JP2005062952A - Content management method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a content management method and a content management device allowing a user to instinctively recognize content. <P>SOLUTION: A server 10 is provided with a positional information management part 14 receiving positional information of a terminal 20 storing the content from the terminal 20 and managing it, an area determination part 16a determining an area to which the positional information belongs according to a previously decided area determination condition 19, a classification processing part 16b classifying the terminal 20 in association with the area, and a communication part 18 outputting area identification information, terminal identification information, and content identification information in association with each other based on the result of the classification for classifying and displaying the content on the terminal 20 side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a content management method and a content management apparatus for managing content in order to classify and display content in a terminal connected to a network.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, a technology has been used in which an information terminal is connected to a server via a wired or wireless network, and multimedia content data (hereinafter referred to as content) is transferred to each information terminal via the server. With this technology, lifestyles such as enjoying content such as programs, photos, music, etc. are being permeated regardless of location. The content data includes, for example, video data and audio data. Examples of the information terminal include a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) used at home, a mobile terminal represented by a mobile phone and a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance), and a TV with a program recorder.
[0003]
A typical example of a server having such a function is a home server. The home server stores and manages contents such as video, music, and images, and can usually control terminal devices connected via a network.
[0004]
For example, since the home server of Non-Patent Document 1 has a built-in wireless LAN function, video and music can be transferred from the living room to a PC in another room such as a study or a kitchen by wireless communication. In other words, the home server has a role of a control tower that stores digital content such as video and transmits / receives content to / from terminals located in the home. This home server has a function of searching and displaying a desired one from contents connected to the network as an essential function.
[0005]
On the other hand, non-PC users are increasing as users of such home servers. That is, with the increase in the number of always-connected Internet users using mobile phones, there is an increasing number of cases in which a home network is configured and content such as video and music is managed without a PC terminal. In addition, since most current home servers are PC-based, a function for managing content in the terminal is usually provided, but a content classification display method when presenting content to a user is also as follows, for example: Like the knowledge shown in (1) and (2), it is often difficult to understand without knowledge of the PC.
(1) PC physical drive (A drive, C drive, etc.)
(2) Media type (video content represented by MPEG format, image content represented by JPEG format, text file, etc.)
Such classification display is for people with abundant knowledge of PCs. For general users who have little knowledge of ordinary PCs, instead of the above classification, living room, kitchen, child room, audio room, etc. It is desirable to be able to classify and display content at physical locations. An example of classification display based on the premise of having knowledge of such a PC is shown in Patent Document 1.
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2002-328821 A
[0007]
[Non-Patent Document 1]
Sharp Corporation Personal server <Galileo>, [online], [Search July 14, 2003], Internet <URL: http: // www. sharp. co. jp / galileo / index. html>
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, an information terminal such as a PC, a mobile phone, a PDA, or a program recorder is connected to a server on a wired or wireless network at home, and content can be transferred between individual terminals so that any location can be selected. Although lifestyles such as watching favorite programs, photos and music are spreading when you like, currently it is not possible to classify and display content at physical locations such as living room, kitchen, children's room, audio room, etc. There is a point.
[0009]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a content management method and a content management apparatus that allow a user to intuitively understand content.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the present invention, position information of a plurality of terminals storing content is acquired from the plurality of terminals, an area to which the position information belongs is determined based on a predetermined area determination condition, and is associated with the area. Classifying the plurality of terminals, and associating three pieces of information: area identification information for identifying the area based on the result of the classification process, terminal identification information for identifying the terminal, and content identification information for identifying the content A content management method characterized by generating content classification information is provided.
[0011]
Further, the present invention relating to a method is also established as an invention of an apparatus for realizing the method. Further, the present invention relating to the apparatus or method can also be realized as a program for causing a computer to function as means corresponding to the present invention, and a computer-readable recording medium on which the program is recorded.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0013]
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a content management system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
[0014]
As shown in FIG. 1, the content management system 1 includes a single server 10 and a plurality of terminals 20. The server 10 and the terminal 20 are connected by the network 2.
[0015]
The terminal 20 includes a display request unit 21, an access processing unit 22, a content display unit 23, a local content group 24, a position information acquisition unit 25, and a communication unit 26. The hardware configuration of the terminal 20 includes a CPU, a storage device connected to the CPU, an input device, a display device, a communication device, and the like. For example, when the program is read from the storage device, the CPU displays the display request unit 21. , Function as an access processing unit 22, a content display unit 23, a position information acquisition unit 25, and a communication unit 26. The storage device stores various programs and data for executing content management processing in the present system such as the local content group 24. The recording medium reader may read the program from the recording medium and execute the program by the CPU.
[0016]
The display request unit 21 is an interface through which a user inputs a classification display request 27. The display request unit 21 makes a classification display request to the access processing unit 22 based on the input classification display request 27.
[0017]
The access processing unit 22 instructs the communication unit 26 to display a classification display request based on the display request from the display request unit 21. Further, the access processing unit 22 searches the local content group 24 based on the list collection request received from the server 10 via the communication unit 26 and executes content list collection processing. Hereinafter, the content list is data listing a plurality of content data stored in the terminal 20 or the like. This content list includes, for example, a list of content identification information in which content identification information is listed, and a set of contents associated with the content identification information.
[0018]
The access processing unit 22 instructs the position information acquisition unit 25 to acquire the position information of the terminal 20 in addition to collecting the content list. The access processing unit 22 transmits the terminal location information obtained from the location information acquisition unit 25 and the content list as a search collection result obtained from the local content group 24 to the server 10 via the communication unit 26. In addition, the access processing unit 22 instructs the content display unit 23 to display a content list and content classification information as a search result received from the server 10 via the communication unit 26. In this display instruction, the access processing unit 22 generates display image data based on content classification information shown in FIG. 10 described later and the search result shown in FIG.
[0019]
The content display unit 23 displays the acquired content list and content classification information based on a display instruction from the access processing unit 22 or the communication unit 26.
[0020]
The local content group 24 may be content that only the terminal 20 has, or content in the server 10 may have a copy.
[0021]
The location information acquisition unit 25 acquires terminal location information indicating the location information of the terminal 20 itself using a built-in GPS or the like based on the location information acquisition request from the access processing unit 22 and passes it to the access processing unit 22. The access processing unit 22 sends the position information to the server 10 via the communication unit 26. The location information acquisition unit 25 may transmit the terminal location information to the server 10 via the communication unit 26 without going through the access processing unit 22. Alternatively, a terminal 20 that does not have a GPS can be accessed from another terminal group that has a GPS using a short-range wireless technology such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), which is a communication means with a limited access distance. By checking whether or not, the position information of the terminal 20 may be estimated.
[0022]
The communication unit 26 transmits the classification display request from the access processing unit 22 and the terminal location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit 25 to the server 10. In addition, the communication unit 26 passes the list transmission request received from the server 10 to the access processing unit 22. In addition, the communication unit 26 receives the search result content list and content classification information from the server 10, and outputs them to the access processing unit 22.
[0023]
The terminals 20 do not have to have the same configuration as long as the terminal 20 includes the above-described display request unit 21, access processing unit 22, content display unit 23, local content group 24, position information acquisition unit 25, and communication unit 26. There may be other structural differences. In addition, for example, the local content group 24 may not be provided, and the display request unit 21, the access processing unit 22, the content display unit 23, the local content group 24, the position information acquisition unit 25, and the communication unit 26 may be slightly added. There may be a difference in configuration.
[0024]
The server 10 includes an access control unit 11, a content list collection unit 12, a server content group 13, a location information management unit 14, a terminal location information DB 15, a classification information generation unit 16, a search result content group 17, a communication unit 18, and an area determination condition. 19 includes a data display unit 30 and an input unit 31. The hardware configuration of the server 10 includes a CPU, a storage device connected to the CPU, an input device, a display device, a communication device, and the like. For example, when the program is read from the storage device, the CPU controls the access control unit 11. , Functioning as content list collection unit 12, position information management unit 14, classification information generation unit 16, communication unit 18, data display unit 30, and input unit 31. The storage device stores various programs and data for executing content management processing in the present system, such as a server content group 13, a terminal location information DB (database) 15, a search result content group 17, and an area determination condition 19. . The recording medium reader may read the program from the recording medium and execute the program by the CPU.
[0025]
The access control unit 11 issues a content search instruction to the content list collection unit 12 based on a content search request received from the terminal 20 via the communication unit 18.
[0026]
The content list collection unit 12 executes a search based on a search instruction from the access control unit 11. In this search, a list of contents stored in each terminal 20 or server 10 is generated. This search process varies depending on conditions such as the form in which the content is stored. For example, if (A) the server content group 13 is not in the server 10, (B) if the server content group 13 has no copy of the local content group 24 in the terminal 20, (C) the server content group 13 is local to the server content group 13. If there is a copy of the content group 24 but the latest content exists in the local content group 24 in the terminal 20, the search process is executed for the local content group 24. Further, (D) when there is a copy of the local content group 24 in each terminal 20 in the server content group 13, (E) when there is content that does not exist in each terminal 20 in the server content group 13, The search process is executed for both the server content group 13 and the local content group 24 in the terminal 20. The local content of each terminal 20 obtained as a result of the search execution is integrated by the access control unit 11 and stored as a search result content group 17. The server content of the search result for the server content group 13 is also stored as the search result content group 17. Further, the terminal location information of each terminal 20 obtained as a result of the search execution is passed to the location information management unit 14 via the communication unit 18. The search result content group 17 is stored, for example, in the form of a content list.
[0027]
The server content group 13 may store content that only the server 10 has, or may store a copy of the content stored in the terminal 20.
[0028]
The location information management unit 14 is means for managing terminal location information of each terminal 20. The terminal location information of each terminal 20 is centrally managed in the terminal location information DB 15. The location information management unit 14 updates the terminal location information DB 15 with the latest terminal location information received from the terminal 20 via the communication unit 18. At the time of this update process or in response to a request from the classification information generation unit 16, the latest terminal position information is passed to the classification information generation unit 16. Note that the location information management unit 14 does not have to update the terminal location information for the terminal 20 whose location information does not change. The terminal position information DB 15 includes the latest terminal position information and the terminal position information before the position change, and the terminal position change can be known by comparing and collating these.
[0029]
The classification information generation unit 16 generates content classification information based on the terminal position information from the position information management unit 14 and the search result content group 17. The content classification information is an attribute of the content, and is represented by attribute hierarchy information when content is grouped (classified) and displayed in a hierarchical tree shape, for example.
[0030]
More specifically, the classification information generation unit 16 includes an area determination unit 16a and a classification processing unit 16b. The area determination unit 16a determines to which area the terminal position information acquired from the position information management unit 14 belongs based on the area determination condition 19, and passes the determination result to the classification processing unit 16b as area information. The classification processing unit 16b performs classification processing of the search result content group 17 using the area information from the area determination unit 16a, and generates content classification information. The generated content classification information is associated with area identification information, terminal identification information, and content identification information. Of course, it may be composed of a combination of first classification information in which only area identification information and terminal identification information are associated, and second classification information in which terminal identification information and content identification information are associated.
[0031]
The search result content group 17 is data in which a local content list and a server content list as search results collected by the content list collection unit 12 of the server 10 or the access processing unit 22 of each terminal 20 are integrated.
[0032]
The communication unit 18 receives various data such as a classification display request and terminal location information transmitted from the terminal 20, passes the classification display request to the access control unit 11, and passes the terminal location information to the location information management unit 14. . In addition, the communication unit 18 transmits data such as content classification information from the classification information generation unit 16 to the terminal 20.
[0033]
The area determination condition 19 is data indicating a determination condition for dividing the position of the terminal 20 into a plurality of areas, and is generated based on, for example, room layout information. The area determination unit 16a determines which area the terminal 20 belongs to by collating the information from the area determination condition 19 with the terminal position information input from the position information management unit 14. Information on the area determination condition 19 can be updated by, for example, the access control unit 11. The access control unit 11 may update the information on the area determination condition 19 when, for example, the room layout changes due to moving.
[0034]
The data display unit 30 displays a content or area update screen based on an instruction from the access control unit 11. The input unit 31 is a user interface for inputting an area determination condition generation, a display request for content classification information, and the like.
[0035]
Note that the above-described configuration of the server 10 is merely an example. For example, the data display unit 30 and the input unit 31 may be omitted, and the server content group 13 may not be provided.
[0036]
Next, the processing operation using the content management system 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the sequence diagram shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 2, an example is shown in which a user operates the terminal 20 to search a binary data list in each terminal 20 and collect it on the server 10 side, and search and display the collected data on the terminal 20. .
[0037]
As shown in FIG. 2, first, the terminal 20 is set in a state waiting for input of the classification display request 27 with the terminal 20 connected to the server 10 (S11). In this input waiting state, the display request unit 21 checks whether the classification display request 27 is input by the user (S12). If the classification display request 27 is not input to the display request unit 21, the process returns to the input waiting state (S11). If there is an input, the display request unit 21 issues a classification display request to the access processing unit 22. In response to this display request, the access processing unit 22 instructs the location information acquisition unit 25 to acquire location information of the terminal 20. The position information acquisition unit 25 acquires terminal position information (S13). The obtained terminal location information is transferred from the location information acquisition unit 25 to the access processing unit 22. Based on the display request from the display request unit 21, the access processing unit 22 transmits a classification display request and terminal location information via the communication unit 26 (S14a).
[0038]
When receiving the classification display request from the terminal 20, the access control unit 11 of the server 10 instructs the content list collection unit 12 to execute content list collection. In response to this execution instruction, the content list collection unit 12 executes a search process for collecting the content list and generates a search result (S15). This search process is not limited to the process in the server 10 as necessary, for example, a local search request for a plurality of terminals 20 including the terminal 20 for which a classification display request is made, a local search process in the plurality of terminals 20, a local search It consists of a plurality of processes such as a process of transmitting the processing result to the server 10. The access control unit 11 updates the search result content group 17 with the content group (content list) of the obtained search results.
[0039]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing details of the search processing in the content list collection unit 12. Since the search method for collecting the content list varies depending on the relationship between the content in the server 10 and the local content of each terminal 20, the search method is selected according to the flowchart shown in FIG.
[0040]
First, it is determined whether content to be searched is included in the server 10 (S101). If there is no corresponding content in the server 10 as a result of this determination, the search is executed only for the local content in each terminal 20 (S102). If there is content to be searched, it is determined whether all local content in the terminal 20 is in the server 10 (S103). As a result of this determination, if there is local content that does not have a copy in the server 10, a search is executed for the local content in each terminal 20 and the content in the server 10 (S104). If there is a copy of all local contents in the server 10, it is determined whether or not the copy is the latest content (S105). As a result of the determination, if there is latest data having a value different from the copy of the server 10 on the local content for a certain terminal 20, the different local content in the terminal is written back to the server 10, and then the content in the server 10 is changed. A search is executed for the search (S106). If the latest value of all the local content in the terminal is in the content group in the server 10, the search is performed on the content group in the server 10 as it is (S107). Finally, merge the search results (if necessary) to generate an integrated search result. This completes the search process in step S15.
[0041]
In the above (S101) to (S107), the search for the server content may be performed by the content list collection unit 12 searching the server content group 13. In the search for local content, first, the content list collection unit 12 makes a list transmission request to the terminal 20 via the communication unit 18. The access processing unit 22 of the terminal 20 searches the local content group 24 based on the list transmission request received via the communication unit 26 and collects the local content list. The access processing unit 22 transmits the collected search results to the server 10 via the communication unit 26. The content list collection unit 12 of the server 10 receives the search result via the communication unit 18.
[0042]
An application example of the processing procedure for obtaining the content search result shown above will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, for the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that content exists only in the local content group 24. However, the content can be easily expanded even when the server content group 13 of the server 10 has a copy.
[0043]
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the local content group 24 in which the area information is reflected. This figure shows the state in which three video contents (news program A, gourmet program B, drama C) and one image content (home photo X) are contained in a DVD player in the living room, in XML (eXtensible Markup Language). This shows an example described in.
[0044]
The meta information (additional information attached to the data) of each video content is the value of the element tag “video content” or “image content”, that is, <video content> and </ video content>, or <image content> and <image content>. / Image content>, and includes a type attribute that distinguishes binary data or text data, an ID attribute that expresses the serial number of the content, and an element tag of title and file name. For example, the title and binary file name of the video content with ID = 1 are “news program A” and “NVA.mpg”, respectively.
[0045]
Also, all the contents are collected and surrounded by “local contents group” element tags. This is because the DVD player is the terminal 20 connected to the server 10, and it is assumed here that the server 10 is surrounded by a “center data” tag. The element tag “local content group” has two attributes “terminal” and “location”. The value of the “terminal” attribute represents the terminal name, and the “location” attribute tag represents the location in the home of the terminal. That is, the local content group 24 in FIG. 4 indicates “a content group in a DVD player in the living room”. If this DVD player is moved from the living room to the stereo room, the management information is rewritten by the server 10 with the value of the “location” attribute to “stereo room” at an appropriate timing.
[0046]
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a content search query as a command for instructing the content list collection unit 12 to search for local content. The content search query is executed by the content list collection unit 12 or the access processing unit 22, but may be executed by the access control unit 11.
[0047]
In order to search a content group described in XML as shown in FIG. 4, it is described in the query description language XQuery here. A search condition intended by the query in FIG. 5 will be briefly described. This means that all the element tags “video content” directly under the path “local content group” should have all attributes “type” whose value is “binary”. is there.
[0048]
For example, when the access processing unit 22 executes a search by this query for the local content group 24 in the terminal 20 of FIG. 4, the search result shown in FIG. 6 is obtained. Further, the above search results obtained at each terminal 20 are expressed as <XXX location = “YYY”> and </ XXX> (where “XXX” is the name of each terminal and “YYY” is the location value). When the search results for all the terminals 20 are merged by enclosing them with element tags <digital content> and </ digital content>, an integrated content list is obtained as an integrated search result shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, some data descriptions are omitted. Here, since only text data (that is, the type attribute value is binary) is included in the PC, it is assumed that the content in the PC located in the living room is not included in the search result.
[0049]
Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the classification information generation unit 16 of the server 10 generates content classification information (S16). The generation of the content classification information specifically includes an area determination process and a classification process. In the area determination process, the area determination unit 16a reads the terminal position information from the position information management unit 14 and compares it with the area determination condition 19 registered in advance. Then, it is determined to which area each terminal 20 belongs. The classification processing unit 16b classifies the search result content group 17 related to each terminal 20 and content based on the determination result of the area determination unit 16a. That is, the terminals 20 belonging to the same area and their contents are grouped. Thereby, content classification information is generated.
[0050]
The area determination process will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.
[0051]
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the area determination condition 19. As shown in FIG. 8, the location, that is, the area information and the area boundary condition are associated with each other. The area information corresponds to, for example, a child's room, a living room, a bedroom, and the like if the home (home) of the user who owns the server is taken as an example. The area boundary condition represents a specific point as (east 0, north 0), and the distance in two directions with respect to this reference point (east 0, north 0) is expressed as coordinates (east X, north Y) (for example, unit Is expressed in meters). (East X, North Y) is a point that is a distance X from the reference point (East 0, North 0), and a distance Y from the north. In addition, two points (East X ₁ , North Y ₁ ) And (East X ₂ , North Y ₂ ) (East X ₁ , North Y ₁ -(East X ₂ , North Y ₂ ) In the east direction X ₁ To X ₂ Up to the north and Y in the north direction ₁ To Y ₂ The terminals in the range up to are set so as to be determined as corresponding to the area information associated with the area boundary condition.
[0052]
In the example of FIG. 8, it is assumed that the exclusive section of the home occupies (East 0, North 0) to (East 10, North 11). The child room ranges from (East 0, North 0)-(East 4, North 3) are (East 0, North 0), (East 4, North 0), (East 0, North 3), ( Represents the rectangular interior bounded by East 4, North 3). The same applies to other places. For the sake of simplicity, in the following description, the notation (X, Y) is used instead of (east X, north Y). In addition, since the shape of the room may be other than a rectangle, the range may be determined using a set of linear inequalities.
[0053]
In addition, the method of determining the area boundary condition is only an example, and more complicated method of determining the area boundary condition is possible. Furthermore, when the terminal location information including the height can be specified, the height is included. Area boundary conditions may be set. Thereby, when a floor is moved, the area information for each floor can be correctly associated.
[0054]
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of the terminal position information DB 15. The figure shows the position information obtained from GPS when each terminal 20 is accessed for communication and the area information (location) in the home of the terminal obtained from this position information. The terminal position information may be associated with area information (location), or may be associated with the area determination unit 16a without being associated.
[0055]
For example, since the position of the DVD player is (8.0, 3.5), the area information (location) is (4.0, 3.0)-(9.0, 7.0) in FIG. That is, it is understood that it is a living room. Similarly, the locations of the digital camera, the PC, and the MD player are determined as a living room, a living room, and a stereo room, respectively. In addition, the terminal 20 existing at a position not designated in the home is classified as “other home”. Further, a terminal located within the home, that is, outside the range of (0.0, 0.0) − (10.0, 11.0) is determined to be out of the registration range of the area determination condition 19, and here Is classified as “going out” indicating that it is outside the registration area. These may be set by the user as more detailed classification (for example, “neighborhood park”, “elementary school”, etc.).
[0056]
The area information obtained as described above may or may not be reflected in the local content group 24. In the example shown in each drawing of the present embodiment, when area information is generated, the area information is reflected in the server content group 13 by the access control unit 11 and is reflected in the local content group 24 by the access processing unit 22.
[0057]
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of content classification information obtained by the classification processing unit 16b. As shown in FIG. 10, the content classification information is indicated by a hierarchy classification in which the first hierarchy, the second hierarchy, and the third hierarchy are associated with each other. The first hierarchy represents the content type, the second hierarchy represents the location as area information, and the third hierarchy represents the terminal name as terminal identification information. That is, the first layer is “digital content” which is the top element tag of the data search result, the second layer is “home” where the terminal is located “living room” “stereo room”, the third layer is the name of each terminal “DVD player” and the like are shown.
[0058]
The content classification information (data structure corresponding to FIG. 10) obtained by the classification information generation unit 16 and the search result (meta information data of FIG. 9) are terminals that have received a classification display request from the server 10 via the communication unit 18. 20 (S17a). At the time of this transmission, an appropriate style file for displaying the search result XML from the server 10 to the terminal 20 may be sent together with the display data, or may be displayed on the terminal 20 in a fixed format. The communication unit 26 of the terminal 20 passes the received content classification information and the search result (integrated content list) to the access processing unit 22. The access processing unit 22 generates a search result display image according to the content classification information and outputs it to the content display unit 23. The content display unit 23 displays the search result based on the acquired search result display image (S18).
[0059]
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the classification display displayed on the content display unit 23. Since the content and the classification information have a hierarchical structure, the search result content group can be displayed in a hierarchical tree form as shown in FIG. FIG. 12 is a screen example in which content display associated with a terminal is omitted. In the following description, for simplicity, the hierarchical tree of FIG. 11 is illustrated as a simplified hierarchical tree as shown in FIG. 12 excluding the content data portion.
[0060]
In this way, the local content in each terminal 20 can be displayed as an intuitive classification hierarchy using the position information of each terminal 20 connected to the server 10 over the network.
[0061]
Next, the operation when the terminal moves will be described.
[0062]
As an example of terminal movement, an example of moving any one of the terminals 20 in the home will be described.
[0063]
Consider a case where a user moves a terminal 20 in a living room, for example, a digital camera, from a living room to a stereo room. At this time, it is assumed that the position information (7.5, 3.5) of the digital camera shown in FIG. 9 has changed to (8.5, 9.0) at the time of content search from the server 10. That is, the terminal position information of each terminal 20 is as shown in FIG. Here, the hatched portion describes the position information of the digital camera and the location in the home. The access processing unit 22 of the terminal 20 transmits the terminal location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit 25 to the server 10. The area determination unit 16a of the server 10 can recognize that the digital camera terminal has moved from the living room to the stereo room by referring to the area determination condition 19 in FIG.
[0064]
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a result of searching local content (binary) in each terminal 20 using the query shown in FIG. 5 based on the changed terminal position information. The “location” attribute corresponding to the content in the digital camera has changed from “living” to “stereo”. Therefore, when the user requests another classification display, the classification information result also inevitably changes. Therefore, the hierarchical tree display of the search result data needs to be displayed again. At this time, the result of redisplay according to the updated classification hierarchy is shown in FIG.
[0065]
As another example of terminal movement, an example in which the terminal 20 is moved outside the home will be described. Consider the case where the position information (7.5, 3.5) of the digital camera shown in FIG. 9 changes to (100.0, −90.0) when searching for content from the server 10. At this time, it can be determined that the digital camera is positioned at “outing” based on the procedure similar to the above example based on FIG. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of the terminal position information DB 15 associated with the changed area information. When the user again requests classification display, the query search result shown in FIG. 17 can be obtained. After appropriately updating the classification information on the server 10, the search results are displayed in a hierarchical tree form shown in FIG. Due to the movement of the physical position of the digital camera, the display position of the terminal name “digital camera” associated with the place “living room” and displayed in the lower layer is changed to the lower layer of the place “going out”.
[0066]
Next, a modified example of content classification display on the go will be described.
In the above embodiment, it is assumed that the user is in the home and the content is displayed on the terminal 20 located in the home. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In the present modification, for example, it is assumed that the content in each terminal 20 is displayed on the mobile terminal 20 remotely from whereabouts. FIG. 19 shows an example of terminal position information for displaying each content on the PDA from the outside in the content arrangement of FIG. In this case, the area determination unit 16a may assign “current location” instead of “going out” as area information. An example of the classification display result in this modification is shown in FIG. Here, since the position information (−100.0, −90.0) of the digital camera is very close to the position information (−100.5, −90.5) of the PDA that is the display terminal, the area determination unit 16a “Current location” is assigned. In this way, the area boundary conditions between the home and the home are divided, and in the case of outside the home, for example, a range of a predetermined distance (for example, several meters) from the position of the terminal 20 that performs search display is dynamically changed to the area information “ It may be determined that “current location” is assigned and “going out” or the like is assigned otherwise.
[0067]
In the case of the configuration example of FIG. 1, the terminal position information may not include the area determination result, that is, the area information, but the area determination unit 16a performs the area determination process every time the terminal position information DB 15 is updated. And the area information that is the determination result may be stored in association with the terminal. In this case, the position information management unit 14 may have a function as the area determination unit 16a, and the classification information generation unit 16 may function as the classification processing unit 16b. The configuration of the server 10 in this case is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the area determination unit 16a of the position information management unit 14 performs area determination processing based on the area determination condition 19 and the terminal position information not including the area information acquired from each terminal 20, and the area determination obtained The terminal area information DB 15 is updated by associating the resulting area information with the terminal.
[0068]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the content in the terminal can be classified and displayed based on physical location information in the home or office instead of the logical location as in the file system. Content management and browsing that are easy to handle are possible.
[0069]
(Second Embodiment)
This embodiment relates to a modification of the first embodiment, and the transmission timing of the classification display request is different from that of the first embodiment. FIG. 22 is a processing sequence diagram according to the present embodiment. The same steps as those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same processing step symbols, and detailed description thereof is omitted. Specifically, the steps (S11), (S14a) to (S18) are the same as those in FIG.
Here, a case where a user searches and displays a binary content data list in each terminal 20 from the terminal 20 to the server 10 will be described as an example.
[0070]
The position information acquisition unit 25 of each terminal 20 acquires the terminal position information and passes it to the access processing unit 22 in the user input waiting state in step S11 (S201). The access processing unit 22 determines whether or not there is a change in the location information of each terminal compared to the previous acquisition of location information (S202). An example of the determination method is shown below.
[0071]
For example, the previous terminal position information is stored in the storage device, the previous terminal position information is read from the storage device, the difference between the terminal position and the current terminal position information is calculated, and the absolute value of the difference between the terminal positions is It is determined whether or not the threshold value is exceeded. If it exceeds the threshold value, it is determined that there is a change. If it does not exceed the threshold value, it is determined that there is no change.
[0072]
If it is determined that there is a change in the terminal position information change determination described above, the process proceeds to step S14a, and a search request is transmitted to the server 10. If there is no change in the position information, the presence / absence of a classification display request input by the user is detected (S203). Here, if there is a classification display request, the process proceeds to step S14a, and if there is no classification display request, a state of waiting for a classification display request is maintained (S11). The processing procedure after step S14a is common to FIG. 2 of the first embodiment.
[0073]
Also, in step S201, some of the terminals holding the content may be connected to the terminal due to causes such as (A) when the terminals are powered off, (B) when the distance between the terminals is too long and the network connection fails. If the location information cannot be acquired, the location information may be newly set as “unknown” and displayed again. Here, in subsequent step S15, when a part of the terminal holding the content is (A) the terminal is powered off, (B) the distance between the terminals is too far away and the network connection fails (C ) If the contents of the contents in the terminal cannot be acquired due to reasons such as when the terminal does not have a GPS function, the area determination unit 16a determines that the location information is “unknown” as in the first embodiment. It is also possible to display it by removing it from the classification tree.
[0074]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, content in the terminal can be classified and displayed based on physical location information in the home or office instead of the logical location as in the file system. Intuitive and easy-to-handle content management and browsing is possible. In particular, when the user moves the terminal, the content classification result can be automatically displayed again.
[0075]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.
In the above embodiment, it is assumed that the user sets the area determination condition 19 indicating the correspondence table of the in-home positions shown in FIG. 8, but such information is transmitted from the home provider via the network. It may be applied to a business model. Further, the physical location information registration as shown in FIG. 8 may be automatically registered in advance from the house floor plan information.
[0076]
In the above embodiment, it is assumed that all terminals 20 can acquire terminal position information by GPS or the like. However, for example, when the power of the terminals (A) is OFF, the distance between the terminals (B) is too far away. In this case, there are cases where the terminal 20 whose terminal position information is unknown is mixed due to the failure of the network connection, (C) the terminal not having the GPS function, or the like. In such a case, the area determination unit 16a may determine that “unknown” is assigned as the location information, or may be displayed by excluding content in the terminal whose position information is unknown from the classification tree.
[0077]
In addition, transmission / reception of information between the server 10 and each terminal 20 may be wireless communication or wired communication.
Further, although an example in which the search results are classified and displayed on the terminal 20 is shown, the search results may be classified and displayed on the data display unit 30 of the server 10 based on the classification display request from the input unit 31.
[0078]
Further, only the content usage example in which the content is displayed on the content display unit 23 is shown. However, for example, an audio output speaker may be connected to the access processing unit 22 and audio based on the audio data may be output from the audio output speaker.
[0079]
The processing steps shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 22 are merely examples, and various processing orders can be changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
[0080]
In addition, the acquisition of position information is not limited to the terminal device, but can be extended to accessories such as a recording medium such as a DVD medium for storing content to be played back on the terminal. For example, each terminal 20 may obtain position information (medium position information) obtained by attaching a label such as an IC tag to a recording medium and detecting the label wirelessly. As a result, not only the terminal 20 but also an accessory such as a recording medium storing content used in the terminal 20 can be specified.
[0081]
The classification display shown in FIG. 12 is only an example. For example, as shown in FIG. 23, although it is not hierarchical display, the terminal and further the content stored in the terminal 20 may be classified and displayed for each area information (location).
[0082]
Moreover, although the example which uses the server 10 which manages terminal position information and content integratedly was shown in the said embodiment, it is not limited to this. For example, all the terminals 20 may have a function corresponding to the server 10.
[0083]
Further, in the above embodiment, the content itself is collected by the search by the server 10 and the list of the content is transmitted to the terminal 20 that requested the search and displayed on the terminal 20 side. However, the present invention is not limited to this. .
[0084]
For example, in the case of content with a large capacity such as video data, only a list of content identification information such as a file name of the content may be collected by searching. In this case, a list of content identification information is transmitted to the terminal 20 that requested the search, and the content identification information is classified and displayed on the terminal 20 side. In the case of displaying only the content identification information, for example, when a display request for the content itself is input from the display request unit 21 or the like, the access processing unit 22 sends the content display request together with the content identification information to the server 10 via the communication unit 26. Send to. Upon receiving this content display request, the server 10 reads the content itself corresponding to the corresponding content identification information from the search result content group 17 and transmits it to the terminal 20. Alternatively, the corresponding content identification information is transmitted to another terminal 20 that stores the content, a content transmission request is made, the content is received from the other terminal 20, and then transmitted to the terminal 20 that requested the content display And displayed on the terminal 20. As a result, the time for collecting and collecting content can be shortened.
[0085]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the present invention, content management that is intuitive and easy to handle for the user becomes possible.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a content management system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a processing sequence diagram using the content management system according to the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is an exemplary flowchart showing details of a search process in a content search unit according to the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of a local content group according to the embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a view showing an example of a content search query according to the embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of a query search result according to the embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of an integrated search result according to the embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of area determination conditions according to the embodiment.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of terminal location information according to the embodiment.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of content classification information according to the embodiment.
FIG. 11 is an exemplary classification display example displayed on the content display unit according to the embodiment;
FIG. 12 is a view showing a classification display example in which content display according to the embodiment is omitted.
FIG. 13 is a view showing changes in terminal location information in an example of terminal movement according to the embodiment;
FIG. 14 is a view showing a search result of local content in an example of terminal movement according to the embodiment;
FIG. 15 is a view showing a classification display example redisplayed according to the updated classification hierarchy in an example of terminal movement according to the embodiment;
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of terminal position information in another example of terminal movement according to the embodiment;
FIG. 17 is a view showing an example of a query search result in another example of terminal movement according to the embodiment;
FIG. 18 is an exemplary classification display example in another example of terminal movement according to the embodiment;
FIG. 19 is a view showing an example of terminal position information in a variation of the outing operation according to the embodiment;
FIG. 20 is a view showing an example of a classification display result in a modified example of the outing operation according to the embodiment.
FIG. 21 is a view showing a modification of the server configuration according to the embodiment.
FIG. 22 is a processing sequence diagram according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 23 is a view showing a modification of the classification display according to the embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Content management system, 10 ... Server, 11 ... Access control part, 12 ... Content list collection part, 13 ... Server content group, 14 ... Location information management part, 15 ... Terminal position information, 16 ... Classification information generation part, 17 ... search result content group, 18 ... communication unit, 19 ... area determination condition, 20 ... information terminal, 21 ... display request unit, 22 ... access processing unit, 23 ... content display unit, 24 ... local content group, 25 ... position information Acquisition unit, 26 ... communication unit, 30 ... data display unit,

Claims (7)

Obtaining location information of a plurality of terminals storing content from the plurality of terminals,
Based on a predetermined area determination condition, determine the area to which the position information belongs,
Classifying the plurality of terminals in association with the area,
Content classification information is generated by associating three pieces of information: area identification information for identifying the area, terminal identification information for identifying the terminal, and content identification information for identifying the content based on a result of the classification process. Content management method. Based on the location information of the terminal, determine whether there is a change in the location information of the terminal,
2. The content management method according to claim 1, wherein when the position information of the terminal is determined to be changed, the area determination, the classification process, and the generation of the classification information are executed. further,
Request transmission of content list to the plurality of terminals,
Receiving the list of content identification information from the plurality of terminals in response to the search request;
The content management method according to claim 1, wherein the classification information is generated based on the list of content identification information and the classification processing result. The classification information is generated by using the area identification information as a first hierarchy, the terminal identification information as a second hierarchy lower than the first hierarchy, and the content identification information as compared to the second hierarchy. The content management method according to claim 1, wherein the content management method is generated in a hierarchical tree shape as a lower third hierarchy. The determination includes a process of determining that the terminal is out of the registration area when the terminal is out of the range registered in the area determination condition, and the classification process is performed on the terminal determined to be out of the registration area. The content management method according to claim 1, further comprising a process of assigning area identification information indicating that it is outside the registered area. further,
6. The content according to claim 5, wherein, when a content display request is received from a terminal determined to be outside the registered area, area identification information indicating the current position is assigned to the terminal in the classification process. Management method. A position information acquisition unit for acquiring position information of a plurality of terminals storing content from the plurality of terminals;
A determination unit that determines an area to which the position information belongs, based on a predetermined area determination condition;
A classification processing unit that classifies the terminal in association with the area;
Classification information generation that generates content classification information that associates three pieces of information: area identification information that identifies the area, terminal identification information that identifies the terminal, and content identification information that identifies the content based on the result of the classification process A content management apparatus.

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