Content Type Indexing for Home Network Media Servers
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for integrated access to content across multiple media servers in a home network are inefficient, as they either overload the network with metadata collection or require significant user effort to identify content providers, especially when numerous content items are present.
Innovation Solution
An information processing device that communicates with content servers to obtain and store content type information, allowing users to select desired content types and servers through an intuitive interface, thereby simplifying the access process without overloading the network.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If metadata for all content items from multiple media servers is collected to enable integrated access, then users can access content from multiple servers, but the network is overloaded and enormous resources are consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary content type information (container type identifiers) from the full metadata of content items. Instead of collecting all metadata for all content items, the system selectively obtains only the container type information from each media server's content directory, significantly reducing the amount of data transmitted and processed while still enabling effective content filtering and access.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the content access process into two stages: first, obtaining content type information from multiple servers to build a consolidated index; second, performing actual content retrieval only after user selection. This segmentation separates the information gathering phase from the data transfer phase, reducing network load during the initial survey process.
2Productivity
If metadata for all content items is collected to enable efficient searching, then content search efficiency improves, but enormous memory resources are demanded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential container type information from complete content metadata. The system creates a simplified index structure that stores only container type identifiers and their corresponding media servers, rather than storing full metadata for all content items. This reduces memory requirements while maintaining the ability to efficiently search and filter content by type.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by collecting only the necessary content type information rather than all metadata. The system surveys each media server and stores only the container type identifiers and their associations with servers, which is sufficient for the intended functionality without the excessive memory consumption that would result from storing complete content metadata.
3Loss of time
If content identification information is obtained in advance from multiple media servers, then user time and effort to browse is reduced, but users still need to know which media server provides desired content
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary information processing device that acts as a mediator between the user and multiple media servers. This device obtains content type information from all servers, stores it in a consolidated index, and presents it to users through a unified interface. The intermediary handles the complexity of identifying which server provides which content type, freeing users from needing to know server-specific content mappings while still enabling efficient content access.
Data Source
AI summary
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided an information processing device, comprising a communicating unit capable of communicating with one or more content servers through a network, an information obtaining unit for obtaining content type information indicating a type of content, which may be provided by each of the one or more content servers, from each content server using communication by the communicating unit, and a user interface unit for allowing a user to select a desired content type out of the content type indicated by the content type information and allowing the content server capable of providing at least one content belonging to the selected content type to provide the at least one content. The content type information is the information capable of identifying a type of a container included in a content directory of each content server.