Patent Publication Number: US-2011055352-A1

Title: System and method for brokering content and metadata of content on network

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0082471, filed on Sep. 2, 2009, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a system and method of brokering a content of a content provider to an ender user and a third party by automatically uploading the content of the content provider over a network. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In a conventional content providing service using a network, when various content providers provide contents to a service provider using a different platform, the service provider may provide the contents to an end user using the same platform as the platform of the service provider. 
     However, when a content desired by the end user is provided by only another service provider using a platform not owned by the end user, the end user may need to purchase a device or a system using the corresponding platform, or abandon efforts to receive the content. 
     The service provider or the content provider may be limited to providing contents to only a number of end users using the corresponding platform, and thus may have limited revenues or limited advertising effect with respect to providing of contents. 
     Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method that may provide contents to all end users without restrictions on a type of a platform used by a service provider or a type of platform used by a content provider for a content creation. 
     SUMMARY 
     An aspect of the present invention provides a system and method that may upload contents from a plurality of service providers and content providers using different platforms, and transform the uploaded contents to a single platform to thereby provide all end users with the contents transformed to the single platform, and thus enable all the end users to receive a content provided by a service provider using a different platform. 
     Another aspect of the present invention also provides a system and method that may transform an uploaded content to a platform desired by another service provider and then provide the other service provider with the content transformed to the desired platform and thereby may easily increase a number of target users to receive the content. 
     Another aspect of the present invention also provides a system and method that may enable a system side to periodically verify and upload a content of a content provider, and thereby may enable the content provider to provide the content without a separate uploading process. 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for brokering a content and metadata of the content over a network, the system including: a syndication portal to register a content provider, and to transmit address information for a feed to the content provider; an aggregator to verify whether an added content exists in the feed of the content provider, and to upload the content and the metadata of the content when the added content exists; and a media mediator to register the uploaded content, to encode the content, and to provide the encoded content to an end user. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of brokering a content and a metadata of the content over a network, the method including: registering, by a syndication portal, a content provider to transmit address information for a feed to the content provider; verifying, by an aggregator, whether an added content exists in the feed of the content provider; updating, by the aggregator, with the added content when the added content exists; registering, by a media mediator, the updated added content; encoding, by the media mediator, the added content; and providing, by the media mediator, the encoded added content to an end user. 
     According to embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to provide all end users with contents uploaded from a plurality of service providers and content providers using different platforms, and transformed to a single platform, and thus to enable all the end users to receive a content provided by a service provider using a different platform by uploading the contents, and transforming the uploaded contents to the single platform. 
     According to embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to easily increase a number of target users to receive a content by transforming an uploaded content to a platform desired by another service provider and then providing the other service provider with the content transformed to the desired platform. 
     According to embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to enable a content provider to provide a content without a separate uploading process by enabling a system side to periodically verify and upload the content of the content provider. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and/or other aspects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating a relationship among users associated with a service release information platform for an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) according to a related art; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating an example of applying a system of brokering a content and metadata of the content over a network according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating a comparison between a conventional service providing system and a system of brokering a content and metadata of the content over a network according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a system of brokering a content and metadata of the content over a network according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an aggregator of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a media mediator of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a service manager of  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a metadata manager of  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 9  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a database manager of  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an encoding manager of  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 11  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a syndication portal of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 12  is a flowchart illustrating a method of brokering a content and metadata of the content over a network according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 13  is a diagram illustrating a process of registering a content provider according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 14  is a diagram illustrating a process of verifying and uploading a content according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 15  is a diagram illustrating a process of registering a content according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 16  is diagram illustrating an encoding process according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 17  is a diagram illustrating a process of setting, by an end user or a third party, a format according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 18  is a diagram illustrating a process of changing and providing an encoded content according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 19  is a diagram illustrating a process of managing, by a syndication portal, a feed according to an embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 20  is a diagram illustrating a process of setting or modifying a metadata format of a content in a system of brokering the content and the metadata according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. Exemplary embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures. 
     According to embodiments of the present invention, in a system of providing contents to end users over a network such as an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), it is possible to provide the end users with contents created by content providers by automatically uploading the contents at predetermined intervals, and by transforming various formats of the uploaded contents to a single format. 
     In addition, when a third party desires to provide a content using a different format, an uploaded content may be transformed to the different format and be provided to the third party. Accordingly, it is possible to easily increase a content target scope. 
       FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating a relationship among users associated with a service release information platform  110  for an IPTV. 
     The service release information platform  110  for the IPTV may be commonly used by a content provider  120  to provide a content broadcasted by the IPTV, a service provider  130  to manage the content and to provide the content to an end user  150 , and a network provider  140 . The network provider  140  may provide a network to transmit the content provided by the service provider  130  to the IPTV owned by the end user  150 . 
       FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating an example of applying a system of brokering a content and metadata of the content over a network (hereinafter, “content/metadata brokering system”) according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating a comparison between a conventional service providing system  310  and a content/metadata brokering system  320  according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , in the content/metadata brokering system, a broker service provider  230  may collectively manage contents of content providers  210  maintained by service providers  220 , and may provide contents to an end user  250  over a network provided by a network provider  240 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , in the conventional service providing system  310 , when various content providers  311  provide contents to service providers  312 ,  313 , and  314  using different platforms, each of the service providers  312 ,  313 , and  314  may provide contents to an end user using the same platform as a platform of a corresponding service provider. 
     For example, an end user using an Application Configuration Access Protocol (ACAP) platform may not receive a content provided using only an Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB) platform. 
     In the content/metadata brokering system  320  according to an embodiment of the present invention, a broker service provider  230  may upload contents from content providers  210  and service providers  321 ,  322 , and  323  using different platforms, transform the contents to a single platform and then provide the contents to an end user  250 . Accordingly, the end user  250  may receive a content provided from a service provider using a platform different from a platform of the end user  250 . 
     In  FIG. 3 , the broker service provider  230  transforms a content to a web platform that is a most easily accessible environment, and then provides the content to the end user  250 . 
     Also, it is possible to transform an uploaded content to a platform desired by another service provider, and to thereby provide the uploaded content to the other service provider. 
       FIG. 4  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a content/metadata brokering system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , in the content/metadata brokering system, a broker service provider  230  may include an aggregator  410 , a media mediator  420 , a syndication portal  430 , and a media farm  440 . 
     The aggregator  410  may periodically verify whether an added content exists in a feed of a content provider, and upload the added content when the added content exists. 
     Here, the feed may denote a share-set folder for uploading in a content provider terminal  210 , or may denote an address accessible to a site based on address information provided from the syndication portal  430  or to a content provided from the content provider. 
     The aggregator  410  may verify whether the added content exists only with respect to a published content of the content provider. 
     A configuration of the aggregator  410  will be further described with reference to  FIG. 5 . 
     The media mediator  420  may register the uploaded content, encode the content, and provide the encoded content to an end user. 
     A configuration of the media mediator  420  will be further described with reference to  FIGS. 6 through 10 . 
     The syndication portal  430  may register a content provider desiring to provide a content in the content/metadata brokering system, and may transmit, to the content provider, address information for a feed and a content metadata format to be used for a content creation. For example, the address information may include a Universal Resource Locator (URL). 
     The syndication portal  430  may provide a content transformed to a format used by a third party to the third party that receives the content registered in the content/metadata brokering system to provide the received content to an end user using a platform different from a platform of the content/metadata brokering system. In this instance, a terminal of the third party receiving the content transformed to the format used by the third party may be referred to as a third party terminal  470 . 
     A configuration of the syndication portal  430  will be further described with reference to  FIG. 11 . 
     The media farm  440  may store the uploaded content, and may provide the stored content to the end user according to a control of the media mediator  420 . 
     The media farm  440  may include a web application server to provide an access site of the end user, a file transfer server to transfer a content to the end user, a window media server to execute the content on a website, and a content storage unit to store the content. 
       FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the aggregator  410  of  FIG. 4 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the aggregator  410  may include a feed listener  510 , a feed transmission unit  520 , an uploader  530 , a temporary content storage unit  540 , a content collector  550 , and a content transmission unit  560 . 
     The feed listener  510  may interpret a published format of a content from an original source of the content provider terminal  210  in order to receive the content from the content provider terminal  210 . 
     The feed transmission unit  520  may transmit metadata of the content to the media mediator  420  to be assigned with a unique identifier (ID) with respect to the content, may schedule uploading of the content, and may execute the uploader  530  to upload the content. 
     The uploader  530  may upload the content from a feed of the content provider terminal  210  and store the uploaded content in the temporary content storage unit  540 . The uploader  530  may use, for example, a direct upload Application Programming Interface (API). 
     The temporary content storage unit  540  may temporarily store the content until the content is transmitted to the media mediator  420 . 
     When contents are temporarily stored in the temporary content storage unit  540  by an operation of the aggregator  410 , the content collector  550  may collect at least one content stored in the temporary content storage unit  540 . 
     The content transmission unit  560  may transmit the collected at least one content to the media mediator  420 . 
     Describing an operation of the aggregator  410  in detail, when the feed listener  510  receives metadata of the content from the feed of the content provider terminal  210 , the feed transmission unit  520  may analyze the metadata to register an uploader ID for identifying the content provider providing the content, and may request the media mediator  420  for a content unique ID for identifying the content. 
     The feed transmission unit  520  may transmit the metadata to the media mediator  420 , and upload the content from the feed of the content provider terminal  210  to the uploader  530 , and may store the uploaded content in the temporary content storage unit  540 . 
     When the feed transmission unit  520  receives the content unique ID from the media mediator  420 , the content collector  550  may collect a corresponding content stored in the temporary content storage unit  540 , and the content transmission unit  560  may transmit the collected content to the media mediator  420 . 
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the media mediator  420  of  FIG. 4 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , the media mediator  420  may include a service manager  610 , a metadata manager  620 , a database manager  630 , and an encoding manager  640 . 
     The serving manager  610  may receive a content from the aggregator  410 , and request another constituent component such as the metadata manager  620 , the database manager  630 , and the encoding manager  640  for operations associated with the content. 
     A configuration of the service manager  610  will be further described with reference to  FIG. 7 . 
     The metadata manager  620  may generate a unique ID from metadata of the content, register the unique ID to the syndication portal  430 , transmit the unique ID to the aggregator  410 , and transform the metadata to a schema suitable for a content/metadata brokering system, and store the transformed metadata. 
     A configuration of the metadata manager  620  will be further described with reference to  FIG. 8 . 
     The database manager  630  may store and manage information associated with the content. 
     A configuration of the database manager  630  will be further described with reference to  FIG. 9 . 
     The encoding manager  640  may schedule an encoding sequence of the content, and sequentially encode the content into a format corresponding to the content/metadata brokering system. 
     A configuration of the encoding manager  640  will be further described with reference to  FIG. 10 . 
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the service manager  610  of  FIG. 6 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , the service manager  610  may include a register service unit  710 , a select service unit  720 , and an update service unit  730 . 
     The register service unit  710  may sequentially control configurations required during a process of registering a content uploaded from a feed. 
     The select service unit  720  may sequentially control configurations required during a process of transforming metadata of the content to a format employed by the content/metadata brokering system, and using the transformed metadata in a service. 
     When a request for modifying the metadata of the content is received from the syndication portal  430 , the update service unit  730  may modify the metadata of the content stored in the database manager  630 . 
       FIG. 8  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the metadata manager  620  of  FIG. 6 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 8 , the metadata manager  620  may include an orchestrator  810 , a rule storage unit  820 , a rule manager  830 , a rule loader  840 , an editor  850 , a reverse rule manager  860 , and a reverse orchestrator  870 . 
     The orchestrator  810  may orchestrate metadata of a content based on a rule stored in the rule storage unit  820 . 
     The rule storage unit  820  may store a rule set by a content provider or a third party. The rule may include information associated with a particular standard and a format or a platform of the content used by the content provider or the third party, and a metadata format of the content. 
     The rule manager  830  may transmit a particular condition to the rule loader  840  according to a request of the syndication portion  430  so that the rule loader  840  may retrieve an edition target rule satisfying the particular condition, and may transmit the edition target rule to the editor  850 . 
     The rule loader  840  may retrieve, from the rule storage unit  820 , a rule satisfying the particular condition, and may transmit the retrieved rule to the rule manager  830 . 
     The editor  850  may execute a jamper to edit the edition target rule according to a request of the third party connected to the syndication portal  430 . 
     The reverse rule manager  860  may receive the edited rule from the editor  850 , and transmit the edited rule to the rule storage unit  820  and syndication portal  430  to store the edited rule. 
     The reverse orchestrator  870  may orchestrate metadata of the content based on the edited rule. 
       FIG. 9  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the database manager  630  of  FIG. 6 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 9 , the database manager  630  may include an inserter  910 , a metadata storage unit  920 , a formatter  930 , an encoding rule loader  940 , an updater  950 , a selector  960 , and a reverse formatter  970 . 
     The inserter  910  may receive orchestrated metadata of a content from the service manager  610 , store the orchestrated metadata of the content in the metadata storage unit  920 , and request the syndication portal  430  to register the content containing the orchestrated metadata. 
     The metadata storage unit  920  may store metadata of the content and information associated with the content. 
     Information associated with the content may include at least one of a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) string for identifying the content, basic content information including a content title or a content creator, information associated with a marker indicated at a play point when the content corresponds to a media content, information regarding a content credit and a plurality of media link addresses. The metadata of the content may include an encoding rule to encode the content. 
     The formatter  930  may transform the orchestrated metadata to a method schema used in the metadata storage unit  920 . The method schema may include, for example, a Structured Query Language (SQL) query string. 
     The encoding rule loader  940  may extract the encoding rule from the stored metadata to provide the extracted encoding rule to the encoding manager  640 . 
     The updater  950  may update, to the metadata storage unit  620 , an access path to the encoded content and an access path to a thumbnail extracted from the content. 
     The selector  960  may retrieve metadata of the content from the metadata storage unit  920  according to a request of the service manager  610 , transmit the retrieved metadata to the reverse formatter  970  to transform the metadata, and may request the metadata manager  620  for reverse orchestrating of the metadata. 
     The reverse formatter  970  may transform the metadata of the content to an Extensible Markup Language (XML) format managed by the syndication portal  430 . 
       FIG. 10  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the encoding manager  640  of  FIG. 6 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 10 , the encoding manager  640  may include a receiver  1010 , a scheduler  1020 , an encoder  1030 , and a thumbnailer  1040 . 
     The receiver  1010  may periodically receive, from the syndication portal  430 , a content list uploaded by the aggregator  410 , and change content status information included in the received content list to “received”. 
     The content status information included in the content list may be stored in the syndication portal  430 . 
     The scheduler  1020  may periodically receive, from the syndication portal  430 , a list of contents that are in a “received” status, and receive, from the metadata manager  620 , a rule to encode the contents being in the received status, and transmit the encoded contents and the rule to the encoder  1030  to request the encoder  103  for encoding of the content being in the received status. 
     The scheduler  1020  may transmit, to the thumbnailer  1040 , the contents being in the received status to extract a thumbnail. 
     The scheduler  1020  may also transmit, to the updater  950 , an access path to the encoded contents and an access path to the extracted thumbnail. 
     The encoder  1030  may receive, from the scheduler  1020 , the contents being in the received status and the rule to encode the contents, and encode the contents based on the received rule. When encoding is completed, the encoder  1030  may change the content status information to “encoding complete”. 
     The thumbnailer  1040  may receive, from the scheduler  1020 , the contents being in the received status, and extract the thumbnail from the contents. 
       FIG. 11  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the syndication portal  430 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 11 , the syndication portal  430  may include a system database  1110 , a service operator interface  1120 , a content provider interface  1130 , and a third party interface  1140 . 
     The system database  1110  may store content status information, feed information, content provider information, third party information, end user information receiving the content, and content use status information. 
     The content status information may include at least one of a URI string for identifying the content, basic content information including a content title and a content creator, information associated with a marker indicated at a play point when the content corresponds to a media content, information regarding a content credit, a plurality of media link addresses of the link, and a right to the content, and information associated with a content price or a contract. 
     The content provider information, the third party information, and the end user information may include at least one of an ID, a password, a name, a height, a language, and a subscribed date with respect to a target user, and ID information indicating which one the target user belongs among the content provider, the third party, and the end user. 
     The feed information may include at least one of an ID of a content provider owning a corresponding feed, ID information of the feed, initial address information of a metadata list of a content created by the content provider, and status information of the feed. 
     The system database  1110  may further store information associated with events having a possibility of occurring in the syndication portal  430 , information associated with an event solution scheme, and information associated with a type of the content provided for the end user and a provided time. 
     The service operator interface  1120  may manage content status information and content provider information, and may register the content provider, the third party, and the end user. 
     The service operator interface  1120  may identify an end user connected to the content/metadata brokering system, based on an ID of the end user, and may recommend a content suitable for the end user based on types of contents provided for the user and provided times. 
     The service operator interface  1120  may include a feed upload managing function of the content provider, and may utilize a block function by referring to the contents. 
     The service operator interface  1120  may manage information, alarms, and events occurring in a constituent component different from the syndication portal  430 . 
     The content provider interface  1130  may provide the content provider with an upload status, an issue status, and a use status with respect to a content desired by the content provider. 
     The third party interface  1140  may provide information associated with the content registered to the third party holding the third party terminal  470 , and may transform and provide a format of the registered content according to a request of the third party. 
       FIG. 12  is a flowchart illustrating a method of brokering a content and metadata of the content over a network according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     In operation S 1210 , the syndication portal  430  may register a content provider desiring to provide a content according to a request of the content provider. 
     In this instance, the syndication portal  430  may transmit, to the content provider, address information for a feed and a metadata format to be used for content creation. 
     The content provider registration process will be further described with reference to  FIG. 13 . 
     In operation S 1220 , the aggregator  410  may periodically inspect a feed of each of registered content providers. 
     In operation S 1230 , the aggregator  410  may verify whether an added content exists in the inspected feed. When the added content does not exist in operation S 1230 , the aggregator  410  may repeat operation S 1220 . 
     Conversely, when the added content exists in operation S 1230 , the aggregator  410  may upload the added content from the feed, and request the media mediator  420  to register the added content in operation S 1240 . 
     The content verifying and uploading process corresponding to operations S 1220  through S 1240  will be further described with reference to  FIG. 14 . 
     In operation S 1250 , the media mediator  420  may register the requested added content. 
     The content registration process will be further described with reference to  FIG. 15 . 
     In operation S 1260 , the media mediator  420  may encode the registered added content to a format suitable for the content/metadata brokering system. 
     The encoding process will be further described with reference to  FIG. 16 . 
     In operation S 1270 , the media mediator  420  may provide the encoded content to an end user or a third party. 
     In this instance, the media mediator  420  may transform the encoded content to a format set by the end user or the third party, and thereby provide the transformed content. 
     The format setting process will be further described with reference to  FIG. 17 , and the encoded content changing and providing process will be further described with reference to  FIG. 18 . 
       FIG. 13  is a diagram illustrating a process of registering a content provider according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     When the syndication portal  430  receives a subscription request signal from the content provider terminal  210  in operation  1310 , the syndication portal  430  may generate an ID and a password of the content provider based on the subscription request signal, and may store the ID and the password in the media farm  440  in operation  1320 . In this instance, the syndication portion  430  may generate subscription information including the ID and the password of the content provider, and information associated with the content provider. 
     The syndication portal  430  may receive the subscription request signal from the content provider terminal  210  via a webpage provided from the service operator interface  1120 . The syndication portal  430  may generate the subscription information using a service layer containing the system database  1110  and the service operator interface  1120 . 
     In operation  1330 , the syndication portal  430  may generate a key corresponding to the ID and the password of the content provider. In operation  1340 , the syndication portal  430  may transmit the ID and the password of the content provider and the key to request an execution of a log-in process. 
     In this instance, the syndication portal  430  may generate a corresponding key based on the ID of the content provider and a current time, and may store the generated key in the system database  1110 . When a particular situation occurs while generating the key, the syndication portal  430  may process the particular situation by transmitting and receiving information to and from the system database  1110 . 
     When the content provider attempts to log in the content in operation  1350 , the syndication portal  430  may compare an ID and a password received from the content provider terminal  210  with the ID and the password stored in the system database  1110 , and verify the information in operation  1360 , and may provide the content provider with a main page to utilize the service operator interface  1120  or the content provider interface  1130  in operation  1380 . 
     In this instance, the syndication portal  430  may verify information changed in the system database  110  and update the information in operation  1370 , and then may provide the content provider with the main page. 
       FIG. 14  is a diagram illustrating a process of verifying and uploading a content according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     In operation  1410 , a content may be prepared in a feed of the content provider terminal  210 . In this state, when the aggregator  410  attempts content polling with respect to address information of the feed, the aggregator  410  may detect the content in operation  1420 . 
     In operation  1430 , the aggregator  410  may upload metadata of the content from the feed of the content provider terminal  210 . The aggregator  410  may analyze the uploaded metadata to obtain address information of the content and content information in operation  1440 . 
     In operation  1450 , the aggregator  410  may register, to the media mediator  420 , an uploader ID for identifying the content provider providing the content, and may request the media mediator  420  for a content unique ID for identifying the content. 
     In operation  1455 , the aggregator  410  may transmit uploaded metadata to the media mediator  420 . 
     In operation  1460 , the media mediator  420  may receive the metadata to register the content. 
     In operation  1470 , the aggregator  410  may upload the content from the feed of the content provider terminal  210 . 
     In operation  1480 , the media mediator  420  may transmit, to the aggregator  410 , the content unique ID generated during a content registration process. 
     In operation  1490 , the aggregator  410  receiving the content unique ID may transmit the content to the media mediator  420 , periodically perform polling with respect to the feed of the content provider terminal  210 , and transmit collected contents to the media mediator  420 . 
       FIG. 15  is a diagram illustrating a process of registering a content according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     When the aggregator  410  transmits the content, uploaded in operation S 1250 , to the service manager  610  of the media mediator  420  ( 1510 ), the register service unit  710  of the service manager  610  may request the orchestrator  810  of the metadata manager  620  to transform metadata of the content ( 1520 ). In this instance, the orchestrator  810  may transform a format of the metadata to a format used in the content/metadata brokering system, for example, to a cans_rss format. 
     The orchestrator  810  may retrieve, from the rule storage unit  820  according to a request of the register service unit  710 , a rule to transform metadata of the content provider providing the content ( 1525 ). The orchestrator  810  may orchestrate the metadata of the content based on the retrieved rule ( 1530 ). 
     Specifically, the orchestrator  810  may orchestrate an XML of the metadata to an XML format used in a web-base IPTV middleware, and may transmit the orchestrated metadata to the register service unit  710 . 
     The register service unit  710  may transmit the orchestrated metadata to the inserter  910  of the database manager  630  to request a content registration ( 1540 ). 
     The inserter  910  may transmit the orchestrated metadata to the formatter  930  to transform the orchestrated metadata to a method schema used in the metadata storage unit  920  ( 1545 ). 
     The inserter  910  may transmit the content containing the orchestrated metadata to the syndication portal  430  to register the content ( 1550 ). The inserter  910  may store the orchestrated metadata in the metadata storage unit  920  ( 1555 ). 
     When the inserter  910  transmits, to the register service unit  710 , a content list managing registered contents ( 1560 ), the register service unit  710  may return the received content list to the aggregator  410  ( 1570 ). 
       FIG. 16  is diagram illustrating an encoding process according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     The encoding manager  640  may share contents with the media farm  440  using a network file system. The encoder  1030  and the thumbnailer  1040  may access contents stored in the media farm  440  without restrictions. 
     The receiver  1010  may periodically receive, from the syndication portal  430 , a list of contents uploaded by the aggregator  410 , and may change content status information included in the content list to “received” ( 1610 ). 
     The scheduler  1020  may periodically receive, from the syndication portal  430 , a list of contents being in a received status to determine an encoding sequence, and change content status information of a content to be encoded to “encoding” ( 1620 ). 
     The scheduler  1020  may request the encoding rule loader  940  for an encoding rule, and the encoding rule loader  940  may extract, from content metadata, an encoding rule corresponding to the content being in the received status, and may provide the extracted encoding rule to the scheduler  1020  ( 1630 ). 
     The scheduler  1020  may transmit the content being in the received status and the encoding rule to the encoder  1030  to request an encoding ( 1640 ). 
     In this instance, the encoder  1030  may encode the received content being in the received status, based on the encoding rule. When encoding is completed, the encoder  1030  may transmit the encoded content to the scheduler  1020 . Also, the encoder  1030  may provide an encoding progress rate to the syndication portal  430  periodically during the encoding process ( 1650 ). 
     For example, the encoder  1030  may encode the content being in the received status using FFMpeg. 
     The scheduler  1020  may transmit the content being in the received status to the thumbnailer  1040  to request the thumbnailer  1040  for extracting a thumbnail ( 1660 ). 
     In this instance, the thumbnailer  1040  may extract the thumbnail from the content being in the received status using FFMpeg, and transmit the extracted thumbnail to the scheduler  1020 . 
     The scheduler  1020  may transmit, to the updater  950 , an access path to the encoded content and an access path to the extracted thumbnail ( 1670 ). 
     The updater  950  may update, to the metadata storage unit  920 , the access path to the encoded content and the access path to the extracted thumbnail ( 1680 ). 
       FIG. 17  is a diagram illustrating a process of setting, by an end user or a third party, a format according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     When the syndication portal  430  approaches the rule manager  830  of the media mediator  620  to request a format setting according to a request of a content provider ( 1710 ), the rule manager  830  may transmit a particular condition to the rule loader  840  according to a request of the syndication portal  430  so that the rule loader  840  may retrieve a rule to be edited, satisfying the particular condition ( 1720 ). 
     The rule loader  840  may retrieve, from the rule storage unit  820 , a rule satisfying the particular condition ( 1730 ), and may transmit the retrieved rule to the rule manager  830  ( 1740 ). 
     The rule manager  830  may transmit, to the editor  850 , the rule received from the rule loader  840  ( 1750 ). 
     The editor  850  may edit the rule according to the request of the third party connected to the syndication portal  430 . When the edition is completed, the editor  850  may transmit the edited rule to the reverse rule manager  860  ( 1760 ). 
     For example, the editor  850  may edit the rule using a jamper. 
     The reverse rule manager  860  may store the edited rule in the rule storage unit  820  ( 1770 ), and transmit the edited rule to the syndication portal  430  for a registration ( 1780 ). Through this, it is possible to terminate a setting process of a corresponding tool. 
       FIG. 18  is a diagram illustrating a process of changing and providing an encoded content according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     When the syndication portal  430  receives, from an end user or a third party, a request for a content satisfying a particular condition, the syndication portal  430  may request the select service unit  720  of the service manager  610  for information associated with the content ( 1810 ). 
     The select service unit  720  may request the selector  960  of the database manager  630  for content information ( 1820 ). The selector  960  may retrieve the content information from the metadata storage unit  920  ( 1830 ). 
     The selector  960  may transmit the content information to the reverse formatter  970  to transform the content information to an XML format managed by the syndication portal  430  ( 1840 ), and may request the reserve rule manager  860  of the metadata manager  620  for a reverse transformation ( 1850 ). 
     In this instance, the metadata transformed to the XML format by the reverse formatter  970  may be transmitted as metadata of the content to the third party terminal  470  according to a request of the third party. 
     For example, the reverse formatter  970  may transform the content information to an XML format used over an IPTV middleware. 
     The reverse rule manager  860  may retrieve, from the rule storage unit  820  according to a reverse transformation request, the rule edited by the end user or the third party ( 1860 ), and may transmit the edited rule to the select service unit  720  via the selector  960  ( 1870 ,  1880 ). 
     The select service unit  720  may transmit the edited rule to the syndication rule  430  ( 1890 ). The syndication portal  430  may request the encoding manager  640  to encode the content using the edited rule, and to transform the content to a format suitable for the end user or the third party. When the content transformed to the suitable format is transmitted from the encoding manager  640 , the syndication portal  430  may provide the transformed content to the end user or the third party. 
       FIG. 19  is a diagram illustrating a process of managing, by the syndication portal  430 , a feed according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     When the syndication portal  430  receives a feed list request signal from the content provider terminal  210  in operation  1910 , the syndication portal  430  may load feeds, stored in the system database  1110 , according to the feed list request signal to obtain a feed list in operation  1920 . In operation  1930 , the syndication portal  430  may provide a content provider with the feed list and a main page so that the content provider may utilize the service operator interface  1120  or the content provider interface  1130 . 
     When the syndication portal  430  receives a feed update request signal from the content provider terminal  210  in operation  1940 , the syndication portal  430  may generate a feed based on the feed update request signal to add the feed to the system database  1110  in operation  1950 , or may delete the feed from the system database  1110  in operation  1960 . 
     In operation  1970 , the syndication portal  430  may provide the content provider with a feed update result and the main page, so that the content provider may utilize the service operator interface  1120  or the content provider interface  1130 . 
       FIG. 20  is a diagram illustrating a process of setting or modifying a metadata format of a content in a content/metadata brokering system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     When the syndication portal  430  receives, from the content provider terminal  210 , a rule generation signal to generate a rule, or a rule modification signal to modify a rule stored in the rule storage unit  820  in operation  2010 , the syndication portal  430  may verify user information stored in the system database  1110  according to the rule generation signal or the rule modification signal in operation  2020 . 
     In this instance, the rule generation signal may denote a signal indicating generation of a rule with respect to a metadata format of the content provider. The rule modification signal may denote a signal indicating modifying of a rule with respect to the metadata format of the content provider. The user information may correspond to subscription information of the content provider. 
     When the content provider is authenticated using user information stored in the system database  1110  in operation  2030 , the syndication portal  430  may request the orchestrator  810  for an access address to modify the rule in operation  2040 . 
     The syndication portal  430  may receive the access address from the orchestrator  810  in operation  2050 , and transfer the received access address to the content provider terminal  210  in operation  2060 . 
     When the orchestrator  810  receives, from the content provider terminal  210 , information associated with a rule to be generated or a portion of the rule to be modified in operation  2070 , data may be exchanged between the content provider terminal  210  and the rule storage unit  820  according to  FIG. 17  to thereby set a format in operation  2080  and  2085 . 
     The orchestrator  810  may transmit, to the content provider terminal  210 , a rule generation complete signal or a rule modification complete signal indicating the format is set according to  FIG. 17 . The rule generation complete signal or the rule modification complete signal may be differently transmitted depending on which one the syndication portal  430  receives between the rule generation signal and the rule modification signal. 
     When a third party desires to modify a rule of the third party using the third party terminal  470 , the syndication portal  430  may replace the orchestrator  810  with the reverse orchestrator  870  to thereby perform operations shown in  FIG. 20 , and thereby modify the rule of the third party. 
     As described above, according to embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to provide all end users with contents uploaded from a plurality of service providers and content providers using different platforms, and transformed to a single platform, and thus to enable all the end users to receive a content provided by a service provider using a different platform by uploading the contents, and transforming the uploaded contents to the single platform. 
     Also, according to embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to easily increase a number of target users to receive a content by transforming an uploaded content to a platform desired by another service provider and then providing the other service provider with the content transformed to the desired platform. 
     Also, according to embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to enable a content provider to provide a content without a separate uploading process by enabling a system side to periodically verify and upload the content of the content provider. 
     The content/metadata brokering method according to the above-described exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be recorded in computer-readable media including program instructions to implement various operations embodied by a computer. The media may also include, alone or in combination with the program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like. Examples of computer-readable media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD ROM disks and DVDs; magneto-optical media such as floptical disks; and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher level code that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter. The described hardware devices may be configured to act as one or more software modules in order to perform the operations of the above-described exemplary embodiments of the present invention, or vice versa. 
     Although a few exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, the present invention is not limited to the described exemplary embodiments. Instead, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made to these exemplary embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.