CN1321531C - 用于提供即时启动多媒体内容的方法和系统 - Google Patents

用于提供即时启动多媒体内容的方法和系统 Download PDF

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CN1321531C
CN1321531C CNB021020914A CN02102091A CN1321531C CN 1321531 C CN1321531 C CN 1321531C CN B021020914 A CNB021020914 A CN B021020914A CN 02102091 A CN02102091 A CN 02102091A CN 1321531 C CN1321531 C CN 1321531C
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subscriber equipment
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CN1371216A (zh
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格莱格·科森
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Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/47—End-user applications
    • H04N21/472—End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content
    • H04N21/47208—End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content for requesting near-video-on-demand content
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/262—Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/262—Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists
    • H04N21/26208—Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists the scheduling operation being performed under constraints
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/262—Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists
    • H04N21/26208—Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists the scheduling operation being performed under constraints
    • H04N21/26216—Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists the scheduling operation being performed under constraints involving the channel capacity, e.g. network bandwidth
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/262—Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists
    • H04N21/26208—Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists the scheduling operation being performed under constraints
    • H04N21/26241—Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists the scheduling operation being performed under constraints involving the time of distribution, e.g. the best time of the day for inserting an advertisement or airing a children program
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/262—Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists
    • H04N21/26266—Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists for determining content or additional data repetition rate, e.g. of a file in a DVB carousel according to its importance
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/262—Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists
    • H04N21/26275—Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists for distributing content or additional data in a staggered manner, e.g. repeating movies on different channels in a time-staggered manner in a near video on demand system
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
    • H04N21/433—Content storage operation, e.g. storage operation in response to a pause request, caching operations
    • H04N21/4331—Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/80—Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
    • H04N21/83—Generation or processing of protective or descriptive data associated with content; Content structuring
    • H04N21/845—Structuring of content, e.g. decomposing content into time segments
    • H04N21/8456—Structuring of content, e.g. decomposing content into time segments by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N7/00—Television systems
    • H04N7/16—Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems
    • H04N7/173—Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal

Abstract

本发明提出了一种系统和方法，用于通过有线、卫星电视或其他内容服务器系统提供即时启动多媒体内容。提供多媒体内容的服务器设备(10)在将格式化的多媒体内容传输到用户接收器单元之前先划分成数据块(例如，长度为1分钟的数据的集合)，然后，根据允许即时启动和收看用户请求的多媒体内容的时间表来发送所划分的数据块。用户接收器单元包括分线盒、视频游戏设备等，它们具有数字视频记录性能，并且至少具有足以存储一个完整的媒体内容的存储容量。本发明不要求服务器设备(10)与接收器单元之间进行密集交互，而只要求以交错媒体流方式将内容信号从服务器设备(10)发送到接收器单元。此外，本发明还要求使用不超过原始信号带宽的6倍的带宽来运行。

Description

用于提供即时启动多媒体内容的方法和系统
技术领域
本发明一般涉及数字计算机系统的领域，尤其涉及视频和多媒体计算机服务器和系统的领域，以及相应的这种内容到用户住所的传送。
背景技术
为了满足收视者的需求，以前的电视广播已经发展为满帧速率视频和音频数据的分配。早期的视频分配是在摄像机与视频监视器之间进行点对点接线。这之后出现的是排定的通过公共无线电波广播节目的电视广播。1960年代，租用共用天线电视(CATV)向广播接收边缘地区的收视者提供停播电视信号。后来，有了FCC法规，这就要求CATV行业除了停播广播信号分配之外还要提供本地访问和原始广播节目。
为此，建立了一些有线网络广播节目源。由于有线电视系统中有宽带宽可供使用，因此，对于新的广播节目，可使用附加频道。然而，广播节目一般是预先排定的，因此，收视者要坐等到预定时间才能调谐到指定频道以收看特定节目。
为了增加收入，有线电视系统预先分配了一些收费频道，这些频道只供装有合适解扰码器的用户收看。解扰码器被调谐，以便只接收收费频道，将视频和音频信息解扰，从而提供一种能被标准电视机所接收的信号。
后来出现的按次计费节目包括最新发行的电影、实况转播的音乐会、大众体育比赛等。想收看按次计费节目的用户应向有线运营者订购。用户的解扰码器在指定时刻被激活，从而允许收看按次计费的广播节目。然而，这限制了用户收看预定时间的广播节目。从而无法点播式地(也就是说即时地)或在用户指定的时间和日期将广播节目传送给用户。
在1980年代初期，技术的进步使得盒式录像机(VCR)得到了普及，从而确立了视频广播节目分配的第二个进程。这时，预先录制的影视节目可以销售和租借给拥有VCR的人。收视者利用VCR可在许多供出售和租用的片子中进行选择，以便方便时收看节目。拥有VCR的人还能够利用VCR的专用功能(比如，暂停、快进、倒退、慢放等)有选择地收看节目。因此，收视者可以随意控制和重放节目的各部分。
然而，这种便利的不利之处在于，人们必须要到当地音像租用/销售商店，必要的话还要等候一段时间才能得到流行的影视节目录像带，一旦得到该节目录像带，就要回到家里收看，看完后再返回音像商店还录像带。
在Goodman等人的美国专利号5,010,399和Kleinerman的美国专利号4,849,811中，提出了用电话线路作为视频分配的另一种方法。然而，使用公用电话交换网(PSTN)的系统常常有带宽限制，从而只能提供静止帧或视频会议。由于电话系统载体使用PSTN多半只是为了在用户之间进行连接，因此，如果没有专门租用的宽带宽线路就无法动态传送数字化图像。同样，基于电话线路的系统也不能提供令人满意的对节目的VCR式功能控制。
此外，因特网、万维网、有线和卫星传送系统不断提供日益提高的带宽通信信道，这样，很快就可以将大多数家庭和商业互连，从而可以向所连接的用户提供许多业务。这些业务除了与兴趣相投人员的虚拟团体实时交互外，还包括即时访问金融、教育和其他多媒体信息的大型数据库。在这些可供使用的业务当中，已为大众和媒体广泛关注的一种业务是提供视频点播(VOD)。
VOD提供了这样的许诺，曾经拍摄过的几乎每部电影都可以供该业务的用户随时收看。用户不用开车去音像租用商店挑选影片，而可以选择多媒体内容服务器系统的影视库中所存储的任何一部电影，并可以通过因特网或者利用有线或卫星系统将这部电影传送给他们。
在实现VCO的这种许诺前，有许多问题必须解决。即使是一部相对较短的两小时的影片也包括了大约2.2×1010比特的数据。因此，必须约定一些标准的方法来压缩和存储具有成千上万部影片的电影库中所含的大量数据。甚至在获得和存储了数据以后，仍没有关于需要用什么样的系统将所存储的数据传送给用户的工业协定。
任何建议采用的系统都必须满足严格的用户要求。用户可能要求他们所选定的无论什么影片都能很快地传送给他们。他们可能还要求能随时启动和停止影片，以及能随意快进(FF)和快倒(FR)影片。根据现有技术的系统，这一般是通过向各用户发送单独的数据流(即这部电影)的方法来实现。然而，由于成千上万的人可能同时在收看这部电影，因此，随时都满足每个用户的这些需求将会对系统的存储单元、内部总线和处理单元提出相当多的要求。甚至可能超出光缆的巨大带宽。
此外，用户与系统之间必须要有某种双向通信，以便发送用户的请求以及计费信息等。这种双向通信也为系统带来了额外的负担。
已提出了一些广播节目点播有线系统，这种系统使得多个单独用户中的任一用户可以向服务器的节目库请求他们想(延时)收看的多个影视节目中的任一节目，并且在用户发出的请求之后，允许所请求的节目随后在用户处用普通电视机收看。每个节目都预存在数字存储设备中，并且可以由前端设施中的主计算机或服务器系统根据用户发出的地址信号来选择。与其他通信和数据处理硬件及软件结合的主计算机通过高带宽系统(比如，光纤线路网络)以高非实时速率将影视节目以数字数据形式发送到用户住所处的数据接收站，比如，机顶盒(STB)。然后，STB存储数字内容，以便随后实时传送到用户电视机。这种系统允许用户收看非实时发送的许多节目中的任一节目，还允许用户将所发送的节目在STB上存放一段无限期的时间，以备以后收看。
已提出了不同的方法来非实时地发送节目。例如，参照图1，在视频点播网络中，采用了一种如Verhille等人在美国专利号5,539,448中所公开的典型视频服务器(VS)，其中视频信号从视频服务器通过通信网(TSY)发送到与该网络连接的各个终端。该系统包括一些数字存储设备(DSF)、一个服务器控制装置(SCM)、一个宽带交换机(BS)，该交换机具有与存储设备(DSF)连接的第一部分端口(VP1/VPY)、与通信网(TSY)连接的第二部分端口(CL)和与服务器控制装置(SCM)连接的一个第三端口(CP)。服务器控制装置(SCM)对数字视频内容从存储设备(DSF)经交换机(BS)和通信网(TSY)到终端的传送进行控制。宽带交换机(BS)还具有一组第四端口(CP1/CPX)，这些端口与系统适配器(SYA1/SYAX)连接，以便视频信号适应与通信网兼容的格式。服务器控制装置(SCM)负责将视频信号首先从数字存储设备(DSF)经交换机(BS)发送到系统适配器(SYA1/SYAX)，然后从适配器装置通过通信网(TSY)发送到终端。这些系统适配器包括了信道存储器和适配器，以分别完成视频信号的速率和格式的适配。这些信道存储器和适配器可以直接地并单独地与宽带交换机连接。
运行中，诸如Verhille等人所提出的视频服务器接收到从多个用户的STB经分配网络发送到该服务器的用户请求。这些请求被发送到实时控制器中，然后，实时控制器再将这些请求发送到系统控制器。如果系统控制器判定允许某个用户接入而且存储系统中有所请求的视频数据，那么，系统控制器命令实时控制器允许用户接入并告诉实时控制器系统在何处存储有该视频数据。
服务器设备将编码的数字视频数据通过一个提供连接的宽带PSTN发送到该设备。用户可以利用标准电话机通过PSTN或利用专用控制装置通过ISDN分组网订购该视频广播节目。这种装置安装在用户的电视机中，从而可以在电视屏幕上显示节目菜单。
用于传送视频数据的服务器设备与用户之间的连接是通过非对称数字用户线(ADSL)系统提供的。ADSL接口单元负责将数字视频信息与声音信息复用以便发送给用户，并支持以ISDN分组数据网将反向控制信道从用户传输到服务器设备。
然而，常规视频点播业务并不包括能在用户的STB上直接存储的完整和广泛的影视节目资料库，所以，只能有限地存储服务器所提供的视频和音频数据。因此，需要增强型调度功能，以便在暂时不同的广播节目范围内有效地支持多个用户。再者，为了支持网络管理并能够即时接入多媒体内容，仍然需要这样一种系统，它不必与网络设备动态交互或者实时地重新配置网络资源来响应多个用户发出的多媒体内容请求。
发明内容
本发明的总的目的在于，提供一种系统和方法，用于通过有线、卫星电视或其他系统来传送多媒体内容(如视频和音频)，这些有线、卫星电视或其他系统允许即时收看用户请求的内容，并且还使用了具有数字视频记录性能的用户接收器单元，它至少具有能存储一个完整的媒体内容(比如一部全长的影片)的存储容量。
本发明的另一个目的在于，提供这样一种系统和方法，这种系统和方法不要求服务器设备与用户接收器单元之间进行连续或甚至是周期性交互，具体地说，该系统可以在向所有用户发送同一信号的单向网络中运行。
本发明的还有一个目的在于，将多媒体内容划分成一些数据块，这些数据块“恰好”在需要被收看之前被发送并被记录在用户的STB上。
本发明的还有一个目的在于，提供这样一种系统和方法，这种系统和方法只需要使用不超过原始信号带宽的6倍的带宽即可为无限多的用户即时启动视频内容。此外，带宽要求并不是一成不变的，其中，要提供VOD性能，也只是定期需要最大带宽。
本发明的另一个目的在于，通过降低仍要提供即时收看时所需的带宽，来提高可用带宽的使用效率，这可以通过将部分多媒体内容预先存储在用户的STB上来实现。
本发明的还有一个目的在于，提供这样一种系统和方法，用于将至少一个信号由服务器设备只提供给多媒体内容的公用部分，例如影片起点，从而在用户的STB上不需要用相应的存储空间。
本发明的另一个目的在于，提供许多多媒体内容起点，其个数可以多达信号带宽中的最多信道数。
本发明的另一个目的在于，提供这样一种系统和方法，用于将一个多信道信号分配给最初的用户，然后，以如下的方式将后来的用户加到传输时间表中，即后来的用户将与发送给最初用户的那些多媒体数据块同时地接收多媒体数据块。
本发明的还有一个目的在于，不管有多少用户请求了多媒体内容并正在让这一内容传送到其STB，都避免任何单个多媒体内容作品(比如一部影片)需要超出每个信号的最大带宽的带宽。
本发明的另一个目的在于，与那些将单独和唯一的多媒体内容流发送到各用户的系统和方法相比，可以减小将新用户增加到已在传送中的多媒体内容中的费用。
还有一个目的在于，允许新用户在带宽内以小于递增(less-than-incremental)的费用增加到已有的多媒体流中。
根据结构附图的以下描述，可以更清楚地看到本发明的上述和其他的目的、特性和优点，在这些附图中，举例示出了本发明的一些优选实施方式。
根据本发明的第一方面，提供一种用于将数字内容从服务器发送到用户设备的方法，包括：提供数字内容；在传输之前将数字内容划分成多个数据块；确定传输数字内容的时间表，所述时间表在用户设备进行对数字内容的请求时确定，所述时间表优化带宽消耗；在传输数字内容之前，将多个数据块中的至少一个预先存储在用户设备上；和按预定时间表，将所划分的数据块从所述服务器传输到用户设备，所述传输在包括被配置为传输多个数据块中的至少一个的多个信道的通信网络上进行。
根据本发明的第二方面，提供一种用于将数字内容从服务器发送到用户设备的系统，包括：一个包括数字内容的数字内容数据库；一个服务器，被配置为传输在传输之前已被划分成多个数据块的数字内容，所述服务器被进一步配置为在传输划分的数据块之前，将多个数据块中的至少一个预先存储在用户设备上；一个用户设备，用于接收至少一个所述预先存储和传输的数据块；和一个通信网，包括多个用于按预定时间表从所述服务器传输所述划分的数据块的多个信道，所述时间表在用户设备进行对数字内容的请求时确定，所述时间表优化带宽消耗。
根据本发明的第三方面，提供一种用于将数字内容发送到用户设备的服务器设备，包括：一个数据处理单元，用于在传输前通过多个传输信道将所述数字内容划分成多个数据块；和一个通信单元，被配置为在传输多个划分的数据块的剩余部分之前，将至少一个划分的数据块预先存储在用户设备处，所述通信单元进一步被配置为按传输时间表将所述划分的数据块传输到所述用户设备，所述时间表在用户设备进行对数字内容的请求时确定，所述用户设备包括数据接收单元和数据存储单元，所述通信单元进一步配置为，在划分的数据块的传输过程中，在第二用户设备被添加到所述传输时间表时，同时将划分的数据块传输给第一用户设备和第二用户设备。
附图说明
图1示出了现有技术的视频点播(VOD)系统。
图2示出了根据本发明的一种实施方式的具有即时VOD性能的整个系统的配置。
图3示出根据本发明的一种实施方式的数字多媒体内容信号的离散数据部分的打包。
具体实施方式
本发明涉及一种系统和方法，用于通过有线、卫星电视或其他内容提供系统来提供多媒体内容(如视频和音频)。本发明允许即时消费，例如收看用户请求的电影等内容。该系统使用了用户接收器单元(机顶盒即STB)，该接收器单元包括一个具有数字视频记录性能的可编程视频接收和播放设备，类似于TIVOTM或其他已知的单元，它至少具有能存储一个完整的媒体内容(比如一部全长的影片)的存储器(如磁盘空间)。
本发明不要求与STB密集交互，而只要求不断地单向发送和接收从媒体内容服务器到接收器单元的内容信号。接收器单元可以被调谐到该服务器，从而可以随时收看该内容。此外，在最坏情况下，本发明也只需要使用不超过原始信号带宽的6倍的带宽。
在本发明的公开中，术语“即时”应理解为是指比如在约一分钟左右数量级上的准即时。
本发明可适用于任何形式的数字流式内容，比如(并不局限于此)：影片、TV节目、运转控制数据和音乐。为了便于本发明的描述，在此，采用了这样一些例子，比如，按次计费的TV系统中的流式影片。鉴于目前实现按次计费系统的方式，在这种环境下使用本发明将会有相当多的好处。
图2示出了根据本发明的一种实施方式的具有视频点播性能的一种系统的配置。说明书和权利要求书中的术语“多媒体内容”应理解为是指可下载内容的集合，它可以包括以下数据中的任意一种：视频线性流式数据(比如MPEG-2格式的电影)、线性音频流式数据(比如MP3数据)、二进制节目数据、高分辨率图形数据或这些数据的任意组合。服务器设备10是一个服务器系统，它管理用户对多媒体内容的请求。利用LAN 30上的一种称为路由器的典型设备(未示出)可以便于对服务器10(它可以包括多个服务器之一)的访问，这样就可以直接将请求发到多媒体服务器10。在本实施方式中，多媒体内容数据库20与该服务器连接。当服务器10接收到用户的请求时，服务器10执行数据库20中的媒体内容的传输。
网络40一般是一个将用户的控制设备50与多媒体服务器10连接的双向数字通信网。根据目前的技术，能够实现本发明所必需的网络连接的现有基础设备的例子有：CATV双向网络、ISDN或xDSL高速网络和卫星网络。
该系统配置的用户方包括一个控制设备(如机顶盒)，它可以是视频游戏操作台，例如包括：一个内置或外接的可卸式存储媒体60，和一个与该控制设备50连接的图像监视器或其他合适的显示设备70。在一种优选实施方式中，可卸式存储媒体60包括CD-ROM或DVD盘。
连网控制设备50最好是一个可网络连接的具有视频记录功能的数字多媒体内容播放器，它包括一个有足够记录容量的内置硬盘驱动器(未示出)，用于记录至少一部全长的电影。按常规方法，这种设备50一般用可卸式存储媒体60作为非连网环境中的内容分配媒体。换句话说，在根据常规已知方法的一般使用情况下，控制设备50即使不与网络连接，它仍能够播放可卸式存储媒体60中所含的通常是例如交互式视频游戏的媒体。控制设备50还可以用来收看可卸式存储媒体60中所提供的DVD视频内容，并且，根据本发明，还可以将从服务器设备中所下载的并通过网络40传送的视频内容记录到硬盘驱动器上。
尽管图2示出了一种通过双向网络运行的视频点播系统，然而，应当理解，本发明的原理完全可适用于单向网络，其中所有用户都可以接收服务器设备同时发出的相同信号，而其中来自用户端的上行数据传输则是不必要的。
数字有线TV和卫星系统广播许多个信号，每个信号都含有数据速率为25-30兆比特/每秒(mbps)的数字数据，其中在典型有线TV系统中有100个信号是公用的。STB一般包括一个或多个调谐器，用于接收这些数字广播信号。每一信号中的数字数据一般都包括多种工业标准中的某一种标准的多媒体内容，比如，用于若干个(通常为5、6个)信道的MPEG-2压缩图像。具有数字多媒体记录性能并具有多个数字信号调谐器的用户STB可以在用户收看某个信道的同时记录另一个信道。标准的STB(具有两个调谐器)能够在数字数据高达60mbps时即刻调准。
参照表1，常规的卫星、有线或其他多媒体业务提供者通常都将提供6个信道，它是一个30mbps的数字信号并且允许传输例如两个半小时的影片。这6个信道可供发送该影片的6个完整的拷贝，每一拷贝的发送起点间隔30分钟。表1示出了这种收视的时间表。每当出现故事片的片头，就表示有一部两个半小时的影片要详尽演播。所有6个信道均是以单一数字信号被发送，然后被用户STB所接收。
表1
(常规系统)
频道  05:00  05:30  06:00  06:30  07:00  07:30  08:00  08:30  09:00  09:30  10:00 10:30 11
500 |-------------------影片A---------|       |--------------影片A----------------|
501            |--------------------影片A-----------|   |---------------影片A-----------------|
502   --------|       |---------------影片A------------|       |----------------影片A----------
503   ---------------|      |---------------影片A------------|         |----------------影片A--
504    影片A------------------|     |------------影片A--------------|          |------------
505   -----影片A--------------------|      |----------------影片A--------------|    |------
因此，如果用户例如在下午7:00开始收看该影片，那么，当STB在信道504上演播下午7:00到下午7:30之间的第一个半小时的时候，STB同时在接收(尽管收视者一般不看)信道503上的第二个半小时、信道502上的第三个半小时、信道501上的第四个半小时、信道500上的第五个半小时和信道505上的第六个半小时。因此，对于具有数字记录性能的STB，整部影片实际上可按半个小时被记录，尽管在一般情况下，用户只收看一个信道上的整部影片，而不知道在其他信道上同时所发送的东西。
因此，在现有的普通按次计费的TV系统情况下，同一部影片往往在多个TV信道上以交错的起始时刻(比如表1中所示的每隔半个小时)被发送。这就要求收视者要等待最长达半个小时才能开始收看一部影片。相比之下，利用本发明，如以下所述，等待时间可以下降到小于1分钟，从而可做到真正的“视频点播”。
为了改善常规系统，本发明提供了一种系统和方法，从而，可将任何形式的数字流式内容转换成一种新型的单向数据流(以下称为交错多媒体流或IMs)，在这种系统和方法中，多个接收机可以在其传输期间的不同时刻接收该IMS，同时还允许每个接收机自始至终都能在合适的时序中展示该内容。为了创建IMS，可以将源信号内容流划分成一些较小的数据“块”(比如长度为1分钟)，其中，每个数据块都按有规则的时间表被重复发送，这就保证了某一特定接收机无论何时开始接收该数据流，每一必要的数据块都将“恰好”被接收到以便播放。
为了便于成功运行，该系统要求接收机或STB安装一个本地数字存储装置，以便STB可以随时按任意次序接收这些内容块，并立即将其存储，然后按其正确的次序、速率和时间来展示这些数据块，以便收看。
具体地说，如图3中所示，本发明将数字信息划分为较小的与均为1分钟(或其他任一适当又方便的单元时间)的视频内容相应的离散单元即“块”，然后，通过便于这些块恰好到达STB的方式来发送这些块，以便在需要被播放之前能被记录到其硬盘驱动器上。图3示出了当采用每分钟的视频都是5mb长的30mbps的系统时，在每一分钟视频正在被收看期间，其余5分钟(即带宽时隙2-6)的视频可以同时被发送到STB。
相应地，本发明提供了一种用于将即时多媒体内容从服务器设备发送到用户的系统和方法。如图3中所示，服务器设备具有先将格式化内容划分成离散数据块后再传输的功能。通信网便于传输所选定的内容作为由这种数据块组成的交错多媒体流。用户控制设备接收和存储这些数据块，然后组织这些块，以便按其正确的次序、速率和时间来播放该内容。
为了将普通数字视频流转换成本发明的IMS格式，将普通数字视频流转换成数据块，比如，1分钟一段(或其他任一方便的时间单元)的块。所有这些块每块都必须以等于视频中其时标的频率被发送。因此，使影片每过一分钟就可以开始，第一分钟视频内容必须每分钟都要重发一次，第二分钟内容每两分钟重发一次，第三分钟内容每三分钟重发一次，第十分钟内容每十分钟重发一次，依次类推。换言之，在有n个离散数据块的情况下，每个数据块占用完全相等的时间单元，因此，每n个时间单元发送一次第n个数据块。只要遵循这种时间表，那么，无论用户何时收看数据广播，都能保证每一数据块在被正常收看之前的某一时间到达其STB。块可以早于所要求的时间之前被发送，前提是要始终遵从每一第n个块在第n分钟时或在第n分钟之前发送的规则。
作为一个更具体的例子，表2说明了本发明的针对10分钟视频的典型传输时间表。每行表示1分钟时间，每列表示1/6分钟，这一时间是发送1分钟视频所必需的时间帧。每一单元格中的数字描述了在指定时隙中正在发送哪一确切部分(如分钟)的视频。
表2
时间
 1  1
 2  1  2
 3  1  3
 4  1  2  4
 5  1  5
 6  1  2  3  6
 7  1  7
 8  1  2  4  8
 9  1  3  9
 10  1  2  5  10
 11  1
 12  1  2  3  4  6
 13  1
 14  1  2  7
 15  1  3  5
 16  1  2  4  8
 17  1
 18  1  2  3  6  9
 19  1
 20  1  2  4  5  10
 21  1  3  7
 22  1  2
 23  1
 24  1  2  3  4  6  8
 25  1  4  5
 26  1  2
 27  1  3  9
 28  1  2  4  7
 29  1
 30  1  2  3  5  6  10
 31  1
 32  1  2  4  8
如表2中所示，单元1在第一分钟发送，而在第二分钟发送单元1和单元2，并且可以收看这两个单元。收看完单元2后，发送和收看单元3。在第四分钟，在本身含有要收看的单元4的第三时隙之前的两个时隙中同时发送单元1、2。在第五分钟，发送单元1和5。在第六分钟，在单元6之前的三个时隙中发送单元1、2和3。因此，本发明的时间表使得可以交错发送数据块，无论用户是否需要立刻收看，这些数据块都存储在STB中。
无论如何，在正被收看的单元与同时被存储在STB中的单元之间，用户可以认为该影片是一个连续的多媒体流，即使这些数据块未必连续地被发送。例如，如果一个新用户在第24个分钟开始收看单元1，那么，在该初始的同一分钟内将同时存储单元2、3、4、6和8。因此，在需要单元5之前，过了另外三分钟。不过，在第25分钟，就将发送单元5并将其记录在STB单元中，而单元6事先已在上述先前第24分钟被发送和记录。单元7在第28分钟被发送，而这时离用户在第24分钟开始收看后只有4分钟，所以在单元7需要被收看之前它已被发送。单元8在第24分钟事先已被存储。再者，单元9是在第27分钟被发送的，而单元10是在第30分钟被发送的。因此，在当用户在第24分钟收看完最初的单元1后的6分钟内，整个10分钟的影片都已被发送。
本发明的系统和方法使得所需峰值带宽可不超过表2中所示的带宽，这样，所需带宽不大于原始信号带宽的6倍。这是因为，随着影片逐渐被收看，该影片的后来的那些段被发送的次数越来越少。
如表2中所示，各个具体的可分割的时间单元(如1分钟)的离散带宽单元数并不是不变的。例如，在第23行(第23分钟)中，只使用了可用带宽的1/6，而在第24行中，使用了整个可用带宽。因此，本发明使得每一数据单元恰好(甚至比所要求时间更早地)发送到STB，以便作为“数据平均”的方法收看在附加带宽可用的时段上比如在第15行(第15分钟)所发送的单元。
表3示出了当用户根据表2中的时间表在第15分钟(第15行)开始播放时当前在收看和记录的相对离散数据块以及以前所记录的数据块。
表3
时标 当前播放 当前记录 在磁盘上
 15  1  1、3、5
 16  2  2、4、8  1、3、5
 17  3  1、2、3、4、5、8
 18  4  6、9  1、2、3、4、5、8
 19  5  1、2、3、4、5、6、8、9
 20  6  10  1、2、3、4、5、6、8、9
 21  7  7  1、2、3、4、5、6、8、9、10
 22  8  1、2、3、4、5、6、7、8、9、10
 23  9
 24  10
类似地，表4示出了在第11分钟(第11行)开始播放。还应当注意，本发明使得用户可以改变当前所收看影片的速率和方向。只要记录过程继续，用户就可以随时暂停或倒带/重看影片。假定下一内容部分(数据块)已在磁盘上，那么用户还可以快进。
表4
时标 当前播放 当前记录 在磁盘上
 11  1  1
 12  2  2、3、4、6  1
 13  3  1、2、3、4、6
 14  4  7  1、2、3、4、6
 15  5  5  1、2、3、4、6、7
 16  6  8  1、2、3、4、5、6、7
 17  7  1、2、3、4、5、6、7、8
 18  8  9  1、2、3、4、5、6、7、8
 19  9  1、2、3、4、5、6、7、8、9
 20  10  10  1、2、3、4、5、6、7、8、9
以上描述了本发明的基本结构和操作。接下来，将描述该基本系统的其他变形和改进，作为本发明的另外的实施方式。
在一种这样的实施方式中，本发明允许预先将构成影片的开头部分的数据块存储到STB中。此外，本发明还允许非顺序地传输数据块并将其存储到用户控制设备中。相应地，由于影片的最初部分即最初几分钟发送最频繁，因此，本发明通过预先存储这些部分使得可以减小所需的带宽。数据的预存可以按临时低优先顺序(比如，夜间或用户通常不收看内容时)来进行。再者，无论当前还是将来，一些部分(诸如影片前几分钟)通常特地含有共同的主题内容。这些部分目前包含这样一些特征，比如：收费栏、版权告示、声音标志(如杜比标志)以及演播室标志(如Sony Pictures)等。本发明允许这些特征预先存储在STB的硬盘驱动器中，从而可以节省带宽。再者，影片的开头部分通常比特率较低，因为它们可能只是静态图像(比如片头)，这也可以减小带宽。
在还有一种实施方式中，作为在前面的段落中描述的将影片起点存储在STB的硬盘驱动器中的替代方法，如表5中所示，因此，至少一个信号(包括原始信号带宽的6倍)可用来只载送“影片起点”，无论何时请求影片，该信号都由STB自动接收。这样，在STB中可以有更多的空闲存储单元如磁盘空间用于其他非预存操作功能。用户所起动的由多个各自的STB产生的多媒体内容起点请求一直由服务器所收集，直到在“影片起点”信道上有开隙为止，即，直到所请求影片的影片起点又回到该信号中的给定信道上为止，据此，将该影片起点发送到STB，然后可以开始根据针对表1所述的过程进行影片收看和记录。
表5
时间
信道    05:00             05:01     05:02    05:03    05:04 ...
500    影片01(第一分钟)    影片02    影片03    影片04    重复  ...
501    影片05(第一分钟)    影片06    影片07    影片08    重复  ...
502    影片09(第一分钟)    影片10    影片11    影片12    重复  ...
503    影片13(第一分钟)    影片14    影片15    影片16    重复  ...
504    影片17(第一分钟)    影片18    影片19    影片20    重复  ...
505    影片21(第一分钟)    影片22    影片23    影片24    重复  ...
从表5中可以看到，本发明允许每分钟至少6部不同的影片被发送，以便STB接收机/记录设备进行接收，其影片起点延时为1分钟或小于1分钟。例如，本发明的系统和方法使得包括原始信号带宽的6倍的30mbps的信号可以保证24部影片中每部的起始时间都不超过4分钟延时。因此，本发明允许每一数字传输信号有“q”个多媒体内容起点，其中：
1＜q≤M    (1)
而M是每一信号的最大信道数。
在还有一种实施方式中，可以使数据块的调度时间表是动态的，其中，服务器方计算机确定最适合系统中所有当前收看那部影片的人的开始时间的时间表。这样，只有当新近有人开始收看该影片内容时才发送该影片的起始分组，但很快就将捕捉到正被发送的其余块。因此，带宽要求进一步减小。
本发明的另一种实施方式使得可以根据应用情况的需要上下调整带宽要求和启动时间。例如，为了将平均启动时间减小到小于一分钟，只需要减小数据块的大小，同时采用已描述的相同的基本调度方法，并不明显增大发送IMS所需的带宽。为了进一步减小服务器上的负载，只需对于开头几分钟数据用较小的数据块，再者，数据块的大小可根据需要上调或下调，只要始终遵守传输时间表。为了降低带宽要求，可以在数据块的传输之间强加一个预定的最小时间间隔，这样就可以降低带宽要求，却增加了接收机在可以开始显示内容之前必须等待的平均时间。例如，如果所强加的最小时间间隔为两分钟，那么通常可能每分钟发送一次的第一个数据块将代之以每两分钟发送一次，从而减小了带宽，但启动等待时间却增加到两分钟。
在还有一种实施方式中，可以限制用户与服务器之间的双向连接，这样可以简化交错多媒体流的调度和传送。用户接收机或STB在特定的多媒体流的收看开始时可以向服务器发送一个数据信号，然后，服务器可以利用该信号动态地改变传输时间表，甚至还可以进一步最大限度地降低对带宽的要求。根据这一实施方式，服务器可以判断所有接收机或STB何时“调谐”到特定的IMS以及它们是否已接收到特定的数字内容块。如果判定所有连接的接收机都已接收到特定的块，那么，服务器就可以从传输时间表中移去这一块。当接收到对该内容的新请求时，则可以将所移去的块放回到时间表中。这一技术可带来多大的带宽改善是难以估算的，因为，这取决于新用户请求开始播放某一特定内容的频率。在新请求每一分钟到达一次的情况下，时间表可能与表2中所示的情况相同，然而，如果平均用户请求间隔只有两分钟或三分钟，那么带宽要求将明显下降，对于不经常被请求的影片，这一技术可以显著降低带宽要求。
正如这里所述，对于具有大量目录内容的VOD系统，本发明可大大提高带宽使用效率。本发明的调度系统和方法使得，无论用户何时想请求所选择的多媒体内容，都可以分配开始发送多媒体内容的信道。当不同的用户请求同一部影片时，本发明使得可以将他们“恰好”添加到传输/收看时间表中。由于含有起始段的数据块不断地与所发送的并被第一个用户的STB所接收的内容一起被发送，因此，与分别将视频数据的唯一多媒体流发送到各用户的STB的常规VOD系统相比，本发明降低了将额外的用户添加到已在发送进程中的交错多媒体流中的费用。利用本发明，不管有多少用户请求了多媒体内容并正在让这一内容传送到其STB，单个多媒体内容作品(比如一部影片)在主视频服务器或有线系统中都不会占用超出每个信号的最大带宽(例如约30mb的带宽)的带宽。
根据本发明，如果数字内容的各个短块都根据所公开的传输时间表来发送，那么，任何人都可以随时开始接收交错媒体流，并且在一分钟内就可以从起点处开始收看该影片。无论多少人都可以同时接收该媒体流，并且可以在影片中的不同时刻，但流式进度表不变。由于各数据块的传输时间表可以很容易地被预定并且从不变化，因此，只需极小的计算能力就可以调度构成IMS的数据块的传输。这样，使得很便宜的服务器计算机就可以得到许多不同的影片的IMS，从而可以被不定量的收视者所收看。同样，对接收机的硬件要求也不高，只是简单地要求任何数字有线或卫星机顶盒具有硬盘或其他形式的存储设备即可。
尽管以上主要针对将视频数据传送到用户进行了讨论，但所提出的VOD系统也可以得到可能含有音频、文本、图形和其他数据类型的数据流。说明书和权利要求书中所有涉及视频数据的内容主要包括了这样的数据，它可以涉及这些所列举的数据类型之一或这些数据类型的某种混合。再者，这里，也不应将本发明只局限于所具体列举的数据类型的存储和传输。
应当理解，在不背离本发明的范围和精神的前提下，显然，本发明可以有各种修改，并且，对熟练技术人员而言，可以很容易地作出这些修改。因此，随后的权利要求书并不局限于这里所作的描述或实例，而应理解为在合理的广度上涉及所有特征，对熟练技术人员而言，所有这些特征可以认为是等效的。

Claims (43)

1.一种用于将数字内容从服务器(10)发送到用户设备(50)的方法，包括：
提供数字内容；
在传输之前将数字内容划分成多个数据块；
确定传输数字内容的时间表，所述时间表在用户设备(50)进行对数字内容的请求时确定，所述时间表优化带宽消耗；
在传输数字内容之前，将多个数据块中的至少一个预先存储在用户设备(50)上；和
按预定时间表，将所划分的数据块从所述服务器(10)传输到用户设备(50)，所述传输在包括被配置为传输多个数据块中的至少一个的多个信道的通信网络上进行。
2.如权利要求1所述的方法，还包括：在一个服务器设备中将所述数字内容划分成所述多个数据块。
3.如权利要求1所述的方法，其中，所述划分的数字内容包括p个数据块，每个数据块占用相等的时间单元，并且，其中，所述传输步骤包括每n个时间单元发送一次第n个数据块。
4.如权利要求1所述的方法，还包括：选择由一个服务器设备所提供的数字内容。
5.如权利要求1所述的方法，还包括：调度所述数据块中至少一个的传输，以进行非顺序传输。
6.如权利要求1所述的方法，还包括：非顺序地传输至少一个数据块。
7.如权利要求1所述的方法，还包括：将至少一个传输的数据块非顺序地存储在用户设备(50)处。
8.如权利要求1所述的方法，其中，所传输的数据块供用户即时消费。
9.如权利要求1所述的方法，其中，在用户消费之前，至少一个所传输的数据块被存储在用户设备(50)处。
10.如权利要求1所述的方法，其中，在一个第一传输的数据块被消费时，至少一个第二传输的数据块同时被存储在用户设备(50)处，以便后续消费。
11.如权利要求1所述的方法，其中，所述用户设备(50)包括数据存储器，用于存储至少一个完整版本的所述数字内容。
12.如权利要求1所述的方法，其中，所述数字内容包括视频、音频或图形中的至少一种。
13.如权利要求1所述的方法，还包括：使用少于最大可用信道数来传输划分的数据块。
14.如权利要求1所述的方法，还包括：将至少一个传输信道专用于数字内容的公用部分。
15.如权利要求14所述的方法，其中，数字内容的所述公用部分包括收费事项、版权告示、声音标志、产品商标或服务标志。
16.如权利要求1所述的方法，还包括：对于每一数字传输，提供q个数字内容起点，其中，1＜q≤M，而M是最大可用信道数。
17.如权利要求1所述的方法，还包括：
根据划分的数据块的传输时间表，将多个信道分配给一个第一用户；
针对所述多个信道，将一个第二用户添加到所述传输时间表；和
由所述第二用户与在对所述数字内容的请求后传输给第一用户的那些数据块同时地接收所述数据块。
18.如权利要求1所述的方法，还包括：不管有多少用户请求了并正在接收这一传输到其用户设备(50)的内容，都对数字内容的传输采用等量的带宽。
19.如权利要求1所述的方法，其中，所述用户设备(50)包括数字有线/卫星机顶盒或视频游戏操作单元。
20.如权利要求1所述的方法，其中，所述用户设备(50)包括外接存储器存储设备、内置存储器存储设备或可卸式存储媒体至少之一。
21.如权利要求1所述的方法，还包括：改变数字内容消费变量，其中，所述变量包括播放的速度、方向或数字内容量。
23.一种用于将数字内容从服务器(10)发送到用户设备的系统，包括：
一个包括数字内容的数字内容数据库(20)；
一个服务器(10)，被配置为传输在传输之前已被划分成多个数据块的数字内容，所述服务器被进一步配置为在传输划分的数据块之前，将多个数据块中的至少一个预先存储在用户设备(50)上；
一个用户设备(50)，用于接收至少一个所述预先存储和传输的数据块；和
一个通信网(40)，包括多个用于按预定时间表从所述服务器(10)传输所述划分的数据块的多个信道，所述时间表在用户设备(50)进行对数字内容的请求时确定，所述时间表优化带宽消耗。
24.如权利要求23所述的系统，其中，所述服务器包括用于将所述数字内容划分成所述划分的数据块的装置。
25.如权利要求23所述的系统，其中，所述服务器(10)将所述内容划分成n个离散数据块，每个数据块占用相等的时间单元，并且，其中，所述服务器每n个时间单元发送一次第n个数据块。
26.如权利要求23所述的系统，其中，在用户消费该数字内容之前，将至少一些所述数据块非顺序地传输到并存储在所述用户设备(50)处。
27.如权利要求23所述的系统，其中，在用户消费数字内容之前，先将所述数据块传输到并存储在所述用户设备处。
28.如权利要求23所述的系统，其中，所述用户设备(50)包括数字有线/卫星机顶盒或视频游戏操作单元。
29.如权利要求23所述的系统，其中，所述用户设备(50)包括外接存储器存储设备、内置存储器存储设备或可卸式存储媒体至少之一。
30.如权利要求23所述的系统，其中，所述服务器(10)非顺序地传输所述数据块中的至少一个。
31.如权利要求23所述的系统，其中，所述服务器(10)按预定的时间表非顺序传输至少一个数据块。
32.如权利要求23所述的系统，其中，所述用户设备(50)能够非顺序地存储至少一个数据块。
33.如权利要求23所述的系统，其中，所述用户设备(50)使所传输的数据块供用户即时消费。
34.如权利要求23所述的系统，其中，所述用户设备(50)具有数据存储器，用于存储至少一个完整版本的所述数字内容。
35.如权利要求23所述的系统，其中，所述服务器(10)使用小于最大信道数来进行传输。
36.如权利要求23所述的系统，其中，所述服务器(10)将至少一个信道专用于数字内容的公用部分。
37.如权利要求23所述的系统，其中，对于每一数字传输，所述服务器(10)提供q个数字内容起点，其中，1＜q≤M，而M是最大可用信道数。
38.如权利要求23所述的系统，其中，所述服务器(10)根据所述划分的数据块的传输时间表，将多个信道分配给一个第一用户；
将一个第二用户添加到所述传输时间表；和
使所述第二用户与在对所述数字内容的请求后传输给第一用户的那些数据块同时地接收所述数据块。
39.如权利要求23所述的系统，其中，不管有多少用户请求了并正在其用户设备处接收传输的数字内容，所述服务器(10)都对数字内容的传输使用等量的带宽。
41.一种用于将数字内容发送到用户设备的服务器设备(10)，包括：
一个数据处理单元，用于在传输前通过多个传输信道将所述数字内容划分成多个数据块；和
一个通信单元，被配置为在传输多个划分的数据块的剩余部分之前，将至少一个划分的数据块预先存储在用户设备处，所述通信单元进一步被配置为按传输时间表将所述划分的数据块传输到所述用户设备(50)，所述时间表在用户设备(50)进行对数字内容的请求时确定，所述用户设备(50)包括数据接收单元和数据存储单元，
所述通信单元进一步配置为，在划分的数据块的传输过程中，在第二用户设备被添加到所述传输时间表时，同时将划分的数据块传输给第一用户设备和第二用户设备。
42.如权利要求41所述的服务器设备(10)，其中，进一步确定所述传输时间表，从而在所述用户设备播放所传输的数字内容时，所述用户设备的所述数据接收单元接收稍后再现的第一划分的数据块，同时所述用户设备的所述数据存储单元存储一个第二划分的数据块。
43.如权利要求41所述的服务器设备(10)，其中，将第二用户添加到所述传输时间表的所述添加是由所述用户设备(50)来执行的，而无需将对所述数字内容的请求从所述第二用户设备传输到所述服务器设备(10)。
44.如权利要求41所述的服务器设备(10)，还包括一个用于注册用户的数据库(20)，将第二用户添加到所述传输时间表的所述添加是通过在所述通信单元从所述第二用户设备接收对所述数字内容的请求时在所述数据库(20)中注册第二用户设备来执行的。
45.如权利要求44所述的服务器设备(10)，其中，当将第二用户设备添加到所述传输时间表中或从所述传输时间表中删除现有的用户设备时，根据当前用户设备的状态来修改所述传输时间表。
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