Abstract:
A method for managing multimedia data includes receiving video data corresponding to a program, analyzing the video data for generating at least a sequence of streaming data corresponding to at least a predetermined content of the program, and outputting at least a sequence of streaming data to an electronic device via Internet, completely or selectively.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a method and system for managing multimedia data, and more particularly, to a method and system for managing multimedia data by analyzing multimedia data for generating a predetermined content corresponding to a program. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    With the population of Internet and multimedia applications, a user can install a multimedia center in the house for receiving, recording, transforming, broadcasting, or editing multimedia data such as audio, video, images, and etc. The multimedia center can be a digital image or audio source capable of connecting to the Internet, so as to store multimedia data, receive signals, and perform management for client players or subscriber systems. For example, in applications of the multimedia center for family video/audio entertainment, a personal computer (PC) can be a family multimedia server, and a set-top-box (STB) is utilized for sending video data to digital multimedia players (DMP) installed in several rooms. A multimedia device with a TV tuner can receive video data from different channels, record programs at a predetermined time, store the recorded content in a hard disk, and access or sent data from the disk afterward. Therefore, the multimedia center can be regarded as a personal video recorder (PVR). 
         [0005]    On the other hand, a user can use digital multimedia players, such as HDTV (high definition television) and DVD (digital versatile disc) players, or mobile devices capable of connecting to the Internet, such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDA), for connecting to the multimedia center via Internet to display specified multimedia files. However, downloading multimedia files usually takes long time and high bandwidth. In order to enhance efficiency, the management between the multimedia server of the multimedia center and the subscriber system is very important. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    It is therefore a primary objective of the invention to provide a method for managing multimedia data and a system for operating the same. 
         [0007]    The present invention provides a method for managing multimedia data. The method comprises receiving video data corresponding to a program, analyzing the video data for generating a plurality of streaming data sequences corresponding to a plurality of predetermined contents of the program, and outputting the plurality of streaming data sequences to an electronic device via the Internet, completely or selectively. 
         [0008]    The present invention further provides a system for managing multimedia data. The system comprises a receiving device for receiving video data corresponding to a program, an analyzing device for analyzing the video data for generating a plurality of streaming data sequences corresponding to a plurality of predetermined contents of the program, and a transceiver for outputting the plurality of streaming data sequences to an electronic device via Internet, completely or selectively. 
         [0009]    These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  illustrates a block diagram of a multimedia center according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  illustrates a flow chart of a process for managing multimedia data according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0012]    Streaming data is one of the primary ways for sending and playing multimedia data in multimedia applications over the Internet, which means that multimedia files are divided into small packages by a server of the multimedia center and delivered to subscriber devices continuously via Internet. After the multimedia files are delivered to the subscriber devices in the form of streaming data, small packages corresponding to the multimedia files are combined and displayed by a multimedia program installed in the subscriber devices. 
         [0013]    Please refer to  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  illustrates a block diagram of a multimedia center  10  according to an embodiment of the present invention. The multimedia center  10  comprises a receiving device  12 , an analyzing device  14 , a storage device  15 , a notification device  16 , and a transceiver  18 . The receiving device  12  receives image data S DATA  related to a program from a broadcasting station  20  and stores the image data S DATA  into the storage device  15 . The analyzing device  14  analyzes the image data S DATA  for generating streaming data S 1   STREAM ˜SN STREAM  related to at least a predetermined content of the program and stores the streaming data S 1   STREAM ˜SN STREAM  back into the storage device  15 . The analysis process of the analyzing device  14  further comprises filtering. When the image data S DATA  are sent into the analyzing device  14 , each streaming data sent out from the analyzing device  14  are filtered, and contents of input and output are not the same. After finishing analyzing the image data S DATA , the notification device  16  delivers a notification message S NOTIFY  to a subscriber device  30  via Internet. After receiving the notification message S NOTIFY , a user delivers a video-on-demand message S VOD  related to a predetermined content of the program to the transceiver  18  based on the user&#39;s demand or the like through the subscriber device  30 . According to different video-on-demand messages S VOD , the transceiver  18  delivers one, several, or all of the streaming data S 1   STREAM ˜SN STREAM  to the subscriber device  30  via Internet. The subscriber device is capable of connecting to Internet, and can be a portable device, such as a mobile phone, PDA, and the like, capable of achieving a location free function. 
         [0014]    Please refer to  FIG. 2 . A flow chart shown in  FIG. 2  illustrates a process for managing multimedia data according to an embodiment of the present invention, and comprises following steps: 
         [0015]    Step  210 : Record video data related to a program beforehand. 
         [0016]    Step  220 : Analyze the video data for generating streaming data corresponding to different contents of the program. 
         [0017]    Step  230 : After finishing analyzing the video data, deliver a notification message to a subscriber device via Internet. 
         [0018]    Step  240 : Receive a video-on-demand message related to a predetermined content of the program delivered from the subscriber device. 
         [0019]    Step  250 : If the video-on-demand message delivered from the subscriber device is not included in the notification message of the step  230 , return the data and analyze the video data again for generating the streaming data of the video-on-demand message. 
         [0020]    Step  260 : Deliver corresponding streaming data to the subscriber device via Internet according to the received video-on-demand message. 
         [0021]    The present invention records the video data related to a program beforehand in step  210  and analyzes the video data in step  220  according to programs styles and user demands. The following examples illustrate some applications of the present invention. 
         [0022]    In the first application, the primary content of the program comprises advertisement interludes. If the user receives all contents of the program via Internet, the user may execute forwarding to pass the advertisement parts, which not only takes bandwidth for downloading contents related to the advertisement parts but also takes time for executing forwarding. Under this situation, in step  220 , the video data can be analyzed and the advertisement parts of the program are detected, and the advisement parts are further deleted to generate the streaming data corresponding to the primary content of the program. The present invention can detect the advisement parts of the program by black frame detection, scene change detection or channel logo detection, which are well known for those skilled in the art and will not be narrated in detail. 
         [0023]    In the second application, the program is related to a sports competition. The user may not have enough time to watch the whole sports game or the user is interested in some essential or highlight parts of the sports competition. If the user receives all contents of the sports competition via Internet, the user may execute forwarding to find the essential parts, which takes bandwidth and time to download all contents of the sports competition and to execute forwarding, and the essential parts may be omitted when executing forwarding. In such case, in step  220  the video data is analyzed to detect predetermined events in the sports competition (e.g. homers, strikeouts, or scorings in a baseball game, scorings, three-point shots, or slam dunks in a basketball game, field goal tries, scorings, or penalty kicks in a soccer game, game starts represent by a gesture of a referee or game results represented by showing a name of a contestant on a board in a sumo competition, etc), and generates corresponding streaming data according to the content of the video data related to the predetermined events. The predetermined events can be set according to sports program styles and user&#39;s favor, and analyzed programs corresponding to the streaming data received by the user can comprise the essence or highlight scenes of the original sports program. 
         [0024]    In the third application, the program is an awarding ceremony. The user may not have enough time to watch the whole awarding ceremony or the user is interested in a result of a specific reward in the awarding ceremony. If the user receives the whole content of the awarding ceremony, the user may execute forwarding to find parts of the specific reward, which not only takes bandwidth to download the whole content of the awarding ceremony but also takes time to execute forwarding. Under this situation, in step  220 , the video data is analyzed to detect predetermined events (e.g. highlight scenes of awarding of specific reward, appearance of award cups or certificates, roll calls by an anchorman, presentation of bouquets by audience, and playing of accompaniment music) in the awarding ceremony, and generates an analyzed corresponding streaming data according to the content of the video data related to the predetermined events. The predetermined events can be set according to awarding ceremony styles and user&#39;s favor, and programs corresponding to the streaming data received by the user can be regarded as the essence or highlight scenes of the original awarding ceremony. 
         [0025]    The analyzing step in step  220  may further comprise filtering. The original video data and the corresponding streaming data undergo filtering, to make their contents and lengths not always be the same, and to achieve the streaming data conforming predetermined options; for example, the options for user to choose can be five-minute length, ten-minute length or the whole essence parts. Moreover, in step  240 , when the user cannot find the length he or she wants to download, the user may input his/her viewing requirement such as 15-minute length, and request for repeating steps  220  and  230 . 
         [0026]    After analyzing the video data (step  220 ), in step  230 , the notification message is delivered to the subscriber device via the Internet so as to notify the user of permission to receive the video data related to the program. If the user wants to receive the content of the program without advertisement parts (e.g. the first application), the content related to the predetermined event (e.g. the second application) or abstracts of the program (e.g. the third applications), the user can deliver the corresponding video-on-demand message to the multimedia center through the subscriber device. Finally, the multimedia center delivers the corresponding streaming data to the subscriber device via Internet according to the received video-on-demand message. 
         [0027]    Moreover, in the second application, if the user receives the video data of essential parts of homers, strikeouts, scorings, or the whole game of a baseball game, the users can choose one or several of them by inputting selection through the corresponding video-on-demand messages, and transmit the video-on-demand messages to the multimedia center by the subscriber device. Then, the multimedia center delivers the corresponding streaming data to the subscriber device via Internet according to the received video-on-demand messages. Of course, scorings, three-point shots, or slam dunks in a basketball game, field goal tries, scorings, or penalty kicks in a soccer game, game starts represent by a gesture of a referee or game results represented by showing a name of a contestant on a board in a sumo competition are all included in the application. 
         [0028]    When the video-on-demand message is not included in the notification message of step  230 , step  250  is executed to analyze the video data again for generating the streaming data corresponding to the video-on-demand message. For example, the user receives the whole essence parts of a baseball game, while the user expects to receive the essence parts of homers, strikeouts, or scorings. In such situation, step  250  is executed to analyze and re-generate the streaming data corresponding to the video-on-demand message for the user. 
         [0029]    The above-mentioned applications are exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and will not limit the present invention. The present invention can use the subscriber devices capable of connecting to Internet, such as HDTV, DVD, mobile phones, PDA, etc. 
         [0030]    The present invention can analyze the video data for generating the streaming data corresponding to different contents of the program and deliver the corresponding streaming data to the subscriber device via Internet according to the video-on-demand message delivered by the user. Therefore, the present invention delivers user-demanded data and does not take bandwidth or time to deliver all contents of a program, to enhance system efficiency and save Internet resources. 
         [0031]    Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention.