WO2009105811A1

WO2009105811A1 - Digital media management system

Info

Publication number: WO2009105811A1
Application number: PCT/AU2009/000210
Authority: WO
Inventors: Brian James Craighead; Julie Anne Frikken
Original assignee: Prime Digital Media Pty Limited
Priority date: 2008-02-25
Filing date: 2009-02-25
Publication date: 2009-09-03
Also published as: AU2009219093B2; AU2009219093A1; WO2009105811A8

Abstract

Disclosed is a digital media management system comprising one or more client devices, each controlling at least one digital player adapted to play digital media clips, and a server connected to the client devices by a network. The server comprises a digital media management center adapted to allocate media clips to playlists and assemble the playlists into schedules for delivery to the one or more client devices, and a digital media delivery center adapted to deliver the media clips according to the schedules to the one or more client devices to be played at the associated digital players. The allocation takes into account attributes of the digital players and requirements associated with each media clip.

Description

Digital Media Management System

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to digital media signage, and in particular to a system, device and method for managing digital media signage.

Background

The digital signage industry, as a segment of the media industry, does not have access to a system to comprehensively manage the commercial needs of the wider media industry, its client. The current management systems fail to cater for the entire lifecycle of a digital signage advertising campaign and to integrally manage the allocation and scheduling of content. In particular, existing systems are deficient in respect of one or more of:

• Management of digital assets (video, graphics, text, images, etc).

• Management of the process of production of digital assets into produced content, including the iterations of client review, production and final approval.

• Scheduling and matching of produced content to digital signs.

Existing systems fail to consider the client requirements of an advertisement clip to be played on a digital sign and also fail to consider the attributes of a digital sign, when scheduling and allocating clips. At present, the scheduling of advertisement clips and matching of such clips to digital signs are performed manually if considerations of the client requirements for a clip are to be taken into account.

The manual process is, however, inefficient. As the lifecycle of content for digital signs is generally characterised by high volume and short lifespan, and as digital signs of heterogeneous attributes continue to proliferate as advertising platforms, the manual process of management and scheduling will become increasingly untenable.

Summary According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a digital media management system comprising one or more client devices, each controlling at least one digital player adapted to play digital media clips, and a server connected to the client devices by a network. The server comprises a digital media management center adapted to allocate media clips to playlists and assemble the playlists into schedules for delivery to the one or more client devices, and a digital media delivery center adapted to deliver the media clips according to the schedules to the one or more client devices to be played at the associated digital players, wherein the allocation takes into account attributes of the digital players and requirements associated with each media clip.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of creating schedules for the playing of media clips on a target group of one or more digital players, the method comprising: determining a schedule period using requirements associated with each media clip; creating a playlist for each digital player in the target group, each playlist having one or more slots, each slot having one of a plurality of content types; allocating the clips to the slots in the created playlists such that each slot contains a clip whose content type matches the content type of the slot, and a target attribute associated with each clip matches an attribute of the player associated with the playlist; and assigning timing information specifying when the created playlists are to be played on the associated digital player within the schedule period, thereby creating the schedules.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a digital media management device comprising a digital media management center adapted to allocate media clips to playlists and assemble the playlists into schedules for delivery to one or more client devices, and a digital media delivery center adapted to deliver the media clips according to the schedules to the one or more client devices to be played at associated digital players, wherein the allocation takes into account attributes of the digital players and requirements associated with each media clip.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium having a program encoded thereon, wherein the program is configured to make a computer execute the method described above. Brief Description of the Drawings

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 illustrates a digital media management system;

Fig. 2 illustrates a connectivity overview of the digital media management system of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 illustrates a relationship between organisational constructs used in the digital media management system of Fig. 1;

Figs. 4A and 4B form a schematic block diagram of a general purpose computer system upon which the arrangements described can be practised; Fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a production process managed by the digital media management system of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a scheduling process carried out by the digital media management system of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 7 is a flow chart illustrating the process of allocating clips to playlists, as used in the process of Fig. 6.

Detailed Description

A system, method, and device according to various aspects of the present disclosure manages a pre-broadcast production process, including the storage of digital assets, production of assets into produced content, review and revision iterations of produced content, and approval of produced content ready for broadcast. Given client requirements for a media/advertisement clip and business rules, the broadcasting of media clips to targeted audiences on an out-of-home digital media network is scheduled by matching the client requirements to the attributes of digital signage locations or groups of locations. Aspects of the system, method and device of the present disclosure are also operable to manage a lifecycle of out-of-home digital media.

As used herein, out-of-home digital media refers to the use of a digital network to deliver content in the form of digital media clips to digital displays to attract the attention of consumers outside of their home. Examples of out-of-home digital media networks include networks delivering content to captive audiences (e.g. people waiting for service, e.g. at airports, cinemas etc.), in- store or in-mall television networks, and other out-of-home networks such as on top of (or inside) taxis, buses, and trains.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure (i) the management of digital assets (video, graphics, text, images etc), (ii) the process of production of these assets into "produced content", (iii) the iterations of client review and production, and (iv) the final step of approval is integrated into a comprehensive digital media management system.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the scheduling of media clips into best-fit time slots, and the allocation of media in clips to best-suited digital signs is also performed by the digital media management system.

Fig. 1 illustrates a digital media management system BlOO. The digital media management system BlOO includes a number of digital signage locations BIlOa — BIlOc, a digital media creation studio B 120, a digital media delivery center B 130, and a digital media management center B 140. The digital signage locations BI lO, digital media creation studio B 120, digital media delivery center B 130, and digital media management center B 140 are connected by a network B 150. The network B 150 may be a wired and/or wireless network, and may be private and/or public network, or combinations thereof. The network B 150 may, for example, be the Internet.

The digital signage locations BIlO are physical locations at which one or more digital players, performing the function of digital signs, are located. The digital signage locations BIlO maybe, for example, a shop, elevator, train station, airport, vehicle, and the like. Each digital signage location BIlO has an associated client device (not shown) which controls the operation of the one or more digital players and through which the location BIlO communicates with the network B150. The digital media creation studio B120 is, for example, a media production company responsible for the creation of advertisement clips and media clips in general. The digital media management center B 140 receives media clips from the digital media creation studio B 120, and stores and organizes the media clips. The digital media management center B 140 further manages the process of media clip approval, wherein a media clip is reviewed, edited if necessary, and finally approved before the media clip is used and viewed publicly. The digital media management center B 140 allocates the media clips into playlists and schedules the playlists to be delivered to and played by the digital signs at the digital signage locations BIlO. The digital media delivery center B 130 controls and manages the delivery of media content from the digital media management center B 140 to one or more digital signs at the digital signage locations BIlO via the associated client devices. Attributes of digital signs at each digital signage location Bl 10 are entered via a user interface to the system BlOO, or provided electronically to the system BlOO in a predetermined format, and stored in an infrastructure register as described below. As described below, these attributes are used in the process of scheduling and allocating media clips, and in particular advertisement clips, to digital signage locations BIlO.

The attributes of the digital signage locations BIlO that are stored and used for scheduling and allocating media content include but are not limited to:

• Location

• Address

• Contact details

• Images of location - pre and post installation

• Floor plans, preferably indicating placement of digital signs

• Business name

• Demographic breakdown of visitors, including: o by age group

o by income band

o by psychographic category

o by market segment

o by any other nominated measure

• Peak traffic time

• Off peak traffic time

• Dwell time of Peak and Off Peak time

Schedules for the playing of produced content to a nominated target audience are created by the digital media management center B 140 in consideration of business rules and requirements determined by a client, in conjunction with the above attributes, as described in more detail below.

Fig. 2 illustrates a connectivity overview of the digital media management system BlOO of Fig. 1, although the digital signage locations BIlO are not shown. The digital media management system BlOO includes a first storage device AIlO (Digital Assets Library), a production module A120, a second storage device A130 (Produced Content Store), a third storage device A180 (Infrastructure Register), a fourth storage device Al 70 (Schedule Store), a scheduling module A160, and a broadcast module A140. The digital media management system BlOO also receives as input at least one set of client requirements Al 50 for each media clip stored in the second storage device Al 30. The client requirements may be manually entered via a user interface to the system BlOO in relation to a specific clip, or may be provided electronically to the system BlOO in a predetermined format, referencing a clip in the second storage device Al 30, to facilitate automation. One clip can have multiple sets of client requirements that cover non- overlapping time periods.

The first storage device AIlO stores digital assets such as video, images, flash content, text content, and the like. The second storage device Al 30 stores produced content including, for example, clips, clip bundles, and playlists. As used herein, a clip bundle is a collection of one or more media clips.

The behaviour of produced content may be defined as either standard, dynamic or clip bundle. Content having a standard behaviour includes produced clips such as those in a .wmv format. Content having a dynamic behaviour includes content that updates in real time, such as RSS feeds. Content having a clip bundle behaviour includes clip bundles whose media clips are played in a 'step-through' fashion. 'Step-through' play means that a first media clip of a clip bundle is played during a first iteration of a playlist loop, a second media clip of the clip bundle is played during a second iteration of a playlist loop, and so on.

The third storage device Al 80 stores information on infrastructure items such as digital signage players, digital signage locations, channels, networks, and groups. Such information includes the attributes of digital signage locations described above. The infrastructure attributes may be manually entered via a user interface to the system BlOO, or may be provided electronically to the system BlOO in a predetermined format, referencing one or more players, locations, channels, networks, or groups, to facilitate automation.

The fourth storage device A170 stores created schedules. Whilst the first storage device AIlO, second storage device Al 30, third storage device Al 80, and fourth storage device Al 70 are shown as separate storage devices in Fig. 2, it is to be understood that the first storage device AI lO, second storage device A130, third storage device Al 80, and fourth storage device Al 70 may be integrated into a single physical storage device, such as a hard disk drive having one or more data partitions. The information stored in the above storage devices is preferably organized into one or more databases, which may span more than one storage device (such as illustrated in Fig. 2 by the first to fourth storage devices) or be stored in a single storage device.

The production module A 120 produces media content from digital assets in the digital assets library AI lO. The production module Al 20 also facilitates the management of the production process, including the review of content by an approver, the revision of content, and the approval of content for broadcast. The production module A120 is accessible by the digital media creation studio B120.

The scheduling module A160 creates a schedule for the broadcast of media clips. The scheduling module A160 receives the client requirements A150 and matches the client requirements A150 against the attributes of the infrastructure items stored in the third storage device Al 80. The scheduling module A160 is accessible by the digital media management center B140.

The media broadcast module A 140 broadcasts content to one or more players according to the schedules stored in the fourth storage device Al 70, taking into account the behaviour of each clip or clip bundle. The broadcast module A140 may be provided at the digital media delivery center B 130, for example.

The first storage device AIlO and second storage device Al 30 may be located at or in the vicinity of, or otherwise be in communication with, the digital media creation studio B 120. The second storage device Al 30, the client requirements Al 50, the third storage device Al 80 and fourth storage device Al 70 may be located at or in the vicinity of, or otherwise be in communication with, the digital media management centre B 140. The fourth storage device Al 70 may be located at or in the vicinity of, or otherwise be in communication with, the digital media delivery center B130.

One or more digital signage locations BIlO may be added to a group, and one or more schedules may be defined for the group. A schedule defined for a group determines which playlist to play at each player at each location BIlO in the group, what time to play the playlist, and the firequency/regularity at which a playlist is to be played. The schedule comprises one or more playlists assigned to given date and time slots.

A playlist is a sequence of media clips and/or clip bundles, preferably playing consecutively and seamlessly in a loop. A playlist may include plural types of media content, including advertisements, information, entertainment, retailer, interactive, and live content. A playlist includes one or more slots, each adapted to contain a media clip. Each slot may be designated with one or more categories indicative of the type of media clip that the slot may contain. Clip categories include advertising, informative, news, weather, and the like, indicative of the type of clip that a slot may be filled with. Playlists are assembled into schedules to be played over a period of time.

Clips and/or clip bundles may be added to a playlist. Playlists are created from master or template playlists. Master or template playlists are pre-defined playlists with empty or, in the case of template playlists, semi-filled, clip slots. Each slot of the master and template playlists is designated with one or more categories indicative of the type of clip that may be placed in the slot, and also with a layout and size. The master and template playlists are also stored in the second storage device A130.

The digital media management center B 140 organizes infrastructure items into networks, channels, locations, groups, and players. Fig. 3 illustrates the relationship between the above organisational constructs. A network Cl 10 groups one or more channels C120. A channel C120 in turn groups one or more locations C130. The locations C130 correspond to the digital signage locations BIlO. A location C130 may be in one or more groups C140. A group C140 groups one or more locations C130. Each location C130 has one or more players C150. The players C150 correspond to the digital players located at each digital signage location BIlO.

A channel C 120 may for example group together related locations such as pharmacies or eateries of the same franchise. The related channels may be grouped together as a network in accordance with, for example, proprietorship of the locations grouped by the channels. An example of a network group may be for example a group of different supermarket franchise chains that are all commonly owned by a single parent company.

A group C 140 may span across networks and channels and typically groups locations by one or more attributes of the location, such as for example a demographic. Scheduling is performed by the scheduling module A160. The scheduling module A160 allocates the media clips to playlists, using master or template playlists, and schedules the playlists for delivery to selected locations. The creation and scheduling of playlists utilizes "meta-data", comprising the attributes of a target group of locations and the client requirements given for their clips, to optimise the impact and effectiveness of the digital signage, and to avoid scheduling conflicts where two or more clips / playlists are allocated to play on the same player at the same time. Scheduling is performed by comparing the client requirements of a clip to the attributes of a target group of locations, and then allocating the clips to playlists of most relevance to the target group of locations given the client requirements. The created playlists are then assembled into schedules, which are then assigned to the target group of locations.

Client requirements typically include:

Contract Reference Reference to the contract between the broadcaster and the client

Content included Could be a clip, clip bundle or entire playlist

Contract Total OTS Number of OTS that the broadcaster has (Opportunities to see) undertaken to provide for the content.

Contract Period Start Broadcasting start Contract Period End Broadcasting end OTS Spread Type How the content is spread over the period; could be as evenly as possible or could be as soon as possible

Target Location Attribute Attribute(s) that the client intends to target (best fit) with the content and could include: Geographic limits (e.g. country, state, region, postcode(s)), Demographics, Market Segments, Times of day for display

Each media clip is associated with at least one set of client requirements. A schedule is assigned to a group of locations, and is typically created for a given network or channel. A schedule may be further defined by its relationship to geographic state or region.

All schedule information is communicated to the digital media delivery center B 130, such that the schedule will begin playing at the scheduled time and finish at the scheduled time. All necessary playlist information and required media is also sent to the digital media delivery center B130.

Figs. 4A and 4B collectively form a schematic block diagram of a general purpose computer system 400, upon one or more instances of which the digital media management center B 140, the digital media creation studio B120, the digital media delivery center B130, and the client devices associated with the signage locations BIlO described above may be implemented. In one implementation, the digital media management center B 140 the digital media delivery center B 130 are implemented on a single instance of the computer system 400, which may be referred to as a server, while each client device at the digital signage locations Bl 10 are implemented on separate instances of the computer system 400.

As seen in Fig. 4 A, the computer system 400 is formed by a computer module 401, input devices such as a keyboard 402, a mouse pointer device 403, a scanner 426, a camera 427, and a microphone 480, and output devices including a printer 415, a display device 414 and loudspeakers 417. An external Modulator-Demodulator (Modem) transceiver device 416 may be used by the computer module 401 for communicating to and from a communications network 420 via a connection 421.

The network 420 may be a wide-area network (WAN), such as the Internet or a private WAN. Where the connection 421 is a telephone line, the modem 416 may be a traditional "dial-up" modem. Alternatively, where the connection 421 is a high capacity (eg: cable) connection, the modem 416 may be a broadband modem. A wireless modem may also be used for wireless connection to the network 420.

The computer module 401 typically includes at least one processor unit 405, and a memory unit 406 for example formed from semiconductor random access memory (RAM) and semiconductor read only memory (ROM). The module 401 also includes an number of input/output (VO) interfaces including an audio-video interface 407 that couples to the video display 414, loudspeakers 417 and microphone 480, an I/O interface 413 for the keyboard 402, mouse 403, scanner 426, camera 427 and optionally a joystick (not illustrated), and an interface 408 for the external modem 416 and printer 415. In some implementations, the modem 416 may be incorporated within the computer module 401, for example within the interface 408. The computer module 401 also has a local network interface 411 which, via a connection 423, permits coupling of the computer system 400 to a local computer network 422, known as a Local Area Network (LAN). As also illustrated, the local network 422 may also couple to the wide network 420 via a connection 424, which would typically include a so-called "firewall" device or device of similar functionality. The interface 411 may be formed by an EthernetTM circuit card, a BluetoothTM wireless arrangement or an IEEE 802.11 wireless arrangement.

Either of the network 420 or the network 422 may be an implementation of the network B 150 over which the various components of the system BlOO are connected.

The interfaces 408 and 413 may afford either or both of serial and parallel connectivity, the former typically being implemented according to the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standards and having corresponding USB connectors (not illustrated). Storage devices 409 are provided and typically include a hard disk drive (HDD) 410. The stored devices AIlO, A130, A170, and Al 80 may each be implemented on the collective storage devices 409. Other storage devices such as a floppy disk drive and a magnetic tape drive (not illustrated) may also be used. An optical disk drive 412 is typically provided to act as a non- volatile source of data. Portable memory devices, such optical disks (eg: CD-ROM, DVD), USB-RAM, and floppy disks for example may then be used as appropriate sources of data to the system 400.

The components 405 to 413 of the computer module 401 typically communicate via an interconnected bus 404 and in a manner which results in a conventional mode of operation of the computer system 400 known to those in the relevant art. Examples of computers on which the described arrangements can be practised include IBM-PC's and compatibles, Sun Sparcstations, Apple MacTM or alike computer systems evolved therefrom.

The digital media management center B 140, the digital media creation studio B 120, and the digital media delivery center B130 described above may be implemented using the computer system 400, in that the processes of Figs. 5 to 7, to be described below, may be implemented as one or more software programs 433 executable within the computer system 400. In particular, the steps of the processes of Figs. 5 to 7 are effected by instructions 431 in the software 433 that are carried out within the computer system 400. The software instructions 431 may be formed as one or more code modules, for example the production module A120, the scheduling module

Al 60, and the broadcast module A140. The software 433 may also be divided into two separate parts, in which a first part and the corresponding code modules performs the processes of Figs. 5 to 7 and a second part and the corresponding code modules manage a user interface between the first part and the user.

The software 433 is generally loaded into the computer system 400 from a computer readable medium, and is then typically stored in the HDD 410, as illustrated in Fig. 4A, or the memory 406, after which the software 433 can be executed by the computer system 400. In some instances, the application programs 433 may be supplied to the user encoded on one or more CD- ROM 425 and read via the corresponding drive 412 prior to storage in the memory 410 or 406. Alternatively the software 433 may be read by the computer system 400 from the networks 420 or 422 or loaded into the computer system 400 from other computer readable media. Computer readable storage media refers to any storage medium that participates in providing instructions and/or data to the computer system 400 for execution and/or processing. Examples of such storage media include floppy disks, magnetic tape, CD-ROM, a hard disk drive, a ROM or integrated circuit, USB memory, a magneto-optical disk, or a computer readable card such as a PCMCIA card and the like, whether or not such devices are internal or external of the computer module 401. Examples of computer readable transmission media that may also participate in the provision of software, application programs, instructions and/or data to the computer module 401 include radio or infra-red transmission channels as well as a network connection to another computer or networked device, and the Internet or Intranets including e-mail transmissions and information recorded on Websites and the like.

The second part of the application programs 433 and the corresponding code modules mentioned above may be executed to implement one or more graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to be rendered or otherwise represented upon the display 414. Through manipulation of typically the keyboard 402 and the mouse 403, a user of the computer system 400 and the application may manipulate the interface in a functionally adaptable manner to provide controlling commands and/or input to the applications associated with the GUI(s). Other forms of functionally adaptable user interfaces may also be implemented, such as an audio interface utilizing speech prompts output via the loudspeakers 417 and user voice commands input via the microphone 480.

Fig. 4B is a detailed schematic block diagram of the processor 405 and a "memory" 434. The memory 434 represents a logical aggregation of all the memory devices (including the HDD 410 and semiconductor memory 406) that can be accessed by the computer module 401 in Fig. 4A.

When the computer module 401 is initially powered up, a power-on self-test (POST) program 450 executes. The POST program 450 is typically stored in a ROM 449 of the semiconductor memory 406. A program permanently stored in a hardware device such as the ROM 449 is sometimes referred to as firmware. The POST program 450 examines hardware within the computer module 401 to ensure proper functioning, and typically checks the processor 405, the memory (409, 406), and a basic input-output systems software (BIOS) module 451, also typically stored in the ROM 449, for correct operation. Once the POST program 450 has run successfully, the BIOS 451 activates the hard disk drive 410. Activation of the hard disk drive 410 causes a bootstrap loader program 452 that is resident on the hard disk drive 410 to execute via the processor 405. This loads an operating system 453 into the RAM memory 406 upon which the operating system 453 commences operation. The operating system 453 is a system level application, executable by the processor 405, to fulfil various high level functions, including processor management, memory management, device management, storage management, software application interface, and generic user interface.

The operating system 453 manages the memory (409, 406) in order to ensure that each process or application running on the computer module 401 has sufficient memory in which to execute without colliding with memory allocated to another process. Furthermore, the different types of memory available in the system 400 must be used properly so that each process can run effectively. Accordingly, the aggregated memory 434 is not intended to illustrate how particular segments of memory are allocated (unless otherwise stated), but rather to provide a general view of the memory accessible by the computer system 400 and how such is used.

The processor 405 includes a number of functional modules including a control unit 439, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) 440, and a local or internal memory 448, sometimes called a cache memory. The cache memory 448 typically includes a number of storage registers 444 - 446 in a register section. One or more internal buses 441 functionally interconnect these functional modules. The processor 405 typically also has one or more interfaces 442 for communicating with external devices via the system bus 404, using a connection 418.

The application program 433 includes a sequence of instructions 431 that may include conditional branch and loop instructions. The program 433 may also include data 432 which is used in execution of the program 433. The instructions 431 and the data 432 are stored in memory locations 428-430 and 435-437 respectively. Depending upon the relative size of the instructions 431 and the memory locations 428-430, a particular instruction may be stored in a single memory location as depicted by the instruction shown in the memory location 430. Alternately, an instruction may be segmented into a number of parts each of which is stored in a separate memory location, as depicted by the instruction segments shown in the memory locations 428-429. In general, the processor 405 is given a set of instructions which are executed therein. The processor 405 then waits for a subsequent input, to which it reacts to by executing another set of instructions. Each input may be provided from one or more of a number of sources, including data generated by one or more of the input devices 402, 403, data received from an external source across one of the networks 420, 422, data retrieved from one of the storage devices 406, 409 or data retrieved from a storage medium 425 inserted into the corresponding reader 412. The execution of a set of the instructions may in some cases result in output of data. Execution may also involve storing data or variables to the memory 434.

The code modules use input variables 454, that are stored in the memory 434 in corresponding memory locations 455-458. The code modules produce output variables 461, that are stored in the memory 434 in corresponding memory locations 462-465. Intermediate variables may be stored in memory locations 459, 460, 466 and 467.

The register section 444-446, the arithmetic logic unit (ALU) 440, and the control unit 439 of the processor 405 work together to perform sequences of micro-operations needed to perform "fetch, decode, and execute" cycles for every instruction in the instruction set making up the program 433. Each fetch, decode, and execute cycle comprises:

(a) a fetch operation, which fetches or reads an instruction 431 from a memory location

428;

(b) a decode operation in which the control unit 439 determines which instruction has been fetched; and

(c) an execute operation in which the control unit 439 and/or the ALU 440 execute the instruction.

Thereafter, a further fetch, decode, and execute cycle for the next instruction may be executed. Similarly, a store cycle may be performed by which the control unit 439 stores or writes a value to a memory location 432.

Each step or sub-process in the processes of Figs. 5 to 7 is associated with one or more segments of the software 433, and is performed by the register section 444-447, the ALU 440, and the control unit 439 in the processor 405 working together to perform the fetch, decode, and execute cycles for every instruction in the instruction set for the noted segments of the software 433. The digital media management center B 140, the digital media creation studio B 120, and the digital media delivery center B 130 may alternatively be implemented in dedicated hardware such as one or more integrated circuits performing the functions or sub functions of Figs. 5 to 7. Such dedicated hardware may include graphic processors, digital signal processors, or one or more microprocessors and associated memories.

Fig. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a scheduling process ElOO carried out by the scheduling module Al 60 to create a schedule for a target group of locations, hi the first step ElOl, the scheduling module 160 selects clips to be scheduled from the Produced Content Store A130. For example, all clips having a Contract Period Start and Contract Period End date encompassing the date at which the scheduling process ElOO is being carried out may be included in a list of clips selected for scheduling, i.e.

Clip in ClipList if

Clip.ContractPeriodEndDate > (today), and

Clip.ContractPeriodStartDate <= (today).

In the next step El 02, the scheduling module Al 60 determines the schedule period from the selected clips:

SchedulePeriodStartDate = (today)

SchedulePeriodEndDate = earliest Clip.ContractPeriodEndDate in ClipList

Step E 103 follows, at which the scheduling module Al 60 selects a master or template playlist from the second storage device Al 30. To do this, the scheduling module Al 60 traverses the second storage device Al 30 to extract all the master or template playlists meeting the following criterion for each content type:

Playlist.ContentTypeSlot.Count*SchedulePeriodLength(days)*Playlist.PlaysPerDay > ClipList.ContentType.Count

This condition, which assumes that the system BlOO assigns one playlist to each player in the target group for looped play over the schedule period, ensures the extracted master or template playlists have sufficient capacity to accommodate all content types of the selected clips over the schedule period. The extracted master or template playlists are then sorted in ascending order of their aggregate excess capacity, that is, the amount by which the number of content type slots of a particular content type exceeds the number of clips of that content type in the selected list, summed over all content types. The first master or template playlist in sorted order, being the master or template playlist with the smallest aggregate excess of slots, is selected by the scheduling module Al 60.

At the next step E104, the scheduling module A160 checks whether a master or template playlist with excess capacity was selected in step E103. If not ("N"), the scheduling module A160 at step El 05 sends a message to the user via the user interface to manually select a master or template playlist that does satisfy this criterion, or otherwise remedy the situation.

Following step E105, or if step E104 returns "Y", the scheduling module A160 at step E106 creates a playlist as an instance of the selected master or template playlist for each player in the target group, with empty slots where clips in the selected clip list are to be inserted.

At the next step El 07, the scheduling module Al 60 calculates an initial OTS value for the schedule period for each clip in the selected list as follows:

Clip.SchedulePeriodOTS = Clip.ContractTotalOTS

Clip.ContractPeriodLength(days)*Playlist.PlaysPerDay

The initial OTS value is the number of instances of the clip to be inserted in a playlist over the schedule period to ensure the clip remains on target to complete its contracted OTSs over the contract period.

The sub-process El 08 follows, in which the scheduling module Al 60 populates the playlists created in step El 06 by allocating clips from the selected list to empty slots in the playlists, as described in detail below with reference to Fig. 7. Following the sub-process E108, the scheduling module A 160 at step E 109 determines whether any clip in the selected list has a non- zero OTS value for the schedule period. If so ("Y"), playlist capacity has been exceeded, so at step El 10 the scheduling module Al 60 sends a message to the user via the user interface to select a different master or template playlist. The method ElOO then returns to step E 106.

If step E109 returns "N", at the final step El 11 the scheduling module A160 assembles the populated playlists into schedules by assigning timing information to the playlists specifying when the playlists are to be played by the digital players in the target location group. In the simplest case, the scheduling module Al 60 sets each playlist to play in a continuous loop over the schedule period. Alternatively, depending on the attributes of the corresponding player, the playlist may be set to loop only during predetermined intervals of each day in the schedule period. A calendar function may be used to assign timing information to playlists.

Optionally, after the method ElOO is complete, a user can manually adjust the created schedules.

Once the scheduling module Al 60 has completed the scheduling process ElOO, the created schedules are stored in the schedule store Al 70 ready for broadcasting by the broadcast module A140.

Fig. 7 is a flow chart illustrating the sub-process El 08 of allocating clips to playlist slots, as used in the process ElOO of Fig. 6. The sub-process E108 starts at step FlOl, in which the scheduling module Al 60 orders the selected clips by the target location attribute in the target requirements of each clip, and orders the created playlists by the corresponding attribute of the associated player. All attributes are mapped to numeric values to make this ordering possible. If the selected clips have more than one target location attribute, the ordering is multi-dimensional, in that each selected clip is assigned to a cell in a "clip array" indexed by ascending order of the numeric mapping of each target location attribute of the clip; and each playlist is likewise assigned to a cell in a "playlist array".

The next step F 102 determines whether there are untraversed clips in the selected list. If not ("N"), the sub-process E108 returns (step F103). Otherwise ("Y"), the scheduling module A160 gets the next untraversed clip (step Fl 04) in order, which becomes the current clip.

Step Fl 05 then determines whether there is a player that has not yet been traversed for the current clip. If not ("N"), the sub-process E108 returns to step F102. If so ("Y"), the scheduling module Al 60 at step F 106 finds the playlist corresponding to an untraversed player that is most similar in target attribute(s) to the current clip. This becomes the current playlist. Similarity is preferably measured by taking a "Euclidean distance" between the position of the current clip in the clip array and the position of each playlist in the playlist array. A smaller distance corresponds to greater similarity.

In step F107, the scheduling module A160 inserts an instance of the current clip into the first empty slot in the current playlist whose type matches the content type of the current clip. Next, at step F 108 the OTS value of the current clip for the schedule period is decremented by one. At step Fl 09, the scheduling module Al 60 determines whether the OTS value of the current clip for the schedule period is zero. If so ("Y"), the sub-process El 08 returns to step Fl 02. If not ("N"), the sub-process E108 returns to step F105.

After the end of the scheduling period, the broadcast module Al 40 preferably returns to the scheduling module Al 60 data representing the number of times the playlist was actually played. This may deviate from the originally scheduled number of playings because of various factors including player outage, mis-scheduling, or manual adjustment of the created schedules. The amount of deviation from the scheduled number of playings is preferably accounted for in subsequent scheduling periods, e.g. by adjusting the value of ClipTotalOTS for each clip before computing the schedule period OTS value for the next scheduling period, to ensure the number of playings of each clip after the end of the contract period is as close as possible to the contracted value.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an out-of-home digital media life cycle is managed in an integrated manner by the production module Al 20. A management process DlOO carried out by the production module A 120 according to the present disclosure is described with reference to Fig. 5.

At step DlOl, all digital assets are loaded to the first storage device Al 10.

At step D102, content producers, e.g. at digital media creation studio B120, combine, cut, edit, and produce the digital assets to form content. The processing at step D 102 typically combines and edits one or more of video, images, flash, and other digital content to form a media clip, and optionally combines media clips with other media clips to form a clip bundle.

At step D 103, the produced content is presented for review by the approver. The approver may be for example a client, an agency or a media buyer.

At step D 104, the produced content is reviewed by the approver. At step D 105 the approver approves or rejects the produced content. At step D 106 if rejected ("N" at step D 105), the content is revised and submitted for review again. At step D 107 if approved ("Y" at step D 105), produced content is made ready for scheduling and broadcast, and is stored in the second storage device Al 30. Exemplary Operation

The following description provides an exemplary scenario of a use of the digital media management system BlOO according to the present disclosure.

A brand known as PDM engages an advertising agency called RYPG to deliver an advertising campaign. As part of the overall campaign, digital signage is a required component. RYPG determines that for maximum effectiveness the advertising campaign should be targeted at 16-34 year olds in metropolitan areas. RYPG submits some digital assets for usage in the campaign.

A digital media creator uploads (as in step DlOl of the process DlOO) the digital assets to the digital media management system AlOO, and subsequently produces content (step D 102) and presents it to RYPG for approval (step Dl 03). RYPG may use a web interface to review the produced content (step D104). After several iterations of review and revision (step D106) of the content, RYPG approves the content (step D105). RYPG requires PDM to also approve the content, and PDM may also use the web interface to approve the content. Following approval by both RYPG and PDM, the content is stored (step D 107) ready for inclusion in the next available broadcast run. The approved clip is designated clip A.

The client requirements for clip A are provided to the scheduling module Al 60, and include in this case:

Contract Reference Product Launch 1

Content included Clip A

Contract Total OTS 10,000 (Opportunities to see)

Contract Period Start 5 Mar 2008

Contract Period End 15 Mar 2008

OTS Spread Type Upfront

Target Location Attributes 16-34 yr old (best fit) Metro (all networks) (all channels) Australia The scheduling module Al 60 is provided with the client requirements for clip A, and other clip requirements for scheduling. The clip is to be preferentially allocated by the scheduling module Al 60 to playlist(s) that will be broadcast at locations whose attributes match the client requirements for that clip, i.e. are located in metropolitan areas and with a predominant viewing demographic of 16 to 34 years of age.

Given these inputs, the scheduling module Al 60 can guarantee a total OTS of:

Total potential OTS = No of players (in group) x Number of loops during contract period (Open time during contract period / Length of loop).

Scheduling taking place on 5 March 2008 for the schedule period 5 March 2008 to 10 March 2008 includes Clip A. The OTS value for Clip A for the schedule period is initialised to 10,000 / (10 * 100) = 10 since the contract period is 10 days and the selected master template playlist is to be played 100 times a day.

The target location group includes three players: Player 1 has viewers aged 10-15 years, Player 2 has viewers aged 16-34 years, and Player 3 has viewers aged 49-64 years. Step FlOl orders the corresponding playlists in the playlist array as follows: Playlist 1, Playlist 2, Playlist 3. Step

F 106 therefore finds that Player 2 is most similar in attribute to Clip A (which is sorted to position 2 of the clip array), then Player 1, then Player 3. Clip A is therefore allocated in successive iterations of step F 107 to Playlist 2 followed by Playlist 1 followed by Playlist 3. Since the initial OTS value for Clip A was 10, Clip A will appear in Playlist 2 four times, and in

Playlist 1 and Playlist 3 three times. Since the schedule period is 5 days, Clip A is scheduled to be played 5000 times on the three players over the schedule period.

If due to an outage of Player 1, Clip A was in fact only played 4000 times over the schedule period, the next scheduling process on 10 March 2008 for the period until 15 March 2008 preferably takes place with an adjusted value of 12,000 for Contract Total OTS. This will ensure Clip A is scheduled to be played 6000 times over the schedule period of 10 March 2008 to 15 March 2008, and thus 10,000 times overall, as contracted.

The foregoing describes only some embodiments of the present invention, and modifications and/or changes can be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, the embodiments being illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims

Claims:

1. A digital media management system comprising: one or more client devices, each controlling at least one digital player adapted to play digital media clips, and a server connected to the client devices by a network, the server comprising: a digital media management center adapted to allocate media clips to playlists and assemble the playlists into schedules for delivery to the one or more client devices, and a digital media delivery center adapted to deliver the media clips according to the schedules to the one or more client devices to be played at the associated digital players, wherein the allocation takes into account attributes of the digital players and requirements associated with each media clip.

2. The digital media management system according to claim 1, wherein the digital media management center is adapted to assemble the playlists into schedules by assigning timing information specifying when the playlists are to be played by the digital players.

3. The digital media management system according to claim 1, wherein the requirements associated with each media clip includes attributes of digital players on which the media clip is intended to be played.

4. The digital media management system according to claim 1, wherein the allocation of media clips to playlists comprises: determining a schedule period using requirements associated with each media clip; creating a playlist for each digital player in the target group, each playlist having one or more slots, each slot having one of a plurality of content types; allocating the clips to the slots in the created playlists such that: each slot contains a clip whose content type matches the content type of the slot; and a target attribute associated with each clip matches an attribute of the player associated with the playlist; and assigning timing information specifying when the created playlists are to be played on the associated digital player within the schedule period, thereby creating the schedules.

5. A method of creating schedules for the playing of media clips on a target group of one or more digital players, the method comprising: determining a schedule period using requirements associated with each media clip; creating a playlist for each digital player in the target group, each playlist having one or more slots, each slot having one of a plurality of content types; allocating the clips to the slots in the created playlists such that: each slot contains a clip whose content type matches the content type of the slot; and a target attribute associated with each clip matches an attribute of the player associated with the playlist; and assigning timing information specifying when the created playlists are to be played on the associated digital player within the schedule period, thereby creating the schedules.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising: calculating a number of instances for each clip based on the requirements associated with each clip; determining whether the number of instances of a clip in the created playlists is less than the calculated number of instances for the clip; repeating the creating and allocating based on the determination.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein each playlist is created as an instance of a master or template playlist.

8. The method according to claim 5, further comprising selecting the master or template playlist from a plurality of master or template playlists as the master or template playlist with the smallest aggregate excess of slots of each content type over the number of clips of the corresponding content type.

9. The method according to claim 5, wherein the allocating comprises inserting an instance of each clip into a first empty slot in the next playlist whose type matches the content type of the clip, wherein the playlists are traversed in order of similarity between the attribute of the associated player and the target attribute of the clip.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the similarity is determined using the Euclidean distance between the position of the clip in a clip array ordered by a numeric mapping of the target attribute of the clip and the position of the playlist in a playlist array ordered by a numeric mapping of the attribute of the associated player.

11. A digital media management device comprising: a digital media management center adapted to allocate media clips to playlists and assemble the playlists into schedules for delivery to one or more client devices, and a digital media delivery center adapted to deliver the media clips according to the schedules to the one or more client devices to be played at associated digital players, wherein the allocation takes into account attributes of the digital players and requirements associated with each media clip.

12. The digital media management device according to claim 11, wherein the allocation of media clips to playlists comprises: determining a schedule period using requirements associated with each media clip; creating a playlist for each digital player in the target group, each playlist having one or more slots, each slot having one of a plurality of content types; allocating the clips to the slots in the created playlists such that: each slot contains a clip whose content type matches the content type of the slot; and a target attribute associated with each clip matches an attribute of the player associated with the playlist; and assigning timing information specifying when the created playlists are to be played on the associated digital player within the schedule period, thereby creating the schedules.

13. A computer readable medium having a program encoded thereon, wherein the program is configured to make a computer execute a method of creating schedules for the playing of media clips on a target group of one or more digital players, the program comprising: code for determining a schedule period using requirements associated with each media clip; code for creating a playlist for each digital player in the target group, each playlist having one or more slots, each slot having one of a plurality of content types; code for allocating the clips to the slots in the created playlists such that: each slot contains a clip whose content type matches the content type of the slot; and a target attribute associated with each clip matches an attribute of the player associated with the playlist; and code for assigning timing information specifying when the created playlists are to be played on the associated digital player within the schedule period, thereby creating the schedules.