Abstract:
A player has the function of viewing contents on an in-house network, without installing software in the player. 
     A gateway apparatus mediating between the in-house network and the Internet is provided with a mediation program; the in-house network or the Internet is provided with a conversion server; the mediation program acquires a contents list from an Internet dynamic-image site and converts the contents list to a data format displayable by the player; the player displays the contents list to enable a user to make a selection; the mediation program transfers, to the conversion server, a contents acquirement request selected from the contents list displayed in the player; the conversion server acquires a dynamic image from the dynamic-image site, converts the dynamic image to a format regenerable by the player and transmits it to the player via the gateway apparatus; and the player regenerates the received dynamic-image data.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a delivery of contents, particularly, a delivery of dynamic-image contents. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Contents stored in equipment connected to a home network can be viewed in a player device such as a television, and the viewing art has become widespread, for example, including an art offered by Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-158854. As a popular industry standard, there is a DLNA guideline (below called the DLNA) in which a player requests a contents list from equipment within a home network, is sent the contents list as data of a directory structure (called the contents directory) by the equipment, selects contents from the contents directory, acquires the contents from the equipment and regenerates them. 
         [0005]    Player devices based on the DLNA have come into wide use for televisions. However, the DLNA-based players are designed to view contents stored in a storage device (such as a network storage device and a video-recorder device) within a home network, and hence, they are not designed to acquire and view contents external to the home network such as contents on the Internet. On the other hand, dynamic images on the Internet have recently become popular, raising a great demand for viewing, on television, dynamic images in dynamic-image sites on the Internet. In order to view such dynamic images on television, software needs to be separately installed on the side of a television. However, in general, a user is not permitted to install the software on the television side for himself or herself. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    It is a problem to be solved by the present invention to provide a means for viewing contents on the Internet using a player device capable of acquiring and viewing contents on a home network, without installing new software in the player device. 
         [0007]    In order to solve the problem, in a gateway apparatus mediating between a player connected to an in-house LAN such as a home network and the Internet, a mediation program is provided which includes a means for acquiring a dynamic-image list from a dynamic-image site, converting dynamic-image list data into a contents directory and transmitting the contents directory to the player device. The player includes a means for displaying the contents directory received from the mediation program and allowing a user to select contents and transmits an acquirement request for the selected contents to the gateway apparatus. The mediation program in the gateway apparatus transmits the contents acquirement request to a transcoding server on the Internet or on the in-house network. On the basis of the received contents acquirement request, the transcoding server acquires dynamic-image data from the dynamic-image site, converts the acquired dynamic-image data to a format regenerable by the player and transmits it to the player via the gateway apparatus. Then, the player regenerates the received dynamic-image data. 
         [0008]    Some changes can be unexpectedly made in means for acquiring a dynamic-image list from an Internet dynamic-image site, or popular dynamic-image sites may be newly created. Such changes in the situation require that the mediation program provided in the gateway apparatus should be updated. In general, a program provided in the gateway apparatus is updated by updating firmware, thereby involving stopping or restarting the apparatus to deteriorate the availability of the in-house network during such an operation. In order to update the mediation program without stopping or restarting the apparatus, the mediation program is operated using a software management framework such as an OSGi framework for installing and uninstalling software in a module unit. This makes it possible to update the mediation program without stopping the gateway apparatus. 
         [0009]    According to the present invention, even if only contents on the in-house network are viewable and the contents of a dynamic-image site A are not viewable in a player  111 , then without adding software to the player  111  or substituting software, a dynamic-image list of the dynamic-image site A can be displayed and a dynamic image thereof becomes viewable in the player  111 . 
         [0010]    In addition, advertising results data  440  is utilized, thereby enabling a dynamic-image site to collect an advertising rate. For example, a line  941  indicates the frequency of broadcasts for an advertisement corresponding to an advertisement ID  1  by way of the dynamic-image site A. This makes it possible for an administrator of the dynamic-image site A to charge an advertiser of the advertisement ID  1  an advertising rate according to advertising results. 
         [0011]    Furthermore, a dynamic image in a new dynamic-image site B also becomes viewable in the player  111 , without stopping a gateway apparatus  120 . This can be implemented only by allowing a bundle delivering means  510  of a device management server  132  to install a dynamic-image site bundle B having a similar function to a dynamic-image site bundle A (the dynamic-image site bundle B is different from the dynamic-image site bundle A in the respect of a dynamic-image list acquiring means at a step  1310  in a contents-directory creation function  710 ) using a software management framework  320  of the gateway apparatus  120 . 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view showing a hardware configuration of the whole of a system. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing a software configuration of a player. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing a configuration of a gateway apparatus. 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram showing a configuration of a transcoding server. 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram showing a configuration of a device management server. 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram showing a configuration of a dynamic-image site A, B. 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  is a block diagram showing a configuration of a dynamic-image site-A bundle. 
           [0019]      FIG. 8  is a table showing a configuration of advertisement data. 
           [0020]      FIG. 9  is a table showing a configuration of advertising results data. 
           [0021]      FIG. 10  is a table showing a configuration of dynamic-image list data. 
           [0022]      FIG. 11  is a table showing a configuration of a contents directory. 
           [0023]      FIG. 12  is a table showing a configuration of an ID dynamic-image-related table. 
           [0024]      FIG. 13  is a flow chart showing a contents-directory creation function. 
           [0025]      FIG. 14  is a flow chart showing a processing executed by a transcoding means. 
           [0026]      FIG. 15  is a block diagram showing a contents-directory acquiring/displaying means. 
           [0027]      FIG. 16  is a block diagram showing contents regeneration. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0028]    An embodiment of the present invention will be below described with reference to the drawings. In the present invention, the word “means” is used as the meaning of “a means for implementing a function”. It is equivalent to a means which is implemented by allowing a computer program (software or firmware) activating a CPU of a server or a built-in CPU (including an MPU: Micro Processor Unit) of digital equipment to come into operation after the computer program is read by the CPU. Therefore, if the state where the CPU reads the necessary computer program and is in operation is captured, the “means” is a concept which can be grasped as an “object”. Similarly, the word “function” is a function which is implemented by the computer program. Therefore, if the state where the function is exactly implemented is captured, then the function is implemented by the CPU and thereby can be read as the “means” instead. 
         [0029]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view showing a hardware configuration of the whole of a system. A player  111  and a gateway apparatus  120  are connected by wire or radio to an in-house network  110 , and among these pieces of equipment, broadcast communication is conducted. The player  111  includes hardware (a CPU, a main storage device and a network communication interface) as a computer having a network communication function and a display. The player  111  has a means for acquiring and displaying contents list data (a contents directory) having a hierarchical structure and allowing a user to select contents using a remote control or the like and has the function of acquiring the selected contents from a network and regenerating the acquired contents. A detailed configuration of the software will be described with reference to  FIG. 2 . 
         [0030]    The gateway apparatus  120  includes hardware (a CPU, a main storage device and at least two network communication interfaces) as a computer having a network communication function. The gateway apparatus  120  is connected to the in-house network  110  and the Internet  130  and relays communication between the Internet  130  and the in-house network  110 . A detailed configuration thereof will be described with reference to  FIG. 3 . 
         [0031]    A transcoding server  131  includes hardware (a CPU, a main storage device, a network communication interface and an auxiliary storage device such as an HDD) as a computer having a network communication function and has the function of converting a dynamic-image data format. A detailed configuration thereof will be below described with reference to  FIG. 4 . 
         [0032]    A device management server  132  is an apparatus managing the gateway apparatus  120  and includes hardware (a CPU, a main storage device, a network communication interface and an auxiliary storage device such as an HDD) as a computer having a network communication function. A detailed configuration thereof will be below described with reference to  FIG. 5 . 
         [0033]    A dynamic-image site-A  133  is a dynamic-image delivery server on the Internet administered by a dynamic-image delivery company A and a dynamic-image site-B  134  is a dynamic-image delivery server on the Internet administered by a dynamic-image delivery company B. These dynamic-image delivery servers include hardware (a CPU, a main storage device, a network communication interface and an auxiliary storage device such as an HDD) as a computer having a network communication function. A detailed configuration thereof will be below described with reference to  FIG. 6 . 
         [0034]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing a software configuration of the player  111 . A server finding means  210  is a function implementing means for finding a device having a contents delivery function which is connected to the in-house network  110 . The server finding means  210  transmits a broadcast including a device-finding request message to each device connected to the in-house network  110 , then is sent a function held by each device in reply and thereby finds a device having a contents delivery function. This device finding is feasible, for example, by embodying the uPnP DA standard. A contents-directory acquiring/displaying means  220  is the function of acquiring data called a contents-directory and displaying it on the display of the player  111 . A data configuration of the contents directory will be described in  FIG. 11  and the details of a processing executed by the contents-directory acquiring/displaying means  220  will be described in  FIG. 15 . 
         [0035]    A contents regenerating means  240  is the function of transmitting a contents identifier (e.g., a URL) to a device having a contents delivery function, receiving contents data from the device and regenerating the received contents data on the display of the player  111 . The contents-data format regenerable by the contents regenerating means  240  is limited, and in this embodiment, only a dynamic image in an MPEG2 format is regenerable. The detailed flow of a processing executed by the contents regenerating means  240  will be described in  FIG. 16 . As a player device having the above functions, there is a DMP (Digital Media Player) device defined by the DLNA. 
         [0036]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing a software configuration of the gateway apparatus  120 . A device publicizing means  310  responds to the device-finding request message transmitted by the server finding means  210  and transmits a message indicating a device having a contents delivery function. A software management framework  320  has the function of managing (installing, uninstalling, starting and stopping) software in the unit of a module called a bundle. It has the function of installing and uninstalling a bundle without restarting the whole system of a gateway apparatus. Such a software management framework is implemented by embodying an OSGi standard. A bundle group  330  is a bundle managed by the software management framework  320 , and a single bundle is contained therein in this embodiment, but a plurality of bundles may be used. A dynamic-image site-A bundle  331  has the function of mediating between the dynamic-image site A and the player  111 . A detailed configuration of the dynamic-image site-A bundle  331  will be described in  FIG. 7  and a structure of a contents directory  340  will be described in  FIG. 11 . 
         [0037]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram showing a software configuration of the trans coding server  131 . A transcoding means  410  has the function of acquiring a dynamic image from the Internet in response to a request from the gateway apparatus  120 , converting the acquired dynamic image to an Mpeg2 format and returning it to the gateway apparatus  120 . The details thereof will be described in  FIG. 14 . An advertisement inserting means  420  has the function of transmitting an advertising dynamic image stored in advertisement data  430  to the gateway apparatus  120 . The advertisement data  430  is the set of pieces of dynamic-image data on an advertisement and is stored in the auxiliary storage device. A detailed configuration thereof will be described in  FIG. 8 . Advertising results data  440  is data on the utilization situation of advertisement data and is stored in the auxiliary storage device. A detailed configuration thereof will be described in  FIG. 9 . 
         [0038]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram showing a software configuration of the device management server  132 . A bundle delivering means  510  has the function of delivering a bundle to the gateway apparatus  120 . Bundle data  520  is the set of bundles stored in the auxiliary storage device, and for example, various bundles are stored, such as a dynamic-image site-A bundle  521 , a dynamic-image site-B bundle  522  and a device monitoring bundle  523 . 
         [0039]      FIG. 6  shows a software configuration of the server of the dynamic-image site A, B. A dynamic-image list providing means  610  has the function of providing dynamic-image list data in response to a request from the Internet. As an example of the request, there are a popular dynamic image, a frequently-regenerated dynamic image and the like. Dynamic-image sites may differ from each other in what kind of request each site has, a means for making a request and the format of dynamic-image list data. A request is transmitted, for example, using an HTTP and thereby is feasible. For example, a request origin sends an HTTP request such as http://dougasite-a.com/api.cgi?request=most_popular to a dynamic-image site. Using an argument “request=most_popular” given to a CGI program having the function of the dynamic-image list providing means  610  named api.cgi of the dynamic-image site, the dynamic-image list providing means  610  decides that the kind of request is a popular dynamic-image list and sends popular dynamic-image list data in replay. An example of dynamic-image list data will be described in  FIG. 10 . 
         [0040]    The request origin which has acquired the dynamic-image list data specifies desired dynamic-image data and requests it from the dynamic-image site, and then, a dynamic-image delivering means  620  delivers the corresponding data of dynamic-image data  630 . 
         [0041]      FIG. 7  shows a configuration of the dynamic-image site-A bundle  521 . A contents-directory creating means (function)  710  is a means for acquiring dynamic-image list data from the dynamic-image site A and adding it to the contents directory  340 . The details thereof will be described in  FIG. 13 . A dynamic-image acquiring/relaying means  720  is a means for relaying a dynamic-image acquirement request from the player  111  and executes the processing of  1620 ,  1660  in  FIG. 16 . An ID/dynamic-image-related table  730  is data for relating the contents directory  340  to a dynamic image in a dynamic-image site. A detailed configuration thereof will be described in  FIG. 12 . 
         [0042]      FIG. 8  is a table showing a configuration of the advertisement data  430 . An advertisement ID  810  is a unique integer given to an advertisement. A URL  820  is a URL indicating a place where an advertising dynamic image is stored. If the URL indicates a local file, then the advertisement data is stored in the transcoding server  131 , or if the URL indicates a server on the Internet, then the advertisement data is located on the Internet. 
         [0043]      FIG. 9  is a table showing a configuration of the advertising results data  440 . An advertisement ID  910  is an advertisement ID existing in the advertisement data  430 . A dynamic-image site name  920  indicates a dynamic image of which site was regenerated when an advertisement was transmitted. A broadcast frequency  930  indicates how many times an advertisement was regenerated. For example, a line  941  indicates that an advertisement corresponding to an advertisement ID  1  was regenerated 10023 times in relation to a dynamic-image site A. 
         [0044]      FIG. 10  is a table showing a structure of dynamic-image list data. This structure is formed by the combination of a URL  1010  and a dynamic-image title  1020  corresponding to a URL. A structured language such as an XML may be used as the character-string representation of dynamic-image list data. 
         [0045]      FIG. 11  shows a data structure of the contents directory  340 . This data structure is formed by an ID  1110 , a parent ID  1120 , a type  1130 , a name  1140  and a URL  1150 , and a contents list is expressed with the directory structure. The ID  1110  is a unique ID of contents and the parent ID  1120  indicates a parent directory to which contents belong. The type  1130  indicates the format of contents, and the term “Directory” indicates that the corresponding line is a directory. The name  1140  indicates the name of contents or a directory and the URL  1150  indicates a place where contents are located. In  FIG. 11 , an example of the contents directory is below described. A line  1161  indicates the top directory, in which there is a directory having a name called “Dynamic-image site A”. Lines  1162 - 1169  are child elements of the “Dynamic-image site A” directory because the parent IDs thereof are “0”, and have three directories in storage. Lines  1165  and  1166  are child elements of the directory “Popular dynamic image” in the line  1162  and have in storage two lines indicating two Mpeg2 dynamic images. Lines  1167 - 1169  are child elements of the directory “Category” in the line  1164  and have three directories in storage. 
         [0046]      FIG. 12  shows a configuration of an ID dynamic-image-related table  730 . An ID  1210  indicates a dynamic image corresponding to the ID  1110  of the contents directory of  FIG. 11 . A URL  1220  indicates where a dynamic image is located on the Internet  130 , and for example, a line  1231  corresponds to the line  1165  in  FIG. 11 . 
         [0047]      FIG. 13  is a flow chart showing in detail the processing executed by the contents-directory creating means (function)  710 . The contents-directory creating means holds already-created contents directory data as the contents directory  340  in the gateway apparatus  120 . A description is below given using an example where it holds the contents directory data of the lines  1161 - 1164  of  FIG. 11 , and the input to the contents-directory creating means  710  is a directory name. 
       &lt;Step  1300 &gt; 
       [0048]    If there is an entry having the parent ID  1120  identical to the ID  1110  corresponding to an inputted directory name, the entry is outputted and the processing is terminated. 
         [0049]    For example, if the input is “Dynamic-image site A”, then as can be seen from the line  1161 , the ID  1110  corresponding to “Dynamic-image site A” is 0, thereby outputting the lines  1162 - 1164  each indicating that the parent ID is 0 and terminating the processing. 
         [0050]    A description is below given in the case where the input to the contents-directory creating means  710  is “Popular dynamic image”. 
       &lt;Step  1310 &gt; 
       [0051]    Dynamic-image list data corresponding to the directory name is acquired from the dynamic-image site A. In this example, the directory name is “Popular dynamic image”, and hence, the dynamic-image list providing means  610  of the dynamic-image site A is called to acquire a popular dynamic-image list. A description is below given using an example where the data of  FIG. 10  is acquired as the dynamic-image list data. 
       &lt;Step  1320 &gt; 
       [0052]    A contents-directory data line is generated for each line of the dynamic-image list data of  FIG. 10 . A description is given using an example where the lines  1161 - 1164  are already created as the contents directory data and a processing for a line  1041  is executed. The processing is executed through the following (1)-(5). 
       (1) Generation of ID  1110   
       [0053]    An ID which does not exist in the already-created contents directory ID  1110  is generated. There is no “6” in the ID row of the lines  1161 - 1164 , and hence, the ID  1110  is set to “6” this time. 
       (2) Generation of Parent ID  1120   
       [0054]    The ID of the line  1162  corresponding to the inputted directory name “Popular dynamic image” is “1”, and hence, the parent ID  1120  is set to “1”. 
       (3) Generation of Type  1130   
       [0055]    The type is set to a format operable by the player  111 , and this time, “Mpeg2 dynamic image”. 
       (4) Generation of Name  1140   
       [0056]    The name is set to “Cat walking on its hind legs” directly using the entry of  1020 . 
       (5) URL  1150   
       [0057]    The URL  1150  is http://&lt;the address of a gateway apparatus (this time, set to 133.100.2.1)&gt;/content.cgi?id=&lt;the value of the ID  1110 &gt;. This time, it is set to http://133.100.2.1)/content.cgi?id=6. 
         [0058]    The above processing is executed to thereby generate a line  1165 . In the same way, the processing (1)-(5) is executed for a line  1042  to thereby generate a line  1166 . 
       &lt;Step  1330 &gt; 
       [0059]    The ID dynamic-image-related table is updated. The URL  1220  is set to the same as the URL  1010  for each line of the dynamic-image list data of  FIG. 10  and the ID  1210  is set to the ID generated in &lt;Step  1320 &gt; (1), thereby obtaining the ID dynamic-image-related table shown in  FIG. 12 . 
         [0060]    Finally, the lines generated in &lt;Step  1320 &gt; are outputted, and this time, the lines  1165  and  1166  are outputted. 
         [0061]      FIG. 14  is a flow chart showing a processing executed by the transcoding means  410 . 
       &lt;Step  1410 &gt; 
       [0062]    An acquirement request for a dynamic image is accepted from the gateway apparatus  120 . A description is below given using an example where an acquirement request for a dynamic image of the dynamic-image site A is accepted. 
       &lt;Step  1420 &gt; 
       [0063]    In reply to the request, an optional dynamic image stored in the advertisement data  430  is transmitted to the gateway apparatus. Even if the transmission is completed, the connection with the gateway apparatus  120  is kept unbroken. 
         [0064]    After the transmission, the advertising results  440  are updated, and specifically, the corresponding broadcast frequency  930  is incremented. For example, if an acquirement request for a dynamic image of the dynamic-image site A is accepted and the dynamic image of the advertisement ID  1  is transmitted, the broadcast frequency  930  of the line  941  is incremented. 
       &lt;Step  1430 &gt; 
       [0065]    The dynamic image accepted in &lt;Step  1410 &gt; is acquired from the dynamic-image site A. 
       &lt;Step  1440 &gt; 
       [0066]    The dynamic-image data acquired in &lt;Step  1430 &gt; is converted to a format (this time, an Mpeg2 format) recognizable by the player  111  and is transmitted to the gateway apparatus  120 . 
         [0067]      FIG. 15  is a block diagram showing the contents-directory acquiring/displaying means  220 . The figure shows, with screen images displayed in the player  111 , a processing for the player  111  selecting contents desired to be regenerated using the contents-directory acquiring/displaying means  220 . This time, the lines  1161 - 1164  are stored in advance as the initial configuration of the contents directory  340  in the gateway apparatus  120 . 
       &lt;Screen Image  1510 &gt; 
       [0068]    Upon turning on the power of the player  111  and selecting a menu for viewing contents on a network by a remote control, the name of a server is displayed which is found by the server finding means  210 . In the configuration of  FIG. 1 , in response to the server finding means  210 , the device publicizing means  310  in the gateway apparatus  120  displays, as indicated by  1511 , “the server name “contents server””. 
       &lt;Screen Image  1520 &gt; 
       [0069]    A selection of  1511  is made using the remote control or the like of the player  111 . The gateway apparatus is notified of the selection of  1511 . In replay, the gateway apparatus  120  sends a contents directory such as the line  1161  of  FIG. 11 , and thereby,  1521  is displayed. 
       &lt;Screen Image  1530 &gt; 
       [0070]    A selection of  1521  is made. The gateway apparatus is notified of the selection of  1521  and the name “Dynamic-image site A” of  1521 . The gateway apparatus  120  gives the contents-directory creation function  710  of the dynamic-image site-A bundle  331  “Dynamic-image site A” as an input thereof. The lines  1162 - 1164  as an output thereof are sent to the player  111 . As shown in &lt;Screen image  1530 &gt;, the player  111  arranges the names  1140  of the lines  1162 - 1164  to thereby make them selectable by the remote control. 
       &lt;Screen Image  1540 &gt; 
       [0071]    A selection of  1532  is made. In the same way, the gateway apparatus is notified of the selection of  1532  and the name “Popular dynamic image” of  1532 . The gateway apparatus  120  gives the contents-directory creation function  710  of the dynamic-image site-A bundle  331  “Popular dynamic image” as an input thereof. The lines  1165  and  1166  as an output thereof are sent to the player  111 . As shown in &lt;Screen image  1540 &gt;, the player  111  arranges the names  1140  of the lines  1165  and  1166  to thereby make them selectable by the remote control. Here, the type  1130  of the line  1165 ,  1166  corresponding to  1543 ,  1544 , respectively, is “Mpeg2 dynamic image”, thereby indicating that  1543 ,  1544  is a dynamic image. If such elements regarded as dynamic images are selected, the processing shifts to the contents regenerating means  240 . 
         [0072]      FIG. 16  shows a processing flow for regenerating contents using the contents regenerating means  240  and the above described means. In the processing flow, only a processing  1610  and a processing  1670  are executed by the contents regenerating means itself. 
       &lt;Processing  1610 &gt; 
       [0073]    If the player  111  selects contents desired to be regenerated using the contents-directory acquiring/displaying means  220 , the processing shifts to the contents regenerating means  240 . The contents regenerating means is given the URL  1150  of the line of the contents directory data corresponding to the selected contents. For example, if  1543  is selected on &lt;Screen image  1540 &gt;, the contents regenerating means  240  is given “http://133.100.2.1)/content.cgi?id=6” which is the URL  1150  of the line  1165 . In response to this URL, the contents regenerating means sends an HTTP request. This time, the URL address “133.100.2.1” is the one of a gateway apparatus  1620  (refer to the description of &lt;Step  1320 &gt; (5) in  FIG. 13 ), and hence, the request is sent to the gateway apparatus  1620 . 
       &lt;Processing  1620 &gt; 
       [0074]    The gateway apparatus  1620  calls the dynamic-image acquiring/relaying means  720  of the dynamic-image site-A bundle. The dynamic-image acquiring/relaying means  720  extracts &lt;numeral&gt; from id=&lt;numeral&gt; of the URL under request, and then, extracts the URL  1220  matching with the ID  1210  of the ID dynamic-image-related table  730 . This time, &lt;numeral&gt; is 6, and hence, the URL “http://dougasite-a.com/cat.flv” of the line  1231  is extracted. Then, a transcoding server  1630  is used as a http proxy, and a http get request for the extracted URL is transmitted to the transcoding server  1630 . 
       &lt;Processing  1630 &gt;&lt;Processing  1640 &gt;&lt;Processing  1650 &gt; 
       [0075]    Using the transcoding means  410  of the transcoding server  131 , the dynamic image of the URL under request is acquired from the dynamic-image site A, is converted to a format (an mpeg2 format) regenerable by the player  111  and is transmitted to the gateway apparatus  1620 . 
       &lt;Processing  1660 &gt;&lt;Processing  1670 &gt; 
       [0076]    The dynamic image in the mpeg2 format is sent to the player  111  and is regenerated on the display thereof. 
       PRACTICAL EXAMPLE 1 
       [0077]    The embodiment has illustrated an example where a dynamic image in the dynamic-image site A is acquired. In addition, a dynamic image in a new dynamic-image site B also becomes viewable in the player  111 , without stopping the gateway apparatus  120 . This can be implemented only by allowing the bundle delivering means  510  of the device management server  132  to install a dynamic-image site bundle B having a similar function to a dynamic-image site bundle A (the dynamic-image site bundle Bis different from the dynamic-image site bundle A in the respect of the dynamic-image list acquiring means at the step  1310  in the contents-directory creation function  710 ) using the software management framework  320  of the gateway apparatus  120 . 
       INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY  
       [0078]    The present invention is applicable to an apparatus, a system and a service for delivering a dynamic image, music and a static image in the fields of in-house broadcasting equipment, a household television, a home network, a household digital appliance and the like.