JP5018611B2 - Network control device and network control method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a network control device and a network control method, and more specifically, in a configuration of a plurality of server devices and client devices connected via a DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) network, content information acquired from a plurality of server devices. capable network control devices to perform duplicate detection, relates to a network control method.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, systems in which content such as video and audio can be communicated and viewed between devices and also between rooms in a home using a network installed in the home are becoming widespread. Here, the network is a home network using a wired LAN or wireless LAN used as a transmission medium for connecting a plurality of personal computers (hereinafter referred to as PCs), PC peripheral devices, and the like. Video devices and audio devices that can be connected to such networks have been commercialized, and applications for transmitting content between these video devices and audio devices and the above-described PCs have begun. For example, as an application example, there is a usage method in which content stored in a study PC is viewed on a TV in a living room, and these are realized as a network device control system.

  The conceptual configuration of the above-described network device control system will be described with reference to FIG. In the network device control system, a plurality of server devices (server device X102, server device Y103, server device Z104) and a plurality of client devices (client device A100, client device B101) are connected via a home network. The server device X102, the server device Y103, and the server device Z104 are devices that hold content, and correspond to, for example, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) recorder, a DSC (Digital Still Camera), and the like. The client device A100 and the client device B101 are devices that reproduce content acquired from a plurality of server devices, and correspond to, for example, a TV or a stereo sound device. Here, the PC corresponds to both a server device and a client device.

  By the way, since these PCs, PC peripheral devices, video devices, and audio devices existing in the home are generally rarely devices of the same manufacturer, the server function of the server device, the client function of the client device In order to establish a connection between different manufacturers, a standard for maintaining mutual compatibility is required. Therefore, the above-described network device control system is implemented using the DLNA standard, which is one of the most typical standards for content transmission in a home network. In the DLNA standard, a server device (DMS: Digital Media Server) that holds content, a client device (DMR: Digital Media Renderer) that plays back content acquired from the server device, a controller (CP: Control Point) that controls DMS and DMR Three models have been proposed. The CP may be implemented by DMS or DMR. Here, a client device (DMP: Digital Media Player, hereinafter referred to as a network control device) when the CP is mounted on the DMR will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a conventional network control device (100, 101). The network control device includes a communication control unit 201, a network device discovery unit 202, a device selection control unit 204, a network device control unit 205, a content detection / analysis unit 206, a content selection control unit 208, and a content acquisition unit. 209, a reproduction control unit 210, a content drawing unit 211, a device information storage unit 212, a content information storage unit 213, and a GUI control unit 214. (1) Server device discovery processing, (2) Content information acquisition Process (3) A content reproduction process is executed.

  The communication control unit 201 performs communication control between the network control device and the server device having the content using the TCP / IP protocol on Ethernet (registered trademark), wireless LAN, or Bluetooth (registered trademark).

  The network device discovery unit 202 executes (1) server device discovery processing described later. Then, the acquired device information of the server device is output to the device information storage unit 212. Here, the device information includes, for example, a device name, a manufacturer name, list information of functions supported by the device, information necessary for using these functions, and the like. The device selection control unit 204 generates a GUI for selecting a server device stored in the device information storage unit 212.

  The network device control unit 205 acquires content information from the server device based on the content acquisition request from the content detection / analysis unit 206. The content detection / analysis unit 206 executes (2) content information acquisition processing described later. Then, the acquired content information of the server device is output to the content information storage unit 213. The content selection control unit 208 generates a GUI for selecting content information stored in the content information storage unit 213.

  The content acquisition unit 209 executes (3) content reproduction processing described later. Then, the acquired content is output to the reproduction control unit 210. The reproduction control unit 210 controls the reproduction of the content input from the content acquisition unit 209. The content drawing unit 211 decodes the content input from the playback control unit 210 and outputs the content as video / audio.

  The device information storage unit 212 stores the device information input from the network device discovery unit 202. The content information storage unit 213 stores the content information input from the content detection / analysis unit 206. The GUI control unit 214 controls the GUIs of the device selection control unit 204 and the content selection control unit 208 based on the server device selection request and the content selection request from the user. Also, the playback control unit 210 is controlled based on a content playback request from the user.

  Next, (1) server device discovery processing, (2) content information acquisition processing, and (3) content reproduction processing in the network control device will be described based on the DLNA standard.

(1) Server Device Discovery Processing The network device discovery unit 202 acquires device information (DDD: Device Description Document) transmitted by a server device connected on the DLNA network using an SSDP (Simple Service Discovery Protocol) command. To do. Specifically, device information storage location URL information is acquired as a response to the SSDP command, and device information is acquired by accessing the acquired storage location URL information. In addition to the information described above, the device information includes a control URL (control URL) that is a transmission destination of a SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) command to be described later in order to control each function. Then, the acquired device information is stored in the device information storage unit 212.

(2) Content Information Acquisition Processing The server device has hierarchical structure information 1301 shown in FIG. The hierarchical structure information 1301 has a tree structure including folders starting from “Root”, and content files are associated with lower folders. The content acquisition request is made in units of folders constituting the hierarchical structure information 1301. Here, the content information 1302 is an example of content information acquired when a content acquisition request is made for the “AllVideo” folder of the hierarchical structure information 1301. The “AllVideo” folder has “Documentary Theater 1”, “National News”, and “Documentary Theater 2” as content files. In each content file, a title (title), a creation date (date), a format, a size, a reproduction time, protocol information (protocolinfo) including URL information, and the like are described.

  When a content selection request for a specific folder is input via the GUI control unit 214 and the content selection control unit 208, the content detection / analysis unit 206 includes content information including lower folders or content files included in the target folder. In order to acquire (DIDL: Digital Item Declaration Language), an acquisition command conforming to a CDS (Content Delivery Service) service is generated, and the generated acquisition command is output to the network device control unit 205. The network device control unit 205 converts the input acquisition command into a SOAP command and transmits the control URL to the server device as a destination. The content information is acquired as a response to the SOAP command, and the content detection / analysis unit 206 stores the content information acquired via the network device control unit 205 in the content information storage unit 213.

(3) Content Reproduction Processing When the content reproduction request for the specific content is input via the GUI control unit 214 and the reproduction control unit 210, the content acquisition unit 209 stores the URL of the target content stored in the content information storage unit 213. Based on the information, the target content is acquired by the HTTP protocol. The acquired content is output as video / audio via the playback control unit 210 and the content drawing unit 211.

  Next, the display flow of the content selection screen of the network control device will be described with reference to FIG. (1) After the server device discovery process is completed, the device selection control unit 204, based on the device information stored in the device information storage unit 212, receives a server device selection request via the GUI control unit 214. A device selection screen 1401 is generated and displayed. When the user selects “Server X” via the GUI control unit 214 on the server device selection screen 1401, the content detection / analysis unit 206 generates an acquisition command for the “Root” folder of “Server X”, and the network device The content information corresponding to the “Root” folder is acquired via the control unit 205. Then, the acquired content information is stored in the content information storage unit 213, and the hierarchical selection screen 1402 is generated and displayed on the content selection control unit 208. Similarly, when “Video” is selected on the hierarchical structure selection screen 1402, the content detection / analysis unit 206 executes (2) content information acquisition processing corresponding to the “Video” folder to display the hierarchical structure selection screen 1403. When a folder having a content file is selected, the content selection screen 1404 is generated and displayed. When the desired content is selected on the content selection screen 1404, a content playback request for the desired content is input to the playback control unit 210, and the playback control unit 210 executes (3) content playback processing.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 1, there are generally a plurality of server devices in the same home network, and the network control device grasps all the server devices and all the content information held by the server devices. It is desirable. Therefore, there is a system in which a relay device is installed on a home network, the relay device collectively manages content information held by all server devices as a content list, and efficiently provides content information to network control devices ( For example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2007-1105068 A

  However, the relay device described in Patent Document 1 collectively manages the content list of the union of content held by a plurality of server devices, and considers “content duplication” between the plurality of server devices. There was no problem. In the relay device, for example, when content stored in a DVD recorder is copied and stored in a PC or another DVD recorder, the copied content is also displayed as a separate content in the content list. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the user of the network control device to distinguish whether these duplicate contents are the same or independent when the content list acquired from the relay device is displayed. There arises a problem that operational efficiency and comfort are impaired.

  In addition, even if the relay device has a function of detecting content duplication and the content list is displayed in a form in which duplication is detected by detecting content duplication, the content list created by the relay device along with the exclusion is displayed. Therefore, the information of the server device that has the duplicate content is excluded. For this reason, for example, when the server device holding the content displayed in the content list is in a network disconnection state or a network access busy state, the server device excluded from the list is in a state in which the content can be accessed. There was a problem that the content could not be played. This is because the user of the network control device cannot grasp the existence itself of the server device in a content accessible state. That is, there is a problem that content access according to the server device state or the network state cannot be performed. Even if the resolution and bit rate are different, if the same content (video data recorded with the same program at different resolutions) is excluded except for one, the panel resolution of the network control device itself, the corresponding format, etc. There is also a problem that it is not possible to select a server device that is a content playback target according to the ability of the server.

  Furthermore, since the conventional network control device can only acquire content information in units of folders, content duplication cannot be detected on the content selection screen. For example, content included in the “AllVideo” folder is “genre”. There is a problem in that it is also displayed in duplicate in other folders such as a folder. That is, when the content selection screen is displayed, it becomes difficult for the user of the network control device to distinguish whether the duplicate content between the folders is the same or independent. Similar to the described relay device, there is a problem that operational efficiency and comfort are impaired.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and it is possible to detect duplicate content information acquired from a plurality of server devices in a configuration of a plurality of server devices and client devices connected by a DLNA network. An object of the present invention is to provide a network control device and a network control method.

A network control device according to the present invention is a network control device network-connected to a plurality of server devices holding content, and a device information storage unit that stores device information of the plurality of server devices, and a device information storage unit A content information recursive acquisition unit that recursively acquires content information corresponding to content held by a plurality of server devices based on the stored device information, and a content information storage that stores the content information acquired by the content information recursive acquisition unit Detection is performed for the content information stored in the content information storage unit and the content information stored in the content information storage unit based on a predetermined condition, and a content list is formed from the content information from which duplication is eliminated based on the predetermined priority information and parts, network access state of the plurality of the server device, the net A network device control unit that detects a network disconnection state or a network busy state, and the duplication detection unit detects the network disconnection state or the network busy state of the specific server device when the network device control unit detects the network disconnection state or the network busy state. Another server that determines whether or not the content information is included in the content list, and the content information of the specific server device is included in the content list, and has the same content information as the content information of the specific server device When the device is in a network accessible state, the content information of the specific server device is replaced with the same content information of another server device in the content list .

  According to this configuration, when content held by a plurality of server devices is displayed as a content list in the network control device, duplicate content display can be eliminated and user confusion can be prevented.

Further , according to this configuration, it is possible to perform content access according to the network state of the server device that holds the content, and to prevent user confusion.

  According to the present invention, in a network control device, when content held by a plurality of server devices connected to a DLNA network is displayed as a content list, it is possible to eliminate duplicate content display and prevent user confusion. In addition, it is possible to perform content reproduction according to the capabilities of the network control device and the server device and the network state.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the network control device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Here, the network control device corresponds to the network control device (100, 101) in the conceptual configuration of the network device control system shown in FIG. 1, and operates as a DMP. The server device X corresponds to the server device X102 shown in FIG. 1, the server device Y corresponds to the server device Y103 shown in FIG. 1, and the server device X / server device Y operates as a DMS. The server device X is assumed to be connected to the network before the server device Y.

  The network control device includes a communication control unit 201, a network device discovery unit 202, a content information recursive acquisition unit 203, a device selection control unit 204, a network device control unit 205, a content detection / analysis unit 206, and a duplicate detection. A unit 207, a content selection control unit 208, a content acquisition unit 209, a playback control unit 210, a content drawing unit 211, a device information storage unit 212, a content information storage unit 213, and a GUI control unit 214. (1) Server device discovery processing, (2A) content information recursive acquisition processing, (2B) content information duplication detection processing, and (3) content reproduction processing are executed. In addition, since the thing which attaches | subjects the same code | symbol as the conventional network control apparatus shown in FIG. 12 has the same function, description is abbreviate | omitted. In addition, regarding (1) server device discovery processing and (3) content reproduction processing, the same processing as the conventional network control device shown in FIG.

  The content information recursive acquisition unit 203 executes (2A) content information recursive acquisition processing described later. Based on the content information recursive acquisition request from the content information recursive acquisition unit 203, the content detection / analysis unit 206 acquires content information for all folders of all server devices that hold the content via the network device control unit 205, The content information is stored in the content information storage unit 213.

  The duplication detection unit 207 executes (2B) content information duplication detection processing described later. Then, the content list obtained as a processing result is stored in the content information storage unit 213.

  Next, with respect to (2A) content information recursive acquisition processing and (2B) content information duplication detection processing in the network control device, a diagram showing an example of content information (FIG. 3), and a flowchart showing content list list creation processing (FIG. 4) A description will be given with reference to FIG. 5 showing a display example of a content list.

(2A) Content Information Recursive Acquisition Processing The content information recursive acquisition unit 203 receives (1) a content list display request from the user when the server device discovery processing is completed or via the GUI control unit 214 and the content selection control unit 208. In this case, the server device list that holds the content is acquired based on the device information stored in the device information storage unit 212 (step S401). Then, a content information recursive acquisition request for recursively acquiring content information from a “Root” folder to a lower-level folder for all server devices having content described in the server device list is detected / analyzed. The content information is stored in the content information storage unit 213 through the content detection / analysis unit 206 and the network device control unit 205.

  Specifically, the content information recursive acquisition unit 203 identifies the server device from which the content information is acquired in the server device list (step S402), and the content detection / analysis unit 206 identifies “Root” of the identified server device. An acquisition command conforming to the CDS service from the folder to the lower folder is sequentially generated. The content detection / analysis unit 206 sequentially outputs the created acquisition commands to the network device control unit 205. The network device control unit 205 transmits the input acquisition command to the corresponding server device using the SOAP command, and acquires content information as a response to the SOAP command. The content detection / analysis unit 206 sequentially stores the content information acquired via the network device control unit 205 in the content information storage unit 213 (steps S403 and S404). Then, the processing from step S403 to step S404 described above is executed for all server devices described in the server device list (step S405).

(2B) Content Information Duplication Detection Processing After completion of the above-described (2A) content information recursive acquisition processing, the duplication detection unit 207 performs processing for all content information of all server devices that have content stored in the content information storage unit 213. Thus, content information duplication detection is performed based on a predetermined duplication condition. The predetermined duplication condition includes a predetermined one or a plurality of combinations of protocol information (protocol) including title (title), creation date (date), format, size, playback time, and URL information described in the content information. Or the whole use is considered. In the present embodiment, a case where a title and creation date (date) are used as a predetermined duplication condition will be described.

  The duplication detection unit 207 compares the titles of the content files in all content information of all server devices stored in the content information storage unit 213 (step S406). Here, (2B) content information duplication detection processing is first executed in a single server device, and then executed between a plurality of server devices. If the content file titles do not overlap (“NO” in step S407), the content file information is added to the content list (step S411). On the other hand, if the titles of the content files are duplicated (“YES” in step S407), it is determined whether or not they are duplicated by date (step S408). If the dates are not duplicated (“ NO ”) content file information is added to the content list (step S411). If the dates are duplicated (“YES” in step S409), only content information with a high priority based on a predetermined priority is added to the content list (step S410).

  Here, as the predetermined priority, higher folder priority, connection order higher server priority, high image quality priority, small size priority, and the like can be considered. The predetermined priority may be set by the user according to his / her preference or may be set in advance according to the capability of the network control device. In this case, the network control device includes a priority setting unit (not shown) for setting priority by the user or a priority information storage unit (not shown) for storing preset priority. In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which a higher priority is given to the predetermined priority and a higher priority is given to the connection order higher server.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a content list list created as a result of executing the content list list creation process shown in FIG. 4 using the content information shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, the server device X has hierarchical structure information 301 having “Documentary Theater 1” and “National News” in the “AllVideo” folder, and “Documentary Theater 1” in the “Drama” folder. Then, the server device Y holds hierarchical structure information 311 having “documentary theater 1” and “documentary theater 2” in the “AllVideo” folder. (2A) After the content information recursive acquisition process is completed, the content information storage unit 213 stores the content information 302 of the server device X and the content information 312 of the server device Y.

  First, the duplication detection unit 207 detects title / date duplication in the content information 302 of the server device X, and “Documentary Theater 1” (303, 305), which is a content file in which the title and date overlap, and the title and date overlap. “National News” 304, which is a content file not to be extracted, is extracted. Next, title / date duplication detection is performed in the content information 312 of the server device Y, and “documentary theater 1” 313 and “documentary theater 2” 314, which are content files in which the title and date do not overlap, are extracted. Based on the extraction results of the server device X and the server device Y, the title / date duplication detection between the server devices is further executed. As a result, among the “documentary theater 1” (303, 305, 313) whose titles and dates overlap, content files to be added to the content list based on a predetermined priority (higher folder priority, higher connection priority server priority) are added. “Documentary theater 1” 303 is identified and added, and “national news” 304 and “documentary theater 2” 314, which do not have duplicate titles and dates, are added to the content list. As a result, the obtained content list 500 is output on the screen.

  In this embodiment, (2B) content information duplication detection processing is executed for all folders of the server device, but a folder having a name beginning with “ALL” is a content file duplicated with another folder. Therefore, it may be excluded from the processing target.

  In the content list 500, the title, server device name, date, format, and size are displayed. However, at least only the title may be displayed, and other information may be displayed as additional information.

  Further, the content list 500 is displayed with the content list excluding duplicates. For example, when the server device that holds the displayed content is in a network disconnection state or a network access busy state, it is not displayed. If the server device that owns the content is in a content accessible state, the content information displayed in the content list is replaced, or the server device that owns the displayed content is in a network disconnected state or a network access busy state The same content that is not displayed may be temporarily used until it returns from the time. In addition, when content information is updated, such as when the content is deleted from a server device that holds the displayed content, the content information may be replaced with content information held in a non-displayed server device. In this case, the network connection / disconnection state of the server device is monitored by the network device discovery unit using the SSDP protocol, and whether or not the content information of the server device is updated is determined by the network device control unit 205 by GENA (General Event Notification Architecture). Monitoring is performed using a protocol, and the monitoring results are output to the duplication detection unit 207, respectively. The duplicate detection unit 207 executes replacement / temporary use of content information in the content list stored in the content information storage unit 213 based on the monitoring result.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the network control device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The network control device includes a communication control unit 201, a network device discovery unit 202, a content information recursive acquisition unit 203, a device selection control unit 204, a network device control unit 205, a content detection / analysis unit 206, and a duplicate detection. Unit 601, content selection control unit 208, content acquisition unit 602, hash generation unit 603, playback control unit 210, content drawing unit 211, device information storage unit 212, content information storage unit 213, and GUI control The unit 214 includes (1) server device discovery processing, (2A) content information recursive acquisition processing, (2C) content information duplication detection processing, and (3) content reproduction processing. In addition, since what has attached | subjected the same code | symbol as the network control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention shown in FIG. 2 has the same function, description is abbreviate | omitted. Further, regarding (1) server device discovery processing, (2A) content information recursive acquisition processing, and (3) content reproduction processing, the same processing as that of the network control device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention shown in FIG. 2 is executed. Therefore, explanation is omitted. Furthermore, the predetermined priority is the same as that in the first embodiment. The difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment is that, in the first embodiment, the duplication detection is performed based on the predetermined duplication condition of the content information, whereas in the second embodiment, the predetermined duplication of the content information is performed. Content that is highly likely to be duplicated based on conditions is identified, and duplicate detection is performed by actually acquiring metadata added to the identified content and performing data comparison.

  The duplication detection unit 601 executes (2C) content information duplication detection processing described later. The content acquisition unit 602 acquires metadata added to the content based on the data acquisition request from the duplication detection unit 601 and outputs the metadata to the hash generation unit 603. The hash generation unit 603 calculates a hash value for the metadata input from the content acquisition unit 602 and outputs the hash value to the duplication detection unit 601.

  Next, (2C) content information duplication detection processing in the network control device will be described with reference to a flowchart of content list creation processing (FIG. 7). In addition, what attaches | subjects the same code | symbol as the flowchart of the content list creation process which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention shown in FIG. 4 performs the same process, and abbreviate | omits description.

(2C) Content information duplication detection processing The duplication detection unit 601 performs the processing of (2A) content information recursive acquisition processing (from step S401 to step S405), and all the server devices that hold the content stored in the content information storage unit 213. Content information duplication is detected for all content information based on a predetermined duplication condition. In the present embodiment, a case where a size is used as a predetermined duplication condition will be described.

  The duplicate detection unit 601 compares the size of the content file in all content information of all server devices stored in the content information storage unit 213 (step S701). Here, (2C) content information duplication detection processing is first executed in a single server device, and then executed between a plurality of server devices. If the sizes of the content information do not overlap (“NO” in step S702), the content file information is added to the content list (step S707). On the other hand, if the content file sizes overlap (“YES” in step S702), a data acquisition request is output to the content acquisition unit 602 so as to acquire all or part of the metadata of each overlapping content file. . The content acquisition unit 602 acquires all or part of the metadata added to the target content from the target server device using the HTTP protocol (step S703), and outputs the acquired metadata to the hash generation unit 603.

  The hash generation unit 603 calculates a hash value of the input metadata (step S704), and outputs the calculated hash value to the duplication detection unit 601. The duplication detection unit 601 detects duplication of content files based on the input hash value, and if the hash values are the same (“YES” in step S705), the content having a high priority based on a predetermined priority Only information is added to the content list (step S706). On the other hand, if the hash values are not the same (“NO” in step S705), the content files having the same size are considered to be separate and added to the content list (step S707).

  In the present embodiment, the content acquisition unit 602 acquires all or part of the metadata added to the content, but may acquire a part or thumbnail of the content.

  Further, in the present embodiment, duplicate detection is performed based on the calculated hash value. However, for example, a part of metadata added to content may be compared with each other, and duplicate detection may be performed. For example, in the case of moving image content, duplication detection may be performed by acquiring a predetermined number of I frames. In the latter case, the content acquisition unit 602 acquires part or all of the content using the HTTP protocol, extracts a predetermined number of I frames of the acquired content, and duplicates the extracted predetermined number of I frames. Output to 601. The duplication detection unit 601 determines whether or not the input predetermined number of I frames are the same, and creates a content list based on the determination result.

  Furthermore, when the data size is large in comparison of hash values, duplication detection may be performed with a predetermined size at the beginning.

(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the network control device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The network control device includes a communication control unit 201, a network device discovery unit 202, a content information recursive acquisition unit 203, a device selection control unit 204, a network device control unit 205, a content detection / analysis unit 206, and a duplicate detection. A unit 801, a content selection control unit 208, a content acquisition unit 209, a playback control unit 210, a content drawing unit 211, a device information storage unit 212, a content information storage unit 213, and a GUI control unit 214. (1) Server device discovery processing, (2A) content information recursive acquisition processing, (2D) content information duplication detection processing, and (3) content reproduction processing are executed. In addition, since what has attached | subjected the same code | symbol as the network control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention shown in FIG. 2 has the same function, description is abbreviate | omitted. Further, regarding (1) server device discovery processing, (2A) content information recursive acquisition processing, and (3) content reproduction processing, the same processing as that of the network control device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention shown in FIG. 2 is executed. Therefore, explanation is omitted. Furthermore, the predetermined priority is the same as that in the first embodiment. The difference between the third embodiment and the first embodiment is that, in the third embodiment, SI (Service Information) information is further acquired as content information, and duplicate detection is performed based on the SI information.

  The duplication detection unit 801 executes (2D) content information duplication detection processing described later. Then, the content list obtained as a processing result is stored in the content information storage unit 213.

  Here, the content information in the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 9, the server device X has hierarchical structure information 901 having “Documentary Theater 1” in the “AllVideo” folder and “Documentary Theater 1” in the “Drama” folder. The content information 902 corresponding to the hierarchical structure information 901 of the server device X is “documentary theater 1” 903 and “documentary theater 1” 904, each for specifying a content providing destination (for example, a broadcasting station). It has SI information including an identifier (network_id, transport_id, service_id) and an identifier (event_id) for specifying content. This content information 902 is stored in the content information storage unit 213 by the (2A) content information recursive acquisition process of the network control device. Similarly, content information 912 including SI information corresponding to the hierarchical structure information 911 of the server device Y is also stored in the content information storage unit 213 by the (2A) content information recursive acquisition process of the network control device.

  Next, (2D) content information duplication detection processing in the network control device will be described with reference to a diagram (FIG. 9) showing an example of content information and a flowchart (FIG. 10) of content list creation processing. In addition, what attaches | subjects the same code | symbol as the flowchart of the content list creation process which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention shown in FIG. 4 performs the same process, and abbreviate | omits description.

(2D) Content Information Duplication Detection Processing The duplication detection unit 801 performs the (2A) content information recursion acquisition processing (steps S401 to S405), and all the server devices that hold the content stored in the content information storage unit 213 The SI information of the content file is compared with the content information (step S1001). Here, (2D) content information duplication detection processing is first executed in a single server device, and then executed between a plurality of server devices. If the SI information does not overlap (“NO” in step S1002), the content file information is added to the content list (step S1006). On the other hand, if the SI information is duplicated (“YES” in step S1002), date comparison processing is executed (step S1003), and if the dates are not close (“NO” in step S1004), the content file Information is added to the content list (step S1006). If the dates are close (“YES” in step S1004), only content information with a high priority based on a predetermined priority is added to the content list (step S1005). In this embodiment, “dates are close” means “date difference is within one week”.

  When the network control device acquires the content information shown in FIG. 9 and stores it in the content information storage unit 213, the duplication detection unit 801 first performs SI information duplication detection in the content information 902 of the server device X, and the SI information is duplicated. The content file “Documentary Theater 1” (903, 904) is extracted. Then, the date proximity determination of “documentary theater 1” (903, 904) is performed. Since the date of “Documentary Theater 1” 903 is “2007-05-05” and the date of “Documentary Theater 1” 904 is “2007-05-30”, there is a difference of more than one week. "903" and "Documentary Theater 1" 904 are determined to be non-overlapping content files.

  Next, similarly, SI information duplication detection and date proximity determination are performed in the content information 912 of the server device Y, and “documentary theater 1” (914, 915), which is a content file with no duplication of SI information, is extracted. Then, based on the extraction results of the server device X and the server device Y, further SI information duplication detection and date proximity determination between the server devices are executed. As a result, among the “documentary theater 1” (903, 914) having the same or close dates with overlapping SI information, the content list is displayed based on a predetermined priority (higher folder priority, higher connection priority server priority). The content file to be added is specified and added to “Documentary Theater 1” 903, and “Documentary Theater 1” 913 whose SI information is not duplicated and “Documentary Theater 1” 904 whose dates are not close are added to the content list. As a result, “Documentary Theater 1” (903, 904, 913) is output on the screen as a content list.

  Note that the server device may have edited content obtained by editing a plurality of contents. In this case, as shown in FIG. 11, an “edited” folder is created in the hierarchical structure information 1101 of the server device, and the edited content is held as a content file. The edited content “drama editing for DVD” 1103 is indicated in the content information 1102 by the SI information (1104) of the original content of the editing source. The edited content is also detected by the above-described (2D) content information duplication detection process and displayed in the content list.

  In the duplication detection process according to the present invention, duplication detection is performed using SI information and date. However, as information similar to SI information, for example, content information includes channel information, recording start time, and recording time. If these pieces of information are the same, duplication may be detected as the same program is recorded.

  In addition, the duplication detection processing according to the present invention is first executed in a single server device, and then executed between a plurality of server devices. A folder having a content file from which duplication has been previously removed is stored in each server device. For example, it may be created as a lower folder of the “Root” folder. In this case, the network control device only needs to detect duplication between server devices, so that the processing efficiency is further increased.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful in a network control device such as a TV or STB (Set Top Box) that realizes a function of displaying a list of contents held by a plurality of server devices in a network control device system that shares content on a network. .

The figure which shows the conceptual composition of the network equipment control system The figure which shows the function structure of the network control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the content information acquired from the several server apparatus which concerns on the embodiment Flowchart showing content list creation processing according to the embodiment The figure which shows the example of a display of the content list which concerns on the embodiment The figure which shows the function structure of the network control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. Flowchart showing content list creation processing according to the embodiment The figure which shows the function structure of the network control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the content information which added SI information which concerns on the embodiment Flowchart showing content list creation processing according to the embodiment The figure which shows the other example of the content information which added SI information which concerns on the embodiment The figure which shows the function structure of the conventional network control apparatus. The figure which shows the example of the conventional content information The figure which shows the display flow of the conventional content selection screen

Explanation of symbols

100, 101 Network control device 102, 103, 104 Server device 201 Communication control unit 202 Network device discovery unit 203 Content information recursive acquisition unit 204 Device selection control unit 205 Network device control unit 206 Content detection / analysis unit 207, 601, 801 Duplicate Detection unit 208 Content selection control unit 209, 602 Content acquisition unit 210 Playback control unit 211 Content drawing unit 212 Device information storage unit 213 Content information storage unit 214 GUI control unit 603 Hash generation unit

Claims (2)

A network control device connected to a plurality of server devices holding content,
A device information storage unit that stores device information of the plurality of server devices;
A content information recursive acquisition unit that recursively acquires content information corresponding to the content held by a plurality of server devices based on the device information stored in the device information storage unit;
A content information storage unit for storing the content information acquired by the content information recursive acquisition unit;
Duplication detection for executing duplication detection for the content information stored in the content information storage unit based on a predetermined condition and creating a content list composed of the content information from which duplication is eliminated based on predetermined priority information And
A network device control unit that detects a network accessible state, a network disconnection state, or a network busy state of the plurality of server devices,
The duplication detection unit determines whether content information of the specific server device is included in the content list when the network device control unit detects a network disconnection state or a network busy state of the specific server device. When the content information of the specific server device is included in the content list and when another server device having the same content information as the content information of the specific server device is in a network accessible state, the content A network control device , wherein the content information of the specific server device is replaced with the same content information of the different server device in the list . A network control method in a network control device connected to a plurality of server devices holding content,
A device information storage step for storing device information of the plurality of server devices;
A content information recursive acquisition step for recursively acquiring content information corresponding to the content held by a plurality of server devices based on the stored device information;
A content information storage step for storing the acquired content information;
A duplicate detection step for performing duplicate detection on the stored content information based on a predetermined condition;
A content list creation step for creating a content list composed of the content information from which duplication is eliminated based on the duplication detection result and predetermined priority information;
A network device control step of detecting a network accessible state, a network detachment state, or a network busy state of the plurality of server devices,
The content list creation step determines whether content information of the specific server device is included in the content list when the network device control step detects a network disconnection state or a network busy state of the specific server device. When the content information of the server device is included in the content list list and another server device having the same content information as the content information of the server device is in a network accessible state, the content list A network control method, wherein content information of the specific server device is replaced with the same content information of the different server device in a list.

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