JP2009163587A - Backup control apparatus, content backup method and content reproduction method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve backup of high convenience without requiring setting in each content and without requiring a sharp increase in the cost of an apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: A backup control apparatus 1 acquires a content and its metadata via a network. The title, sort, data size, storing place, updating date, etc. of the content are described in the metadata. The sort includes values indicating whether the content is a copyright protection target or not and whether the content is a moving image, a still image, music data, etc, like MIME types for instance. A user performs setting of backup in the apparatus 1. Concretely, the user sets a sort of a content to be backed up, a backup storage destination, performance timing, and so on. At the set performance timing, the apparatus 1 is connected to a storage server to be the backup storage destination, identifies the content to be backed up by the MIME types and stores the content in the storage server. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The technical field relates to technology for backing up content.

  With respect to the above technical field, Patent Document 1 discloses that “a high-capacity data can be automatically backed up in order to prevent loss of important data due to a failure in a large-capacity disk device” as a solution. “Interfaces that can be connected to a network, interfaces that acquire data from digital cameras and digital video cameras, tuners that can receive TV radio waves, disk devices that can centrally manage input data, and data stored in disk devices A data storage device, a CPU, a memory, a video interface capable of outputting video, a monitor for outputting video, a device for inputting data through the monitor, and data input to the disk device from the external interface, Set according to the desired backup start time According to an important degree of data, automatically permits the backup. "Technique is disclosed.

  Further, Patent Document 2 has an object of “backing up content important for the user”, and as a means for solving the problem, “a preference value of the content and state information of the recording medium 39 are recorded in the recording medium 39. The content sorting unit 62 sorts predetermined content using the preference value recorded on the recording medium 39. The state check unit 63 further details the state information recorded on the recording medium 39. When it is determined that the check is necessary, the sector check unit 64 checks the entire surface of the recording medium 39. The sector check unit 64 holds information on the error sector and needs to back up the content recorded there. The backup processing unit 65 is the content selected by the content selection unit 62, or Performing backup processing in the content determines that it is necessary to back up. "Technique is disclosed by the sector checking section 64.

JP 2004-295723 A JP 2006-139662 A

  However, in Patent Document 1, importance must be set for each data, which is troublesome for the user. In Patent Document 2, the content preference value must be calculated by the device and recorded in the device, which increases the cost of the device.

  Therefore, in the present application, for example, the attribute (metadata) originally included in the content is used to identify whether the content may be duplicated for copyright or the content specified by the user. If it is judged to be identified, it provides a backup technology.

  According to the above means, for example, it is not necessary to set for each content, and since the attribute included in the content is used, the cost of the apparatus is not relatively high.

  Hereinafter, examples (examples) of the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

  First, an outline of the present embodiment will be described.

  The backup control apparatus acquires content metadata from a recorder that can share content via a network. In the metadata, the title of the content, format information, data size, storage location, update date and time, etc. are described. The format information includes, for example, MIME-TYPE, whether it is subject to copyright protection, video, A value indicating whether it is a still image or music data is included. The user sets recorder backup control for the backup control device. Specifically, the type of content to be backed up, the backup destination, the execution timing, and the like are set. Then, at the set execution timing, the backup control device connects to the storage server that is the backup storage destination, identifies the content to be backed up by the MIME-TYPE value, and stores (backs up) the content in the storage server. As described above, it is possible to automatically back up contents stored in an apparatus capable of sharing contents via a network, which are set by the user and may be copied for copyright. According to this backup control device, the content of a device that does not have a backup function can be automatically backed up as long as the copyright does not prohibit copying. In addition, even if the user simply specifies the type of content to be backed up, the backup control device automatically identifies whether the content is to be backed up from the metadata of each content, so that the content to be backed up can be easily specified. Backup storage destinations can be set for various devices such as data centers outside the home, NAS and external HDDs.

  Details will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of the system. The device 1 backs up the content stored in the recording / playback device 2 connected to the home network to the backup control device 1 (device 1). Further, the device 1 backs up the content stored in the device 1 or the content stored in the device 2 to the storage device 3 (device 3) in the data center outside the home.

  The device 1 has a function of storing content such as moving images, still images, music, and the like such as an HDD recorder or a PC. As the storage medium to be stored, for example, an HDD, a semiconductor memory, an optical disk, and the like can be considered. The device 1 acquires a content list stored in another device via a network. The user can select a desired content from the content list displayed on the device 1 for viewing or download to the device 1. However, for content that cannot be reproduced or downloaded via a network due to copyright, only content list acquisition is performed.

  The content list describes content attributes. Examples of attributes include information such as title, format information, data size, storage location, update date and time. Format information includes information indicating the type of data such as video, still image, music, etc., as well as information on whether copyright-protected content such as DTCP (Digital Transmission Content Protection) is included in MIME-TYPE (Multipurpose Internet (Mail Extension-Type) format. The storage location attribute includes information such as a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) that represents the content storage location on the network or in the device.

  The transmission path forming the network represents, for example, an optical fiber or ADSL, an in-home LAN using an in-house LAN cable, or a dedicated communication line using a dedicated cable, whether in the house or outside the house.

  The device 1 can take a backup of content stored in the device 1 or content stored in another device. For example, backup data can be stored in a device 3 installed in a data center outside the home for content stored in the device 2 connected to the home network. Thus, even if the device 2 does not have the same backup function as the device 1, it can be backed up. Even if the device 2 fails and the content is erased, the backup data of the content can be acquired from the device 3.

  The device set as the backup destination of the content by the device 1 is not limited to the device 3 outside the home, but may be the device 1 itself. For example, in the home, the device 1 is connected via NAS (Network Attached Storage) or USB. There is an external HDD. Further, a device other than the content storage source device 2 may be used. On the other hand, if it is outside the home, a device installed in a relative's / family's home may be used. Further, it may be a mobile terminal device such as an in-vehicle device or a portable terminal.

  The devices that record the content (devices 1 and 2) are also called content servers, and the backup destination devices (devices 1 and 3) are also called storage servers. In the case of FIG. 1, the device 1 is also a backup control device, a content server, and a storage server. However, it is not necessary that the backup control device has all of them.

  FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of the device 1. The apparatus 1 includes a screen display unit 10, a user operation unit 11, a content management unit 12, a content database 13, a backup management unit 14, a backup setting database 15, and a network management unit 16. The user operation unit 11, the content management unit 12, the backup management unit 14, and the network management unit 16 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by executing software by a CPU or the like.

  The screen display unit 10 displays a content list, a content being played back, a backup setting screen, and the like. However, the screen display unit 10 may be another case.

  The user operation unit 11 receives control information through an interface for device operation by a user such as a remote controller.

  The content management unit 12 manages the content list stored in the device 1 and the content list of other devices acquired via the network.

  In the content database 13, in addition to the content of the device 1, backup data of content stored in another device and metadata of each content are stored. However, the backup is limited to the contents of the device in which the backup destination is set in the device 1 in advance. Metadata stored in the content database 13 has attributes such as a content ID, title, data size, update date, file name, and backup storage complete / incomplete. In addition to this, for example, in the case of music content, existing metadata attributes are stored according to the type of content such as composer, genre, singer, and composer. The content ID uniquely represents the content.

  The backup management unit 14 manages content stored in the device 1 and backup setting information of each device on the network.

  The backup setting database 15 includes information on a device having a content database (content server, device 1 or 2 in FIG. 1), information on a backup control device (device 1 in FIG. 1), the type of content to be backed up, and backup storage. Setting information related to backup such as information on the previous device (storage server, device 1 or device 3 in FIG. 1), and setting status of backup timing is stored. These pieces of information are set by the user on a backup setting screen described later.

  The network management unit 16 transmits / receives content data, program information, control information, and the like between apparatuses. The network management unit 16 manages the network in accordance with, for example, the DLNA standard.

  FIG. 3 is an example of a screen for the user to set backup in the apparatus 1. On the setting screen, a list of servers that can share content via the network and setting information of the backup are displayed. As backup setting information, information on the device that controls the backup, the type of content to be backed up, device information of the backup storage destination, the setting status of the backup timing, and the like are displayed.

  The devices displayed in the above-mentioned content server list are, for example, devices having DLNA server functions (device 1 and device 2 in FIG. 1), and a function for transmitting a content list and content according to a request received from a client. Is provided.

  In the backup setting information of each content server, first, the presence / absence of a backup control function in the content server or the presence / absence of a device that controls backup of the content server is displayed as information on the backup control device. If there is a device that controls backup, information about that device is also displayed.

  The content to be backed up is selected and set by the user from options combining the types of content. There are four types of options, for example, only moving images, only still images, moving images and still images, and all content that may be copied for copyright.

To identify the type of content, MIME-TYPE included in the content list attribute is used. MIME-TYPE mainly includes data type information and copyright information. When the server transfers data to the client, it is used to control how this data is displayed and / or played on the client. Since it is information sent when content data is sent from a server in DLNA, it is not necessary to create it specially in the recording / playback apparatus (device 2) or the like. In DLNA, MIME-TYPE includes the following information, for example.
application / x-dtcp1: // Indicates here that DTCP is copyright protected
DTCP1HOST = 169.254.76.106: // IP address on the server side
DTCP1PORT = 30000: // Server port number
CONTENTFORMAT = "video / vnd.dlna.mpeg-tts": // File type information
DLNA.ORG_OP = 10: // Playback method information (whether or not the scene to start playback can be specified by time)
FIG. 4 is a correspondence diagram illustrating an example of information regarding the combination of content types set as backup targets and the MIME-TYPE of the content corresponding to the combination.

  For example, if the content to be backed up is only a video, the MIME-TYPE value is “video / mpeg” representing an MPEG file, “video / x-ms-wmv” representing a WMV file, etc. , Content beginning with “video /” is identified as a video and is targeted for backup. Also, if the MIME-TYPE value indicates not only the content starting with “video /” but also other values, it indicates a moving image, and the corresponding content is the target of backup.

  Next, when the content to be backed up is set as a still image only, the content whose MIME-TYPE value starts with “image /” is set as the content to be backed up as a still image. In addition to this, content with a MIME-TYPE value representing a still image is also targeted for backup. When both the moving image and the still image are set as the content to be backed up, the content applicable to each type of the moving image and the still image is identified from the MIME-TYPE value and set as the backup target.

  Finally, if everything that can be copied for copyright is to be backed up, MIME-TYPE, such as DTCP, does not contain copyright information that prohibits copying, such as videos and still images All content is subject to backup.

  The content setting method for backup is not limited to specifying the type of content such as video, still image, and music, but each content can be backed up by directly specifying the MIME-TYPE value, file extension, etc. It may be set whether or not.

  In the backup storage device information, for example, which device or the recording medium is set to store the backup data of the content, such as a data center or an external HDD device, is displayed.

  In the setting status of the backup timing, a setting status indicating at which timing the apparatus 1 executes backup is displayed. For example, the information is whether to be executed every Sunday at 2 AM or every day at 6 PM. However, if the content content server is frequently turned off at the set timing or cannot be backed up because it is not connected to the network, attention may be displayed on the setting screen. Also, backup may be automatically executed when the content list is updated, such as when the content server to be backed up is connected to the network or when content is newly added. For example, when a device having a DLNA content server function is a content server to be backed up, it has a function of notifying other devices that it has been connected to the network or that the content list has been updated. The backup timing may be set using such a function.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of processing in which the backup control device backs up the content of the content server to the storage server after the user sets backup on the backup setting screen described above.

  The apparatus 1 first acquires a content list from the content server to be backed up (ST101). Then, the type of each content is identified from the MIME-TYPE of each content included in the content list (ST102).

  Subsequently, it is identified whether or not the content whose type is specified is the backup target set by the user (ST103). At this time, if it is determined that the content is to be backed up (Yes in ST103), the corresponding content is added to the content list to be backed up (ST104). If the content is not subject to backup (No in ST103), it is added to the content list not subject to backup (ST105). When identifying whether or not the content is a type to be backed up, it is confirmed from the content database 13 whether or not the content has already been backed up. If the content is already backed up, the content is identified as content not to be backed up (ST103).

  The device 1 identifies whether or not it is a backup target for all of the acquired content lists of the content server (No in ST106). If all the contents have been identified (Yes in ST106), the data size of the contents to be backed up is estimated, and it is confirmed whether or not it can be accommodated in the remaining recording capacity of the backup destination apparatus (storage server) (ST107). When the capacity of the backup destination device satisfies the data size to be backed up (Yes in ST107), backup of all target contents is executed (ST108). If the backup destination device capacity is insufficient (No in ST107), another backup destination is set or some contents are not backed up (ST109).

  The apparatus 1 records in the content database 13 whether or not backup has been completed for each content to be backed up so that the content that has been backed up once is not backed up next time (ST110). It may be recorded in the backup setting database 15.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process for executing, in the storage server (apparatus 3), the backup process instructed to be executed from the backup control apparatus (apparatus 1) in ST108.

  The storage server that is the backup storage destination, when performing backup to the storage server (ST201), checks whether there is any duplication in the contents transmitted as backup from each content server (ST202). In ST103, it is determined whether or not the backup has been completed, but when there are a plurality of backup control devices (for example, when there is a device 4 having a function equivalent to that of device 1), both backup control devices have the same content. This is because when the backup of the content stored in the server is executed, duplication occurs in the backup, and there is a possibility of duplication in the storage server even if it has not been backed up in the apparatus 1.

  The duplication of content stored as a backup is confirmed by comparing the title, data size, update date, etc. between the content. If you try to back up content that has the same file name but different contents, you will not know the difference in content and will be overwritten on the backup destination content server, losing the content originally saved as backup. There is a possibility that. In order to prevent such file name conflicts, for example, for each content, information such as information on the content server that was the backup source, data size, update date and time, etc. are used to identify that the same file name is different content. Save backup data as a separate file. If duplicate contents exist (Yes in ST203), the backup control apparatus requesting backup is notified. Upon receiving the notification, the backup control device determines whether to overwrite the backup content on the storage server (Yes in ST205) or cancel the backup execution (No in ST205). This determination follows, for example, information set in advance by the user in the backup control device. If there is no duplication in content (No in ST203), the backup is stored on the storage server as it is. Information regarding whether backup has been completed or canceled for each content is stored in the content database 13 (ST208). The result of ST208 may be notified to apparatus 1 and ST110 may be executed.

  Note that ST202 in FIG. 6 determines whether there is any duplication in the storage server. In addition to this method, backup setting information is shared between the backup control devices (for example, in the content database 13 or the backup setting database 15), and the responsible backup control device is in charge for each content server or content type. By sharing the information, duplication may not occur in the backup. However, when the same content originally exists in a plurality of content servers, each device backs up the same content even if the responsible backup control device is different. Therefore, the content list may be shared between the content content servers to check whether there is any duplication. If there is an overlap in the content, the user can set whether to backup the duplicate content or only one of them to be backed up.

FIG. 7 shows a case where, for example, when the device 1 tries to reproduce content stored in the device 2 via the network, but the device 2 cannot acquire the content due to power-off or failure, the backup device 3 5 is a flowchart showing a process for reproducing the content.
The user gives an instruction to reproduce the content to be viewed from the content list of each device displayed on the device 1 (ST301). At this time, since the selected content is stored in the device 2, the device 1 requests the device 2 to reproduce the corresponding content. However, it is assumed that the apparatus 2 is in a state where the content cannot be reproduced due to, for example, power OFF or failure (ST302). In such a case, apparatus 1 connects to apparatus 3 in which the same content as the selected content is stored as a backup (ST303). Then, the selected content is acquired from the apparatus 3 and reproduced (ST304).

An example of a system configuration is shown. 2 shows a configuration example of a backup control device 1. An example backup setting screen is shown. An example of the relationship between the backup target and MIME-TYPE is shown. An example of processing in which a backup control device backs up content in a content server to a storage server is shown. An example of processing for determining the duplication of contents to be backed up will be shown. The example of a process which reproduces | regenerates a content is shown.

Explanation of symbols

  1: backup control device, 2: recording / reproducing device, 3: storage device in data center

Claims (16)

A backup controller,
A backup control device having a backup management unit that determines whether to backup using metadata. The backup control device according to claim 1,
The backup management device, wherein the backup management unit determines whether the content of a recording / playback device other than the backup control device is a backup target. The backup control device according to claim 2,
A backup control device connected to the recording / reproducing device by DLNA. A backup control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The backup control unit is a backup control device that judges based on MIME-TYPE included in the metadata. The backup control device according to claim 4,
The backup control unit determines that backup is performed when the MIME-TYPE indicates content that is not prohibited from being copied due to copyright. The backup control device according to claim 1,
The backup control unit is a backup control device that determines whether to back up depending on whether the metadata indicates a moving image, a still image, or music. The backup control device according to claim 1,
A storage unit for storing the backed up information of the content;
The backup control unit determines that backup is performed when content is not backed up in the storage unit. The backup control device according to claim 1,
The backup control device, wherein the backup management unit determines to back up when the content has not been backed up and the metadata indicates content that is permitted to be copied due to copyright. The backup control device according to claim 1,
A storage unit for storing the backed up information of the content;
The said storage part is the backup control apparatus which has memorize | stored the backed up information of the content by the said backup control apparatus and another backup control apparatus. The backup control device according to claim 1,
The backup management unit is a backup control device that determines whether to backup according to at least one of a backup target device, a backup control device, a content type, an execution timing, and a backup storage destination. The backup control device according to claim 1,
The backup management unit is a backup control device that acquires content and metadata via an IP network. The backup control device according to claim 1,
The backup management unit is a backup control apparatus in which a backup destination is a storage server different from the backup control apparatus. The backup control device according to claim 1,
The backup management unit identifies different contents by comparing the data size and / or update date and time when contents having the same file name are already stored as backups when the contents are backed up. Backup control unit. A backup controller,
A backup control device having a backup management unit for determining whether to backup according to MIME-TYPE included in metadata. A content backup method executed by a storage server for storing content,
Retrieving content metadata from a client connected over a network;
And a step of determining whether or not the content has been backed up based on the MIME-TYPE included in the acquired metadata. A content playback method executed by a content recording / playback apparatus for playing back recorded content,
Determining whether the recorded content can be reproduced;
A step of playing when the content is playable,
A content playback method comprising the step of playing back content from a backup destination when the content is unplayable.

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