CN110022286B - Method and device for requesting multimedia program - Google Patents

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a method and a device for requesting multimedia programs, which relate to the technical field of video networking, and the method is applied to the video networking and comprises the following steps: receiving a submitted on-demand instruction, wherein the on-demand instruction carries an on-demand address, applying for a virtual terminal from a multimedia server according to the on-demand address, and acquiring a multimedia program corresponding to the program information from the virtual terminal to play according to the submitted program information. The invention realizes that the terminal in the video network provides the required multimedia program, namely the on-demand function in the video network, for the user according to the on-demand requirement of the user while providing the conventional video network service for the user, thereby improving the user experience.

Description

Method and device for requesting multimedia program

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of video networking, in particular to a method for playing a multimedia program on demand and an electronic focusing device of a camera.

Background

With the rapid development of network technologies, bidirectional communications such as video conferences and video teaching are widely popularized in the aspects of life, work, learning and the like of users.

The existing video networking can provide video networking services such as video conferences for users, but users may want to play multimedia programs through the video networking besides using the existing video networking services, such as viewing video conference records or watching other video programs, and the existing video networking is difficult to realize the function, so that the user experience is poor.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above problems, embodiments of the present invention are proposed to provide a method and apparatus for on-demand multimedia programming that overcomes or at least partially solves the above problems.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for requesting a multimedia program, the method being applied to a video network, and comprising:

receiving a submitted on-demand instruction, wherein the on-demand instruction carries an on-demand address;

applying for a virtual terminal from a multimedia server according to the on-demand address;

and acquiring a multimedia program corresponding to the program information from the virtual terminal according to the submitted program information, and playing the multimedia program.

Optionally, before applying for the virtual terminal from the multimedia server according to the on-demand address, the method further includes:

determining that there is no currently in-process video networking traffic.

Optionally, the applying for the virtual terminal from the multimedia server according to the on-demand address includes:

inquiring a multimedia server identifier corresponding to the on-demand address through a DNS (Domain name System);

and requesting the multimedia server to generate the virtual terminal according to the multimedia server identification.

Optionally, the obtaining, according to the submitted program information, a multimedia program corresponding to the program information from the virtual terminal for playing includes:

establishing point-to-point communication connection with the virtual terminal;

and acquiring the multimedia program from the virtual terminal to play based on the communication connection.

Optionally, the obtaining, according to the submitted program information, a multimedia program corresponding to the program information from the virtual terminal for playing includes:

sending a play control instruction to the virtual terminal so as to control the virtual terminal to provide the multimedia program through the play control instruction, wherein the play control instruction comprises a play starting instruction, a play pausing instruction, a play continuing instruction, a play terminating instruction or a fixed point play instruction;

and receiving the multimedia program provided by the virtual terminal for playing.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for requesting multimedia programs, the apparatus being applied to a video network, and comprising:

the receiving module is used for receiving the submitted on-demand instruction, and the on-demand instruction carries an on-demand address;

the application module is used for applying for the virtual terminal from the multimedia server according to the on-demand address;

and the playing module is used for acquiring the multimedia program corresponding to the program information from the virtual terminal according to the submitted program information and playing the multimedia program.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

and the determining module is used for determining that the video networking service is not processed currently.

Optionally, the application module includes:

the query submodule is used for querying a multimedia server identifier corresponding to the on-demand address through a DNS (domain name system);

and the request submodule is used for requesting the multimedia server to generate the virtual terminal according to the multimedia server identification.

Optionally, the playing module includes:

the establishing submodule is used for establishing point-to-point communication connection with the virtual terminal;

and the first playing submodule is used for acquiring the multimedia program from the virtual terminal to play based on the communication connection.

Optionally, the playing module includes:

the sending submodule is used for sending a playing control instruction to the virtual terminal so as to control the virtual terminal to provide the multimedia program through the playing control instruction, wherein the playing control instruction comprises a playing starting instruction, a playing pausing instruction, a playing continuing instruction, a playing stopping instruction or a fixed point playing instruction;

and the second playing submodule is used for receiving the multimedia program provided by the virtual terminal and playing the multimedia program.

The embodiment of the invention has the following advantages:

in the embodiment of the invention, the submitted on-demand instruction can be received, so that the virtual terminal is applied from the multimedia server according to the on-demand address carried in the on-demand instruction, and the corresponding multimedia program is obtained from the multimedia server according to the submitted multimedia information and played, thus realizing that the terminal in the video network provides the required multimedia program for the user according to the on-demand requirement of the user while providing the conventional video network service for the user, namely, the on-demand function in the video network, and improving the user experience.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic networking diagram of a video network of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a hardware architecture of a node server according to the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of an access switch of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of an ethernet protocol conversion gateway according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the steps of a method for requesting multimedia programs according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating the steps of a method for requesting multimedia programs according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a timing diagram illustrating a method for requesting multimedia programs according to the present invention;

fig. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for requesting a multimedia program according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in further detail below.

The video networking is an important milestone for network development, is a real-time network, can realize high-definition video real-time transmission, and pushes a plurality of internet applications to high-definition video, and high-definition faces each other.

The video networking adopts a real-time high-definition video exchange technology, can integrate required services such as dozens of services of video, voice, pictures, characters, communication, data and the like on a system platform on a network platform, such as high-definition video conference, video monitoring, intelligent monitoring analysis, emergency command, digital broadcast television, delayed television, network teaching, live broadcast, VOD on demand, television mail, Personal Video Recorder (PVR), intranet (self-office) channels, intelligent video broadcast control, information distribution and the like, and realizes high-definition quality video broadcast through a television or a computer.

To better understand the embodiments of the present invention, the following description refers to the internet of view:

some of the technologies applied in the video networking are as follows:

network Technology (Network Technology)

Network technology innovation in video networking has improved over traditional Ethernet (Ethernet) to face the potentially enormous video traffic on the network. Unlike pure network Packet Switching (Packet Switching) or network Circuit Switching (Circuit Switching), the Packet Switching is adopted by the technology of the video networking to meet the Streaming requirement. The video networking technology has the advantages of flexibility, simplicity and low price of packet switching, and simultaneously has the quality and safety guarantee of circuit switching, thereby realizing the seamless connection of the whole network switching type virtual circuit and the data format.

Switching Technology (Switching Technology)

The video network adopts two advantages of asynchronism and packet exchange of the Ethernet, eliminates the Ethernet defect on the premise of full compatibility, has end-to-end seamless connection of the whole network, is directly communicated with a user terminal, and directly bears an IP (Internet Protocol) data packet. The user data does not require any format conversion across the entire network. The video networking is a higher-level form of the Ethernet, is a real-time exchange platform, can realize the real-time transmission of the whole-network large-scale high-definition video which cannot be realized by the existing Internet, and pushes a plurality of network video applications to high-definition and unification.

Server Technology (Server Technology)

The server technology on the video networking and unified video platform is different from the traditional server, the streaming media transmission of the video networking and unified video platform is established on the basis of connection orientation, the data processing capacity of the video networking and unified video platform is independent of flow and communication time, and a single network layer can contain signaling and data transmission. For voice and video services, the complexity of video networking and unified video platform streaming media processing is much simpler than that of data processing, and the efficiency is greatly improved by more than one hundred times compared with that of a traditional server.

Storage Technology (Storage Technology)

The super-high speed storage technology of the unified video platform adopts the most advanced real-time operating system in order to adapt to the media content with super-large capacity and super-large flow, the program information in the server instruction is mapped to the specific hard disk space, the media content is not passed through the server any more, and is directly sent to the user terminal instantly, and the general waiting time of the user is less than 0.2 second. The optimized sector distribution greatly reduces the mechanical motion of the magnetic head track seeking of the hard disk, the resource consumption only accounts for 20% of that of the IP internet of the same grade, but concurrent flow which is 3 times larger than that of the traditional hard disk array is generated, and the comprehensive efficiency is improved by more than 10 times.

Network Security Technology (Network Security Technology)

The structural design of the video network completely eliminates the network security problem troubling the internet structurally by the modes of independent service permission control each time, complete isolation of equipment and user data and the like, generally does not need antivirus programs and firewalls, avoids the attack of hackers and viruses, and provides a structural carefree security network for users.

Service Innovation Technology (Service Innovation Technology)

The unified video platform integrates services and transmission, and is not only automatically connected once whether a single user, a private network user or a network aggregate. The user terminal, the set-top box or the PC are directly connected to the unified video platform to obtain various multimedia video services in various forms. The unified video platform adopts a menu type configuration table mode to replace the traditional complex application programming, can realize complex application by using very few codes, and realizes infinite new service innovation.

Networking of the video network is as follows:

the video network is a centralized control network structure, and the network can be a tree network, a star network, a ring network and the like, but on the basis of the centralized control node, the whole network is controlled by the centralized control node in the network.

As shown in fig. 1, the video network is divided into an access network and a metropolitan network.

The devices of the access network part can be mainly classified into 3 types: node server, access switch, terminal (including various set-top boxes, coding boards, memories, etc.). The node server is connected to an access switch, which may be connected to a plurality of terminals and may be connected to an ethernet network.

The node server is a node which plays a centralized control function in the access network and can control the access switch and the terminal. The node server can be directly connected with the access switch or directly connected with the terminal.

Similarly, devices of the metropolitan network portion may also be classified into 3 types: a metropolitan area server, a node switch and a node server. The metro server is connected to a node switch, which may be connected to a plurality of node servers.

The node server is a node server of the access network part, namely the node server belongs to both the access network part and the metropolitan area network part.

The metropolitan area server is a node which plays a centralized control function in the metropolitan area network and can control a node switch and a node server. The metropolitan area server can be directly connected with the node switch or directly connected with the node server.

Therefore, the whole video network is a network structure with layered centralized control, and the network controlled by the node server and the metropolitan area server can be in various structures such as tree, star and ring.

The access network part can form a unified video platform (the part in the dotted circle), and a plurality of unified video platforms can form a video network; each unified video platform may be interconnected via metropolitan area and wide area video networking.

Video networking device classification

1.1 devices in the video network of the embodiment of the present invention can be mainly classified into 3 types: servers, switches (including ethernet gateways), terminals (including various set-top boxes, code boards, memories, etc.). The video network as a whole can be divided into a metropolitan area network (or national network, global network, etc.) and an access network.

1.2 wherein the devices of the access network part can be mainly classified into 3 types: node servers, access switches (including ethernet gateways), terminals (including various set-top boxes, code boards, memories, etc.).

The specific hardware structure of each access network device is as follows:

a node server:

as shown in fig. 2, the system mainly includes a network interface module 201, a switching engine module 202, a CPU module 203, and a disk array module 204;

the network interface module 201, the CPU module 203, and the disk array module 204 all enter the switching engine module 202; the switching engine module 202 performs an operation of looking up the address table 205 on the incoming packet, thereby obtaining the direction information of the packet; and stores the packet in a queue of the corresponding packet buffer 206 based on the packet's steering information; if the queue of the packet buffer 206 is nearly full, it is discarded; the switching engine module 202 polls all packet buffer queues for forwarding if the following conditions are met: 1) the port send buffer is not full; 2) the queue packet counter is greater than zero. The disk array module 204 mainly implements control over the hard disk, including initialization, read-write, and other operations on the hard disk; the CPU module 203 is mainly responsible for protocol processing with an access switch and a terminal (not shown in the figure), configuring an address table 205 (including a downlink protocol packet address table, an uplink protocol packet address table, and a data packet address table), and configuring the disk array module 204.

The access switch:

as shown in fig. 3, the network interface module mainly includes a network interface module (a downlink network interface module 301 and an uplink network interface module 302), a switching engine module 303 and a CPU module 304;

wherein, the packet (uplink data) coming from the downlink network interface module 301 enters the packet detection module 305; the packet detection module 305 detects whether the Destination Address (DA), the Source Address (SA), the packet type, and the packet length of the packet meet the requirements, and if so, allocates a corresponding stream identifier (stream-id) and enters the switching engine module 303, otherwise, discards the stream identifier; the packet (downstream data) coming from the upstream network interface module 302 enters the switching engine module 303; the data packet coming from the CPU module 204 enters the switching engine module 303; the switching engine module 303 performs an operation of looking up the address table 306 on the incoming packet, thereby obtaining the direction information of the packet; if the packet entering the switching engine module 303 is from the downstream network interface to the upstream network interface, the packet is stored in the queue of the corresponding packet buffer 307 in association with the stream-id; if the queue of the packet buffer 307 is nearly full, it is discarded; if the packet entering the switching engine module 303 is not from the downlink network interface to the uplink network interface, the data packet is stored in the queue of the corresponding packet buffer 307 according to the guiding information of the packet; if the queue of the packet buffer 307 is nearly full, it is discarded.

The switching engine module 303 polls all packet buffer queues, which in this embodiment of the present invention is divided into two cases:

if the queue is from the downlink network interface to the uplink network interface, the following conditions are met for forwarding: 1) the port send buffer is not full; 2) the queued packet counter is greater than zero; 3) obtaining a token generated by a code rate control module;

if the queue is not from the downlink network interface to the uplink network interface, the following conditions are met for forwarding: 1) the port send buffer is not full; 2) the queue packet counter is greater than zero.

The rate control module 208 is configured by the CPU module 204, and generates tokens for packet buffer queues from all downstream network interfaces to upstream network interfaces at programmable intervals to control the rate of upstream forwarding.

The CPU module 304 is mainly responsible for protocol processing with the node server, configuration of the address table 306, and configuration of the code rate control module 308.

Ethernet protocol conversion gateway：

As shown in fig. 4, the apparatus mainly includes a network interface module (a downlink network interface module 401 and an uplink network interface module 402), a switching engine module 403, a CPU module 404, a packet detection module 405, a rate control module 408, an address table 406, a packet buffer 407, a MAC adding module 409, and a MAC deleting module 410.

Wherein, the data packet coming from the downlink network interface module 401 enters the packet detection module 405; the packet detection module 405 detects whether the ethernet MAC DA, the ethernet MAC SA, the ethernet length or frame type, the video network destination address DA, the video network source address SA, the video network packet type, and the packet length of the packet meet the requirements, and if so, allocates a corresponding stream identifier (stream-id); then, the MAC deletion module 410 subtracts MAC DA, MAC SA, length or frame type (2byte) and enters the corresponding receiving buffer, otherwise, discards it;

the downlink network interface module 401 detects the sending buffer of the port, and if there is a packet, obtains the ethernet MAC DA of the corresponding terminal according to the destination address DA of the packet, adds the ethernet MAC DA of the terminal, the MAC SA of the ethernet protocol gateway, and the ethernet length or frame type, and sends the packet.

The other modules in the ethernet protocol gateway function similarly to the access switch.

A terminal:

the system mainly comprises a network interface module, a service processing module and a CPU module; for example, the set-top box mainly comprises a network interface module, a video and audio coding and decoding engine module and a CPU module; the coding board mainly comprises a network interface module, a video and audio coding engine module and a CPU module; the memory mainly comprises a network interface module, a CPU module and a disk array module.

1.3 devices of the metropolitan area network part can be mainly classified into 2 types: node server, node exchanger, metropolitan area server. The node switch mainly comprises a network interface module, a switching engine module and a CPU module; the metropolitan area server mainly comprises a network interface module, a switching engine module and a CPU module.

2. Video networking packet definition

2.1 Access network packet definition

The data packet of the access network mainly comprises the following parts: destination Address (DA), Source Address (SA), reserved bytes, payload (pdu), CRC.

As shown in the following table, the data packet of the access network mainly includes the following parts:

DA

SA

Reserved

Payload

CRC

wherein:

the Destination Address (DA) is composed of 8 bytes (byte), the first byte represents the type of the data packet (such as various protocol packets, multicast data packets, unicast data packets, etc.), there are 256 possibilities at most, the second byte to the sixth byte are metropolitan area network addresses, and the seventh byte and the eighth byte are access network addresses;

the Source Address (SA) is also composed of 8 bytes (byte), defined as the same as the Destination Address (DA);

the reserved byte consists of 2 bytes;

the payload part has different lengths according to different types of datagrams, and is 64 bytes if the datagram is various types of protocol packets, and is 32+1024 or 1056 bytes if the datagram is a unicast packet, of course, the length is not limited to the above 2 types;

the CRC consists of 4 bytes and is calculated in accordance with the standard ethernet CRC algorithm.

2.2 metropolitan area network packet definition

The topology of a metropolitan area network is a graph and there may be 2, or even more than 2, connections between two devices, i.e., there may be more than 2 connections between a node switch and a node server, a node switch and a node switch, and a node switch and a node server. However, the metro network address of the metro network device is unique, and in order to accurately describe the connection relationship between the metro network devices, parameters are introduced in the embodiment of the present invention: a label to uniquely describe a metropolitan area network device.

In this specification, the definition of the Label is similar to that of the Label of MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switch), and assuming that there are two connections between the device a and the device B, there are 2 labels for the packet from the device a to the device B, and 2 labels for the packet from the device B to the device a. The label is classified into an incoming label and an outgoing label, and assuming that the label (incoming label) of the packet entering the device a is 0x0000, the label (outgoing label) of the packet leaving the device a may become 0x 0001. The network access process of the metro network is a network access process under centralized control, that is, address allocation and label allocation of the metro network are both dominated by the metro server, and the node switch and the node server are both passively executed, which is different from label allocation of MPLS, and label allocation of MPLS is a result of mutual negotiation between the switch and the server.

As shown in the following table, the data packet of the metro network mainly includes the following parts:

DA

SA

Reserved

label (R)

Payload

CRC

Namely Destination Address (DA), Source Address (SA), Reserved byte (Reserved), tag, payload (pdu), CRC. The format of the tag may be defined by reference to the following: the tag is 32 bits with the upper 16 bits reserved and only the lower 16 bits used, and its position is between the reserved bytes and payload of the packet.

Based on the characteristics of the video network, the invention provides one of the core concepts of the embodiment, and the function of ordering the multimedia program by the terminal is realized by following the protocol of the video network.

Referring to fig. 5, a flowchart illustrating steps of an embodiment of a method for requesting a multimedia program according to the present invention is shown, where the method may be applied in a video network, and specifically may include the following steps:

step 501, receiving a submitted on-demand instruction, wherein the on-demand instruction carries an on-demand address.

In order to enable a terminal in a video network to provide conventional video network services such as a video conference and the like for a user, the multimedia program provided for the user can be accurately provided in time according to the requirement of the user for the on-demand multimedia program, the on-demand function in the video network is realized, the user experience is improved, and the terminal can receive the submitted on-demand instruction.

The video networking service is a service which can be provided by the video networking to users, for example, the video networking service may include video telephone, video conference, video monitoring and on-demand service provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

The multimedia program may include a program recorded in advance, such as a program from a third party, such as a tv show, a movie, a variety program, a cartoon, a music, etc., or a program recorded based on other video networking service processes in the video networking, such as video call recording, video conference recording, video surveillance recording, etc.

The on-demand instruction is used for controlling the terminal to provide the on-demand service for the user, and the on-demand instruction can be triggered by the user through preset operations such as click operation, touch operation or sliding operation.

The on-demand address is used to indicate the location of the on-demand multimedia program in the network, or indicate the location of a server capable of providing the multimedia program in the network, and for example, the on-demand address may include a URL (Uniform Resource Locator).

The terminal can show a plurality of selection entries of the video networking service to the user, and when the selection entries based on the on-demand service receive the preset operation of the user, the on-demand instruction can be determined to be triggered. For example, the terminal may present a menu including a plurality of icons to the user, each icon may correspond to one video network service, and if a click operation is received based on the icon for the on-demand service, it is determined that the on-demand instruction is triggered. Of course, in order to freely and flexibly provide various multimedia programs for the user, the terminal may also provide the user with a selection entry for multiple multimedia servers to receive the on-demand instruction of the user for the multimedia servers, or provide the user with an on-demand address input entry to receive an on-demand address submitted by the user through the on-demand address input entry and provide the user with an on-demand service from the corresponding multimedia server according to the on-demand address provided by the user.

The multimedia server is used for providing on-demand services for users, and a storage device storing a plurality of multimedia programs can be arranged in the multimedia server or connected with the storage device storing the plurality of multimedia programs through a network.

For example, the multimedia server may be implemented as a content management platform, which may include a server and a storage gateway. The server is used for receiving various instructions submitted by the terminal, and interacting with the corresponding storage gateway according to the instructions, wherein the instructions comprise forwarding instructions, acquiring multimedia programs from the storage gateway and the like; the storage gateway is used for storing data such as multimedia programs and maintaining the stored data, such as updating, deleting or encrypting.

Step 502, applying for a virtual terminal from a multimedia server according to the on-demand address.

Since a terminal in the video networking is generally used for providing services such as video telephony and video conferencing, the terminal may be set for the video networking or a specific video networking service, and thus may have a specific data interface, follow a related protocol for processing data in the video networking, and the like, in order to ensure that the terminal can implement a video-on-demand function based on the video networking, the terminal may apply for a virtual terminal from a multimedia server according to a video-on-demand address, that is, the multimedia server generates the virtual terminal, so that the terminal interacts with the virtual terminal in a manner simulating an interaction manner of the terminal in the services such as video telephony and video conferencing, and thus, the multimedia program on-demand is completed.

The virtual terminal is generated by a multimedia server for providing multimedia programs to the terminal. For other devices in the video network, the virtual terminal has the same function as or the same function as the terminal part of the entity in the video network, for example, has the same data interface as the terminal of the entity, and performs data processing according to the relevant protocol for processing data in the video network.

The terminal can send a virtual terminal application instruction to a corresponding multimedia server according to the on-demand address based on a transparent transmission protocol, and when the multimedia server receives the virtual terminal application instruction, an idle virtual terminal is generated.

The transparent transmission protocol can be used for data transmission between the terminal and the multimedia server, so that the data sent by the sender is completely consistent with the data received by the receiver.

The multimedia server can generate the virtual terminal according to the system architecture and resource configuration of the terminal of the entity in a mode of constructing the virtual machine. Of course, in practical applications, the multimedia server may generate the virtual terminal in other manners.

Step 503, according to the submitted program information, obtaining a multimedia program corresponding to the program information from the virtual terminal for playing.

Since the terminal has already applied for the virtual terminal for the multimedia program provided to the terminal from the multimedia server, the terminal can obtain the corresponding multimedia program from the virtual terminal for playing according to the program information.

The virtual terminal is generated by the multimedia server, so that interaction is carried out between the terminal and the virtual terminal, namely the multimedia server carries out interaction, and the multimedia server processes data interacted between the terminals by simulating a processing mode of the terminal of an entity to the data, so that a multimedia program is provided for the terminal.

The program information is used to indicate a corresponding multimedia program, and the program information may include a storage address of program data of the multimedia program or a program identifier of the multimedia program, and of course, in practical applications, the program information may also include other information related to the multimedia program, such as an icon of the multimedia program, version information of the multimedia program, a generation time of the multimedia program, or copyright information of the multimedia program.

The storage address is used to specify the location in the network where the program data of the multimedia program is stored.

The program identifier is used to uniquely identify a multimedia program, and may include information such as a name or a number.

The terminal can interact with the virtual terminal to obtain a program menu, the program menu can comprise a plurality of program information, the terminal displays the program information of a plurality of multimedia programs to a user, the terminal is convenient for the user to select the multimedia programs needing to be ordered according to the provided program information, if the terminal receives a program selection instruction of the user based on any program information, the program information is fed back to the virtual terminal, when the virtual terminal receives the fed-back program information, the program data of the multimedia programs are obtained according to the program information, the ordered program data are fed back to the terminal, the terminal receives the program data, and the multimedia programs of the user are played in a playing interface. Of course, in practical applications, the terminal may also provide a program information input entry, so as to receive program information submitted by the user through the input entry.

The program selection instruction is used for selecting program information required to be requested, and can be triggered by a user through executing preset operation.

In addition, in practical applications, the on-demand address may include program information, for example, taking the on-demand address of a video of a certain video conference as an example, the on-demand address of the video is http:// sw.

In the embodiment of the invention, the submitted on-demand instruction can be received, so that the virtual terminal is applied from the multimedia server according to the on-demand address carried in the on-demand instruction, and the corresponding multimedia program is obtained from the multimedia server according to the submitted multimedia information and played, thus realizing that the terminal in the video network provides the required multimedia program for the user according to the on-demand requirement of the user while providing the conventional video network service for the user, namely, the on-demand function in the video network, and improving the user experience.

Referring to fig. 6, a flowchart illustrating steps of an embodiment of a method for requesting a multimedia program according to the present invention is shown, where the method may be applied in a video network, and specifically may include the following steps:

step 601, the terminal receives the submitted on-demand instruction, and the on-demand instruction carries an on-demand address.

For the way in which the terminal receives the on-demand instruction, reference may be made to the related description in the foregoing, and details are not repeated here.

Step 602, the terminal determines that there is no video networking service currently being processed.

Since the terminal may also currently have a video networking service in process, such as video telephony, video conference or video monitoring, which generally have a high requirement on real-time performance, in order to reduce the video networking service in process from interfering with the video networking service in process having a high requirement on real-time performance, such as video telephony, video conference or video monitoring, and thereby improve the reliability of the terminal in processing the video networking service, the terminal may perform subsequent steps to realize the multimedia program on demand under the condition that it is determined that there is no video networking service in process currently, that is, it is idle.

The terminal can detect the occupation conditions of system resources such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a cache, or a network bandwidth of the terminal, and if the occupation amount of the system resources is lower than an idle resource threshold, it can be determined that the terminal is in an idle state, otherwise, it is determined that the terminal is not in an idle state. Alternatively, the terminal may detect whether an output device such as a speaker or a display screen is outputting data, and may determine that the terminal is in an idle state if none of the data is output, or may determine that the terminal is not in an idle state otherwise. Of course, in practical applications, the terminal may also determine whether the terminal is currently in an idle state in other manners.

The system resources are usually provided in the terminal and can be called by the terminal to implement service processing, and in practical applications, the system resources may also include other resources besides the aforementioned CPU, cache and network bandwidth.

The occupation amount of the system resource is used for explaining the occupation condition of the system resource, for example, the occupation amount of the system resource may include CPU occupation rate, cache occupation rate, network bandwidth, or read-write frequency for the storage medium, and the like.

The idle resource threshold is used to indicate the occupation amount of system resources when the terminal is idle, and the idle resource threshold may be determined in advance by the terminal, for example, by receiving a submitted value.

For example, the terminal detects that the current CPU occupancy is 5%, the cache occupancy is 20%, and the idle CPU occupancy threshold is 10%, and the idle cache occupancy threshold is 25%, and since the current system resource occupancy is less than the idle resource threshold, the terminal may determine that the terminal is currently in the idle state.

Step 603, the terminal applies for a virtual terminal from the multimedia server according to the on-demand address.

The method for the terminal to apply for the virtual terminal from the multimedia server according to the on-demand address may refer to the related description in the foregoing, and details are not repeated here.

In the embodiment of the present invention, optionally, since there may be a plurality of multimedia servers providing multimedia programs, in order to quickly find a corresponding multimedia server according to an on-demand address provided by a user, that is, to improve efficiency and accuracy of finding the multimedia server, and further improve efficiency and accuracy of on-demand of multimedia programs, a terminal may query, through a Domain Name System (DNS), a multimedia server identifier corresponding to the on-demand address, and request, according to the multimedia server identifier, the multimedia server to generate the virtual terminal.

The video networking DNS stores a mapping relation between the on-demand address and the multimedia server identifier, and is used for carrying out DNS query to obtain the multimedia server identifier of the multimedia server according to the provided on-demand address, or carrying out reverse DNS query to obtain the corresponding on-demand address according to the multimedia server identifier.

The multimedia server identifier is used to identify a multimedia server, and the multimedia server identifier may include a number of the multimedia server, and certainly, in practical applications, the multimedia server identifier may further include other information, such as an IP address or a Media Access Control (MAC) address of the multimedia server.

The terminal can send the on-demand address to a video network DNS according to a related protocol of data transmission in the video network, the video network DNS determines and feeds back a multimedia server identifier corresponding to the on-demand address according to the on-demand address, the terminal sends a virtual terminal application instruction to the multimedia server according to the multimedia server identifier when receiving the multimedia server identifier, and a virtual terminal is generated when the multimedia server receives the virtual terminal application instruction.

In addition, if the terminal determines that there is currently a video networking service in process, such as a video conference, the terminal may stop performing subsequent steps to stop ordering the multimedia program.

And step 604, the terminal acquires the multimedia program corresponding to the program information from the virtual terminal according to the submitted program information and plays the multimedia program.

The terminal obtains and plays the multimedia program from the virtual terminal according to the submitted program information, which can refer to the related description in the foregoing, and details are not repeated here.

In the embodiment of the present invention, optionally, as can be seen from the foregoing description, a terminal in a video network may be set for the video network or a specific video network service, and thus may have a specific data interface, follow a related protocol for processing data in the video network, and the like, and a point-to-point communication connection may be generally performed between two terminals in the video network, so that, in order to improve reliability of requesting a multimedia program, the terminal may establish a point-to-point communication connection with the virtual terminal, and based on the communication connection, obtain the multimedia program from the virtual terminal for playing.

The terminal can establish point-to-point video call connection with the virtual terminal, so that the multimedia program is acquired from the virtual terminal for playing through the video call connection.

In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, in order to facilitate a user to accurately control a playing process of a multimedia program in a process of playing the multimedia program on demand, and further improve accuracy of playing the multimedia program, a terminal may send a play control instruction to the virtual terminal, so as to control the virtual terminal to provide the multimedia program through the play control instruction, where the play control instruction includes a start play instruction, a pause play instruction, a continue play instruction, a stop play instruction, or a fixed point play instruction, and receives the multimedia program provided by the virtual terminal for playing.

The playing control instruction is used for controlling the playing process of the multimedia program, and the playing control instruction may be triggered by a user through executing a preset operation, for example, the terminal may display a plurality of buttons in the playing interface, each button may correspond to a different playing control instruction, when a click operation of the user is received based on any button, it is determined that the playing control instruction corresponding to the button is triggered, and the triggered playing control instruction is sent to the virtual terminal.

The playing starting instruction is used for indicating the virtual terminal to start providing program data of the on-demand multimedia program; the playing pause instruction is used for indicating the virtual terminal to temporarily stop providing the program data of the on-demand multimedia program; the continuous playing instruction is used for indicating the virtual terminal to continuously provide the program data of the multimedia program based on the playing progress which is paused for the last time; the playing stopping instruction is used for indicating the virtual terminal to stop providing the program data of the multimedia program, when the playing stopping instruction is received, the virtual terminal can determine that the video-on-demand is finished, the communication connection with the terminal is disconnected, and the multimedia server where the virtual terminal is located can log off the virtual terminal; the fixed point play instruction is used for instructing the virtual terminal to provide the program data of the multimedia program according to the designated play progress, wherein the terminal may display an adjustable progress bar in the play interface so as to determine the designated play progress based on a drag operation of a user, or the terminal may provide a play progress input entry so as to receive a submitted progress through the play progress input entry.

The playing progress is used for explaining the playing progress of the multimedia program, and the playing progress can be embodied as a time axis of the multimedia program.

Of course, in practical applications, in order to further improve the accuracy of playing the multimedia program, the playing control command may further include other commands, such as a bullet screen display command and a bullet screen closing command.

And the bullet screen display instruction and the bullet screen closing instruction are used for indicating the virtual terminal to send or stop sending the bullet screen in the played multimedia program.

For example, a timing diagram of a method for requesting a multimedia program can be shown in fig. 7. In fig. 7, in step 701, the terminal receives an on-demand instruction of a user, determines that a current no-service state exists, that is, there is no video networking service in processing, and obtains a content management platform number through a video networking DNS lookup; step 702, a terminal applies for a virtual terminal to a content management platform, and the virtual terminal application comprises sending a virtual terminal application instruction to the content management platform according to a content management platform number; step 703, the content management platform generates a virtual terminal; step 704, the content management platform feeds back success of generating the virtual terminal to the terminal; step 705, the terminal establishes a point-to-point link with a content management platform (virtual terminal) in a video call mode; step 706, the content management platform (virtual terminal) feeds back to the terminal to establish a point-to-point link; step 707, the terminal sends a request start instruction to the content management platform (virtual terminal), wherein the request start instruction carries program information to be watched; step 708, the content management platform (virtual terminal) receives the on-demand start instruction, and feeds back program data of the multimedia program to the terminal in real time according to the program information; step 709, the terminal receives the program data to play, wherein the playing includes sending instructions of pause, continue or fixed point playing to the content management platform (virtual terminal) to accurately control the playing of the multimedia program; step 710, the terminal sends an on-demand stop instruction to the content management platform (virtual terminal); step 711, the content management platform (virtual terminal) receives the on-demand stop instruction, stops sending the program data, and feeds back an on-demand end prompt message to the terminal to prompt the end of the on-demand service.

In the embodiment of the invention, firstly, the submitted on-demand instruction can be received, so that the virtual terminal is applied from the multimedia server according to the on-demand address carried in the on-demand instruction, and the corresponding multimedia program is obtained from the multimedia server according to the submitted multimedia information and played, thus realizing that the terminal in the video network provides the required multimedia program for the user according to the on-demand requirement of the user while providing the conventional video network service for the user, namely, the on-demand function in the video network, and improving the user experience.

Secondly, after receiving the on-demand instruction, the terminal can judge whether the terminal has the video networking service currently being processed, and when the video networking service not being processed is determined, the on-demand service is provided for the user, namely, the on-demand function when the terminal is idle can be realized, the possibility that the on-demand service causes interference on the video networking service with higher real-time requirement in the terminal is reduced, and the reliability of the terminal for processing the video networking service is improved.

In addition, the corresponding multimedia server can be quickly and accurately determined through the video networking DNS according to the on-demand address, so that the on-demand multimedia program can be quickly and accurately provided for the user, and the efficiency and the accuracy of on-demand multimedia programs are improved.

In addition, in the process of ordering the multimedia programs, the process of playing the multimedia programs can be accurately controlled through various playing control instructions, and the accuracy of ordering the multimedia programs is further improved.

It should be noted that, for simplicity of description, the method embodiments are described as a series of acts or combination of acts, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention is not limited by the illustrated order of acts, as some steps may occur in other orders or concurrently in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention. Further, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments described in the specification are presently preferred and that no particular act is required to implement the invention.

Referring to fig. 8, a block diagram of an embodiment of an apparatus for requesting multimedia programs according to the present invention is shown, which may be applied in a video network, and specifically includes the following modules:

a receiving module 801, configured to receive a submitted on-demand instruction, where the on-demand instruction carries an on-demand address;

an application module 802, configured to apply for a virtual terminal from a multimedia server according to the on-demand address;

and a playing module 803, configured to obtain, according to the submitted program information, a multimedia program corresponding to the program information from the virtual terminal and play the multimedia program.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

and the determining module is used for determining that the video networking service is not processed currently.

Optionally, the application module includes:

the query submodule is used for querying a multimedia server identifier corresponding to the on-demand address through a DNS (domain name system);

and the request submodule is used for requesting the multimedia server to generate the virtual terminal according to the multimedia server identification.

Optionally, the playing module includes:

the establishing submodule is used for establishing point-to-point communication connection with the virtual terminal;

and the first playing submodule is used for acquiring the multimedia program from the virtual terminal to play based on the communication connection.

Optionally, the playing module includes:

the sending submodule is used for sending a playing control instruction to the virtual terminal so as to control the virtual terminal to provide the multimedia program through the playing control instruction, wherein the playing control instruction comprises a playing starting instruction, a playing pausing instruction, a playing continuing instruction, a playing stopping instruction or a fixed point playing instruction;

and the second playing submodule is used for receiving the multimedia program provided by the virtual terminal and playing the multimedia program.

For the device embodiment, since it is basically similar to the method embodiment, the description is simple, and for the relevant points, refer to the partial description of the method embodiment.

In the embodiment of the invention, the submitted on-demand instruction can be received, so that the virtual terminal is applied from the multimedia server according to the on-demand address carried in the on-demand instruction, and the corresponding multimedia program is obtained from the multimedia server according to the submitted multimedia information and played, thus realizing that the terminal in the video network provides the required multimedia program for the user according to the on-demand requirement of the user while providing the conventional video network service for the user, namely, the on-demand function in the video network, and improving the user experience.

The embodiments in the present specification are described in a progressive manner, each embodiment focuses on differences from other embodiments, and the same and similar parts among the embodiments are referred to each other.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, apparatus, or computer program product. Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

Embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, terminal devices (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing terminal to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing terminal, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing terminal to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing terminal to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable terminal to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable terminal provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, additional variations and modifications of these embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including preferred embodiments and all such alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the embodiments of the invention.

Finally, it should also be noted that, herein, relational terms such as first and second, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Also, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or terminal that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or terminal. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or terminal that comprises the element.

The method and the device for playing a multimedia program on demand provided by the invention are introduced in detail, and a specific example is applied in the text to explain the principle and the implementation mode of the invention, and the description of the embodiment is only used for helping to understand the method and the core idea of the invention; meanwhile, for a person skilled in the art, according to the idea of the present invention, there may be variations in the specific embodiments and the application scope, and in summary, the content of the present specification should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. A method for requesting multimedia programs, which is applied to video network, comprises:

receiving a submitted on-demand instruction, wherein the on-demand instruction carries an on-demand address;

applying for a virtual terminal from a multimedia server according to the on-demand address; the multimedia server is provided with a storage device for storing a plurality of multimedia programs, or is connected with the storage device for storing the plurality of multimedia programs through a network;

according to the submitted program information, acquiring a multimedia program corresponding to the program information from the virtual terminal and playing the multimedia program; the virtual terminal provides the multimedia program for the terminal initiating the multimedia program on demand in a terminal interaction mode with the terminal initiating the multimedia program on demand.

2. The method according to claim 1, before said applying for a virtual terminal from a multimedia server according to the on-demand address, further comprising:

determining that there is no currently in-process video networking traffic.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the applying for the virtual terminal from the multimedia server according to the on-demand address comprises:

inquiring a multimedia server identifier corresponding to the on-demand address through a DNS (Domain name System);

and requesting the multimedia server to generate the virtual terminal according to the multimedia server identification.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining, according to the submitted program information, the multimedia program corresponding to the program information from the virtual terminal for playing comprises:

establishing point-to-point communication connection with the virtual terminal;

and acquiring the multimedia program from the virtual terminal to play based on the communication connection.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining, according to the submitted program information, the multimedia program corresponding to the program information from the virtual terminal for playing comprises:

sending a play control instruction to the virtual terminal so as to control the virtual terminal to provide the multimedia program through the play control instruction, wherein the play control instruction comprises a play starting instruction, a play pausing instruction, a play continuing instruction, a play terminating instruction or a fixed point play instruction;

and receiving the multimedia program provided by the virtual terminal for playing.

6. An apparatus for requesting multimedia programs, the apparatus being applied to a video network, comprising:

the receiving module is used for receiving the submitted on-demand instruction, and the on-demand instruction carries an on-demand address;

the application module is used for applying for the virtual terminal from the multimedia server according to the on-demand address; the multimedia server is provided with a storage device for storing a plurality of multimedia programs, or is connected with the storage device for storing the plurality of multimedia programs through a network;

the playing module is used for acquiring a multimedia program corresponding to the program information from the virtual terminal according to the submitted program information and playing the multimedia program; the virtual terminal provides the multimedia program for the terminal initiating the multimedia program on demand in a terminal interaction mode with the terminal initiating the multimedia program on demand.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising:

and the determining module is used for determining that the video networking service is not processed currently.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the application module comprises:

the query submodule is used for querying a multimedia server identifier corresponding to the on-demand address through a DNS (domain name system);

and the request submodule is used for requesting the multimedia server to generate the virtual terminal according to the multimedia server identification.

9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the playback module comprises:

the establishing submodule is used for establishing point-to-point communication connection with the virtual terminal;

and the first playing submodule is used for acquiring the multimedia program from the virtual terminal to play based on the communication connection.

10. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the playback module comprises:

the sending submodule is used for sending a playing control instruction to the virtual terminal so as to control the virtual terminal to provide the multimedia program through the playing control instruction, wherein the playing control instruction comprises a playing starting instruction, a playing pausing instruction, a playing continuing instruction, a playing stopping instruction or a fixed point playing instruction;

and the second playing submodule is used for receiving the multimedia program provided by the virtual terminal and playing the multimedia program.

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