JP2008252811A - Mobile phone, communication server, communication system, content providing device, content providing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile phone functioning as an external server of W-DLNA. <P>SOLUTION: The mobile phone 10 stores one or a plurality of contents together with titles thereof and transmits title list information, containing the titles of the respective contents to a module 22 for W-DLAN user's gateway, receiving selection result information indicating that one among the titles included in the title list is selected on a content-presenting device from the module 22 for user's premise W-DLNA gateway, and transmitting the content corresponding to the tile indicated by the selection result information to the module 22 for the user's premise W-DLNA gateway. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile phone, a communication server, a communication system, a content providing apparatus, a content providing method, and a program.

  In recent years, multimedia-compatible mobile phones have become widespread, and accompanying this, content that friends accumulate in mobile phones (video images, photos, music, etc., including video images being shot with a mobile phone camera). There is a growing demand for people to see them. At present, electronic mail is a common method for satisfying this requirement.

  By the way, in recent years, in homes, content providing devices (called DMS: Digital Media Server) such as HDD recorders and home appliances and content presentation devices (called DMP: Digital Media Player) such as televisions are used in home networks. And a standard called DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) that allows the content presentation device to view information held by the content providing device.

  In DLNA, a content providing apparatus stores a title list of content and each content. The content presentation device has a function of searching for a communicable content providing device, acquires a title list from the searched content providing device, and displays each title in one line. The content presentation device usually includes a remote control, and when the user selects a line on which a specific title is displayed using the remote control, the content presentation device acquires the content related to the title from the content providing device and presents it ( Display and pronounce).

In addition, the applicant has recently developed a technology (referred to as W-DLNA) for connecting DLNA to an external network (see Non-Patent Document 1). According to this, a content providing apparatus (W-DLNA home gateway module) connected to an external server via a communication line is prepared in the home. This content providing apparatus obtains a title list of content that the external server has. The content presentation device handles this title list in the same way as the title list held by other content providing devices in the home and displays it to the user. When the user selects one of the titles, the content presentation device requests the content providing device to acquire the selected content. Upon receiving this request, the content providing apparatus goes to the external server to acquire the content, and transfers the acquired content to the content presentation device.
KDDI R & D Laboratories, Inc., “Development of Wide-area Technology for Information Appliances (W-DLNA)”, [online], December 19, 2006, [March 26, 2007 search], Internet <URL: http : //www.kddilabs.jp/pr_pdf/20061219DLNA.pdf>

  However, in order to view the contents sent by e-mail, a mobile phone or a personal computer is required, and it is not possible to view the contents as if watching a TV program or recorded video on a home TV.

Therefore, in recent years, it has been demanded to be able to view content in another person's mobile phone as if viewing a television program or a recorded video image on a home television.
In this regard, if the mobile phone can function as an external server in the W-DLNA, the content in the mobile phone can be viewed on a home TV.

  Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a mobile phone, a communication server, a communication system, a content providing apparatus, a content providing method, and a program for providing a mobile phone that functions as an external server of W-DLNA. It is in.

A mobile phone according to the present invention for solving the above-described problem is a mobile phone that stores one or a plurality of contents together with the titles thereof, and title list information including the titles of the respective contents for a content providing apparatus. And receiving from the content providing device selection result information indicating that one of the titles included in the title list has been selected in the content presentation device, and corresponding to the title indicated by the selection result information The content is transmitted to the content providing apparatus.
According to this, the mobile phone can function as an external server of W-DLNA.

A communication server according to the present invention is a communication server connected to the mobile phone and a plurality of the content providing devices via a communication network, and stores addresses in the communication network of the content providing devices, The address is transmitted to the mobile phone.
According to this, the mobile phone can communicate with the content providing apparatus, and the communication server can cause the mobile phone to function as an external server of W-DLNA.

In the communication server, each address and one or a plurality of user IDs are stored in association with each other, the user ID is received from the mobile phone, and the user ID is associated with the received user ID among the addresses. The stored address may be transmitted.
According to this, the content providing apparatus with which the mobile phone can communicate can be restricted by the user ID.

A communication system according to the present invention is a communication system including the mobile phone and a communication server connected to the plurality of content providing apparatuses via a communication network, wherein the communication server The address of the providing device in the communication network is stored, and the address is transmitted to the mobile phone. The mobile phone receives the address from the communication server and communicates with the content providing device indicated by the address. And the predetermined information is periodically transmitted to the content providing apparatus during communication.
In general, if there is no mobile phone that transmits and receives for a certain period of time, communication is disconnected. However, according to the communication system, after the mobile phone starts communicating with the content providing device, until the communication is terminated due to the user's intention (such as pressing the disconnect button) or the deterioration of the wireless state, Communication can be maintained. As a result, the selection result information can be appropriately received.

A content providing apparatus according to the present invention is a content providing apparatus that is connected to the mobile phone and a content server that stores one or more contents, and that receives content from the mobile phone. For content, it is determined whether the high-resolution version is stored in the content server, and when it is determined that the high-resolution version is stored, the high-resolution version is read from the content server, It transmits, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.
Mobile phones have lower memory capacity and lower CPU specifications than personal computers, etc., so the resolution of stored content is often low, and content with low resolution can be viewed on the small screen of the mobile phone. Good for, but unsuitable for watching on a big screen TV at home. According to the content providing apparatus, when the high-resolution version of the content received from the mobile phone is in the content server, the high-resolution version can be transmitted to the content presentation device instead of the content received from the mobile phone. Therefore, the content presentation apparatus can present content suitable for viewing on a large-screen television at home.

In the content providing apparatus, the content received from the mobile phone and the content stored in the content server are added with identification information of the content and resolution information indicating the resolution of the content, The content providing apparatus may determine whether or not a high-resolution version of the content received from the mobile phone is stored in the content server using the identification information and the resolution information. .
According to this, the content providing apparatus can appropriately determine the presence or absence of the high resolution version.

  The content providing method according to the present invention is a content providing method for providing content using a mobile phone that stores one or a plurality of contents together with the titles, wherein the mobile phone is a content providing device. On the other hand, the step of transmitting title list information including the title of each content, and the mobile phone has selected one of the titles included in the title list in the content presentation device from the content providing device. And receiving the selection result information indicating the content, and transmitting the content corresponding to the title indicated by the selection result information to the content providing apparatus.

  The program according to the present invention is a program for causing a computer to function as a mobile phone that stores one or more contents together with the titles, and includes a title of each content for the content providing apparatus. A step of transmitting title list information, a step of receiving selection result information indicating that one of the titles included in the title list is selected in the content presentation device from the content providing device, and the selection result information A program for causing the computer to execute a step of transmitting content corresponding to the displayed title to the content providing apparatus.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a W-DLNA system 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the W-DLNA system 1 includes a mobile phone 10, a home network 20, a television 21, a W-DLNA in-home gateway module 22 (hereinafter referred to as a gateway 22), a communication network 30, and a content server 31. The communication server 32 is included. In FIG. 1, only one mobile phone 10 and one gateway 22 are illustrated, but in reality, a large number of them are included.

  The cellular phone 10 includes a memory and stores one or more contents together with the titles. Specific examples of this content include video images, photos, music, and the like. The mobile phone 10 is also provided with a camera, and a video image being shot by the camera is sequentially stored in the memory after a title is given at the start of shooting. The mobile phone 10 also stores resolution information indicating the resolution of content including images (including moving images). In addition, among the contents, the identification information (for example, CDDB (Compact Disc Data Base) -ID) is also stored for commercially available video images, music, and the like.

  The content server 31 also stores one or more contents together with the title, resolution information, and identification information, like the mobile phone 10. However, the content stored in the content server 31 is only a commercially available video image, music, or the like.

  The home network 20, the television 21, and the gateway 22 are usually installed in one home. The home network 20 is, for example, a home LAN (Local Area Network), and the television 21 and the gateway 22 are configured to be able to communicate with each other via the home network 20.

  The television 21 functions as a W-DLNA content presentation device. The gateway 22 functions as a W-DLNA content providing apparatus. The gateway 22 acquires content using the mobile phone 10 as an external server and provides the content to the television 21. Hereinafter, a configuration for realizing this will be described in detail.

  The communication network 30 includes a mobile phone network and the Internet, and each device connected to the communication network 30 communicates with each other using TCP / IP. Here, the mobile phone 10, the gateway 22, the content server 31, and the communication server 32 are all connected to the communication network 30, and communicate with each other using TCP / IP.

  The communication server 32 includes a database that stores an address (IP address) of the gateway 22 in the communication network 30. In addition, this database stores each address in association with the gateway ID and one or more user IDs. Table 1 shows a specific example of the contents stored in the database provided in the communication server 32. Note that the gateway ID is assigned to each gateway 22 and the user ID is assigned to each user of the mobile phone 10 in advance, and both are identification information unique within the W-DLNA system 1.

  Processing for storing each information in the database of the communication server 32 will be described. When the gateway 22 is connected to the communication network 30, it autonomously starts communication with the communication server 32. The gateway 22 stores the gateway ID assigned to itself, and transmits the stored gateway ID to the communication server 32. When receiving the gateway ID, the communication server 32 acquires the transmission source IP address and stores it in the database in association with the received gateway ID.

  Further, the gateway 22 receives input of one or a plurality of user IDs by the user and transmits the input to the communication server 32 by the communication. The communication server 32 stores the IP address of the gateway 22 that has transmitted the user ID in association with the received user ID in the database.

  The mobile phone 10 is configured to be able to execute a mobile application or a browser, and starts communication with the communication server 32 by a user operation using these. The communication server 32 that has started communication with the mobile phone 10 requests the mobile phone 10 to log in by inputting a user ID. Upon receiving this request, the mobile phone 10 receives an input of the user ID by the user and transmits the received user ID to the communication server 32. The communication server 32 determines whether or not the user ID received in this way is stored in the database. If it is determined that the user ID is not stored, the communication server 32 disconnects communication with the mobile phone 10. On the other hand, when it determines with having memorize | stored, the communication server 32 transmits 1 or some gateway ID memorize | stored in association with the received user ID with respect to the mobile telephone 10. FIG.

  The mobile phone 10 causes the user to select one of the received one or more gateway IDs. On the other hand, the user selects the gateway ID of the gateway 22 that wants to provide content in the mobile phone 10. When the user knows the gateway ID of the gateway 22 that wants to provide the content in the mobile phone 10, the user may input the gateway ID instead of selection. The mobile phone 10 transmits the gateway ID selected (or input) by the user to the communication server 32.

  When the gateway ID is received from the mobile phone 10, the communication server 32 searches the database for the gateway ID, and determines whether the logged-in user ID is stored in association with the gateway ID. Only when it is determined to be stored, the communication server 32 transmits an IP address stored in the database in association with the gateway ID to the mobile phone 10.

  When receiving the IP address, the mobile phone 10 starts communication with the gateway 22 indicated by the IP address, and transmits title list information including the titles of the stored contents. In this case, it is desirable that the user of the mobile phone 10 can select titles to be included in the title list information. When the gateway 22 receives the title list information thus transmitted, the gateway 22 stores it.

  In addition, the mobile phone 10 periodically transmits predetermined information (such as an empty TCP packet) to the gateway 22 during communication. This waits for selection result information to be described later from the gateway 22 to be received.

  The television 21 has a function of searching for a communicable content providing device, acquires a title list from the searched content providing device (here, the gateway 22), and displays each title in one line.

  This will be specifically described. The television 21 accepts a title list transmission request operation by the user using the remote controller, and transmits to the gateway 22 transmission request information indicating that the user has performed a title list transmission request operation. When the gateway 22 receives the transmission request information, the gateway 22 returns the stored title list information. At this time, the title list information is included in the IP packet and transmitted, and the source address is the IP address of the home network 20 itself.

  When receiving the title list information, the television 21 displays each title included in the title list information in one line. The television 21 accepts a row selection operation using the remote control by the user while displaying each title. When the user selects a specific line, the television 21 generates selection result information indicating that the title displayed in the line is selected, and transmits the selection result information to the transmission source address (gateway 22) of the title list information. .

  The gateway 22 transfers the received selection result information to the mobile phone 10. When the mobile phone 10 receives the selection result information, the mobile phone 10 acquires the content corresponding to the title indicated by the received selection result information, and transmits it to the gateway 22 together with the resolution information and the identification information.

  When the gateway 22 receives the content from the mobile phone 10, the gateway 22 accesses the content server 31 and determines whether a high-resolution version of the received content is stored. Specifically, it is determined whether or not there is content stored in the content server 31 in association with the received content identification information. When it is determined that there is content, the content stored in the content server 31 is determined. Get resolution information for. Then, the acquired resolution information is compared with the resolution information received from the mobile phone 10, and when the content resolution information stored in the content server 31 is better, the content server 31 has a high-resolution version. It is determined that it is stored.

When the gateway 22 determines that the high resolution version is stored in the content server 31, the gateway 22 reads the high resolution version from the content server 31, reproduces it, and transmits it to the television 21. On the other hand, when it is determined that the high-resolution version is not stored in the content server 31, the content received from the mobile phone 10 is reproduced and transmitted to the television 21. In this case as well, the gateway 22 uses the IP packet source address used for content transmission as its own IP address in the home network 20. That is, the source address of the IP packet received from the mobile phone 10 is the IP address of the mobile phone 10, but the IP address is converted into its own IP address and transferred to the television 21.
The television 21 receives the content from the gateway 22 as described above and presents it to the user. That is, display or pronunciation is performed.

As described above, according to each device of the mobile phone 10, the communication server 32, the communication system including these, and the gateway 22, the mobile phone 10 can function as an external server of W-DLNA.
Moreover, the gateway 22 with which the mobile phone 10 can communicate can be restricted by the user ID.

  Furthermore, in general, when a mobile phone is disconnected for a certain period of time, the communication is disconnected. According to the communication system, after the mobile phone 10 starts communicating with the gateway 22, the intention of the user (the disconnect button The communication with the gateway 22 can be maintained until the communication is terminated due to the deterioration of the wireless state or the like. As a result, the selection result information can be appropriately received.

  In addition, since the mobile phone 10 has a smaller memory capacity and lower CPU specifications than a personal computer or the like, the resolution of the stored content is often low, and the low-resolution content is a small screen of the mobile phone. However, according to the gateway 22, if the content server 31 has a high-resolution version of the content received from the mobile phone, the mobile phone Since the high-resolution version can be transmitted to the television 21 instead of the content received from the television 21, the television 21 can present content suitable for viewing on a large-screen television at home.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and the present invention can of course be implemented in various modes without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is.

  For example, the gateway 22 may temporarily store the content received from the mobile phone 10 in a cache. In this way, when the television 21 is requested to provide the same content more than once (that is, when the selection result information related to the same title is received more than once), the amount of communication with the mobile phone 10 is reduced. Can be reduced.

  In addition, the television 21 may transmit information (event registration information) to request notification when the content stored in the mobile phone 10 has changed to the gateway 22. In this case, the gateway 22 transfers this event registration information to the mobile phone 10. The mobile phone 10 that has received the event registration information transmits notification information to the gateway 22 when there is a change in the stored content. Upon receiving the notification information, the gateway 22 changes its source address to its own IP address, changes its TCP port to a predetermined TCP port, and transfers it to the television 21. Upon receiving the notification information, the television 21 presents it to the user and waits for an input of a transmission request operation by the user. The processing after the transmission request operation is input is as described above. By doing so, the user can perform a transmission request operation at an appropriate timing.

In addition, a program for realizing the function of each device is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium is read into a computer system and executed, whereby the processing of each device is performed. May be realized.
Here, the “computer system” may include an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices. Further, the “computer system” includes a homepage providing environment (or display environment) if a WWW system is used.
The “computer-readable recording medium” means a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a writable nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory, a portable medium such as a CD-ROM, a hard disk built in a computer system, etc. This is a storage device.
Furthermore, the “computer-readable recording medium” includes a volatile memory (for example, DRAM (DRAM) in a computer system that becomes a server or a client when a program is transmitted through a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. Dynamic Random Access Memory)), etc., which hold programs for a certain period of time.
The program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line.
Further, the program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve each function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

It is a system configuration figure of a W-DLNA system concerning an embodiment of the invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 W-DLNA system,
10 Mobile phone,
20 Home network,
21 TV,
22 module for W-DLNA residential gateway,
30 communication network,
31 content server,
32 Communication server.

Claims (8)

A mobile phone that stores one or more contents together with the title,
The title list information including the title of each content is transmitted to the content providing device,
Receiving from the content providing device selection result information indicating that one of the titles included in the title list is selected in the content presentation device;
Transmitting content corresponding to the title indicated by the selection result information to the content providing apparatus;
A mobile phone characterized by that. A communication server connected to the mobile phone according to claim 1 and the plurality of content providing devices via a communication network,
Storing addresses of the respective content providing devices in the communication network;
Sending the address to the mobile phone;
A communication server characterized by the above. The communication server according to claim 2,
Storing each address in association with one or more user IDs;
Receiving the user ID from the mobile phone, and transmitting an address stored in association with the received user ID among the addresses;
A communication server characterized by the above. A communication system comprising: the mobile phone according to claim 1; and a communication server connected to the plurality of content providing devices via a communication network,
The communication server stores an address in the communication network of each content providing device, and transmits the address to the mobile phone,
The mobile phone receives the address from the communication server, starts communication with the content providing device indicated by the address, and periodically transmits predetermined information to the content providing device during communication.
A communication system characterized by the above. A content providing apparatus that is connected to the mobile phone according to claim 1 and a content server that stores one or more contents, and that receives content from the mobile phone,
For the content received from the mobile phone, determine whether the high-resolution version is stored in the content server,
If it is determined that it is stored, the high-resolution version is read from the content server and transmitted to the content presentation device.
A content providing apparatus. In the content provision apparatus of Claim 5,
The content received from the mobile phone and the content stored in the content server are added with identification information of the content and resolution information indicating the resolution of the content,
The content providing apparatus determines whether the high-resolution version is stored in the content server for the content received from the mobile phone using the identification information and the resolution information.
A content providing apparatus. A content providing method for providing content using a mobile phone that stores one or more contents together with the titles,
The mobile phone transmitting title list information including the title of each content to a content providing device;
The mobile phone receiving from the content providing device selection result information indicating that one of the titles included in the title list is selected in the content presentation device;
The mobile phone transmitting content corresponding to the title indicated by the selection result information to the content providing device;
A content providing method comprising: A program for causing a computer to function as a mobile phone that stores one or more contents together with its title,
Transmitting title list information including the title of each content to a content providing device;
Receiving, from the content providing device, selection result information indicating that one of the titles included in the title list is selected in the content presentation device; and content corresponding to the title indicated by the selection result information. Transmitting to the content providing device;
For causing the computer to execute.

Images