EP1946466A1

EP1946466A1 - Device and method for monitoring a data transmitter, featuring automatic activation of a connection

Info

Publication number: EP1946466A1
Application number: EP06818447A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Ralph Kulessa; Frank Siebenhaar; Christian Neubauer
Original assignee: MusicTrace GmbH
Current assignee: MusicTrace GmbH
Priority date: 2005-11-10
Filing date: 2006-11-09
Publication date: 2008-07-23
Also published as: WO2007054320A1; DE102005053686B3; US20080267272A1; US8339953B2

Abstract

In order to monitor a data transmitter, e.g. a streaming server, which supplies transmit data in response to a request by a receiver, a testing device (12) analyzes data traffic at the input of the receiver or the output of the receiver, said testing device (12) being configured so as to determine whether data traffic lies below a minimum threshold. If data traffic drops below the minimum threshold, a connection activating device (14) initiates a new connection between the receiver and the data transmitter such that uninterrupted data transmitter monitoring is made possible also for unreliable point-to-point connections via the Internet.

Description

DEVICE AND TASK FOR MONITORING A DATA TRANSMITTER WITH AUTOMATIC CONNECTION REACTIVATION

Description 5

The present invention relates to transmitter monitoring or transmitter monitoring, and more particularly to automated implementations of transmit monitoring.

0 There is a need to be aware of the contents or characteristics of broadcast programs. This need for information can be technically met by so-called broadcast monitoring services. For the detection and analysis of the broadcast contents, e.g. Fingerprinting or watermarking methods are used in the monitoring products. The sources, ie the broadcast contents, can be received in a variety of ways, e.g. terrestrial, by satellite, by cable or by internet. Requirements for monitoring Products are generally speed, low complexity, reliability and reliability.

Typically, point-to-point connections are made to receive broadcasts over the Internet (e.g., simulcasts, webcasts, etc.). The data is transmitted via 5 Internet streaming from the source (streaming server) to the sink (streaming client, for example, on a consumer PC in the private household). Software players are typically used to receive and play the broadcast offer (e.g., Winamp, Realplayer, Windows Media Player). 0

For short-term connections, as required by the end user, this usually works fine. However, in order to operate a monitoring service, it is necessary to receive the program 5 around the clock as uninterrupted as possible, in order to determine the monitoring data without gaps. The following problems may occur on the receive side: 1. The streaming server stops transmitting the data after a certain period of time.

2. Due to "data congestion" - due to insufficient transmission capacities in the network - the data will not be transmitted on time.

3. The point-to-point connection is interrupted by Internet service providers (not the streaming server) at certain intervals, for example when changing IP on DSL lines. 4. There is an error in the receiving / playback software, which leads to the termination of the receiving activity.

All of these problems usually cause software players that receive and play the streaming offer to stop working and not resume. In this case, therefore, the monitoring activity can not be continued.

One solution to the problem is human interaction, as described e.g. would happen to the end user who only wants to listen to a radio program over the Internet for short periods of time. That is, if the human listener realizes that there is no multimedia signal left at the output of the streaming client, it restarts the program. Disadvantages of this method are:

• Too long delay in the resumption of monitoring

• Extremely high costs because a manpower must constantly monitor the state of reception.

DE 19511087 A1 describes a method for automatically switching on replacement connections via the ISDN network in the event of faulty fixed or standard connections.

US 2002/0150102 A1 discloses a system for analyzing a streaming medium in terms of its quality. WO 2004/029756 A2 discloses a user interface in a communication network, wherein a server is connected to the Internet, and a wireless telephone network and a WLAN is connected to the Internet.

The object of the present invention is to provide a more efficient concept for monitoring.

This object is achieved by a device for monitoring according to claim 1, a method for monitoring according to claim 17, a receiver according to claim 18, a method for monitoring the reception according to claim 21 or a computer program according to claim 22.

The present invention is based on the recognition that a broadcast monitoring or, generally speaking, the monitoring of data transmitters can be carried out very efficiently and cheaply implementable if data from data transmitters is activated via a connection that is activated in response to a request from a recipient. be monitored. Currently, all popular broadcasters also maintain an Internet radio service, so a radio service over a connection that is activated only in response to a request from a recipient. A user will only receive data in such a "point-to-point" connection when he has submitted a request to the sender, so to speak a "download request". In response, the sender sends data packets to the receiver who made the request to the sender.

This provides the opportunity to achieve broadcast monitoring, that is, data transmitter monitoring that is independent of the direct reception of a broadcast program, and thus does not have all the problems associated with direct broadcast reception. Thus, broadcasters can be received over the Internet in places where they might not be receivable via normal radio receivers. According to the invention, however, this receiver-activated connection is monitored because it is prone to interference, which would call into question the entire monitoring task, especially in the case of transmitter monitoring.

According to the invention, a data traffic at the input of a receiver or a data traffic at the output of the receiver is monitored for connection monitoring. Should the data traffic fall below a minimum threshold, then preferably the old connection is terminated, if still existing, and a new connection initiated between the receiver and the data transmitter, whereby this initiation preferably takes place automatically, since then no operators are necessary.

Since the concept according to the invention for Internet connections, ie receiver-initiated download or streaming connections, is applicable, the tasks of examining the data traffic and the connection initiation can also be implemented favorably on conventional computers, which need do nothing other than Connections initiate the data receiver to make a connection request to the sender or directly establish a connection to the data sender in favor of the data receiver.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the receiver and the monitoring device are installed as separate programs or even on separate computers, which in particular enables the monitoring of many transmitters simultaneously using only a single monitoring device for the many transmitters.

In a further preferred embodiment, the data receiver is designed to output a signal depending on the data traffic at the input or the data traffic at the output, which signal is transmitted by the examination unit according to the invention. direction is receivable and interpretable. For expense and computer resource reasons, this signal is merely an "alive" signal, which at particular regular intervals, which are preferably known to the inspection device of the monitoring device, originates a pulse which always indicates that either the connection between the transmitter and the receiver, so the data traffic at the entrance is still okay, or that at the output of the receiver data is output, so that neither the connection nor the data receiver itself are faulty.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, in order to have seamless monitoring of the functionality of the data receiver itself, the monitoring of the traffic at the receiver's input is carried out for a specific time. This takes place at least until, at the input of the receiver, a typically existing input buffer is either completely filled or to a certain extent, which the receiver requires for seamless data processing, such as audio and / or video decoding. In this period, in which the receiver only fills its input buffer, but still provides no output data, in this embodiment, the data traffic at the output of the receiver is not monitored, as even at regular time at this time no output data is delivered. Then, when the receiver starts to output data, that is, when in the case where the receiver is formed as a decoder, decoded data leaves the receiver, the monitoring of the data traffic at the input is stopped. When the traffic at the output falls below a minimum threshold, a connection is activated. This not only monitors the connection between the receiver and the server, but also the receiver itself. So it can happen that the receiver, if it is a decoder "Crashes" if, for example, it receives a corrupted package or, for example, has a software bug that occurs only sporadically. In a further preferred embodiment, the connection is still monitored at the data input at the same time to immediately activate a new connection when it is determined that the connection is terminated. If the input buffer of the receiver is large enough, this connection interruption, since the input buffer of the decoder is simultaneously processed to activate the new connection, will not lead to an abort of the data output. However, the data packets sent between the termination of the connection and the reconnection of the broadcast are lost. Since this period is only small, this is not so problematic.

The present invention is particularly advantageous in that it allows machine monitoring of data transmitters that provide data over point-to-point connections, that is, send data to that receiver in response to a request from a receiver.

According to the invention, the data traffic at the entrance of the receiver and / or at the output of the receiver is monitored, it is reliably ensured that whenever the point-to-point connection is interrupted, a new connection is initiated. Thus, only data of the sender is lost, which the sender would deliver in the period of time between the termination of the connection and the re-establishment of the connection. Thus, the present invention is reliable because this period is kept small.

The present concept can also be implemented cost-effectively, since the necessary routines can be implemented in a computer-aided manner without the need for human interaction. Thus, a fully automated monitoring concept is created that can be implemented with commonly available computers that only conventional receivers, such as For example, it requires streaming players or audio and / or video decoders, and is also readily "upgradable" to any number of transmitters. Compared to broadcast monitoring of the broadcast signal broadcast via a transmitting antenna, many receivers are found in many Since each transmitter has only a certain range, the present invention, since it is based on the point-to-point connection typically found on the Internet, is not locally bound Further, even in one country, monitoring the broadcasters of another country when there is an Internet interface and using an Internet receiver receiving download data packets from a remote station.

The number of monitored stations is limited only by the resources needed for the receivers. If, for example, a number of software receivers, with a separate audio and / or video player being provided as the receiver for each broadcaster, and the associated evaluation software for examining and evaluating the program output by the receiver, exceed the resources of a computer, this is not a problem , because without further a standard local network can be implemented, in which several computers can be interconnected. A local area network is particularly advantageous in that the monitoring device is also provided on a separate computer, which is separate from the typically many computers which comprise the data receivers and at the same time comprise the reception data evaluation programs, so that when a receiver crashes and possibly even causing a computer to crash on which even more receivers are running, no interference with the monitoring device may occur for other receivers contained in the local network. The result monitoring data according to the invention is produced by a method for monitoring the reception of data from a data transmitter, comprising the steps of receiving data from the data transmitter, in response to a request for data to the data transmitter, of decoding data received from the data transmitter, outputting of decoded data, examining data traffic when receiving data or outputting decoded data, outputting a data traffic-dependent signal, and evaluating the decoded data to monitor result -Data. Outputting or not outputting the traffic-dependent signal causes a new connection between transmitter and receiver, so that the monitoring result data represent a virtually complete transmitter monitoring that can not be generated from transmitters monitored manually or by radio transmission. In other words, the data from which the monitoring result data is derived by evaluation is more patchy than in the present invention. The monitoring result data are preferably stored on a machine-readable carrier in order to be processed further efficiently.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Show it:

1 is a block diagram of a data receiver according to the invention, which cooperates with a sensed monitoring device;

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a typically existing history of data traffic over time with a minimum threshold; FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of an inventive implementation of the examination device;

4 shows a further block diagram of the functionality of the connection activation device in conjunction with the examination device;

5 shows a further block diagram of the functionality of the monitoring device in conjunction with the subsequent monitoring device;

6 shows an implementation of the receiver according to the invention; and

Fig. 7 is a schematic representation of the overall structure with a local network on the monitoring side and several transmitters, which provide their data on request via the Internet.

1 shows a monitoring device 10 according to the invention, which cooperates with a receiving block 20, which typically has a receiver in the form of an audio and / or video player 20a and an activity signaling device 20b according to the invention. The receiver is connected to a data transmitter 24 via a transmission channel 22. Preferably, the data transmitter is designed as a streaming server, while the receiving block 20 is designed as a streaming client. The receiver comprises a receiver input 26a and a receiver output 26b, the data received at the receiver input 26a being data supplied by the data transmitter upon request from the receiver block 20, which in the case of an internet transmission are data packets, e.g. via a progressive download according to the http protocol.

Alternative protocols for the transmission channel are also known as Shoutcast or Icecast, which are also known as prope ICY protocol are known. According to the http protocol, there are several http requests, where the "options" request is a query of the server-supported features. "Get" is the equivalent of a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), such as For example, URL (http: //) or URN (/ .html) (eg, a file) from a server The request "Head" is used to get the response header of a URI The request "Post" is used to send data to the server. The request "Put" returns an upload after a URI, the request "Delete" deletes a URI. The "Trace" request represents a debug option, with a server making a request, and the "Connect" request is connecting to the proxy server.

According to http, requests for data can only come from one client. The client with the fastest connection and processing speed gets the best throughput. With http, the data is sent as quickly as possible and stored on disk by the client, no traffic shaping is done. In principle, each file should first be completed on the client before playback. With "http progressive download", entire files are downloaded from the server, but the playback process already starts with enough data, the advantages being that web servers can be used to distribute content, and well-known players can use this feature to download downloaded files Furthermore, it is disadvantageous but unproblematic in the present invention that there is no back channel and bit rate information except in the file itself.

Alternative download protocols are, for example, the 3GPP progressive download or shoutcast, in which a broadcast ^¬ transmission of typically MP3-encoded files takes place in http-like manner. This protocol is based on http, which is why the use of existing infra- structure, and in particular the (proxy) server is possible. This protocol is proven for the transmission of MP3, AAC, etc. It also has good scalability. There is a simple (open source) implementation.

The monitoring device 10 in FIG. 1 is used to monitor the data transmitter 24, from which, in response to a request from the receiver 20, transmission data can be obtained via the transmission channel 22. The monitoring device 10 comprises an examination device 12 for examining data traffic at the input 26a of the reception block 20 or at an output 26b of the reception block 20, wherein the examination device 12 is designed to determine whether the data traffic undershoots a minimum threshold. The monitoring device further comprises a connection activation device 14 for preferably automatically initiating a new connection between the receiver 20 and the data transmitter 24 when the data traffic has fallen below the minimum threshold, as communicated via a signaling line 13 from the examination device 12 to the connection activation device 14 , The connection activation device 14 thus provides a connection activation signal 15 in the event of a necessary initiation of a new connection. This connection activation signal can be sent directly to the data transmitter 24 depending on the specific implementation. Then, the connection activator would send a request for data with the indication of the receiver or URI of the receiver 20a, so that the data transmitter again begins to send data to the receiver. Alternatively, the link activation device 14 may also send its output signal 15 to the receiver 20 for the receiver itself to send the corresponding request for data to the data transmitter 24. *** " Alternatively, the connection activation device 15 could also send the connection activation signal to a third party, that is to say to a connection mediator, which could eg be arranged in a local network on the receiver side to relieve the recipients, and which could be centrally organized to reestablish a connection from the data sender to the recipient if this connection was previously aborted.

Fig. 2 shows a possible situation of data traffic over time at the input or the output of the receiver. For example, at some point in time before ti, a relatively high amount of data traffic might be present, since a data transmitter has "passed through" both the base layer and the extension layer via the network Traffic over the network may have increased so much that the data sender was no longer able to send both the base layer and the extender layer in a scalable scenario, but only the base layer, so receiving the base layer is one However, at a time t ₂ , the data traffic has been reduced so much, for example because of a data congestion in the network or due to a crash of the receiver, that it lies below the minimum threshold 21 According to the invention, the minimum threshold is not set to zero, but instead placed just over zero data packets in a given period of time, so that even the arrival of very few packets, as shown at 23 in Fig. 2, does not simulate a working connection. Similarly, even a receiver, such as an audio and / or video player, if it has already crashed, could output data that is already corrupted, so that it is only fragmented that is no longer reasonably observable. In order for a new connection to be started again in this case, the minimum threshold is set in such a way that it represents a traffic value which is smaller than a traffic value at which a meaningful decoding or sensible evaluation of the decoded signal is just possible, but it is larger than one that may occur The traffic value is still present at the input or at the output, despite a severely disturbed connection and despite already faulty functionality of the receiver software.

It should be noted that the examination device 12 does not necessarily have to determine a traffic value and has to compare this traffic value with the threshold in order to act when the minimum threshold is undershot. Instead, it is preferred that the examination device receives and evaluates signals of the activity-signaling device 20b for monitoring the input-side or output-side traffic. The activity signaling device is typically integrated in the receiving block 20, that is arranged at the receiver, while the monitoring device 10 is preferably separate from the receiver, ie z. On another machine / computer in a local area network, as set forth with reference to FIG. 7.

The activity signaling device 20b is configured to provide a (pulse) signal whenever an input or output traffic is sufficient to allow a receiver of the signal to conclude that the connection exists over the transmission channel 22 or that the receiver provides sensibly decoded data on the output side. This pulse signal, which is also referred to as an "alive packet", also contains an identification of the special receiver in an implementation in which many receivers are present, since many transmitters are to be monitored Alive packets are received and evaluated by the various receivers, only one of which is shown in Fig. 1. In this case, the examiner 12 will read the identification of a receiver contained in the alive packet and thus the Receiver that had sent the Alive packet as operational. However, if the investigator 12 does not receive an alive packet for a particular receiver for which an alive packet has previously been received after a predetermined period of time, which may be, for example, 10s, but generally between Is and 50s, it will become concluded that the traffic at the input of the receiver and / or the data traffic at the output of the receiver has fallen below the minimum threshold. The examination device is designed in this embodiment to check whether, after a predetermined period of time, another alive packet comes from a specific receiver. This check of whether a further alive packet comes from a receiver after a certain period of time thus represents the examination of the data traffic at the entrance of the receiver or at the output of the receiver, wherein the examination device is designed to determine that the data traffic falls below a minimum threshold, if after a predetermined period of time no A-live packet from a receiver comes more.

Alternatively, the examination device of FIG. 1 may also be "merged" with the activity signaling device 20b, in that the examination device is arranged in the receiver 20a itself, and if no alive packet is transmitted within a predetermined period of time, the connection activation is activated in order to deliver the connection activation signal 15.

In the alternative embodiment, the examination device can also be designed to directly measure the data traffic at the input and / or the output, eg to count the number of data packets per time duration on the input side, and then to compare the counted value with a minimum threshold to determine if there is still a correct connection. On the output side, the examination device could likewise be designed to accommodate the Directly quantify traffic at the output and compare it to a minimum threshold.

According to the invention, however, it is preferred that a part of this monitoring is performed by the Aktivitätssignalisierungsein- direction, which is arranged in the receiver, while the examination device is formed in the monitoring device 10 separately from the receiver. This implementation is particularly well suited for the LAN implementation, as will be described with reference to FIG.

A preferred implementation of the functionality of the cooperation between the receiver and the monitoring device according to the invention is explained below with reference to FIG. In a step 30, either for the first time or after a connection abort or altogether at a restart of the entire system, a connection between the receiver and the data transmitter is initialized upon request of the receiver. This is then monitored either by an examination device which is arranged in the receiver alone or by an activity signaling device 20b in conjunction with the examination device 12 in FIG. 1, the data traffic at the entrance (32). In a block 34 it is checked whether a predetermined period of time has already elapsed or a certain amount of data has already been received. If this is not the case, the question is answered in the block 34 with no, and the traffic at the entrance is still monitored. Then, when the predetermined time has passed or a certain amount of data has already been received, the traffic monitoring at the output is started, as shown at step 36.

During the predetermined time set in block 34, the receiver's input buffer is filled, with the receiver still not outputting any decoded data. Then, when the predetermined time has elapsed, the The buffer of the receiver is filled sufficiently and the receiver starts to output the data.

This ensures that the system does not enter an infinite loop, since, of course, immediately after the initialization of a connection there is still no decoded output data available, since the decoder provides output data only from an input buffer fill level or after a specific delay, ie a significant one Output data traffic.

FIG. 4 shows a preferred implementation of the examination device 12 of FIG. 1. First, an activity signal is received via the activity signal line 11 from the activity signaling device 20b, as shown at 40 in FIG. The activity signal is an alive packet which has an identification of the receiver, ie an IDi, where i stands for the receiver with the number i. The examination device 12 is designed to examine in a step 42 whether a next A-live packet is received by the receiver with the identification IDi within a predetermined period of time. If such a next alive packet is not received, then the examination device 12 concludes that the minimum threshold has been undershot. In response, the connection activator accesses the computer on which the receiver is running IDi (44). In response to access, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, all processes associated with IDi and possibly still running are terminated (46). This ensures according to the invention that no processes remain on the computer that belong to a receiver that is no longer receivable. This ensures that whenever a connection is lost, or if the recipient with the number i is no longer able to receive, everything on the computer on which the receiver is running originates from this receiver, ie all related ones Processes are finished cleanly. Then the recipient ger with the identification IDi on the computer on which it is to run or on a computer on which resources are currently being restarted. In response, the address of the data transmitter associated with the ID is selected and a new connection to the data transmitter is initiated by the computer.

As has been stated, several data transmitters are monitored according to the invention. This means that at least one receiver is active for each data sender. Then, when a connection has been lost, or when a receiver has "crashed" to reconnect to the same data sender, in step 48, in response to the IDi of the crashed receiver, the data sender associated with that receiver becomes one of a plurality of different ones Data senders selected to then start a new connection with exactly this data transmitter.

5 shows a block diagram according to the invention for the cooperation between the receiver, the data monitoring device and the subsequent logging. First, the receiver sends a data request to the data transmitter, as shown at 50. In response, the data transmitter provides data to that receiver, the data transmitter, of course, being a broadcast transmitter, also provides data to other receivers that have "logged in" to that data transmitter, that is, a stream of the radio internet program If the receiver or the monitoring device detects a faulty connection or another malfunction (54), the system jumps back to step 50 so that a new data request is started again.

While the data transmitter is providing data to the receiver and the connection is intact, the receiver decodes the data

(at least in part), as shown in step 56. The result of the decoding of the data is then one

Audio program and / or a video program or another to be monitored data representation, which are then logged in a step 58 by a specific desired program, identified, interpreted or generally evaluated. The actual radio monitoring thus takes place in step 58 by any one of a number of techniques, such as audio identification by means of a fingerprint, by means of associated metadata, by means of matching methods, or any other analysis method for analyzing audio and / or video signals. content. The data evaluation in step 58 may be used to provide, for example, on-air charts to ensure accurate license billing to determine sender and connection quality assessment for downtime or other parameters, or a relatively coarse program assessment perform. Here, for example, it is determined how high the proportion of speech or music is on a radio program, how high the proportion is, for example, in the transmission minutes of a radio station in which a program with a language (such as German) is sent, and in which a program with Any other language, such as French or English is sent, etc. Any evaluations can now be made, since the monitoring concept according to the invention provides a nearly complete monitoring of connection-oriented systems. After all the final desired results, represented as the output of block 58 in FIG. 5, are relatively coarse characterizations, small program losses that naturally occur when a connection has been broken have been determined as such, and restarted uncritical, since the short program losses will only marginally or not at all affect the overall result.

FIG. 6 shows a receiver implementation according to the invention which, as shown in FIG. 1, comprises an activity signaling device 20b. In addition to the actual heart of the receiver, namely the data decoder 20a are still a receiver Input interface 20c and a receiver output interface 2Od, which are connected via monitoring lines 2Oe with the Aktivaktivsignalisierung- device 20b so that they can monitor the input side and output side traffic to the line 11, for example at regular intervals with functional data decoder the Alive packets with an identification of the recipient 20 to send. Further illustrated in Fig. 6 is that a data evaluator 60, which performs the functionality of step 58 of Fig. 5, is connected to the receiver output interface 20d, the receiver output interface being, for example, an output routine of an audio and / or video player , The data evaluator 60 then provides one of the monitoring results as shown at the output of block 58 of FIG.

Fig. 7 shows an overall setup according to the invention of a preferred implementation on the receiver side, which is constructed as a local area network. By way of example, a number of four transmitters 24 connected to the Internet 22 are shown for providing their transmission data over the Internet in addition to an open-air or cable interface represented by an antenna symbol 70.

At the receiver side, a local area network 72 includes an Internet interface 74 which, because of the high data transmission data, is preferably a DSL or fiber interface when many transmitters are to be monitored in parallel.

The Internet interface 74 is connected via the local network 72 to various computers 76a, 76b, 76c, with different receivers for different transmitters running on the two computers 76a and 76b, and with the computer 76c in the preferred implementation shown in FIG is reserved solely for the monitoring device. Each Receiver is also assigned its own activity signaling device (AE 1, AE 2, AE 3, AE 4, ....). Furthermore, the monitoring device 76c has a separate monitoring channel for each receiver, which is identified by ID1 for the receiver 1, ID2 for the receiver 2, ID3 for the receiver 3 and ID4 for the receiver 4. Furthermore, at any point in the local area network, for example in one of the computers or also in the Internet interface, there is an assignment table 78, by means of which a recipient ID is assigned to an Internet address of a station. Thus, the receiver with the identification No. 1 is assigned to the monitoring of the radio station Bayern3. Therefore, the receiver ID of the transmitter 1 is assigned the Internet address of this radio station. Based on the allocation table 78, the monitoring device may then in some way initiate a new connection by means of the connection activation device located in it, for example if the receiver 1 has crashed or the connection has been terminated by the sender, to the correct sender with the correct internet address.

As has been shown with reference to FIG. 3, after the predetermined period of time, the monitoring of the traffic takes place at the receiver output. If the monitoring at the receiver input is carried out parallel to this, a new connection can be initiated despite an interval of, for example, 10 s, even if an aborted connection to the data transmitter on the input side is detected, without the investigator having to wait 10 seconds. This is achieved in a preferred embodiment of the present invention in that the activity signaling device also transmits a disconnect signal in addition to an alive packet. If the examination device 12 determines that it has received a connection interrupt signal (and not an alive packet), the examination device evaluates the identification that is assigned to the interrupt signal in order to immediately bar, ie without waiting for the presence of a new Alive package (which may never come) equal to a fall below the minimum threshold. In response, the link activation device will immediately initiate the steps illustrated by blocks 4 through 4 in blocks 44-48 to re-initiate a new connection.

There is a monitoring device 10. The (software) player (streaming client) for receiving and / or reproducing the broadcast offer contains (or communicates with) a device that at certain time intervals signals (eg operating system signals, data packets, entries in files ) via a transmission channel to the monitoring device 10 sends. The signals are sent, for example, when streaming packets are received from the network and / or when the demultiplexed and possibly decoded signals are reproduced. Device 10 registers these signals and remembers at what time device 20b has reported itself to device 10 for the last time.

As long as there are no problems, the device 10 regularly registers the signals and may log this, e.g. to document the downtime of the monitoring activity or the sender.

In the case of a problem, the device 20b sends no more signals to the device 10, because, for example, no more data packets are received or lack of data packets no Rundfunfunhalte as audio or video signals can be played. If device 10 no longer receives signals from device 20b after a certain amount of time, or device 10 determines that the connection to device 20b has collapsed, device 10 responds. This involves the processes of the affected software player (streaming clients), if any or parts of it still exist, terminated and the software player automatically restarted. The software player builds a new point-to-point connection to the streaming server and the broadcast content can be received almost without interruption and thus monitored.

The same effect can also be achieved if device 20b is not part of the software player, but nevertheless the network connection of the software and / or the output of audio / video data of the software player is monitored by device 20b. Likewise, means 20b may also be part of device 10, in which case the interval of the time check may be arbitrarily small.

The inventive concept provides the following advantages:

• With clever implementation, the streaming client can be started remotely on any computer in the network.

• The reconnect can be done very fast (in seconds) and at any time.

• The monitoring mode is almost interruption free.

• The resumption of monitoring operation is reliable because it is automated.

• The restarting can also be carried out repeatedly, e.g. if the connection to the Internet can not be established (for example, if the Internet service provider breaks the connection), until the connection is successfully established again.

• No human interaction required (important eg at night). • System scales even with a very high number of channels.

The present invention thus relates to a method and a device having a monitoring device 10 and one or more monitored devices 20b, which in turn ensure an operation of the device 20. Depending on the implementation, the device 10 and / or the device 20b and / or the device 20a are software programs. The device 10 and the device 20b can communicate via a network, via files, via signals or any other communication channels. Furthermore, the device 10 can monitor a plurality of devices 20b and thus also a plurality of devices 20a at the same time. The device 10 and / or the device 20b and / or the device 20a can run on the same or different computers. Furthermore, the devices 20a and 20b can be combined in one program, so that the device 20b is part of the device 20a. Alternatively, the devices 20a and 20b may be self-contained programs. In addition, the device 20b may also be part of the device 20a. Further, it is preferable that the device 20a performs a receiving process that produces an audio and / or video signal, and preferably performs an Internet streaming process. The sending of the "alive" messages from device 20b to device 10 is preferably "moored" to the output of device 20a, such that when device 20a no longer produces audio and / or video, there are no messages from the device 20b sent more. Alternatively or additionally, the transmission of the "alive" messages from the device 20b to the device 10 is tied to the reception of network packets, meaning that if no more packets are received, no more alive messages are sent. Preferably, the alive messages contain additional information about the state of the device 20b and / or the device 20a.

Preferably, the device 10 is also able to restart the devices 20b and 20a if no alive message has been sent for a certain period of time. Furthermore, it is preferred that such a restart occurs repeatedly if previous start attempts have not been successful. Furthermore, the device 10 is able to start the device 20a and 20b, if they have not yet started.

The device 10 is also able to start the devices 20b and / or 20c if the device 10 determines that the communication channel between the device 20a and the device 20b is disturbed, even if the predetermined period of time has not yet elapsed has passed.

Furthermore, it is preferred that the device 10 sends a message to an operator when a restart has been made for a receiver. Further, the device 10 may schedule the programs of the devices 20a and 20b. Further, it is preferred that the device 10 can display the current status of the devices 20a and 20b. Further, it is preferred that the device 10 can monitor many devices 20b and many devices 20a together. Finally, it is also preferred that the device 10 restart the devices 20a and / or 20b at a defined time, even if there are no problems with the device 20a.

Depending on the circumstances, the method according to the invention can be implemented in hardware or in software. The implementation can be done on a digital storage medium, in particular a floppy disk or CD with electronically readable control signals, so with a programmable computer system that the procedure is performed. In general, the invention thus also consists in a computer program product with a program code stored on a machine-readable carrier for carrying out a method according to the invention, when the computer program product runs on a computer. In other words, the invention can thus be realized as a computer program with a program code for carrying out the method when the computer program runs on a computer.

Claims

claims

An apparatus for monitoring a data transmitter (24) from which transmit data is obtainable in response to a request from a receiver (20), comprising:

an examination device (12) for examining data traffic at an input (26a) of the receiver (20) or at an output (26b) of the receiver (20), wherein the examination device (12) is designed to determine whether the data traffic falls below a minimum threshold (21); and

a connection activation device (14) for initiating a new connection between the receiver (20) and the data transmitter (24) if the data traffic has fallen below the minimum threshold.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the minimum threshold is formed so that an intact data connection between the receiver (20) and the transmitter does not lead to a shortfall of the minimum threshold, but that a disturbed data connection between the data transmitter (24) and see the receiver (20) leads to an undershooting of the minimum threshold.

3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the examination device (12) is designed to be a minimum amount of a predetermined amount of data per unit time, a number of packets per unit time, an error message, a more than a threshold loss of data per unit time or to use a presence of an expected signal or a lack of an expected signal.

4. Device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the examination device (12) is formed is to receive an activity signaling signal (11) from the receiver (20) and to evaluate the activity signaling signal to examine the traffic.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the activity signaling signal indicative of the traffic comprises a predetermined sequence of signal units, wherein the examiner is configured to determine that the traffic is below the minimum threshold if a received activity signaling signal is not has the predetermined sequence.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined sequence are successive signal pulses or signal packets at a certain time interval.

Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the examination means (12) is arranged to receive a traffic-in-order signal from the receiver (20) when the traffic exceeds the minimum threshold,

and wherein the monitoring device is designed to determine that the minimum threshold is undershot, if no traffic-in-order signal is received, or a traffic-disturbed signal is obtained which indicates that the minimum threshold has been undershot.

8. Device according to one of the preceding claims,

wherein the connection activation means (14) is arranged to deactivate the receiver, to restart the receiver, and to cause the receiver to reconnect to the data transmitter (24).

9. Device according to one of the preceding claims,

wherein the receiver is a process running on a computer connected to a network (72), the network comprising a local area network or a global network,

wherein the monitoring device is adapted to run on another computer (76c) also connected to the local area network (72), the monitoring device being further adapted to monitor a plurality of further receivers associated with further data transmitters .

wherein the monitoring device (76c) is adapted to access the local network (72) upon initiation of a new connection to the computer running a failed receiver (20).

10. Device according to one of the preceding claims,

wherein the connection from the data transmitter (24) to the receiver (20) is a point-to-point connection,

and wherein the connection activating means (14) is adapted to initiate establishment of a point-to-point connection from the receiver (20) to the data transmitter (24).

11. Device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the connection activating device (14) is designed to activate a connection immediately when the examination device (12) detects a data loss at the input or output, without a predetermined period of time on Alive signal from the receiver (20) to have waited.

12. Device according to one of the preceding claims,

wherein the connection activation means (14) is adapted to repeatedly initiate a connection when the examination means (12) determines that a previous connection initiation attempt has failed.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the connection activating means (14) is arranged to wait at least 20 seconds after a connection initiation attempt until a renewed connection initiation attempt is started.

14. Device according to one of the preceding claims,

in which the connection device (14) is designed to activate a connection when a predetermined period of time has elapsed, even if the examination device has not detected a drop below the minimum threshold.

15. Device according to one of the preceding claims,

in which the connection activation device (14) is designed to automatically initiate a new connection between the receiver (20) and the data transmitter (24) if the data traffic has fallen below the minimum threshold.

16. Device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the data transmitter is a streaming server for audio and / or video data, and in which the connection activation device (14) is designed to automatically initiate a new connection between the receiver (20) and the data transmitter (24) if the data traffic has fallen below the minimum threshold.

17. A method for monitoring a data transmitter (24) from which, in response to a request from a receiver (20), transmission data is obtainable, comprising the following steps:

Examining (12) data traffic at an input (26a) of the receiver (20) or at an output (26b) of the receiver (20), wherein the examination device (12) is designed to determine whether the data traffic has a minimum threshold ( 21) falls below; and

Initiating (14) a new connection between the receiver (20) and the data transmitter (24) if the traffic has dropped below the minimum threshold.

18. A receiver (20) for receiving data from a data transmitter, comprising:

a receiver input interface (20c) adapted to direct a request for data to the data transmitter (24);

a decoder (20a) for decoding data received from the data transmitter

a receiver output interface (2Od) for outputting decoded data; and

means (20b) for examining data traffic at the input interface (20c) or Output interface (2Od), and to output a signal dependent on the traffic.

The receiver of claim 18, wherein the means (20b) for examining is adapted to output an alive signal at predetermined times when the data traffic exceeds a minimum threshold and to output no alive signal when the traffic is below the minimum threshold ,

20. A receiver according to claim 18 or 19, further comprising means for establishing a connection to the data transmitter (24) adapted to make the connection in response to a request for connection.

21. A method for monitoring the reception of data from a data transmitter, comprising the following steps:

Receiving data from the data transmitter in response to a request for data to the data transmitter;

Decoding (20a) data received from the data transmitter;

Output (2Od) of decoded data;

Examining (20b) traffic when receiving data or outputting decoded data; and

Outputting a signal dependent on the traffic.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising the step of: Evaluating (60) the decoded data to obtain monitoring result data.

23. A computer program with a program code for carrying out the method according to claim 17 or claim 21, when the program runs on a computer.

24. Monitoring result data generated using a method according to claim 17, 21 or 22.

25. Machine readable carrier on which the monitoring result data are stored according to claim 24.