Metadata editing apparatus, metadata reproduction apparatus, metadata delivery apparatus, metadata search apparatus, metadata re-generation condition setting apparatus, and metadata delivery method and hint information description method

Abstract

Multimedia content containing moving pictures and audio is divided into multiple scenes and metadata is generated for each of the scenes obtained as a result of the division. It is possible to generate metadata containing scene structure information metadata that describes the hierarchical structure of the content in addition to scene section information and titles. Also, a name or an identifier of each descriptor contained in the metadata is described as hint information for manipulation of metadata composed of at least one descriptor describing semantic content, a structure, and characteristics of content.

1 . A metadata reproduction apparatus comprising:
 a metadata analysis unit for analyzing metadata describing contents and a structure of multimedia content containing at least one of moving pictures and audio;   a search unit for searching the metadata for each scene matching a predetermined search condition based on visual characteristic amounts of each scene described in the metadata analyzed by the metadata analysis unit; and   a summary creation unit for creating summary information of the multimedia content matching a predetermined summary creation condition based on predetermined information described in the metadata analyzed by the metadata analysis unit.   
     
     
         2 . A metadata delivery apparatus comprising:
 a metadata analysis unit for analyzing metadata describing contents and a structure of multimedia content containing at least one of moving pictures and audio;   a terminal capability judgment unit for judging a capability of a client terminal based on information concerning performance of the client terminal;   a metadata re-generation unit for restructuring the multimedia content in accordance with the judged capability of the client terminal based on a result of the metadata analysis by the metadata analysis unit and re-generating second metadata describing contents of the restructured multimedia content; and   a metadata delivery unit for delivering the second metadata re-generated by the metadata re-generation unit to the client terminal.   
     
     
         3 . A metadata delivery apparatus comprising:
 a hint information analysis unit for analyzing hint information describing a type of each descriptor contained in metadata;   a metadata analysis/re-generation unit for analyzing metadata describing contents and a structure of multimedia content containing at least one of moving pictures and audio based on the analyzed hint information and a condition for metadata re-generation and re-generating second metadata; and   a metadata delivery unit for delivering the second metadata re-generated by the metadata analysis/re-generation unit to a client terminal.   
     
     
         4 . A metadata search apparatus comprising:
 a hint information analysis unit for analyzing hint information describing a type and contents of each descriptor contained in metadata;   a metadata analysis unit for analyzing the metadata describing contents and a structure of multimedia content containing at least one of moving pictures and audio based on the analyzed hint information and a search condition; and   a search unit for searching content matching the search condition using a result of the analysis of the metadata.   
     
     
         5 . A metadata re-generation condition setting apparatus comprising:
 a hint information analysis unit for analyzing hint information describing a type and contents of each descriptor contained in metadata; and   a metadata re-generation condition setting unit for setting a condition for re-generation of metadata describing contents and a structure of multimedia content containing at least one of moving pictures and audio based on the analyzed hint information.   
     
     
         6 . A content delivery apparatus comprising:
 a hint information analysis unit for analyzing hint information describing a type and contents of each descriptor contained in metadata;   a metadata analysis unit for extracting each description matching a condition for content restructuring from the metadata describing contents and a structure of multimedia content containing at least one of moving pictures and audio based on the analyzed hint information and the condition for the content restructuring; and   a content restructuring/delivery unit for restructuring the content based on the extracted description and delivering the restructured content to a client terminal.   
     
     
         7 . A metadata delivery method comprising the steps of:
 analyzing hint information describing a type of each descriptor contained in metadata;   re-generating second metadata by analyzing the metadata describing contents and a structure of multimedia content containing at least one of moving pictures and audio based on the analyzed hint information and a condition for re-generation of the metadata; and   delivering the re-generated second metadata to a client terminal.   
     
     
         8 . A metadata delivery method according to  claim 7 ,
 wherein the hint information describes a location of a metadata file and an appearing element number showing a number of elements contained in the metadata.   
     
     
         9 . A metadata delivery method according to  claim 7 ,
 wherein the hint information describes a size of a metadata file, a format of the metadata file, and syntax file information.   
     
     
         10 . A metadata delivery method according to  claim 7 ,
 wherein the hint information describes a name of the descriptor contained in the metadata.   
     
     
         11 . A metadata delivery method according to  claim 7 ,
 wherein the hint information describes a frequency, at which the descriptor contained in the metadata appears.   
     
     
         12 . A metadata delivery method according to  claim 7 ,
 wherein the hint information describes a completeness of description of the descriptor contained in the metadata.   
     
     
         13 . A metadata delivery method according to  claim 7 ,
 wherein the hint information describes a temporal hierarchical property possessed by the descriptor contained in the metadata.   
     
     
         14 . A metadata delivery method according to  claim 7 ,
 wherein the hint information describes a spatial hierarchical property possessed by the descriptor contained in the metadata.   
     
     
         15 . A metadata delivery method according to  claim 7 ,
 wherein the hint information describes an appearing position at which the descriptor contained in the metadata appears.   
     
     
         16 . A metadata delivery method according to  claim 7 ,
 wherein the hint information describes a type of the descriptor contained in the metadata.   
     
     
         17 . A metadata delivery method according to  claim 7 ,
 wherein the hint information describes an assumable value range of the descriptor contained in the metadata.   
     
     
         18 . A metadata re-generation apparatus that performs restructuring by extracting only each description suited for any of a capability of a metadata receiving apparatus, communication environments of the metadata receiving apparatus, and a user request from metadata composed of at least one descriptor describing semantic content, a structure, and characteristics of content, comprising:
 hint information analyzing means for analyzing hint information describing a name or an identifier of each descriptor contained in the metadata; and   metadata analyzing means for judging whether the metadata contains each description necessary for metadata after re-generation using the analyzed hint information.   
     
     
         19 . A metadata re-generation apparatus according to  claim 18 , further comprising:
 means for analyzing the hint information describing an appearing position and an appearing frequency of each descriptor contained in the metadata; and   metadata analyzing means for judging whether every descriptor corresponding to the appearing position is analyzed or analysis by the appearing frequency is finished using the analyzed hint information.   
     
     
         20 . A metadata re-generation apparatus according to  claim 18 , further comprising:
 means for, after the metadata is re-generated, re-generating hint information corresponding to the re-generated metadata.   
     
     
         21 . A metadata delivery apparatus that performs restructuring by extracting only each description suited for any of a capability of a metadata receiving apparatus, communication environments of the metadata receiving apparatus, and a user request from metadata composed of at least one descriptor describing semantic content, a structure, and characteristics of content, comprising:
 hint information analyzing means for analyzing hint information describing a name or an identifier of each descriptor contained in the metadata; and   metadata analyzing means for judging whether the metadata contains each description necessary for metadata after re-generation using the analyzed hint information.   
     
     
         22 . A metadata delivery apparatus according to  claim 21 , further comprising:
 means for analyzing the hint information describing an appearing position and an appearing frequency of each descriptor contained in the metadata; and   metadata analyzing means for judging whether every descriptor corresponding to the appearing position is analyzed or analysis by the appearing frequency is finished using the analyzed hint information.   
     
     
         23 . A content search apparatus that searches for content using metadata composed of at least one descriptor describing semantic content, a structure, and characteristics of the content, comprising:
 hint information analyzing means for analyzing hint information describing a name or an identifier of each descriptor contained in the metadata; and   metadata analyzing means for judging whether each descriptor to be used for the searching is contained using the analyzed hint information.   
     
     
         24 . A metadata re-generation apparatus according to  claim 23 , further comprising:
 means for analyzing the hint information describing an appearing position and an appearing frequency of each descriptor contained in the metadata; and   metadata analyzing means for judging whether every descriptor corresponding to the appearing position is analyzed or analysis by an appearing number is finished using the analyzed hint information.   
     
     
         25 . A content re-generation apparatus that re-generates at least one content to suite any of a capability of a content receiving apparatus, communication environments of the content receiving apparatus, and a user request, comprising:
 hint information analyzing means for analyzing hint information describing a name or an identifier of each descriptor contained in metadata composed of at least one descriptor describing semantic content, a structure, and characteristics of content; and   metadata analyzing means for judging whether each description necessary for the content re-generation is contained using the analyzed hint information.   
     
     
         26 . A metadata re-generation method for performing restructuring by extracting only each description suited for any of a capability of a metadata receiving apparatus, communication environments of the metadata receiving apparatus, and a user request from metadata composed of at least one descriptor describing semantic content, a structure, and characteristics of content, comprising:
 analyzing hint information describing a name or an identifier of each descriptor contained in the metadata; and   judging whether the metadata contains each description necessary for metadata after re-generation using the analyzed hint information.   
     
     
         27 . A content re-generation method for re-generating at least one content to suite any of a capability of a content receiving apparatus, communication environments of the content receiving apparatus, and a user request, comprising:
 analyzing hint information describing a name or an identifier of each descriptor contained in metadata composed of at least one descriptor describing semantic content, a structure, and characteristics of content; and   judging whether each description necessary for the content re-generation is contained using the analyzed hint information.   
     
     
         28 . A metadata re-generation apparatus according to  claim 19 , further comprising:
 means for, after the metadata is re-generated, re-generating hint information corresponding to the re-generated metadata.