.

In practice, the streaming media service billing device in the above network system can be set in each terminal, and at this time, the streaming media service billing device is only responsible for the streaming media service billing function of the terminal where it is located. Of course, in practice, it is also possible that within a specific network range, a central control device is responsible for unified management of all terminals within the network range under its jurisdiction. At this time, the billing device for the above-mentioned streaming media service can be set in each center In the control device, it is used to be responsible for the streaming media service charging function of all terminals within the network range under the jurisdiction of the central control device.

The network under the jurisdiction of the above-mentioned central control device may be a home network.

Specifically, as shown in Figure 11, the above-mentioned network system includes:

Server 1101: used to generate media data code stream segments of different qualities for the terminal to download and play.

Billing device 1103 for streaming media services: used to obtain the quality price rate set for different quality media data streams of the same streaming media content, and the quality price rate of each quality code stream refers to the data stream of the quality Determined by the relationship between the actual price and the standard price, the standard price is the actual price of a specific quality data code stream of the streaming media content; according to the code stream downloaded in each time segment during the playback of the streaming media content According to the quality price rate of the segment, the payment rate for playing the streaming media content is determined according to the quality price rate; the actual cost for the terminal to play the streaming media content is obtained according to the obtained payment rate and the standard price; for billing.

Desktop computer 1105: used for downloading code stream segments for each time segment during the playback of streaming media content.

Handheld computer 1107: used for downloading code stream segments for each time segment during the process of playing streaming media content.

Notebook computer 1109: used for downloading code stream segments for each time segment during the playback of streaming media content.

The terminal types listed above are only illustrative, and do not constitute a limitation on applicable terminal types, and other terminals with equivalent functions should still be included in the scope of the embodiments of the present invention.

Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the present invention can be realized by means of software plus necessary general-purpose hardware. The general-purpose hardware includes general-purpose integrated circuits, general-purpose CPUs, general-purpose memories, general-purpose components, etc. , Of course, it can also be realized by dedicated hardware including application-specific integrated circuits, dedicated CPUs, dedicated memories, dedicated components, etc., but in many cases the former is a better implementation. Based on this understanding, the essence of the technical solution of the present invention or the part that contributes to the prior art can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a readable storage medium, such as a floppy disk of a computer , a hard disk or an optical disk, etc., including several instructions to make a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) execute the methods of various embodiments of the present invention.

The sequence of the steps in the above method embodiments can be adjusted according to actual application needs, and each step can be combined according to actual application needs to form a new solution. Each unit and module in the above device embodiments can be divided or recombined according to actual application needs.

The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it should be pointed out that, for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the principle of the present invention, some improvements and modifications can also be made, and these improvements and modifications can also be made. It should be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (11)

1. A billing method for a streaming media service, comprising: Obtain the quality price rate set for different quality media data streams of the same streaming media content, the quality price rate of each quality code stream is determined by referring to the relationship between the actual price and the standard price of the data stream of the quality, The standard price is the actual price of a certain quality media data stream of the same streaming media content; According to the quality of the code stream segments downloaded in each time segment in the process of playing streaming media content, the payment rate for playing the streaming media content is determined according to the quality price rate, and the code stream segments downloaded in each time segment The quality of is the stream quality defined by the server; Obtain the actual cost of playing the streaming media content by the terminal according to the obtained payment rate and the standard price; Bill the user according to the actual cost; The acquisition of the quality price rate set for the media data streams of different qualities of the same streaming media content includes: The quality price rate is obtained by analyzing the file sent by the server that contains the quality price rate information set for the media data streams of different qualities of the same streaming media content; The file containing the quality price rate information set for the media data streams of different qualities of the same streaming media content includes: The media presentation description MPD file or user rights data file added with the quality price rate information. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said determining the payment rate for playing the streaming media content according to the quality price rate comprises: When downloading a code stream segment for each time segment, record the quality of the code stream segment and the time length of the code stream segment; Carry out weighted summation according to the weight factor of the quality price rate of all code stream segments downloaded in the process of media playback, and obtain the payment rate; In the weighted summation process of the quality price rate of the code streams where all the code stream segments downloaded in the media playback process, the weight factor of the quality price rate of the code streams of each code stream segment is the weight factor of the code stream segment The ratio of the time length to the sum of the time lengths of all codestream segments. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said determining the payment rate for playing the streaming media content according to the quality price rate comprises: Count the number of code stream switching times that occur during the entire streaming media content playback process, wherein the code stream switching that occurs means that the quality of the code stream segments downloaded by the terminal is different between two adjacent time segments; Calculate the proportion of the maximum number of preset code stream switching times in the stream media content playback process that does not actually occur to the maximum number of code stream switching times to obtain the payment rate. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said determining the payment rate for playing the streaming media content according to the quality price rate comprises: Record the distance of each code stream switching, where the occurrence of code stream switching means that the quality of the code stream segments of two adjacent time segments downloaded by the terminal is different, and the distance between the code stream switching and the place where the code stream switching occurs The absolute value of the difference between the quality sequence number of the previous code stream segment and the quality sequence number of the next code stream segment; Count the number of code stream switching that occurs during the entire streaming media content playback process, and count the distance and sum of the actual code stream switching; Calculate the quotient of the difference between the maximum value of the distance sum of the switching code stream that can be generated during the playback of the streaming media content minus the distance of the actual code stream switching and the maximum value of the above-mentioned distance sum of the switching code stream that can be generated to obtain the payment Rate. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the method further comprises: When the terminal is playing streaming media content, for each time segment, it selects the quality of the downloaded code stream segment according to the terminal's own processing capability and current network conditions, and downloads the quality of the code stream segment. 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the quality-price rate of the code stream of each quality is equal to the difference between the actual price of the data code stream of the quality and the standard price proportion. 7. A billing device for a streaming media service, comprising: The quality price rate acquisition unit is used to obtain the quality price rate set by media data streams of different qualities of the same streaming media content, and the quality price rate of each quality code stream refers to the actual price and standard of the data code stream of this quality Determined by the relationship between prices, the standard price is the actual price of a media data stream of a certain quality for the same streaming media content; The payment rate statistics unit is used to determine the payment rate for playing the streaming media content according to the quality price rate according to the quality of the code stream segments downloaded in each time segment during the playback of the streaming media content, and each time segment The quality of the code stream segment downloaded in is the code stream quality defined by the server; A billing unit, configured to obtain the actual fee for the terminal to play the streaming media content according to the obtained payment rate and the standard price, and charge the user according to the actual fee; The quality price rate acquisition unit includes: The analysis unit is used to analyze the file sent by the server and contains the quality price rate information set for the media data streams of different qualities of the same streaming media content; The file of the predetermined quality price rate information includes: a media presentation description MPD file or a user rights data file added to the quality price rate information, and in the file, the quality price rate of each quality code stream refers to the data of the quality determined by the relationship between the actual price of the code stream and the standard price, where the standard price is the actual price of a specific quality data code stream of the streaming media content; The result acquisition unit is configured to acquire the quality-price ratio according to the analysis result of the analysis unit. 8. The device according to claim 7, wherein the payment rate statistics unit comprises: The code stream segment information recording unit is used to record the quality of the code stream segment and the time length of the code stream segment when downloading the code stream segment for each time segment; The weighted summing unit is used to carry out weighted summation according to the weight factor of the quality price rate of the code stream quality price rate of all code stream fragments that are downloaded in the process of media playback content, and obtains the payment rate; the media playback content During the weighted summation process, the weight factor of the quality price rate of the code stream of each code stream segment is that the time length of the code stream segment accounts for all code streams The ratio of the sum of the durations of the fragments. 9. The device according to claim 7, wherein the payment rate statistics unit comprises: The code stream switching detection unit is used to determine that code stream switching occurs when the quality of the code stream segments of two adjacent time segments downloaded by the terminal is different; A counting unit for the number of code stream switching times, used to count the number of code stream switching times that occur during the entire streaming media content playback process; The first ratio calculation unit is used to calculate the ratio of the number of code stream switching that does not actually occur in the maximum number of code stream switching times preset in the streaming media content playback process to the maximum number of code stream switching times to obtain the payment rate. 10. The device according to claim 7, wherein the payment rate statistics unit comprises: The code stream switching detection unit is used to determine that code stream switching occurs when the quality of the code stream segments of two adjacent time segments downloaded by the terminal is different; A single distance calculation unit is used to record the distance of each code stream switching, and the distance of the code stream switching is the difference between the quality sequence number of the previous code stream segment and the quality sequence number of the next code stream segment where the code stream switch occurs The absolute value of the difference between; A switching distance summation statistical unit is used to count the sum of the actual code stream switching distances during the entire streaming media content playback process; A counting unit for the number of code stream switching times, used to count the number of code stream switching times that occur during the entire streaming media content playback process; The second ratio calculation unit is used to calculate the maximum value of the distance sum of the switching code stream that can be generated during the playback of the streaming media content minus the distance of the actual code stream switching and the resulting difference and the above-mentioned distance sum of the switching code stream that can be generated The quotient of the maximum value of , gets the payment rate. 11. A network system, characterized in that it includes a server, a billing device for streaming media services, and a terminal, wherein, The server is used to generate media data stream segments of different qualities for the terminal to download and play; The billing device of the streaming media service is used to obtain the quality price rate set by the media data code streams of different qualities of the same streaming media content, and the quality price rate of the code streams of each quality refers to the data code streams of the quality determined by the relationship between the actual price and the standard price, the standard price is the actual price of a media data stream of a certain quality for the same streaming media content; The quality of code stream segment, determine the payment rate of playing this streaming media content according to the quality price rate; Obtain the actual cost of terminal playing described streaming media content according to the payment rate obtained and the standard price; According to the actual cost bill users; The terminal is used to download code stream segments for each time segment in the process of playing streaming media content; The billing device for the streaming media service includes: The quality price rate acquisition unit is used to obtain the quality price rate set by media data streams of different qualities of the same streaming media content, and the quality price rate of each quality code stream refers to the actual price and standard of the data code stream of this quality Determined by the relationship between prices, the standard price is the actual price of a specific quality data stream of the streaming media content; The payment rate statistics unit is used to determine the payment rate for playing the streaming media content according to the quality price rate according to the quality of the code stream segments downloaded in each time segment during the playback of the streaming media content, and each time segment The quality of the code stream segment downloaded in is the code stream quality defined by the server; A billing unit, configured to obtain the actual fee for the terminal to play the streaming media content according to the obtained payment rate and the standard price, and charge the user according to the actual fee; The quality price rate acquisition unit includes: The analysis unit is used to analyze the file sent by the server and contains the quality price rate information set for the media data streams of different qualities of the same streaming media content; The file of the predetermined quality price rate information includes: a media presentation description MPD file or a user rights data file added to the quality price rate information, and in the file, the quality price rate of each quality code stream refers to the data of the quality determined by the relationship between the actual price of the code stream and the standard price, where the standard price is the actual price of a specific quality data code stream of the streaming media content; The result acquisition unit is configured to acquire the quality-price ratio according to the analysis result of the analysis unit.