KR19990086454A - How to implement pause / release in video on demand system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for implementing a pause / release function in an on-demand video system for organizing a plurality of users who request a service for the same program into one group and serving a program that requires the group. A first step of deregistering the user from the group and storing time information at the time of stopping the service of the program when a specific user registered to the terminal requests the temporary stop of the program service; A second step of retrieving the time information stored in the first step when the user requests to release the pause for the program service; A third step of searching for a group having a service progress time closest to the searched time information; By providing a method of implementing a pause / release function in an on-demand video system comprising a fourth step of registering the user in the searched group, a pause / release function can be provided to a user without a transmission rate of a VOD server or a consumption of a transmission line. It can be effective.

Description

How to implement pause / release in video on demand system

The present invention is a method of implementing a service provided to a user in a VOD server of a video on demand (VOD) system, and more specifically, the pause / release that was individually supported by the user (ie, set-top unit) in the VOD server. The present invention relates to a random access implementation method in an on-demand video system suitable for implementing a function in a program service method of a group unit.

In recent years, with the rapid development of the semiconductor and telecommunications industry, the rapid development of the high-speed ICT infrastructure, which started from the super highway concept of information, is rapidly spreading. The desire of users to obtain information is increasing. The development of interactive cable television (I-CATV), an advanced form of cable television (CATV) that has been commercialized and widely distributed as a way to meet the needs of the times, has been developed by leading companies in the world such as Korea, the United States, and Japan. It's accelerating.

On the other hand, using digital interactive cable television service technology instead of analogue, Video On Demand ensures that television viewers get the information they need (e.g., video information) at the right time. : VOD) service is available. In order to realize such on-demand video service, an information provider consisting of a large capacity server capable of storing and transmitting information, a service provider such as a television broadcasting station, and information requested from a service provider through a network at high speed There is a need for a delivery system provider and a television user to use (or use) service information provided from a delivery system provider for simultaneous delivery to multiple television users.

As described above, the service that can be realized by the video on demand includes, for example, Movies On Demand (MOD), information that can be immediately obtained by title or field of news, and a service such as a summary or headline of news can be provided. News On Demand (NOD), remote shopping that provides a video catalog that allows the user to purchase a desired product, or a user viewing the showcase, transmission of X-ray images, and end user To store or analyze the transmitted data and transmit the diagnosed and prescribed data to other end users, telemedicine, games, home banking, video conferencing, and users that provide general banking services. Agreement services, services that provide information to users and services that enable users to trade using this information. Internet access service for net connection is mentioned.

Herein, the MOD service is directly related to the present invention, and selects, cancels, or starts a service such as a home VCR, for example, a home VCR, from a VOD server of a supplier through a network for program information of a kind such as a movie. , Stop, pause, fast play, rewind, etc.

On the other hand, in order to implement the VOD service, the set-top unit requires a remote VOD server to provide information, such as a movie and an English conversation program, that require a service according to a user's operation. In response, a bit stream of video and audio data, that is, video, audio, and text for the corresponding program is fetched from the database and delivered to the set-top unit on the user's side that requests the service.

At this time, the program data provided from the VOD server to the set-top unit of the user according to the service request of the user has a form of an MPEG bit stream compressed and coded at a predetermined bit rate. The signal is restored and displayed.

On the other hand, in a typical VOD server system, when there is a service request for a specific program from a specific user, the corresponding program is read from a storage block in which various program information is stored and transmitted to the service requesting user (ie, set-top unit) on the receiving side through a transmission channel. In this case, the maximum transfer rate in the storage block, that is, the maximum bit rate that can be read per second in the storage block is determined according to the capacity of the server system, so that a larger server may realize more useful VOD service.

However, even if a large server system is constructed, a time delay due to a congestion of user service requests (i.e., a transmission delay) when a user's service request is congested, i.e., a service request that exceeds the maximum transmission rate of the server system is received. This can only happen. Considering this point, it is possible to solve the transmission delay caused by the congestion of service demand by increasing the capacity of the server system, but considering the fact that the large capacity of the server system itself has a practical limitation, it is a fundamental solution. You won't be able to.

In addition, since a large capacity of the server system results in an increase in service costs, it is not a desirable phenomenon in view of the commerciality of the VOD service.

Therefore, in the related art, in order to improve service efficiency in server systems having the same capacity, a program service technique of a group unit is adopted.

That is, instead of providing a program service whenever there is a service request for a specific program from a user, the user waits for a predetermined time (for example, 30 seconds, 1 minute, etc.), and then waits for the same program during the waiting time. A service control technique is adopted in which a large number of requesting users are formed into one group, and a corresponding program (that is, a program requesting a service) is transmitted in one group unit.

On the other hand, in a server system employing a program service technique in a group unit, if a specific user requests a pause for a program service while receiving a program service, the server system describes the specific user who requested the suspension of the program service. After deregistration by group, individual program services are provided.

Therefore, in the conventional server system, the data transmission rate or transmission line of the VOD server station is consumed for each user who requests the suspension of the program service while receiving the program service. Therefore, the more users requesting the suspension of the program service, There was a problem that the supply efficiency (maximum user that can be accommodated) of the server system is lowered.

The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing, and when a specific user who has received a specific program in a group unit requests the suspension of the program service, the user is released from the group in which the user is registered, and so on. On demand, if the user requests to release the pause from the user again, the on-demand program can be resumed by registering the user in the group closest to the time when the user requested the program to be paused. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of implementing a pause / release function in a video system.

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a plurality of users requesting a service for the same program is organized into one group, and the pause / release in the video-on-demand system serving the program requested by the group is performed. A method for implementing a function, comprising: a first step of deregistering the user from the group and storing time information when the service of the program is stopped when a specific user registered in the group requests a suspension for the program service; ; A second step of retrieving the time information stored in the first step when the user requests to release the pause for the program service; A third step of searching for a group having a service progress time closest to the searched time information; And a fourth step of registering the user with the searched group.

1 is a block diagram of an on-demand video system suitable for applying a method of implementing a pause / release function in an on-demand video system according to the present invention;

2 is a detailed flowchart illustrating a process of implementing a pause / release function in an on-demand video system according to the present invention.

<Description of the code | symbol about the principal part of drawing>

100: set-top unit 200: network manager

300: VOD Server 310: Service Manager

320: service data storage unit 330: service information storage unit

340: service timer

Hereinafter, a worker management system for video on demand and an operation process thereof according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 as follows.

1 is a block diagram of an on-demand video system suitable for applying a method of implementing a pause / release function in an on-demand video system according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a pause / release function in an on-demand video system according to the present invention. Detailed flow chart showing the process.

First, referring to FIG. 1, an on-demand video system suitable for applying a method of implementing a pause / release function in an on-demand video system in an on-demand video system according to the present invention includes a plurality of set-top units 100 and a network manager 200. ), Consisting of the VOD server 300, the configuration and function of each component is as follows.

First, the set-top unit 100 requests to the remote VOD server 300 to provide a program (eg, information about a movie, English conversation program, etc.) for a service according to a user's operation, and also pauses the program service. / Release request, and restores the program data provided from the VOD server 300 to the original signal before encoding to display. In this case, the program data provided from the VOD server 300 may have a form of an MPEG bit stream compressed and encoded at a predetermined bit rate.

The network manager 200 provides various request signals provided from the plurality of set-top units 100 to the VOD server 300, and based on service information provided from the VOD server 300, one or more specific set-top units ( 100 transmits the program data provided from the VOD server 300.

The VOD server 300 includes a service manager 310, a service data storage 320, a service information storage 330, and a service timer 340, and by performing individual functions of each component, the network manager When a request signal for a program service is applied from the plurality of set-top units 100 by the 200, the program service (ie, sequential or random transmission of program data) requested by the plurality of set-top units 100 is provided. In addition, if a pause and release of the program service is requested from the set-top unit 100, this is performed. In this case, the individual functions of the service manager 310, the service data storage 320, the service information storage 330, the service timer 340, and the image storage 350 included in the VOD server 300 are as follows. same.

First, the service manager 310 designates a plurality of set-top units 100 requesting the program service by the network manager 200 into a specific group for each set-top unit 200 requesting the same program for a predetermined time. The service data storage unit 320 is controlled to provide the network administrator 200 with information on the designated specific group, and to transmit the program data requested by the specific group to the network administrator.

In addition, while storing the information for each specific group in the service information storage unit 320, the service timer 340 is controlled to measure the time the program service proceeds for each group.

When the pause request signal is applied from the specific set-top unit 100 through the network manager 200, the specific set-top unit 100 is deregistered from the specific group in which the specific set-top unit 100 is included. The updated information is provided to the network manager 200, and time information of the deregistered program service interval is stored in the service information storage unit 330.

In addition, when the set-top unit 100 requesting the pause for the program service is requested to release the pause for the program service, the time information of the paused program service section stored in the service information storage unit 330 (program Time information deregistered from a specific group that was provided with the service), and searches the group closest to the searched time information from the service timer 340, and further, proceeding time based on the time information searched by the searched group In other words, it is determined whether the standard time (progress time) of the program program section that has been paused is reached, and when the group reaches the progress time based on the retrieved time information, After registering in the group ID, the updated group information is provided to the network administrator 200, and the service information is stored. Stored in the unit 330.

Meanwhile, the service data storage 320 stores program data for a plurality of video files for providing to the set-top unit 100, and transmits predetermined program data under the control of the service manager 310 to the network manager 200. Send to.

The service information storage unit 330 temporarily stores a plurality of group IDs, a plurality of user IDs included in each group ID, and a program ID corresponding to each group ID. The ID and information (progress time or standard time) of the program service section at the time of suspension are stored.

The service timer 340 controls a table of a plurality of program IDs, one or more group IDs corresponding to each program ID, and a program service progress time of each group ID under the control of the service manager 310. Equipped. That is, the time at which the program service is provided for each group ID is measured.

Hereinafter, a method for implementing random access in an on-demand video system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1 with reference to FIG. 2.

First, when the predetermined set-top unit 100 applies the VOD connection signal to the network manager 200, the network manager 200 receives the service manager 310 of the set-top unit 100 and the VOD servo 300 to which the connection signal is applied. Connect it.

Thereafter, the service manager 310 checks the user ID using the set-top unit 100 via the network manager 200, and the program list corresponding to the checked user ID (that is, the rating of the user ID, etc.). By providing the program list to the set-top unit 100, the user to select the program to be serviced, the user through any one of the program list provided from the service manager 310 through the set-top unit (100) Program to be serviced).

When a program service is requested from a plurality of users by the above-described process (S 10), the service manager 310 waits for a predetermined initial waiting time (for example, 30 seconds, 60 seconds, etc. immediately before receiving the program service). A plurality of user IDs requesting services for the same program are configured into one group, and a group ID is assigned to the configured group.

Thereafter, the service manager 310 provides the network manager 200 with information about the newly configured group (that is, the group ID, one or more user IDs included in the group ID, and a program ID to be transmitted to each user ID). The service data storage unit 320 is controlled to transmit the program requested by the users included in the group to the network administrator 200, while the information about the group (group ID, one or more included in the group ID) is controlled. User ID and program ID) are stored in the service information storage unit 330. (S20)

The service data storage unit 320 provides the network manager 200 with data of a program having a predetermined program ID under the control of the service manager 310.

In addition, the network manager 200 checks a plurality of user IDs corresponding to the group IDs by referring to the group information provided from the service manager 310, and services each set-top unit 100 corresponding to the user IDs. The program data received from the data storage unit 320 is transmitted.

The program data provided to the set-top unit 100 to the network manager 200 is provided in the form of an MPEG bit stream compressed and coded at a predetermined bit rate by the program data provided from the VOD server 300 to the set-top unit 100. In this way, the original signal before encoding is restored and displayed (S30). In this case, the service manager 310 controls the service timer 340 to provide the service timer 340 with information about a corresponding group (group providing a specific program) to the service timer 340 and to count the time at which the service is provided. In response to the ID (for example, the movie title) and the group ID corresponding to the program ID, the time when the service is being provided to the group ID may be measured.

If the user who was watching the predetermined image displayed by the set-top unit 100 operates the set-top unit to suspend the program service, the set-top unit 100 randomly transmits to the service manager 310 via the network manager 200. The stop signal is transmitted (S 40).

The service manager 310 receiving the random access signal from the predetermined set-top unit 100 searches for group information stored in the service information storage unit 330 in step S20, and a user ID corresponding to the set-top unit is registered. Unregister the user ID from the group ID. That is, the group information stored in the service information storage unit 330 is updated, and the updated group information is provided to the network manager 200 again. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the service information storage unit 330 temporarily stores a plurality of group IDs, a plurality of user IDs included in each group ID, and a program ID corresponding to each group ID. .

At the same time, the service manager 310 programs the user ID which has requested a pause in another section of the service information storage unit 330 (a section other than a section in which a plurality of group information is stored) and a pause request from the user ID. Stores the time information of the program service section, that is, the service section that suspended the service.

Meanwhile, the network manager 200 transmits program data to the set-top unit 100 corresponding to the user ID deregistered from the group ID by referring to the group information transmitted from the service manager 310, that is, updated group information. Stop (S 50).

In a state in which program service for a specific user is interrupted as in step S 50, once the stop release signal is provided from the set-top unit 100 that has transmitted a pause signal via the network manager 200 (S 60), The service manager 200 searches for time information of the paused program service section stored in the service information storage unit 330, that is, time information corresponding to the user ID requesting the suspension (S 70), and the service timer. In step 340, the measured time information is searched for the group ID closest to the time information checked in step S70. That is, among the groups receiving the same program as the group including the user ID requesting the pause, the service progress time is searched for the group closest to the time corresponding to the image selection signal (S80).

Thereafter, the service manager 310 receives the time information from the service timer 340 and determines whether the service progress time of the closest group ID searched at step S80 coincides with the time searched at step S70. That is, it is determined whether the searched group reaches the prestored time information (time information of the paused program section) in step S 50 in which the progress time of the program service provided to the nearest group is determined (S 90).

As a result of the determination in step S 90, if the service progress time of the closest group ID searched in step S80 matches the time searched in step S70, the user ID requesting the release of suspension is registered in the group ID. By providing the group information registered with the user ID to the network administrator 200, the program will be transmitted to the set-top unit 100 corresponding to the user ID requesting the suspension release from the program section where the user requests the pause ( S 100). In this case, the group information stored in the service information storage unit 330 will also be stored in the updated state by the service manager 310.

According to the present invention, there is an effect that can provide a pause / release function to the user without the transmission rate or transmission line consumption of the VOD server.

Claims (1)

A method of implementing a pause / release function in an on-demand video system for organizing a plurality of users who request a service for the same program into a group and serving a program that requires the group, A first step of deregistering the user from the group and storing time information when the specific user registered in the group requests the temporary stop of the program service and stops the service of the program; A second step of retrieving the time information stored in the first step when the user requests to release the pause for the program service; A third step of searching for a group having a service progress time closest to the searched time information; And a fourth step of registering the user with the searched group.