JP2008294648A - Information distributing system, terminal apparatus to be used for the same, program, and information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information distributing system capable of preventing the change of an operation state in a terminal apparatus from giving influence to another terminal apparatus by limiting the distribution of content information when the operation state is changed in the terminal apparatus for holding the content information. <P>SOLUTION: The information distributing system S is formed by the participation of the plurality of terminal apparatuses 1 which are connected via a network, thereby exchanging the content information among the terminal apparatuses 1. The terminal apparatus 1m detects temperature in the apparatus 1m, and determines whether the temperature exceeds prescribed reference temperature or not. When the temperature in the apparatus does not exceed the prescribed reference temperature, the content information is transmitted to the terminal apparatus 1n being a content information request source. When the temperature of the apparatus exceeds the prescribed reference temperature, the content information is not transmitted to the terminal apparatus 1n. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information distribution system, a terminal device and a program used in the system, and an information processing method, and in particular, formed by participation of a plurality of terminal devices connected to each other via a network. The present invention relates to an information distribution system that transmits and receives content information between terminals, a terminal device and program used in the system, and an information processing method.

  In recent years, with the spread of broadband, information distribution services that distribute content information such as music data and movie data have become popular. For example, a service that distributes content information in response to a user request, such as VOD (video on demand), is known.

  In this type of information distribution service, a distribution form based on a server client system has been mainstream. Recently, a P2P (peer-to-peer) type distribution form that transmits and receives content information between terminal devices is a new distribution form that replaces this form. Attention has been paid.

  This P2P type information distribution system is formed by participation of a plurality of terminal devices (node devices) connected to each other via a network, and content information to be acquired by a user of a certain terminal device is stored as one of the contents. It is acquired from another terminal device that holds a part or all.

For example, in the information distribution system described in Patent Document 1, each terminal device does not recognize the location information (such as IP addresses) of all the terminal devices participating in the information distribution system. Only the location information of a part of terminal devices obtained in the above is held, and based on the location information, the content information is searched and the content information is transmitted and received between the terminal devices.
JP 2006-197400 A

  By the way, in a P2P type information distribution system, a terminal device holding content information (hereinafter referred to as “content holding terminal device”) is another terminal device (hereinafter referred to as “request”) that acquires content information. The content information is distributed in response to the acquisition request from the terminal device.) The predetermined number is determined in consideration of the CPU performance and the communication band (for example, line type) in the content holding terminal device. It is often set in advance so as not to accept more acquisition requests simultaneously.

  However, if there is a change in the operating state in the content holding terminal device, it may not be possible to sufficiently respond to a predetermined number of acquisition requests set in advance. For example, in the content holding terminal device, the failure of the internal fan has occurred, or the system resources have become insufficient due to information processing other than the distribution of content information. In particular, it may be difficult to acquire content information in the request terminal device. For example, when content information of moving image data is transmitted from a content holding terminal device in a streaming format, a moving image may be disturbed such that a moving image is intermittently played by a request terminal device. Also, when the download format is distributed, the download time becomes long, and there is a possibility that a situation that cannot be put into practical use may occur.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and its purpose is to limit the distribution of content information when there is a change in the operating state in the terminal device that holds the content information. Therefore, it is intended to provide an information distribution system, a terminal device and a program used in the system, and an information processing method that can prevent the change in the operation state in the terminal device from affecting other terminal devices.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention according to claim 1 is an information distribution system formed by participation of a plurality of terminal devices connected to each other via a network and transmitting and receiving content information between the terminal devices. In the terminal device, a temperature detection unit for detecting the temperature in the device itself, a content information storage unit for storing the content information, and a transmission request for content information stored in the content information storage unit from another terminal device are received. Then, the temperature determination means for determining whether or not the temperature in the own device detected by the temperature detection means exceeds a predetermined reference temperature, and when the temperature in the own device does not exceed the predetermined reference temperature, The content information is extracted from the content information storage means, and the content information is transmitted to the other terminal device. When the temperature exceeds a predetermined reference temperature, characterized in that a content transmission unit does not transmit the content information to the other terminal devices.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the terminal device in the information distribution system formed by participation of a plurality of terminal devices connected to each other via a network and transmitting / receiving content information between the terminal devices, Temperature detection means for detecting the temperature in the apparatus, content information storage means for storing the content information, and temperature information notification means for notifying information on the temperature in the own apparatus in response to a request from the other terminal apparatus A content information transmitting means for transmitting the content information stored in the content information storage means to the other terminal apparatus in response to a request from the other terminal apparatus, and a plurality of other information holding desired content information. Request each terminal device to transmit temperature information in the other terminal device, and acquire temperature information in each of the other terminal devices. Of the plurality of other terminal devices that have transmitted the temperature information, request the desired content information based on the acquired temperature information in the other terminal devices. Content requesting means for determining a terminal device and requesting the desired content information from the determined terminal device is provided.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 2, wherein the content requesting means has the lowest temperature in the device among the plurality of other terminal devices that have transmitted the temperature information. The terminal device is determined as a terminal device that requests the desired content information.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the temperature information acquisition unit is configured to simultaneously apply the other information to each of a plurality of other terminal devices that hold the desired content information. Requesting transmission of temperature information in the terminal device, the content requesting means, among a plurality of other terminal devices that transmitted the temperature information, the temperature in the device does not exceed a predetermined reference temperature, and The terminal device that has transmitted the temperature information earliest is determined as the terminal device that requests the desired content information.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the temperature in the device detected by the temperature detecting means is a value of a CPU or a hard disk constituting the device. It is the surface temperature or the ambient temperature in the device itself.

  The invention according to claim 6 is an information processing program that causes a computer to function as the terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

  The invention according to claim 7 is an information distribution system formed by participation of a plurality of terminal devices connected to each other via a network, and transmitting and receiving content information between the terminal devices. Temperature information notifying device for detecting temperature in the device itself, content information storage device for storing the content information, and temperature information notification for notifying temperature information in the device itself in response to a request from the other terminal device Means, content information transmitting means for transmitting the content information stored in the content information storage means to the other terminal device in response to a request from the other terminal device, and a plurality of contents information holding desired content information Each of the other terminal devices is requested to transmit temperature information in the other terminal device, and the temperature information for acquiring the temperature information in each of the other terminal devices is acquired. A terminal that requests the desired content information based on the acquired temperature information in the plurality of other terminal devices among the plurality of other terminal devices that have transmitted the temperature information. Content requesting means for determining a device and requesting the desired content information from the determined terminal device is provided.

  According to an eighth aspect of the invention, in the seventh aspect of the invention, the desired content information is transmitted to the network in response to a request from a terminal device that cannot obtain the desired content information from another terminal device. A content supply device that transmits the request to the terminal device that has made the request, wherein the content requesting means of the terminal device has a predetermined reference for all the temperatures in the plurality of other terminal devices that transmitted the temperature information. When the temperature is higher, the content supply device is requested for information on the content.

  The invention described in claim 9 is the content input for inputting content information to be transmitted / received between the terminal devices to the terminal device participating in the information distribution system in the invention according to claim 7 or claim 8. A temperature information acquisition unit that requests transmission of temperature information in these devices to two or more terminal devices, and acquires the temperature information in the terminal devices; Of the terminal devices that have requested the temperature information, the terminal device to which the content information is to be input is determined based on the temperature information in the devices of these terminal devices, and the content information is input to the determined terminal device. Content input means, and the terminal device stores content information input from the content input device in the content information storage means. To.

  The invention according to claim 10 is the information processing of the terminal device in an information distribution system formed by participation of a plurality of terminal devices connected to each other via a network and transmitting / receiving content information between the terminal devices. In the method, a step of detecting a temperature in the own device, a step of storing the content information in a content information storage means, and a notification of the temperature in the own device in response to a request from another terminal device A step of transmitting the content information stored in the content information storage means to the other terminal device in response to a request from the other terminal device, and a plurality of other terminals holding desired content information. Each device is requested to transmit temperature information in the other terminal device, and temperature information in each of the other terminal devices is acquired. A terminal device that requests the desired content information based on the acquired temperature information in the plurality of other terminal devices among the plurality of other terminal devices that have transmitted the temperature information. And determining and requesting the desired content information to the determined terminal device.

  According to the present invention, when there is a change in the operation state in the terminal device that holds the content information, the change in the operation state in the terminal device is transferred to other terminal devices by restricting the distribution of the content information. It is possible to suppress the influence.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of an information distribution system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The information distribution system in the present embodiment is an information distribution system formed by participation of a plurality of terminal devices connected to each other via a network, and transmits and receives content information between terminal devices.

[1. First Embodiment]
[1.1. Configuration of information distribution system S]
First, an overview of the information distribution system S according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a connection mode of a terminal device, a content input device, and a content supply device in the information distribution system S according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an ID space.

  As shown in the lower frame 101 of FIG. 1, IX (Internet eXchange) 3, ISP (Internet Service Provider) 4, DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) line operator (device) 5, FTTH (Fiber To The Home) line A network (real-world network) 8 such as the Internet is constructed by an operator (device) 6 and a communication line (for example, a telephone line or an optical cable) 7.

  As shown in the upper frame 100 of FIG. 1, the information distribution system S includes a plurality of terminal devices 1a, 1b, 1c... 1x, 1y, 1z. Configured as a peer-to-peer (P2P) network system. Each terminal device 1a, 1b, 1c... 1x, 1y, 1z... Is assigned a unique manufacturing number (for example, a MAC address) and an IP (Internet Protocol) address as information indicating the terminal device. . The serial number and IP address are not duplicated among a plurality of terminal devices. In the following description, when any one terminal device or all terminal devices among the terminal devices 1a, 1b, 1c... 1x, 1y, 1z. There is.

  In the information distribution system S of the present embodiment, an overlay network 9 as shown in the upper frame 100 of FIG. 1 is constructed by an algorithm using a distributed hash table (hereinafter referred to as “DHT”). That is, this overlay network 9 means a network that forms a virtual link formed using the existing network 8, and the terminal device 1 arranged on the overlay network 9 is connected to the information distribution system S. The terminal device is participating (in other words, participating in the overlay network 9).

  As a terminal ID that is an identification number of each terminal device 1 participating in the information distribution system S, a unique number (unique number) is assigned to each terminal device 1. In the present embodiment, a hash value obtained by hashing a unique value for each terminal device 1 such as the IP address or serial number of each terminal device 1 using a common hash function (hash algorithm) is used for each terminal device 1. The terminal ID is used. Thus, the terminal ID obtained by hashing with a common hash function has a very low probability of having the same value if the IP address or the manufacturing number is different. Since the hash function is publicly known, detailed description thereof is omitted. In the following description, a value obtained by hashing an IP address (global IP address) with a common hash function is used as a terminal ID.

  In addition, content information (for example, music data, movie data, documents, etc.) shared information distributed from one terminal device 1 to another terminal device 1 is provided to a plurality of terminal devices 1 participating in the information distribution system S. Data such as data) is stored in a distributed manner, and a unique identification number (hereinafter referred to as “content ID”) for each piece of content information is also assigned to the content information. The content ID has the same length as the terminal ID (for example, 32 bits), and the name of the content information (for example, the data file name) is hashed by a hash function common to the terminal ID. And placed in the same ID space as the hash value of the IP address of the terminal device 1.

  As described above, since the terminal ID and the content ID assigned to each terminal device 1 and each content information are generated by a common hash function, as shown in FIG. 2, the terminal ID and the content ID are slightly biased on the same ring-shaped ID space. It can be thought of as being scattered and present. This figure shows a terminal ID and content ID assigned in 32 bits. In the figure, a round dot indicates a terminal ID, a square indicates a content ID, and the ID increases counterclockwise.

  In the present embodiment, the rule that “a terminal device that manages content information having a certain content ID is a terminal device having a terminal ID close to that content ID” is applied, and the definition of “close” is The content ID does not exceed the content ID and the difference between the content ID and the terminal ID is the smallest. However, in practice, when the management of each piece of content information is allocated to each terminal device 1, it may be different. The definition of In the example shown in FIG. 2, based on this definition, the content IDa is managed by the terminal device 1 having a terminal ID close to the content IDa (hereinafter referred to as “terminal IDa”), and the content IDb is the content IDb. Managed by the terminal device 1 having a terminal ID close to IDb (hereinafter referred to as “terminal IDb”), and the content IDc has a terminal ID close to the content IDc (hereinafter referred to as “terminal IDc”). Managed by the device 1.

  Here, “management” does not mean holding content information but means “knowing which terminal device 1 holds content information”. That is, it means that the location information (herein referred to as an IP address) of the terminal device 1 (hereinafter referred to as “content holding terminal device”) that holds the content information transmitted and received in the information distribution system S is held. To do. For example, in FIG. 2, the terminal device 1 having the terminal IDa knows which terminal device 1 holds the content information having the content IDa, and has the terminal device 1 having the terminal IDb and the terminal IDc. Similarly, the terminal device 1 also knows which terminal device 1 holds the content information having the content IDb and the content information having the content IDc.

  In this way, the terminal device 1 that knows which terminal device 1 holds certain content information is called a root terminal device of the content information. That is, the terminal device 1 having the terminal IDa is a root terminal device of content information having the content IDa, and the terminal device 1 having the terminal IDb is a root terminal device of content information having the content IDb, and the terminal IDc Is a root terminal device for content information having content IDc.

  Further, in the information distribution system S, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the function of inputting content information into the information distribution system S, that is, the terminal device 1 in the information distribution system S is used as a content holding terminal device. A function for distributing (transmitting) content information to the terminal device 1 and an information list (hereinafter referred to as “content catalog”) that is a list of content information that can be transmitted and received between the terminal devices 1 in the information distribution system S are generated. In response to a request from the content input device 10 having a function to be provided to the terminal device 1 and the terminal device 1 that cannot acquire desired content information from the other terminal devices 1, the request is sent to the terminal device 1 that made the request. And a content supply device 20 that transmits the desired content information via the network 8.

[1.2. Routing table]
Here, a routing table used in DHT will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the routing table, and FIG. 4 is an example of the routing table. This routing table is held in each terminal device 1 in order to access the other terminal device 1 from the terminal device 1, and is formed when each terminal device 1 participates in the information distribution system S. Is.

  This routing table divides the terminal devices 1 included in the information distribution system S into a plurality of groups according to a predetermined rule, and sets each group as a level 1 group. Further, each group is divided into a plurality of groups as level 2 groups, and each group up to level n is grouped in the same manner as the level 2 grouping. The location information (IP address) of one terminal device 1 belonging to (except for) is stored. Note that n is a natural number of 3 or more, and varies depending on the ID space of the terminal ID. For example, n = 4 in the case of a quaternary number having a bit length of 8 bits as follows.

  Here, the routing table held by the terminal device 1n having the terminal ID “1133” when the terminal ID is expressed by a quaternary number (“0000” to “3333”) having a bit length of 8 bits will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, by dividing the ID space of the terminal ID into four areas, four areas “0XXX”, “1XXX”, “2XXX”, “3XXX” (X is 0 to 3) having different maximum digits. Divide into groups of natural numbers. These are level 1 groups. Since the terminal ID of the terminal device 1n is “1133”, the terminal device 1n belongs to the level 1 group that is the area “1XXX” in the lower left in FIG. Therefore, in the level 1 table of the routing table of the terminal device 1n, as shown in FIG. 4, a group other than the level 1 group in which the terminal device 1n exists (ie, the “0XXX” area, the “2XXX” area). , The terminal ID and the IP address of the terminal device 1 existing in each group of the “3XXX” area) are stored. In this table, the terminal ID and IP address of “0100” as the terminal ID of the area “0XXX”, “2133” as the terminal ID of the area “2XXX”, and “3213” as the terminal ID of the area “3XXX” Is remembered.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, among the level 1 groups, the group to which the terminal device 1n belongs is further divided into four, and the groups of the areas “10XX”, “11XX”, “12XX”, “13XX” Divide into These are level 2 groups. Since the terminal ID of the terminal apparatus 1n is “1133”, the terminal apparatus 1n has a level 2 group (to which the terminal apparatus 1n belongs (see FIG. 4) in the level 2 table of the routing table of the terminal apparatus 1n). The terminal ID and IP address of the terminal device 1 belonging to each of the level 2 groups (ie, the “10XX” area, the “12XX” area, and the “13XX” area group) other than the “11XX” area group) Is memorized. In this table, the terminal ID and IP address of “1003” as the terminal ID of the area “10XX”, “1221” as the terminal ID of the area “12XX”, and “1313” as the terminal ID of the area “13XX” Is remembered.

  Similarly, among the level 2 groups, the group to which the terminal device 1n belongs is further divided into four, and divided into areas “110X”, “111X”, “112X”, and “113X” (level 3 group), Terminals of the terminal device 1 respectively belonging to level 3 groups other than the level 3 group “113X” to which the terminal device 1n belongs (that is, each of the groups “110X”, “111X”, and “112X”) The ID and IP address are stored. Further, among the level 3 groups, the group to which the terminal device 1n belongs is further divided into four, and divided into “1130”, “1131”, “1132”, and “1133” groups (level 4 group). The terminal IDs and IP addresses of the terminal devices 1 respectively belonging to the level 4 groups other than the level 4 group “1133” (that is, “1130”, “1131”, and “1132” groups) are stored. When the terminal device 1 does not exist in the group, the terminal ID and IP address fields are blank.

  As described above, in the information distribution system S, each of the routing tables in which the terminal IDs that are identification information of some of the terminal devices 1 among the plurality of terminal devices 1 in the information distribution system S and the IP addresses that are the location information are associated with each other. The terminal device 1 has.

[1.3. How to publish content information]
In the information distribution system S having such a configuration, for example, a method for publishing new content information so that a certain terminal device 1 can be searched from other terminal devices 1 on the information distribution system S will be described. .

  First, when the content input device 10 intends to input (distribute) new content information to the information distribution system S, the content input device 10 determines the terminal device 1 into which the new content information is input based on the temperature in the device. .

  Specifically, the content input device 10 requests two or more terminal devices 1 to transmit temperature information in these devices. Each terminal device 1 is provided with temperature detection means for detecting the temperature in its own device, and transmits the temperature in its own device detected by the temperature detection means to the content input device 10 in response to a request from the content input device 10. . The content input device 10 thus acquires the temperature information in the terminal device 1 transmitted from the terminal device 1. Based on the temperature information, the content input device 10 determines the terminal device 1 to input the content information from the terminal devices 1 that have requested the temperature information, and inputs the content information to the determined terminal device 1. (Send. For example, the terminal device 1 having the lowest temperature in the device is determined as the terminal device 1 into which the content information is input. It is also possible to determine the terminal device 1 into which the content information is input from among the terminal devices 1 whose temperature in the device does not exceed a predetermined reference temperature. The “temperature in the terminal device” will be described in detail later.

  The terminal device 1 that has stored the content information input from the content input device 10 in the internal storage means and has become the content holding terminal device has the terminal device 1 having the same terminal ID as the content ID of the content information stored in the storage means. (It is not known at this point whether or not this terminal device 1 actually exists), and requests registration of an IP address or the like which is location information of the own terminal device (as a content holding terminal device that holds content information). A message (hereinafter referred to as “registration message”) is transmitted.

  Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 5, for example, when the terminal device 1 m becomes a content holding terminal device with the content ID “3020”, the terminal device 1 m registers with the content ID “3020” as destination identification information. A message is generated and this registration message is transmitted with reference to the routing table held by itself. If the terminal device 1m has a routing table similar to the level 1 table of the routing table shown in FIG. 4, the content ID “3020” belongs to the “3XXX” area because the content ID “3020” is the “3XXX” area. A registration message is transmitted to the terminal device 1a (terminal ID “3213”) that knows the IP address (that is, the IP address is stored in the routing table held by itself) among the terminal devices 1. . This registration message includes the content ID of the content information held as the content holding terminal device, and this content ID is used as destination identification information in the registration message.

  Next, the terminal device 1a that has received the registration message determines whether or not the registration message is a message addressed to the own terminal device 1a. Whether the message is addressed to the terminal device 1a is determined based on the destination identification information and the routing table. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the destination identification information is close to the terminal ID that is the identification information of the terminal device 1a. That is, for the destination identification information, the terminal ID of the terminal device 1 closest to the terminal ID of the terminal device 1 stored in the routing table (the table value is not shown) held by the terminal device 1a itself. Determines whether it is itself or another terminal device 1.

  Then, since the terminal ID of the other terminal device 1 is closer to the destination identification information than the terminal ID of the terminal device 1a, the terminal device 1a has the routing table level 2 held by the terminal device 1a itself. The registration message is transferred to the terminal device 1b (terminal ID “3031”) that knows the IP address among the terminal devices 1 belonging to the area “30XX”.

  As described above, when the transfer of the registration message proceeds in the manner of adapting the digits of the content ID in order from the top and finally reaches the terminal device 1c having the terminal ID close to the destination identification information of the registration message, the terminal It is determined that the device 1c itself should be the root terminal device of the content information, and the content ID included in the registration message, the terminal ID of the content holding terminal device, the IP address, and the like (hereinafter referred to as “index information”) Memorize). Then, as will be described later, when a search message is received from another terminal device 1, it is selected from the index information storing the IP address that is the location information of the content holding terminal device to the terminal device 1 that has transmitted the search message. Notice. Note that, as described above, message transfer using the routing table is called DHT routing.

  By the way, the index information is retained in the root terminal device by an index table as shown in FIG. FIG. 6 shows an example of an index table in the root terminal device 1c. The terminal ID, IP address, and introduction of the content holding terminal device that holds the content information of the content ID “3020” that is managed by the terminal device itself. I remember time etc.

[1.4. Content information acquisition method]
Next, an example of a search method for the terminal device 1 holding content information will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a state in which the terminal device 1 holding content information is searched by DHT.

  Here, a procedure when the terminal device 1n having the terminal ID “1133” searches for content information having the content ID “3020” as a request terminal device will be described.

(Outline of content information acquisition method)
As shown in FIG. 7, the requesting terminal device 1n refers to the routing table of its own device, and uses the terminal ID of the terminal device 1 having the terminal ID of the same area “3XXX” as the content ID “3020” as the destination. With the ID “3020” as destination identification information, a message (hereinafter referred to as “search message”) for requesting transmission of content holding terminal device information (information including the IP address that is the location information of the content holding terminal device) is transmitted. (Refer to (1) shown in FIG. 7). This search message is also successively transferred according to the routing table in the same way as the registration message (see (2) shown in FIG. 7), and finally the content information of the content ID “3020” is managed. When the terminal device 1c (terminal ID “3011”) as the root terminal device is reached, the root terminal device 1c stores the content ID “3020” included in the search message in the index table managed by itself. The index information is searched, and the IP address or the like of the content holding terminal device (here, the terminal device 1m) that owns the content information of the content ID “3020” is returned to the request terminal device 1n ( (Refer to (3) shown in FIG. 7).

  The request terminal device 1n receives the location information of the content information with the content ID “3020” from the root terminal device 1c, that is, the IP address of the content holding terminal device 1m that holds the content information with the content ID “3020”. By transmitting a content information transmission request (hereinafter referred to as “content information transmission request message”) to the content holding terminal device 1m with the content ID “3020” ((4) shown in FIG. 7). The content information is acquired from the content holding terminal device 1m (see (5) in FIG. 7).

(About refusal to send content information)
As described above, when the content holding terminal device 1m receives the content information transmission request message from the request terminal device 1n, the content holding terminal device 1m transmits the content information related to the request. When the predetermined reference temperature is exceeded, the content information is not transmitted.

  That is, when the content holding terminal device 1m receives a transmission request for content information stored in the storage unit from the request terminal device 1n, the temperature in the own device detected by the temperature detecting unit arranged in the housing of the own device is a predetermined value. It is determined whether or not the reference temperature is exceeded. Then, the content holding terminal device 1m retrieves the content information from the storage means when the temperature in the device does not exceed the predetermined reference temperature, transmits the content information to the request terminal device 1n, and the temperature in the device itself When the temperature exceeds a predetermined reference temperature, the content information is not transmitted to the request terminal device 1n.

  Here, the “temperature in the device” is the ambient temperature in the housing of the content holding terminal device, and is detected by a temperature sensor that is a temperature detecting means arranged in the housing. The ambient temperature in the housing rises when an internal fan failure occurs. The ambient temperature in the housing also rises when, for example, an overload occurs in the CPU or hard disk due to information processing other than the distribution of content information, resulting in a shortage of system resources. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether or not the distribution capability of the content information in the content holding terminal device is deteriorated based on the ambient temperature in the housing.

  In the present embodiment, a temperature somewhat lower than the ambient temperature in the housing where content information distribution capability is expected to be reduced (that is, a temperature at which content information distribution capability can be secured) is set as the reference temperature, and the ambient temperature in the housing is predetermined. The content information is not transmitted when the reference temperature is exceeded. Thereby, it can suppress that the change of the operation state in a content holding | maintenance terminal device influences the other terminal device 1. FIG. For example, when content information of moving image data is transmitted from a content holding terminal device in a streaming format, it is possible to reduce a possibility that a moving image is disturbed such that a moving image is intermittently reproduced by a request terminal device.

  When an internal fan failure occurs, the surface temperature of the CPU of the control unit 101 and the hard disk 103, which will be described later, rises. Also, when the CPU or hard disk is overloaded by information processing other than the distribution of content information, the surface temperature of the CPU or hard disk 103 of the control unit 101 rises. Therefore, the temperature in the apparatus may be detected by detecting the surface temperature of the CPU of the control unit 101, the surface temperature of the hard disk 103, and the like.

  By the way, when acquiring the location information of the content holding terminal device from the root terminal device, the request terminal device acquires the location information of the plurality of content holding terminal devices. Then, the requesting terminal device transmits a content information transmission request message to a single content holding terminal device from the plurality of content holding terminal devices that have acquired the location information. If this request is accepted, the request terminal device acquires content from the content holding terminal device that accepted the request. On the other hand, if the request is rejected and not accepted, the request terminal device transmits a content information transmission request message to the next content holding terminal device among the plurality of content holding terminal devices that have acquired the location information. When the request is rejected and not accepted from any of the plurality of content holding terminal devices that have acquired the location information, the request terminal device acquires the content information from the content supply device 20.

  Thus, even when content transmission requests are rejected from all content holding terminal devices, the content information can be acquired from the content supply device 20, so that the user of the request terminal device can receive content from the content holding terminal device. Even when the information cannot be acquired, the content information can be acquired and reproduced.

  Hereinafter, the configurations and operations of the terminal device 1 and the content input device 10 in the information distribution system S will be described more specifically with reference to the drawings.

[1.5. Description of terminal device configuration and operation]
First, the configuration and operation of the terminal device 1 will be described with reference to the drawings.

(About terminal device configuration)
First, the configuration of the terminal device 1 will be described. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the terminal device 1 in the information distribution system S according to the present embodiment.

  The terminal device 1 can be a general personal computer in addition to a dedicated computer. As shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 101, a rewritable storage unit 102 that stores a routing table, an index table, and the like, Hard disk (HDD) 103 (corresponding to an example of content information storage means) for storing content information acquired from the content input device 10, another terminal device 1 or the content supply device 20, the content input device 10, other terminal device 1 Alternatively, the buffer memory 104 that temporarily stores the content information acquired from the content supply device 20, the decoder unit 105 that sequentially extracts and decodes the content information stored in the hard disk 103 or the buffer memory 104, and is decoded by the decoder unit 105. The Among the content information, a video processing unit 106 that converts video information into information that can be displayed on the display unit 107 (to be described later), a liquid crystal display (LCD) that displays video based on the output from the video processing unit 106, etc. Based on the output from the audio processing unit 108, the audio processing unit 108 that converts the audio information of the content information decoded by the display unit 107, the decoder unit 105 into information that can be output as a sound wave by the speaker 109 described later. A speaker 109 for outputting sound waves, an input unit 110 including a mouse and a keyboard, a cooling fan 111 for cooling the inside of the terminal device 1, and a temperature detection means for detecting the temperature in the housing 130 of the terminal device 1 The content input device 10, another terminal device 1 or content via the temperature sensor 112 and the network 8. And a communication unit 113 for communicating with the supply device 20. Note that the control unit 101, the storage unit 102, the hard disk 103, the buffer memory 104, the decoder unit 105, and the communication unit 113 are connected to each other via the system bus 120.

  The control unit 101 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an internal ROM (Read Only Memory), and an internal RAM (Random Access Memory). The internal ROM stores an information processing program for participating in the information distribution system S to transmit and receive content information, and the CPU reads and executes the information processing program stored in the internal ROM. Functions as a temperature determination unit, a content transmission unit, and the like, which will be described later.

  The information processing program is downloaded to the internal ROM of the control unit 101 from the server (for example, the content input device 10 or the content supply device 20) connected to the network 8 via the communication unit 113, for example. Alternatively, after being recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, it may be read into the internal ROM of the control unit 101 via a recording medium drive (not shown). In this case, the internal ROM is preferably composed of a flash memory or the like.

(Operation of terminal equipment)
The operation of the terminal device 1 configured as described above will be specifically described. 9 to 13 are flowcharts showing an example of the operation content of the terminal device 1. The following processes are executed by the control unit 101 of the terminal device 1 functioning as the above-described units. Here, the operation of transmitting and receiving content information, which is a characteristic part in the present embodiment, is mainly described, and some of the operation details are omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 9, when a main power switch (not shown) is turned on or a reset switch (not shown) is operated in the terminal device 1, the CPU of the control unit 101 controls the storage unit 102. After executing initial setting operations such as access permission and securing the work area of the internal RAM, reading the information processing program stored in the internal ROM and setting the function as the control unit 101 to the operating state (step S10), the information distribution system Participate in S and shift the process to step S11.

  Here, participation in the information distribution system S is performed as follows by the processing by the control unit 101. First, the control unit 101 obtains the terminal ID of the own terminal device by calculating the IP address of the own device using a predetermined hash function. The control unit 101 uses the terminal ID as destination identification information and transmits a participation message including the location information (such as an IP address) of the own device to a predetermined terminal device 1 via the communication unit 113. This join message is transferred by DHT routing. Then, the other terminal device 1 that has received this participation message takes out the information of the table according to the transfer count of the participation message from its own routing table, and sends the information to the terminal device 1 that transmitted the participation message. Send. The control unit 101 acquires the routing table information from the terminal device 1 that has received the participation message in this way via the communication unit 113, generates a routing table based on the information, and participates in the information distribution system S. .

  In addition, the control unit 101 acquires a content catalog from the content input device 10 when participating in the information distribution system S, and displays the contents of the content catalog on the display unit 107. Thereby, the user of the terminal device 1 can grasp the content information that can be distributed in the information distribution system S, and can acquire the desired content information by performing a predetermined operation.

  In step S11, the control unit 101 determines whether a content information transmission request is received from another terminal device 1 (step S11). For example, when a content information transmission request message is received via the communication unit 113, the control unit 101 determines that a content information transmission request has been received.

  In this process, when it is determined that a content information transmission request has been received (step S11: Yes), the control unit 101 performs a content information transmission process (step S12). This content information transmission process is the process of steps S20 to S24 in FIG. 10, and will be described in detail later.

  On the other hand, when determining that the content information transmission request has not been received (step S11: No), the control unit 101 determines whether there is a content reproduction instruction (step S13). For example, when content information is selected from the content catalog displayed on the display unit 107 by the operation of the input unit 110 by the user, the control unit 101 determines that there is a content reproduction instruction.

  If it is determined in this process that a content reproduction instruction has been given (step S13: Yes), the control unit 101 performs a content reproduction process (step S14). This content reproduction process is the process of steps S30 to S35 in FIG. 11, and will be described in detail later.

  On the other hand, when determining that there is no content reproduction instruction (step S13: No), the control unit 101 determines whether or not a search message has been received via the communication unit 113 (step S15). If it is determined in this process that a search message has been received (step S15: Yes), the control unit 101 performs a search message process (step S16). This search message process is a process of steps S40 to S42 in FIG. 12, and will be described in detail later.

  When it is determined in step S15 that the search message has not been received (step S15: No), the control unit 101 requests that content be input from the content input device 10 via the communication unit 113 (hereinafter referred to as “content input”). It is determined whether or not “request” is received (step S17).

  If it is determined in this process that a content input request has been received (step S17: Yes), the control unit 101 performs a content input request process (step S18). This content input request process is the process of steps S50 to S53 in FIG. 13, and will be described in detail later.

  When it is determined in step S17 that a content input request has not been received (step S17: No), or when the processing of steps S12, S14, S16, and S18 has been completed, the control unit 101 has detected an end instruction. Is determined (step S19). For example, when the power supply of the terminal device is shifted to the OFF state, the control unit 101 detects an end instruction.

  If it is determined in step S19 that an end instruction has been detected (step S19: Yes), the control unit 101 ends the main process, while if it is determined that no end instruction has been detected (step S19: No), control is performed. The unit 101 repeats the process from step S11. Note that the content information transmission process, the content reproduction process, the search message process, and the content input request process described above may be performed in parallel in a time division manner. For example, if it is determined that a content information transmission request has been received (step S11: Yes), the control unit 101 activates the content transmission information processing in step S12, proceeds to step S19, and determines that there is a content reproduction instruction ( When the control unit 101 activates the content reproduction process of step S14 and proceeds to step S19 to determine that the search message has been received (step S15: Yes), the control unit 101 searches for the search message of step S16. When the process is started and the process proceeds to step S19 and it is determined that the content input request has been received (step S17: Yes), the control unit 101 starts the content input request process of step S18 and proceeds to step S19.

  Next, the content information transmission process in step S12 will be specifically described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of content information transmission processing in the terminal device 1.

  As shown in FIG. 10, when the content information transmission process is started, the control unit 101 detects the temperature in the housing 130 (step S20). Specifically, the control unit 101 detects the temperature in the casing 130 by acquiring information on the ambient temperature in the casing 130 of the device itself output from the temperature sensor 112.

  After detecting the temperature in the housing 130, the control unit 101 determines whether or not the detected temperature exceeds the reference temperature (step S21). The reference temperature is set in the storage unit 102 in advance, and the control unit 101 detects the reference temperature by taking out the reference temperature information from the storage unit 102 and comparing it with the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 112. It is determined whether the temperature exceeds the reference temperature. As described above, when the control unit 101 receives a transmission request for content information stored in the hard disk 103 from the request terminal device, which is the other terminal device 1, via the communication unit 113, the atmosphere in the own device detected by the temperature sensor 112 is received. It functions as a temperature determination unit that determines whether or not the temperature exceeds a predetermined reference temperature.

  In this process, when it is determined that the detected temperature exceeds the reference temperature (step S21: Yes), the control unit 101 transmits a request rejection response to the request terminal device via the communication unit 113 (step S22). For example, when the reference temperature is set to 40 ° C. and the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 112 is 41 ° C., it is determined that the detected temperature exceeds the reference temperature, and the request is rejected to the request terminal device. Make a response.

  On the other hand, if it determines with the detected temperature not exceeding reference temperature (step S21: No), the control part 101 will transmit a request | requirement acceptance response to a request terminal device via the communication part 113 (step S23). When the transmission start request from the request terminal device is received via the communication unit 113 in response to the request acceptance response, the control unit 101 activates content information transmission processing (step S24). This content information transmission process is a process in which content information requested to be transmitted from the request terminal device is extracted from the hard disk 103 and the content information is transmitted to the request terminal device in a streaming format.

  As described above, when the temperature in the own device does not exceed the predetermined reference temperature, the control unit 101 extracts the content information from the hard disk 103 and transmits the content information to the request terminal device. When the temperature exceeds the reference temperature, it functions as a content transmission unit that does not transmit content information to the requesting terminal device.

  When the process of step S22 or the process of step S24 ends, the control unit 101 ends the content information transmission process.

  Next, the content reproduction instruction process in step S14 will be specifically described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the content reproduction instruction process in the terminal device 1.

  As shown in FIG. 11, when the content reproduction instruction process is started, the control unit 101 transmits a search message (step S30). That is, the control unit 101 transmits a search message via the communication unit 113 using the content ID of the desired content information for which the content reproduction instruction has been issued as destination identification information.

  When receiving the search message described above, the root terminal device that holds the index information related to the content information for which the content reproduction instruction has been received receives the search message corresponding to the location information of the corresponding content holding terminal device from the index table of the own device. It transmits to the terminal device 1 which transmitted. The control unit 101 receives the location information of the content holding terminal device transmitted from the root terminal device in this way via the communication unit 113.

  When a predetermined number of pieces of location information of the content holding terminal devices are acquired in this way, the control unit 101 sequentially transmits content information transmission request messages to these content holding terminal devices (step S31), and the terminal device that has transmitted the messages. It is determined whether a request acceptance response from 1 is received via the communication unit 113 (step S32). Then, when there is a request acceptance response from any of the content holding terminal devices (step S32: Yes), the control unit 101 sends a content information transmission start request to the content holding terminal device that has made the request acceptance response. And the acquisition of content information is started via the communication unit 113 (step S33).

  On the other hand, when a request acceptance response cannot be received from any content holding terminal device via the communication unit 113, in other words, when a request rejection response is received from all content holding terminal devices via the communication unit 113 ( In step S32: No), the control unit 101 requests the content supply device 20 to transmit content information for which content reproduction has been instructed via the communication unit 113 (step S34), and the content via the communication unit 113. Acquisition of information is started (step S35).

  Next, the search message processing in step S16 will be specifically described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 12 is a flowchart of search message processing in the terminal device 1.

  As shown in FIG. 12, when the search message processing is started, the control unit 101 determines whether or not the search message is addressed to its own device (step S40). Whether the message is addressed to the own apparatus is determined based on the destination identification information of the search message and the routing table. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the destination identification information of the search message is close to the terminal ID that is the identification information of the own device.

  In this process, when it is determined that the search message is a message addressed to the own device (step S40: Yes), the control unit 101 locates the content holding terminal device that holds the content information of the search target content ID in the search message. (IP address) is extracted from the index table stored in the storage unit 102, and transmitted to the terminal device 1 that transmitted the search message (step S41). On the other hand, if it is determined that the search message is not a message addressed to itself (step S40: No), the control unit 101 transfers the search message via the communication unit 113 (step S42). That is, the control unit 101 takes out the location information of the terminal device 1 having the terminal ID close to the destination identification information of the search message from the terminal IDs stored in the routing table stored in the storage unit 102 from the routing table. Forward search messages for information.

  Next, the content input processing in step S18 will be specifically described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 13 is a flowchart of content input processing in the terminal device 1.

  As shown in FIG. 13, when the content input process is started, the control unit 101 detects the temperature in the housing 130 (step S50). Specifically, the control unit 101 detects the temperature in the casing 130 by acquiring the ambient temperature in the casing 130 of the device itself output from the temperature sensor 112.

  After detecting the temperature in the housing 130, the control unit 101 transmits a response including information on the temperature in the housing 130 detected in step S50 to the content input device 10 via the communication unit 113 (step S50). S51).

  Thereafter, the control unit 101 determines whether or not content information has been input from the content input device 10 (step S52). In this process, when it is determined that the input of content information has been started (step S52: Yes), the control unit 101 receives the content information input from the content input device 10 via the communication unit 113, and stores it in the hard disk 103. Store (step S53). As described above, the control unit 101 functions as content information storage processing means for storing content information input from the content input device 10 in the hard disk 103.

  When it is determined in step S52 that the input of content information has not been started (step S52: No), or when the process of step S53 ends, the control unit 101 ends the content input request process.

  As described above, the terminal device 1 in the first embodiment includes the temperature detection unit that detects the temperature in the device itself, and when the content information transmission request is received from the other terminal device 1, the temperature detection unit detects the content information transmission request. It is determined whether or not the temperature in the own device exceeds a predetermined reference temperature, and when the temperature in the own device does not exceed the predetermined reference temperature, the content information is extracted from the hard disk 103 and another terminal device 1 is obtained. The content information is transmitted to the terminal device 1 and the content information is not transmitted to the other terminal device 1 when the temperature in the device exceeds a predetermined reference temperature, and the terminal device 1 holds the content information. It is possible to suppress the change in the operating state from affecting other terminal devices 1.

[1.6. Description of configuration and operation of content input device]
Next, the configuration and operation of the content input device 10 will be described with reference to the drawings.

(About the configuration of the content input device)
First, the configuration of the content input device 10 will be described. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an outline of the content input device 10 in the information distribution system S according to the present embodiment.

  The content input device 10 can be a general server computer in addition to a dedicated computer. As shown in FIG. 14, a rewritable storage for storing the location information and catalog of the control unit 201 and the terminal device 1 is possible. Unit 202, hard disk (HDD) 203 for storing content information, input unit 204 for instructing input of content information, and content information instructed to input by operation of input unit 204 are transmitted to terminal device 1. Therefore, a buffer memory 205 that temporarily stores data and a communication unit 206 for communicating with the terminal device 1 and the content supply device 20 via the network 8 are provided. The control unit 201 sequentially extracts the content information stored in the buffer memory 205 and transmits it to the terminal device 1. Note that the control unit 201, the storage unit 202, the hard disk 203, the buffer memory 205, and the communication unit 206 are connected to each other via the system bus 210.

  The control unit 201 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an internal ROM (Read Only Memory), and an internal RAM (Random Access Memory). The internal ROM stores an information processing program for inputting content information to the information distribution system S, and the CPU reads and executes the information processing program stored in the internal ROM, so that the temperature described later can be obtained. It functions as information acquisition means, content input means, and the like.

  The information processing program may be downloaded to the internal ROM of the control unit 201 from a server (not shown) connected to the network 8 via the communication unit 206, for example. After being recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM, it may be read into the internal ROM of the control unit 201 via a recording medium drive (not shown). In this case, the internal ROM is preferably composed of a flash memory or the like.

(Operation of content input device)
The operation of the content input device 10 configured as described above will be specifically described. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation content of the content input device 10. The following processes are executed by the control unit 201 of the content input device 10 functioning as the above-described units. Here, the content information input operation in the present embodiment will be described, and other operation details are omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 15, when the content input process is started, the control unit 201 randomly selects a plurality of terminal devices 1 from the terminal devices 1 participating in the information distribution system S (step S60). Here, when the terminal device 1 participates in the information distribution system S, the terminal device 1 notifies the content input device 10 of the location information, and the control unit 201 notifies the information distribution system S via the communication unit 206. The location information of the participating terminal devices 1 is received and stored in the storage unit 202.

  The control unit 201 retrieves the location information of the terminal device 1 randomly selected in step S60 from the storage unit 202, and transmits a content input request to the selected terminal device 1 via the communication unit 206 based on the location information. (Step S61).

  Then, the control unit 201 collects temperature information transmitted from the terminal device 1 in response to the transmitted content input request (step S62). That is, the terminal device 1 to which the control unit 201 has transmitted the content input request transmits a response including information on the temperature in the own device, and the control unit 201 receives this response via the communication unit 206. And the temperature information of each terminal device 1 is acquired and collected. As described above, the control unit 201 functions as a temperature information acquisition unit that requests two or more terminal devices 1 to transmit temperature information in these devices and acquires temperature information in the terminal devices 1. .

  When the information of each terminal device 1 is collected, the control unit 201 selects the terminal device 1 having the lowest temperature in the device among the terminal devices 1 that transmitted the content input request as the terminal device 1 that transmits the content information (step S1). In step S64, the content information to be input is extracted from the hard disk 203 and transmitted to the selected terminal device 1 (step S65). As described above, the control unit 201 determines the terminal device 1 to which the content information is to be input based on the temperature information in the device of the terminal device 1 among the terminal devices 1 that have requested the temperature information. It functions as a content input unit that inputs content information to the terminal device 1.

  As described above, in the content input device 10, by causing the terminal device 1 having the lowest temperature in the device to hold the content information, a failure of an internal fan occurs or an overload occurs in the CPU or the hard disk. The content information can be prevented from being input to the terminal device 1 that has been operating, and the content can be input more quickly. Further, there is a possibility that the state of the terminal device 1 in which the fan failure or the CPU is overloaded as described above may continue, and the operation state continues even if content information is input to such a terminal device 1. As long as this is done, content information may not be transmitted to the request terminal device. Therefore, even when new content information is input, the content information may not be acquired. However, the content input apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment can suppress such a problem.

[2. Second Embodiment]
Next, the operation of the information distribution system S ′ in the second embodiment will be described. In the information distribution system S ′ in the second embodiment, the operation of each terminal device 1 when the terminal device 1 that functions as a request terminal device acquires content information from the terminal device 1 that functions as a content holding terminal device is different. That is, in the information distribution system S in the first embodiment, the content holding terminal device does not transmit the content information to the request terminal device when the temperature inside the content holding terminal device exceeds a predetermined reference temperature. However, in the information distribution system S ′ in the second embodiment, the content holding terminal device transmits the temperature in the device itself to the request terminal device, and the request terminal device distributes the content information based on the temperature of the content holding terminal device. The content holding terminal device to be determined is determined. Since other operations are the same as the operations in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted here. Further, the same configuration as that of the first embodiment will be described as the first embodiment. Further, in order to execute such an operation, the terminal device 1 has an information processing program in the internal ROM of the control unit 101 as in the first embodiment.

  First, a content information acquisition method in the information distribution system S ′ in the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 16.

  The request terminal device 1n refers to the routing table, and, as shown in FIG. 16, the destination terminal ID of the terminal device 1 having the terminal ID of the same area “3XXX” as the content ID “3020” of the desired content information, A search message having the content ID “3020” as destination identification information is transmitted (see (1) shown in FIG. 16). This search message is successively transferred by DHT routing (see (2) shown in FIG. 16), and finally reaches the terminal device 1c, which is the root terminal device that manages the content information. The terminal device 1c sends location information such as the IP addresses of the terminal device 1m and the content holding terminal device 1p, which are content holding terminal devices that own the content information of the content ID “3020” included in the search message, to the requesting terminal device 1n. (Refer to (3) shown in FIG. 16).

  The request terminal device 1n receives and knows the IP addresses of the content holding terminal device 1m and the content holding terminal device 1p that hold the content information of the content ID “3020” from the terminal device 1c that is the root terminal device. A content information transmission request message is simultaneously transmitted to each of the content holding terminal devices 1m and 1p with the content ID “3020” (see (4) shown in FIG. 16).

  When the content holding terminal devices 1m and 1p receive the content information transmission request message from the request terminal device 1n, each of the content holding terminal devices 1m and 1p performs a request acceptance response including temperature information in the own device (see (5) shown in FIG. 16). ).

  Upon receiving the request acceptance response from each of the content holding terminal devices 1m and 1p, the request terminal device 1n transmits desired content information from the terminal devices 1 based on the temperature information in these terminal devices 1. The terminal device 1 requesting the start is determined (see (6) shown in FIG. 16). Then, the terminal device 1 thus determined is requested to start transmission of desired content information. Here, in the request terminal device 1n, the terminal device 1 that requests the start of transmission of content information is the content holding terminal device 1p (see (7) shown in FIG. 16).

  When the content holding terminal device 1p receives the content information transmission start request from the request terminal device 1n, the content holding terminal device 1p transmits the stored content information to the request terminal device 1n (see (8) in FIG. 16).

  Here, the terminal device 1 from which the request terminal device 1n requests transmission start of content information is the content holding terminal device having the lowest temperature in the device among the content holding terminal devices that have transmitted a request acceptance response including temperature information. And In this way, by causing the content holding terminal device having the lowest temperature in the device to transmit the content information, a more stable terminal device 1 whose distribution capability is not reduced is obtained from the content holding terminal device. Can be received, and it is possible to suppress problems such as disturbance of moving images such as intermittent reproduction of moving images at the requesting terminal device.

  Further, the request terminal device 1n requests the content supply device 20 for content information when all the temperatures in the content holding terminal device that has transmitted the request acceptance response including the temperature information exceed a predetermined reference temperature. Thus, it is possible to avoid receiving the distribution of content information from the content holding terminal device whose distribution capability is reduced.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the terminal device 1 will be specifically described. 17 and 18 are flowcharts showing the operation contents of the terminal device 1. The main process of the terminal device 1 is the same as the process described in FIG. 9, the search message process is the same as the process described in FIG. 12, and the content input request process is the same as the process described in FIG. Therefore, the description is omitted here, and only the content information transmission process and the content reproduction instruction process are described.

  First, the content information transmission process will be specifically described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 17 is a flowchart of content information transmission processing in the terminal device 1.

  As shown in FIG. 17, when the content information transmission request process is started, the control unit 101 detects the temperature in the housing 130 (step S100). Specifically, the control unit 101 detects the temperature in the casing 130 by acquiring the ambient temperature in the casing 130 of the device itself output from the temperature sensor 112.

  After detecting the temperature in the housing 130, the control unit 101 transmits a request acceptance response including information on the temperature in the device detected in step S100 to the request terminal device via the communication unit 113 (step S101). In this way, the control unit 101 functions as a temperature information notification unit that notifies information on the temperature in its own device in response to a request from another terminal device 1.

  Thereafter, the control unit 101 determines whether or not a content information transmission start request is received from the request terminal device via the communication unit 113 (step S102). If it is determined in this process that a transmission start request has been received (step S102: Yes), the control unit 101 activates a content information transmission process (step S103). This content information transmission process is a process in which content information requested to be transmitted from the requesting terminal apparatus is taken out from the hard disk 103 and the content information is transmitted in a streaming format. As described above, the control unit 101 functions as a content information transmission unit that transmits content information stored in the hard disk 103 to another terminal device 1 in response to a request from the other terminal device 1.

  When it is determined in step S102 that a transmission start request has not been received (step S102: No), or when the process of step S103 ends, the control unit 101 ends the content information transmission process.

  Next, the content reproduction instruction process will be specifically described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 18 is a flowchart of the content reproduction instruction process in the terminal device 1.

  As shown in FIG. 18, when the content reproduction instruction process is started, the control unit 101 transmits a search message (step S110). That is, the control unit 101 transmits a search message via the communication unit 113 using the content ID of the content information for which the content reproduction instruction has been issued as destination identification information.

  When receiving the search message described above, the root terminal device that holds the index information related to the content information for which the content reproduction instruction has been received receives the search message corresponding to the location information of the corresponding content holding terminal device from the index table of the own device. It transmits to the terminal device 1 which transmitted. The control unit 101 receives the location information of the content holding terminal device transmitted from the root terminal device in this way via the communication unit 113.

  When a predetermined number of pieces of location information of content holding terminal devices that hold content information for which content reproduction has been instructed are acquired in this way, the control unit 101 simultaneously transmits a content information transmission request message to these content holding terminal devices ( In step S111, it is determined whether a request acceptance response from the terminal device 1 that has transmitted the message is received via the communication unit 113 (step S112).

  When there is a request acceptance response from these content holding terminal devices (step S112: Yes), the control unit 101 determines that the temperatures in all the devices of the content holding terminal device that have made this request acceptance response are a predetermined reference. It is determined whether or not the temperature is higher (step S113). Thus, the control unit 101 requests each of the content holding terminal devices, which are a plurality of other terminal devices 1 that hold desired content information, to transmit temperature information in the content holding terminal device, It functions as temperature information acquisition means for acquiring temperature information in each content holding terminal device.

  In this process, when it is determined that the temperature in all the devices of the content holding terminal device is not higher than the predetermined reference temperature (step S113: No), the control unit 101 makes the content receiving terminal that has made this request acceptance response. The content holding terminal device having the lowest temperature in the device is selected from the devices (step S114). The control unit 101 makes a content information transmission start request to the content holding terminal device thus selected (step S115), and starts acquiring content information via the communication unit 113 (step S116). As described above, the control unit 101 has the lowest temperature in the device based on the acquired temperature information in the content holding terminal device, which is the plurality of other terminal devices 1 that transmitted the temperature information. The device 1 determines a terminal device 1 that requests desired content information, and functions as a content requesting unit that requests the determined terminal device 1 for desired content information.

  On the other hand, when a request acceptance response has not been received from any content holding terminal device via the communication unit 113 (step S112: No), or the temperatures in all the content holding terminal devices are higher than a predetermined reference temperature. When it determines with it being high (step S113: Yes), the control part 101 requests | requires transmission of the content information instruct | indicated content reproduction with respect to the content supply apparatus 20 via the communication part 113 (step S117). Acquisition of content information is started via the communication unit 113 (step S118).

  As described above, the terminal device 1 according to the second embodiment has a reduced distribution capability by causing the request terminal device to transmit the content information to the content holding terminal device having the lowest temperature in the device. It is possible to receive content information from a content holding terminal device by a more stable terminal device 1 and suppress problems such as disturbance of moving images such as intermittent reproduction of moving images on the request terminal device. It becomes possible.

[3. Other Embodiments]
In the terminal device 1 in the second embodiment, the content holding terminal device having the lowest temperature in the device transmits the content information. Among the content holding terminal devices that have transmitted the temperature information in the device, The terminal device 1 that has transmitted the temperature information earliest can be determined as the terminal device 1 that requests the desired content information, and the temperature in the device does not exceed a predetermined reference temperature. In this case, among the plurality of other terminal devices 1 that have transmitted the temperature information, the control unit 101 of the terminal device 1 has transmitted the temperature information earliest and the temperature inside the device does not exceed the predetermined reference temperature. The terminal device 1 is caused to function as a content requesting unit that determines the terminal device 1 that requests desired content information.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, these are merely examples, and the present invention can be implemented in other forms that are variously modified and improved based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. It is possible to implement.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the request terminal device acquires one piece of content information from one content holding terminal device, but acquires a part of the content information from each of two or more content holding terminal devices. As a result, one piece of content information may be acquired from two or more content holding terminal devices.

  Further, although the IP address has been described as an example of the location information of the terminal device 1, the location information may include the port number in addition to the IP address as long as the location on the network can be specified.

It is a figure which shows an example of the connection aspect of each terminal device in the information delivery system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing of ID space. It is a figure for demonstrating a routing table. It is an example of a routing table. It is a figure which shows a mode that the registration message of a content holding terminal device is transferred by DHT routing. It is an example of an index table. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation | movement at the time of the request terminal device concerning 1st Embodiment acquiring content information. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of a terminal device. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement content of the terminal device which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement content of the terminal device which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement content of the terminal device which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement content of the terminal device which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement content of the terminal device which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the outline of a content input apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement content of the content input apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of operation | movement when the request terminal device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment acquires content information. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement content of the terminal device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement content of the terminal device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

S Information Distribution System 1 Terminal Device 10 Content Input Device 20 Content Supply Device 8 Network 101 Terminal Device Control Unit 102 Terminal Device Storage Unit 103 Terminal Device Hard Disk 113 Terminal Device Communication Unit 201 Content Input Device Control Unit 202 Content Input Storage unit 203 of device Hard disk 206 of content input device Communication unit of content input device

Claims (10)

In the terminal device in the information distribution system formed by participation of a plurality of terminal devices connected to each other via a network and transmitting / receiving content information between the terminal devices,
Temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature in its own device;
Content information storage means for storing the content information;
A temperature for determining whether or not the temperature in the device detected by the temperature detection unit exceeds a predetermined reference temperature when receiving a transmission request for content information stored in the content information storage unit from another terminal device A determination means;
When the temperature in the own device does not exceed a predetermined reference temperature, the content information is taken out from the content information storage means, the content information is transmitted to the other terminal device, and the temperature in the own device is And a content transmission unit that does not transmit the content information to the other terminal device when the temperature is exceeded. In the terminal device in the information distribution system formed by participation of a plurality of terminal devices connected to each other via a network and transmitting / receiving content information between the terminal devices,
Temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature in its own device;
Content information storage means for storing the content information;
In response to a request from the other terminal device, temperature information notification means for notifying temperature information in the device itself;
Content information transmitting means for transmitting the content information stored in the content information storage means to the other terminal apparatus in response to a request from the other terminal apparatus;
The temperature at which each of a plurality of other terminal devices holding desired content information is requested to transmit the temperature information in the other terminal devices, and the temperature information in each of the other terminal devices is acquired. Information acquisition means;
Of the plurality of other terminal devices that transmitted the temperature information, determine the terminal device that requests the desired content information based on the acquired temperature information in the plurality of other terminal devices, Content request means for requesting the desired content information from the determined terminal device. A terminal device, comprising: The content request means includes
The terminal device having the lowest temperature in the device among the plurality of other terminal devices that have transmitted the temperature information is determined as a terminal device that requests the desired content information. Terminal equipment. The temperature information acquisition means includes
Request each of a plurality of other terminal devices holding the desired content information simultaneously to transmit temperature information in the other terminal devices;
The content request means includes
Of the plurality of other terminal devices that have transmitted the temperature information, the terminal device that has transmitted the temperature information earliest does not exceed a predetermined reference temperature and requests the desired content information. The terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the terminal device is determined as a terminal device. The temperature in the own device detected by the temperature detecting means is a surface temperature of a CPU or a hard disk constituting the own device, or an ambient temperature in the own device. The terminal device described in 1.   An information processing program for causing a computer to function as the terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. In an information distribution system formed by participation of a plurality of terminal devices connected to each other via a network and transmitting / receiving content information between the terminal devices,
The terminal device
Temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature in its own device;
Content information storage means for storing the content information;
In response to a request from the other terminal device, temperature information notification means for notifying temperature information in the device itself;
Content information transmitting means for transmitting the content information stored in the content information storage means to the other terminal apparatus in response to a request from the other terminal apparatus;
The temperature at which each of a plurality of other terminal devices holding desired content information is requested to transmit the temperature information in the other terminal devices, and the temperature information in each of the other terminal devices is acquired. Information acquisition means;
Of the plurality of other terminal devices that transmitted the temperature information, determine the terminal device that requests the desired content information based on the acquired temperature information in the plurality of other terminal devices, Content requesting means for requesting the desired content information from the determined terminal device. An information distribution system comprising: In response to a request from a terminal device that cannot obtain desired content information from another terminal device, the content supply device transmits the desired content information to the terminal device that has made the request via the network.
The content request unit of the terminal device requests the content information to the content supply device when the temperatures in the plurality of other terminal devices that transmitted the temperature information are all higher than a predetermined reference temperature. The information distribution system according to claim 7, wherein: A content input device that inputs content information transmitted and received between the terminal devices to the terminal devices participating in the information distribution system;
The content input device is:
Temperature information acquisition means for requesting two or more terminal devices to transmit temperature information in these devices, and acquiring temperature information in the terminal devices;
Of the terminal devices that have requested the temperature information, the terminal device to which the content information is input is determined based on the temperature information in the devices of these terminal devices, and the content information is input to the determined terminal device Content input means for
The terminal device
The information distribution system according to claim 7 or 8, wherein content information input from the content input device is stored in the content information storage unit. In the information processing method of the terminal device in an information distribution system formed by participation of a plurality of terminal devices connected to each other via a network and transmitting / receiving content information between the terminal devices,
Detecting the temperature inside the device;
Storing the content information in content information storage means;
In response to a request from the other terminal device, notifying the temperature information in the device itself;
Transmitting the content information stored in the content information storage means to the other terminal device in response to a request from the other terminal device;
A step of requesting each of a plurality of other terminal devices holding desired content information to transmit temperature information in the other terminal devices, and acquiring temperature information in each of the other terminal devices When,
Of the plurality of other terminal devices that transmitted the temperature information, determine the terminal device that requests the desired content information based on the acquired temperature information in the plurality of other terminal devices, Requesting the desired content information from the determined terminal device. An information processing method comprising:

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