JP2003223391A - Stream providing method and device, stream providing program, and recording medium having its program recorded thereon - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To switch a stream to be viewed by a user by reducing the interruption of the stream without making it necessary to always simultaneously receive the switching origin stream and the switching destination stream when the stream to be viewed by the user is switched in response to a request from the user in the configuration of live stream distribution. <P>SOLUTION: When a stream switching request is issued from a user while receiving a stream and providing it to a user, the simultaneous reception of the switching origin stream and the switching destination stream is started. Then, it is judged whether a time making it possible to provide the stream to a user without interrupting the stream at the time of switching to the switching destination stream has passed since the reception is started, and when the lapse of the time is judged, the reception of the switching origin stream is stopped, and the stream to be provided to the user is switched from the switching origin to the switching destination at the same time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a stream providing method and its apparatus used in a server / client type live stream distribution system via a network, a stream providing program used to realize the stream providing method, and its program. With respect to a recording medium in which is recorded, particularly, when switching streams in response to a request from an end user, it is possible to switch without interrupting the streams of the switching source and the switching destination without always receiving them at the same time. The present invention relates to a stream providing method and an apparatus thereof, a stream providing program used to realize the stream providing method, and a recording medium recording the program.

When receiving a live stream transmitted from a stream distribution server and allowing an end user to view the stream, a stream receiving client switches between a plurality of scene streams and replay streams in response to a request from the end user. It happens that the end user watches. In such a case, it is necessary to allow the end user to watch the stream without causing a break in the stream.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional technique will be described using the live stream distribution system shown in FIG.

In the figure, 1 is an end user terminal, 101 is a stream receiving client constituted by software operating on the end user terminal 1, 2 is a network controlled by the Internet protocol (hereinafter abbreviated as IP network), 3 Is a stream distribution management server, and 4-i (i = 1 to m) is a m stream distribution server.

As shown in this figure, the stream receiving client 101, the stream delivery management server 3, and each stream delivery server 4-i are connected to the IP network 2.

In the conventional live stream distribution system configured as described above, the stream receiving client 1
When 01 sends a stream delivery request to the stream delivery management server 3 using a known protocol, the stream delivery management server 3 sets the IP address of the stream delivery server 4-a corresponding to the stream to the stream receiving client 101. To the stream receiving client 101, and the stream receiving client 101 receives the IP
Connect to the stream distribution server 4-a pointed to by the address,
The live stream provided by the stream distribution server 4-a is received.

At this time, the stream receiving client 1
When the end user using 01 wants to change the scene of the live stream currently being viewed to another scene, the stream receiving client 101 causes the stream receiving client 101 to respond to the request from the end user. A scene switching request will be sent to.

In response to this scene switching request, the stream distribution management server 3 notifies the stream receiving client 101 of the IP address of the stream distribution server 4-b (b ≠ a) corresponding to the scene to be switched to. By the notification, the stream reception client 101 is allowed to
By connecting to the stream distribution server 4-b indicated by the P address and receiving the live stream provided by the stream distribution server 4-b, the stream corresponding to the scene of the switching destination is received.

As described above, in the conventional live stream distribution system, the stream viewed by the end user is switched in response to the scene switching request from the end user.

[0010]

Although such a live stream distribution system is known as a server / client type live stream distribution system,
In the conventional live stream distribution system, when the stream reception client 101 switches a stream to be viewed by the end user in response to a stream (scene) switching request from the end user, the stream reception client 101 switches the stream to be watched by the end user without interruption. I do not have.

According to the prior art, when a stream is switched, the stream viewed by the end user is interrupted for at least a few seconds until the stream receiving client 101 completes buffering of the stream at the switching destination. There is.

Further, the stream receiving client 101
As another method of switching the stream to be viewed by the end user in response to the stream (scene) switching request, all the plurality of streams to be switched are always received from the start to the end of the viewing of the multi-stream content. There is also a method of switching.

According to this method, although the stream viewed by the end user is not interrupted, the reception band required for viewing the multi-stream content becomes more than double the band of the stream actually viewed by the end user. There are drawbacks.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and when adopting a configuration of server / client type live stream distribution via a network, a stream to be viewed by an end user in response to a request from the end user. It is an object of a new stream providing technique that enables switching between streams that are being watched by an end user without interruption even if the source and destination streams are not always received at the same time. .

[0015]

In order to achieve this object, the stream providing apparatus of the present invention has a structure in which a stream delivered from a stream delivery server is received and provided to a user. , (A) when the user issues a stream switching request, in addition to receiving the switching source stream, starting means for starting reception of the switching destination stream; and (b) starting the starting means,
When switching to the stream of the switching destination, the determination means for determining whether or not the time that can be provided to the user without interruption of the stream has elapsed, and (c) when the determination means determines the elapsed time, It is configured to include switching means for switching the stream provided to the user from the switching source to the switching destination.

When this configuration is adopted, (i) a means for stopping the reception of the switching source stream is provided when the judging means judges the passage of time, or (ii) the time for the judging means to judge. Until the time elapses, a means for determining whether or not the state in which the stream can be provided to the user has been reached by using the buffer accumulation of the switching source stream, and the switching source when the arrival is determined And means for stopping reception of the stream.

In the stream providing apparatus of the present invention configured as above, when the stream distributed from the stream distribution server is received and provided to the user,
When the user issues a stream switching request, simultaneous reception of the switching source stream and the switching destination stream is started.

Then, by monitoring whether or not the buffering of the stream of the switching destination started in response to the reception start is completed, the stream is switched when the stream of the switching destination is switched from the reception start. Judging whether or not the time that can be provided to the user without interruption has passed, and if the time has passed, the reception of the source stream is stopped and the stream reception is stopped. Then, the stream provided to the user is switched from the switching source to the switching destination.

At this time, when the state in which the stream can be provided to the user by using the buffer accumulation of the switching source stream is reached until the above time elapses, before the time elapses. However, since the reception of the switching source stream can be stopped, the processing of stopping the switching source stream may be performed when it is determined that such a state has been reached.

As described above, according to the present invention, when an end user uses a server / client type live stream distribution system via a network, a stream to be viewed by the end user is requested in accordance with a request from the end user. At the time of switching, even if the switching source stream and the switching destination stream are not always received at the same time, the stream being viewed by the end user can be switched without interruption.

[0021]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail according to embodiments.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a server / client type live stream distribution system including the present invention. Here, in the figure, the same components as those described in FIG. 8 are denoted by the same symbols.

When the present invention is implemented, the stream reception client 101 is provided with the reception stream switching control means 111, as shown in this figure.

This received stream switching control means 111
When the stream receiving client 101 switches a stream in response to a request from the end user, it simultaneously receives the switching source and switching destination streams only at the time of switching, thereby suppressing interruption of the stream being viewed by the end user. Process so that it can be switched.

Here, the stream reception client 101 prepared to realize the present invention can be realized by a computer program, and this computer program is provided by being recorded in an appropriate recording medium such as a semiconductor memory. can do.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a processing flow executed by the stream reception client 101 including the reception stream switching control means 111 for performing this switching processing.

Next, according to this processing flow, the basic processing of stream switching executed by the stream reception client 101 having the reception stream switching control means 111 will be described.

When the stream receiving client 101 receives a stream (scene) switching request from an end user while receiving a live stream of a scene, as shown in the processing flow of FIG. 2, first, in step 1, A stream distribution request, which is a scene switching request, is transmitted to the stream distribution management server 3.

In response to the transmission of the stream distribution request, the stream distribution management server 3 identifies the IP address of the stream distribution server 4-x corresponding to the scene of the switching destination and sends it back to the stream receiving client 101. Come on.

From now on, the stream receiving client 1
01, subsequently, in step 2, waits for the IP address to be returned from the stream distribution management server 3,
When the IP address is returned, the process proceeds to step 3 and the stream distribution server 4-x indicated by the IP address is sent.
To start receiving the switching destination live stream provided by the stream distribution server 4-x.

At this time, the stream reception client 1
01 uses the function of the reception stream switching control means 111 to simultaneously receive the switching source and switching destination streams. At this point, the end user is still allowed to view the switching source stream. Is being processed.

Then, in step 4, when switching to the stream of the switching destination, it is judged whether or not the time has reached the time when the stream can be viewed by the end user without interruption, and When it is determined that the stream switching timing has been reached, the process proceeds to step 5 to stop receiving the switching source stream,
In the following step 6, the stream displayed on the display screen is switched from the switching source to the switching destination, and the processing at the time of issuing the scene switching request ends.

As described above, the stream reception client 101 having the present invention is provided with the reception stream switching control means 111, so that when the stream is switched in response to the request from the end user, the switching source and switching destination streams are switched. By receiving at the same time only at the time of switching, the processing is performed so that the stream being viewed by the end user can be switched without interruption.

FIG. 3 shows the stream receiving client 10.
1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a detailed configuration of a reception stream switching control unit 111 included in the first embodiment.

In the figure, 201 is a stream screen display section, 2
Reference numeral 02 is an end user command input unit, 203 is a reception stream switching control unit, 204 and 205 are stream reception control units, 206 and 207 are stream reception buffer management units, and 208 and 209 are transmission / reception interface units.

These reception stream switching control units 20
3, the stream reception control units 204 and 205, the stream reception buffer management units 206 and 207, and the transmission / reception interface units 208 and 209 are included in the reception stream switching control unit 111.

Here, the stream reception control units 204, 2
05 and stream reception buffer management units 206 and 207
The transmission / reception interface units 208 and 209 are respectively provided in order to enable simultaneous reception of the switching source stream and the switching destination stream.

Next, the operation of the stream reception client 101 provided with the reception stream switching control means 111 configured as described above will be described.

At the start of stream reception at the switching source, the stream reception control unit 205 transmits a stream reception request to the stream distribution management server 3 via the transmission / reception interface unit 209, and the stream distribution server 4 that distributes the stream at the switching source. -The notification of the IP address of "a" is received, and the stream reception control unit 2 receives the notification.
05 is the stream distribution server 4 pointed to by the IP address
It starts by connecting to -a and receiving the stream from the stream distribution server 4-a via the transmission / reception interface unit 209.

When the end user inputs a stream (scene) switching command via the end user command input unit 202 while the stream is being viewed, the stream reception control unit 204 causes the stream delivery management server 3 via the transmission / reception interface unit 208. By transmitting the stream reception request, the notification of the IP address of the stream distribution server 4-b that distributes the stream of the switching destination is received.

In response to this notification, the stream reception control unit 204 transmits a connection request to the stream distribution server 4-b indicated by the IP address via the transmission / reception interface unit 208, so that the transmission / reception interface unit 2
08, the reception of the switching destination stream from the stream distribution server 4-b is started.

Thus, double reception of the switching source stream and the switching destination stream is started.

After starting the double reception, the reception stream switching control unit 203 allows the end user to view the switching source stream, and buffers the switching destination stream via the stream reception buffer management unit 206. Monitor whether or not is completed.

Then, the reception stream switching control unit 203
When confirms that the buffering of the switching destination stream is completed, the stream reception control unit 205 ends the double reception by ending the reception of the switching source stream, and in response to this, the reception stream switching is performed. Control unit 203
Changes the stream to be viewed by the end user to that of the switching destination.

In this way, when the receiving stream switching control means 111 shown in FIG. 3 is provided, when the stream receiving client 101 receives a stream (scene) switching request from the end user, as shown in the processing flow of FIG. First, in step 1, a stream distribution request, which is a scene switching request, is transmitted to the stream distribution management server 3, and in subsequent step 2, in response to this transmission, the stream distribution management server 3 sends an IP address. When the IP address is returned, the process proceeds to step 3 to connect to the stream distribution server 4-b pointed to by the IP address and the stream distribution server 4-b provides it. Simultaneous reception of switching source and switching destination streams by starting reception of the switching destination live stream To start.

Subsequently, in step 4, it is judged whether or not the buffering of the switching destination stream is completed, and when it is judged that the buffering is completed, the process proceeds to step 5 to receive the switching source stream. In step S6, the stream displayed on the display screen is switched from the switching source to the switching destination, and the process at the time of issuing the scene switching request ends.

In this way, according to the processing executed by the stream reception client 101 having the present invention,
When switching between multiple scene streams or replay streams to be viewed by the end user in response to the end user's request, the end user can view the stream even if the source and destination streams are not always received at the same time. It is possible to switch the stream while suppressing interruptions.

5 and 6 show another embodiment of the processing flow executed by the stream reception client 101.

When the processing flow of FIG. 5 is followed, the stream reception client 101 receives the stream (scene) switching request from the end user, and performs the same processing as steps 1 to 3 of the processing flow of FIG. By executing the processes of 1 to step 3, simultaneous reception of the switching source and switching destination streams is started.

Then, in step 4, it is judged whether the check cycle defined by the specified cycle has been reached, and when it is judged that the specified check cycle has been reached,
In step 5, the buffer amounts of the switching source and switching destination streams that are being received are acquired.

Regarding the acquisition of this buffer amount,
The reception stream switching control unit 203 is executed via the stream reception buffer management units 206 and 207.

Then, in step 6, according to the acquired buffer amount, the time T ₀ during which display can be continued with the buffer amount of the switching source stream is calculated, and the estimated remaining time value T ₁ until the completion of buffering of the switching destination stream is calculated. To calculate.

[0053] Subsequently, in step 7, compares this calculated time T ₀ and time T _1, when it is determined that not reached the state of "T _0> T _1" is "T _0> T
Return to step 4 to wait until the state " ₁ " is reached.

On the other hand, when it is judged that the state of "T ₀ > T ₁ " has been reached, the process proceeds to step 8 to stop the reception of the switching source stream. At this time, the switching source stream accumulated in the buffer is displayed on the display screen as it is, and the display of the switching source stream on the display screen is continued.

Subsequently, in step 9, after waiting for the buffering of the switching destination stream to be completed and determining that the buffering of the switching destination stream is completed, step 1
In step 0, the stream displayed on the display screen is switched from the switching source to the switching destination, and the processing at the time of issuing the scene switching request ends.

In this way, in the case of following the processing flows of FIGS. 5 and 6, the stream receiving client 101
Can stop the reception of the switching source stream that is being simultaneously received before the completion of the buffering of the switching destination stream.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the user interface of the stream reception client 101 that performs such stream switching processing.

In the figure, 301 is a window of the stream receiving client 101, 311 is a stream display screen,
Reference numeral 312 represents a stream (scene) switching command input button.

The end user is the stream reception client 101 having the above-mentioned reception stream switching control function.
By clicking the stream (scene) switching command input button 312 while receiving a stream on the window 301, the user can freely and seamlessly switch between a plurality of scene streams and replay streams. Is possible.

[0060]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When an end user uses a server / client type live stream distribution system via a network, when switching the stream to be viewed by the end user in response to the end user's request, the source and destination streams are always switched at the same time. It becomes possible to provide an interactive live stream distribution service that enables end users to switch streams without interruption even if they have not received the stream.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an example of an embodiment of a live stream distribution system including the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary embodiment of a processing flow executed by a stream reception client.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary embodiment of a detailed configuration of a reception stream switching control unit.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary embodiment of a processing flow executed by a stream reception client.

FIG. 5 is another embodiment of the processing flow executed by the stream reception client.

FIG. 6 is another embodiment example of the processing flow executed by the stream reception client.

FIG. 7 is an example of a user interface of a stream reception client.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a live stream distribution system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 End user terminal 2 IP network 3 Stream delivery management server 4 Stream distribution server 101 Stream reception client 111 Received stream switching control means 201 Stream screen display 202 End user command input section 203 Receive Stream Switching Control Unit 204 Stream reception control unit 205 Stream reception control unit 206 Stream reception buffer management unit 207 Stream reception buffer management unit 208 Transmission / reception interface unit 209 Transmission / reception interface section

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yasuhiko Yoshimura             2-3-1, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo             Inside Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Takanori Iwai             2-3-1, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo             Inside Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Hidetoshi Mori             2-3-1, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo             Inside Telegraph and Telephone Corporation F-term (reference) 5C064 BA07 BC11 BD02 BD08 BD14                 5K030 HB01 HB02 HB19 KA01 KA02

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A stream providing method used in a device for receiving a live stream delivered from a stream delivery server and providing the user with the stream, when the user issues a stream switching request,
In addition to the reception of the switching source stream, the process of starting the reception of the switching destination stream, and the time that can be provided to the user without interruption when switching to the switching destination stream from the above start A stream providing method characterized by comprising a step of determining whether or not a time has elapsed, and a step of switching a stream to be provided to a user from a switching source stream to a switching destination stream when determining the above time passage. . 2. The stream providing method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of stopping reception of a switching source stream when determining the passage of time. 3. The stream providing method according to claim 1, wherein, until the time elapses, has reached a state in which it is possible to provide a stream to a user by using buffer accumulation of a switching source stream? A stream providing method, comprising: a step of determining whether or not to arrive, and a step of stopping reception of a switching source stream when determining the arrival. 4. The stream providing method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein in the process of determining the elapse of time, it is possible to monitor whether or not buffering of the switching destination stream is completed. A method for providing a stream, characterized in that the above-mentioned elapsed time is judged. 5. A stream providing device for receiving a live stream distributed from a stream distribution server and providing the user with the stream, when the user issues a stream switching request,
In addition to receiving the switching source stream, means for starting the reception of the switching destination stream, and the time that can be provided to the user without interruption when switching from the start to the switching destination stream A stream providing apparatus comprising: a unit for determining whether or not a time has elapsed, and a unit for switching a stream to be provided to a user from a switching source to a switching destination when determining the above time elapse. . 6. The stream providing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising means for stopping reception of the switching source stream when the time elapse is determined. 7. The stream providing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein, until the time elapses, has reached a state in which it is possible to provide a stream to the user by using buffer accumulation of the switching source stream? A stream providing apparatus, characterized by comprising: a means for determining whether or not the stream has arrived, and a means for stopping the reception of the switching source stream when determining the arrival. 8. A stream providing program for causing a computer to execute the process used to implement the stream providing method according to claim 1. Description: 9. A recording medium of a stream providing program, which records a program for causing a computer to execute the process used to implement the stream providing method according to claim 1. Description: