FR3042364A1 - COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISTRIBUTING DATA TRANSMISSION ON MULTIPLE DEVICES - Google Patents

Abstract

A communication system and method for distributing the upstream transmission of a data stream over a set of communication devices referred to as transmission devices (10). The distribution provides more resources for transmission and ensures greater reliability. Said transmission devices (10) form a group and send segments of the data stream to each other and to a communication device called a control and reception unit (20). Said control and reception unit assigns the transmission devices to the group and transmits to each a planning of the sending of data to the other devices of the group and to itself. It receives the segments from the group's transmission devices and reconstructs the data stream.

Description

Description of the invention [001] The invention relates to the general field of telecommunications. The invention relates in particular to the transmission of data, for example audiovisual data, to a central communication device in a telecommunications network.

[002] Forwarding or downloading ("Upload" in English), as opposed to downstream downloading ("Download" in English), is a technique for transmitting data from communication devices clients to a central communication device often called a server. The transmission or uploading of real-time or quasi-real-time data such as a live video stream imposes strong constraints such as, for example, sufficient and stable bandwidth, acceptable latency, and controlled packet loss rate. The use of a single unicast link has two major disadvantages. The first disadvantage results from the capacity of the link to satisfy the imposed constraints. A large part of telecommunication technologies such as ADSL networks, fiber optics or mobile networks favors the downlink to the uplink by granting it more physical resources and consequently bandwidth, which reduces the performance of upstream data transmissions. . The second disadvantage results from the uniqueness of this link. In certain critical situations, such as fluctuations in the network, congestion, interference or interruptions, no other backup solution can guarantee the continuity of the service ensuring the transmission of data. There are devices offering multiple parallel links across multiple modems embedded in specific devices. These modems allow the device to connect to one or more networks and provide a partial solution because they in turn have disadvantages. The first disadvantage results from the uniqueness of this device, which in case of failure, causes an interruption of the service because it ensures alone the upstream transmission of data. The second disadvantage results from the nature of this device which ensures a single use for a special and dedicated physical equipment, that of the transmission of data through several links and therefore requires some investment. There is therefore a need for a better upstream data transmission technique in telecommunication networks.

[003] The invention is particularly directed to the upstream transmission of audiovisual streams captured by devices having a video sensor such as smartphones. The definition of video captured by some devices today easily reaches 1900 by 1080 1080p. This definition will increase with the arrival of more developed sensors reaching 4096 by 2160 or 4K and requiring a bandwidth between 10 and 20 MB / s out of range. This problem does not allow today to ensure the transmission of such flows by a single device. The aim of the invention is to respond to this need by proposing a system including: a first communication device, called a control and reception unit; a plurality of second communication devices called transmission devices; and communication methods implementing them to distribute the transmission of such flows reliably and efficiently. The invention is also generally directed at any data stream.

[004] The invention thus proposes a communication method carried out by the transmission devices intended to distribute between them the transmission to the control and reception unit of one or more data streams, comprising: a step of establishment connections and configuration of transmissions between the transmission devices themselves and to the control and reception unit, which configuration is defined by said unit; a step of receiving the data to be transmitted to the control and reception unit from one or more transmission devices; and a step of sending the received data to the control and reception unit and to other transmission devices if the configuration requires it. The invention makes it possible to improve the upstream transmission of data through an optimal and dynamic distribution over time of the data on the best links offered by the transmission devices designated by the control and reception unit. Furthermore, the failure or stopping of a transmission device can be remedied by an integration of new transmission devices in the process or a definition of a new distribution of data transmissions on the remaining set of devices. The method therefore ensures a better quality and reliability in the upstream transmission of the data.

[005] In other words, the invention provides a communication method performed by transmission devices sending one or more data streams on one or more network connections to other transmission devices and the control unit and receiving through direct or indirect connections using one or more communications networks, each transmission device including a sending and receiving management module for sending, receiving and performing operations on the data streams; a monitoring module for analyzing and collecting information relating to the device and its operation; a control module which applies the instructions of the control and reception unit to control the device; a data conversion module that takes care of converting the format of the data and transforming it.

[006] Correlatively, the invention provides a communication method performed by transmission devices sending one or more secure data streams on one or more network connections to other transmission devices and the control unit and receiving through direct or indirect connections using one or more communications networks, each transmission device including a sending and receiving management module for sending, receiving and performing operations on the data streams; a monitoring module for analyzing and collecting information relating to the device and its operation; a control module which applies the instructions of the control and reception unit to control the device; a data conversion module that takes care of converting the format of the data and transforming it.

[007] Correlatively, the invention proposes a system comprising communication devices said transmission devices comprising a control module characterized in that it comprises means for communicating with the control unit and reception for registering and to send information relating to the device and to receive instructions governing the operation of the various modules, components and peripherals of the device according to the instructions communicated by said control and reception unit.

[008] Correspondingly, the invention provides a system wherein said transmission devices comprising a control module that has means for detecting connectivity losses with the control unit and reception. Said control module executes preconfigured procedures in response: (a) When the transmission device still has connections established with other transmission devices, the control module may request one or more of these transmission devices to relay information to the control and reception unit including, for example, data that could not be transmitted or notifications on this data set; (b) When the transmission device has the storage means, the control module stores the data that could not be transmitted on a local or remote support, in the cloud for example, for a subsequent transmission during the recovery of connectivity with the control and reception unit.

[009] Correspondingly, the invention proposes a system in which said transmission devices comprising a control module which has means for controlling the various modules, components and peripherals of the transmission device according to the instructions communicated by the unit. control and reception. Also, said control module has means for controlling capture devices or internal or external sensors according to the instructions communicated by the control and reception unit.

Correlatively the invention proposes a system in which communication devices said transmission devices comprise a management module for sending and receiving controlled by the control module characterized in that it comprises means for sending and receiving data. or communications on at least one or more network connections simultaneously. These transmission devices also have means for relaying data transmissions or communications between other transmission devices or between transmission devices and the control and reception unit using one or more network connections simultaneously. .

[0011] Correspondingly, the invention proposes a system in which communication devices said transmission devices comprising a dispatch and reception management module controlled by the control module and which has means for transforming a data stream into uniquely identified and numbered data segments and means for performing the reverse operation of gathering segments to reconstruct the data stream. Said dispatch and reception management module is also characterized in that it comprises means for: (a) applying compression / decompression algorithms in order to reduce the size of the data to be transmitted or saved; (b) encryption / decryption algorithms to secure and encrypt the data; (c) coding / decoding algorithms based on correcting codes; (d) data interleaving operations to enable the minimization, detection and correction of transmission errors on all or part of the data. All of the evoked operations can be performed on the data streams or on the data segments created from said streams. The send and receive management module also has the means to encapsulate and decapsulate the data in application frames and add additional information such as sequence numbers or time information, send and receive data through different internal or external network devices. , measure metrics relating to all data sent and received as the amount of data and back to the control module of the transmission device.

Correlatively, the invention proposes a system in which communication devices said transmission devices comprise a monitoring module characterized in that it comprises means for analyzing and monitoring the various components and peripherals internal and external to the device, periodically or on request, prepare a report on the characteristics, capacities and availability of the various internal and external components and peripherals and provide it to the control module.

Correlatively the invention proposes a system in which communication devices said transmission devices comprise a data conversion module characterized in that it comprises means for applying instructions communicated by the control module in order to convert and transforming digital or analog data into a more suitable format suitable for transmission or visualization such as the conversion of one video format to another or the transformation of an analog signal from a sensor into a digital signal.

[0014] Correlatively, the invention proposes a system in which communication devices said transmission devices may comprise means for: (a) generating dataflows from internal or external capture devices providing digital or analog data in form audio, video, text or binary or non-binary signals; (b) transform them through encoding, digitization and conversion operations; (c) apply instructions to control the generation of these data streams as a start or stop capture or a change in the characteristics of the captured signal.

Correspondingly, the invention proposes a system in which communication devices said transmission devices may include means for viewing data streams captured or received through internal or external devices such as screens, speakers , projectors or any other similar set for viewing data.

Correlatively, the invention proposes a system in which a communication device called control and reception unit controls the operation of the system and comprises a communication module with the transmission devices, a transmission device management module, a group management module, a data flow management module, a system management module and a data reception module.

Correlatively, the invention proposes a system in which a communication device called control and reception unit comprising a communication module with the transmission devices characterized in that it comprises means for communicating with the transmission devices. on at least one or more network connections simultaneously to: (a) receive their registration and departure requests; (b) receive their updated information relating to them; (c) receive their data transmissions; (d) send them instructions to carry out operations and adapt their operation to their context and the need of the system.

Correspondingly, the invention proposes a system in which a communication device called a control and reception unit comprising a communication module with the transmission devices characterized in that it comprises means for applying: (a ) compression / decompression algorithms to reduce the size of the data to be transmitted or saved; (b) encryption / decryption algorithms to secure and encrypt the data; (c) coding / decoding algorithms based on correcting codes; (d) data interleaving and scheduling algorithms to enable the minimization, detection and correction of transmission errors on all or part of the data. The communication module with the transmission devices also has means for encapsulating and decapping the data in application frames, transmitting and receiving the data through different internal or external network devices, measuring performance metrics related to the data set. transmitted and received and refer to the system management module.

Correspondingly, the invention proposes a system in which a communication device called control and reception unit comprising a data reception module characterized in that it comprises means for: (a) receiving the streams data transmitted by the transmission devices and transferred by the communication module with the transmission devices; (b) apply algorithms for decryption, error detection and correction, assembly and extraction of the different protocol layers and data analysis; (c) communicating with the system management module to receive the configuration of the different data streams transmitted by the transmission devices and transmit to it the reports of the analyzes performed on the received data including, for example, the quantity of data received from all the devices the amount of data received from each transmission device, the amount of data lost or corrupted, or the recurrence of reception anomalies.

Correlatively, the invention proposes a system in which a communication device called control and reception unit comprising a data reception module characterized in that it comprises means for: (a) detecting the losses or the application data corruptions of the different streams transmitted by the transmission devices in order to request their retransmissions; (b) inform the system management module of detected incidents. The said management module of the system has means for selecting one or more transmission devices according to criteria of availability of resources and performance in at least one group of transmission devices involved in the transmission of the flow concerned to him / them to request retransmit missing or corrupted data with a specified priority level.

Correlatively, the invention proposes a system in which a communication device called a control and reception unit comprising a transmission device management module characterized in that it comprises means for: (a) processing requests recording and departure of transmission devices; (b) identify transmission devices and their users; (c) process all the information relating to the transmission devices, update them, accept updates of information sent by the transmission devices; (d) ask them for updates of information reports when necessary. This set of information relating to the transmission devices includes: (a) the type of the device for example smartphone, tablet or computer; (b) its characteristics, for example the operating system, the manufacturer or the version; (c) its capabilities and the availability of device hardware including, for example, processors, memory, storage media, battery; (d) device device characteristics such as video resolutions supported by a camera of the device; (e) the capabilities and availability of the network connections of the device; (f) the characteristics of the networks and nodes to which the device is directly connected and / or is able to connect such as the type of network; (g) the location of the device; (h) user privileges and preferences; (i) the characteristics of the data streams generated, transmitted and / or relayed by the device; and any other information that provides additional decision criteria in the management of the system.

Correspondingly, the invention proposes a system in which a communication device called a control and reception unit comprising a group management module characterized in that it comprises means for: (a) constituting and deleting groups of transmission devices; (b) associating transmission devices with one or more groups; (c) removing transmission devices from one or more groups; (d) moving transmission devices between different groups; (e) transmitting information and updates of group information to the transmission devices, such as, for example, information on the number of transmission devices in the group, their locations, their connection addresses, the security modes of the group; exchanges in the group, the number and characteristics of the data streams transmitted by the group, the source devices of the data streams exchanged in the group and any other type of information relating to a group of transmission devices.

[0023] Correlatively, the group management module is characterized in that it comprises means for communicating to the transmission devices of each group instructions for establishing connections between them and a planning of the sending and receiving of data in the group. group. In other words, the group management module transmits to the transmission devices of each group a scheduling of the data items they will have to perform in the form of a septuplet: (a) data flow concerned; (b) part and quantity of data; (c) data conditioning operations; (d) network connection to use; (e) transmission priority; (f) recipient communication device; (g) sending time. It also transmits a similar planning of planned receptions in the form of a septuplet: (a) data flow concerned; (b) expected part and amount of data; (c) data decommissioning operations; (d) network connection where the data will be received; (e) priority of the data; (f) transmitting communication device; (g) time provided for reception. All data sending and receiving between the transmission devices in a group is thus pre-defined to optimize the operation of the system. It is communicated by the control and reception unit to all the devices belonging to said group. The said group management module also has means for transmitting to the transmission devices requests for performing connection establishment tests and for measuring the performance of the connections established. It may also request information from the transmission devices on the operation of the group, each group containing at least one separate transmission device.

Correspondingly, the invention proposes a system in which a communication device called control and reception unit comprising a data flow management module characterized in that it comprises means for: (a) requesting transmission devices creating or stopping transmission of a data stream with defined characteristics; (b) requesting the updating of the characteristics of a data stream being transmitted; (c) communicate to the system management module the information on the data streams being transmitted in the system.

Correlatively, the invention proposes a system in which a communication device called control and reception unit comprising a system management module characterized in that it comprises means for: (a) quantifying initially and in progress execution resources necessary for all ongoing transmissions of data flows to said unit; (b) to quantify all programmed transmissions over time and all transmissions of unscheduled data flows, taking into account the number, nature and characteristics of all the flows previously mentioned and managed by the flow management module. data. The resources targeted by the system management module may include, for example, bandwidth, computing and processing power, storage space, power consumption, transmission and usage costs for clean or third parties and may include any other objective and subjective metrics capable of imposing limitations on the system; (c) quantifying all available resources to the system including the resources of the control and reception unit and the resources made available by all the transmission devices registered in the system and managed by the management module of the system. transmission devices.

Correspondingly, said system management module is also characterized in that it comprises means for: (a) analyzing the quantification of necessary resources and available resources and the distribution of resources on all flows and groups of transmission devices; (b) adapting the operation of the system to the different constraints through a decision algorithm, the algorithm making intervention decisions on the data streams, groups or transmission devices jointly or separately. Examples of interventions that may concern data flows are stopping or pausing certain streams, starting other streams or modifying the characteristics of certain streams by decreasing their data rates, for example. Also, the system management module may decide to intervene on the groups of transmission devices including for example the constitution of a new group for an existing flow, the association of new transmission devices to an existing group or the modification planning for sending and receiving data between transmission devices within a group. Also, the system management module may decide to intervene on the transmission devices by, for example, requesting to activate an additional network connection or to use a different network. All decisions are communicated to the data flow management, group management and transmission device management modules which integrate them into their respective management and which send instructions for carrying them out to the transmission devices concerned.

Correspondingly, the invention also provides a communication method characterized in that it comprises means for scheduling the sending and receiving of secure or unsecured data between the transmission devices belonging to a group through sextuplets transmitted to said transmission devices and indicating (a) the relevant data stream; (b) the part and quantity of data; (c) data conditioning operations; (d) the network connection to use; (e) the priority of the data; (f) the sending or receiving communication device; (g) the time of sending or receiving. To carry out data transmission and reception, the transmission devices may use one or more direct or indirect network connections through one or more communications networks that rely on wireless technologies such as WiFi, WiMAX, Bluetooth, GPRS, UMTS, RFID, NFC, dedicated radio links or proprietary or wired links such as ADSL, SDSL, cable, fiber or dedicated links.

Said communication method also has means to allow the transmission devices to receive all the data stream when there is a need such as viewing or converting a stream.

The communication method is also characterized in that it comprises means for optimizing the exploitation of all the available resources including the network connections between the transmission devices with respect to a set of criteria including for example the reliability, performance and cost.

The invention also provides a program comprising instructions for carrying out the actions of the various communication devices and communication methods according to the invention when said program is executed by a computer, a machine or computer system or machines. capable of executing programs. This program can use any programming language, and be in the form of source code, object code, or intermediate code between source code and object code, such as in a partially compiled form, or in any other form desirable shape.

The invention also provides a recording medium or information carrier readable by a computer, and comprising instructions of a computer program as mentioned above. The recording media mentioned above can be any entity or device capable of storing the program. For example, the medium may comprise storage means, such as a ROM, for example a CD ROM or a microelectronic circuit ROM, or magnetic, optical or hybrid recording means such as a diskette or a disk hard, or electrically programmable storage means such as EPROMs or electrically programmable and erasable as EEPROMs, Flash memory as SSDs or any other storage means capable of saving computer and / or electronic instructions and being connected to a system bus. On the other hand, the recording media may correspond to a transmissible medium such as an electrical or optical signal, which may be conveyed via an electrical or optical cable, by radio or by other means. The program according to the invention can be downloaded in particular on an Internet type network.

Alternatively, the recording media may correspond to an integrated circuit in which the program is incorporated, the circuit being adapted to execute or to be used in the execution of the method in question.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0033] Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge from the description given below, with reference to the appended drawings which illustrate exemplary embodiments which are not limiting in any way. In the figures: a. FIG. 1A shows the transmission of several data streams by a group of transmission devices communicating with each other via direct network connections according to one embodiment of the invention. b. FIG. 1B shows the transmission of several data streams by a group of transmission devices communicating with each other by direct and indirect network connections through communication networks according to another embodiment of the invention. vs. FIG. 2 illustrates a communication method representing data exchanges belonging to two streams between transmission devices of the same group and their transmissions to the control and reception unit through two communications networks. d. Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the elements of a transmission device made and operated according to the descriptions of the invention. e. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the elements of the module for managing transmissions and receptions of a transmission device produced and operated according to the descriptions of the invention. f. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the elements of the control and reception unit produced and operated according to the descriptions of the invention. boy Wut. FIG. 6 represents a communication method implemented by a transmission device and controlled by the control and reception unit, making it possible to capture, generate and transmit an audiovisual stream to this unit. h. FIG. 7 represents a communication method implemented by a transmission device and controlled by the control and reception unit, making it possible to participate in the transmission of part of a data stream to this unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the spirit of clarity and simplification of the reading of the document, the dimensions of the figures appended to the present invention should not be considered with any scaling. For example, the dimensions of some elements have been accented to make them stand out. On the other hand, for a better understanding of the invention, the numbering of the elements have been kept as far as possible through the different figures.

The detailed description of the figures provides additional details illustrating embodiments of the invention and their understanding. However, it is agreed that techniques, procedures or systems well known by those accustomed to the field of the invention are not detailed in order not to burden the reading.

[0036] FIG. 1A illustrates a group of fixed and mobile transmission devices including two smartphones (10A), two computers (10B), and a tablet (10C) transmitting three data streams, captured by the camera (31) and the microphone (32), the camera (33) and the wind force sensor (34), to the control and reception unit (20) through a plurality of network connections (55) and routed via one or more networks communication (40). The communications networks (40) may use any technology or combination of communication technologies including, for example, radio links such as WiMAX or wired as optical fibers through one or more switching, routing or processing nodes.

The transmission devices (10A), (10B) and (10C) are connected to the communications networks (40) through different types of access networks, which may be wireless such as WiFi networks (45), mobile UMTS (46), WiMAX (47), satellite radio (48) or wired as an ADSL access (49) that can belong to one or more operators and connected to the communication networks (40) through wired links (55) or without wires. The transmission devices can simultaneously use multiple network accesses to communicate with the control and reception unit (20). For example, the tablet (10C) uses WiFi network access (45) and UMTS mobile access (46) simultaneously to transmit and receive data from the communication device (20).

The transmission devices (10A), (10B) and (10C) are directly connected to each other. In other words, they do not use intermediate infrastructures but exploit direct links (51) between them which can be wireless such as WiFi Direct or Bluetooth or wired like Point-to-Point PPPoE Ethernet. Protocol over Ethernet ". Each transmission device can simultaneously use one or more types of connectivity to communicate with the other transmission devices.

The transmission devices (10B) and (10C) are connected to external capture devices such as a camera (31), a microphone (32), a camera (33) or a wind force sensor 34 to through wired connections for example FireWire standard IEEE 1394 (61) or USB (63) or wireless such as the ZigBee standard IEEE 802.15.4 (64). The transmission devices (10A), (10B) and (10C) also have internal capture devices such as microphones and integrated cameras.

The control and reception unit (20) controls the transmission devices (10A), (10B), (10C) through the bidirectional communication channels provided by the links (55) and (51) in relay , communications networks (40) and access networks (45), (46), (47), (48) and (49). Said unit (20) transmits instructions to execute such as for example: the constitution of a group; the start of capture and transmission of a data stream; planning the sending and receiving of data from each transmission device to the control and reception unit (20) and to the other transmission devices of the group.

The transmission devices having capture means can initiate the capture and transmission of a data stream after acceptance or on request of the control unit and reception (20). Said unit plans the transmission of a new stream captured through the devices of the group and transmits the corresponding instructions to the transmission devices of said group.

[0042] FIG. 1B illustrates a group of fixed and mobile transmission devices including two smartphones (10A), two computers (10B) and a tablet (10C) transmitting a set of data streams to the control and reception unit. (20) through one or more communication networks (40) characterized similarly to those shown in Fig. 1A.

The transmission devices (10A), (10B) and (10C) are connected to the communications networks (40) through different types of access networks, which may be wireless such as WiFi networks (45), mobile UMTS (46), WiMAX (47), satellite radio (48) or wired as an ADSL access (49) which can belong to one or more operators and connected to the communication networks (40) through wired links (55) or without wires. The transmission devices can simultaneously use multiple network accesses to communicate with the control and reception unit (20). For example, the tablet (10C) uses WiFi network access (45) and UMTS mobile access (46) simultaneously to transmit and receive data from the device (20).

The transmission devices (10A), (10B) and (10C) can be directly connected to each other without the use of intermediate infrastructures through links (51) which can be wireless such as for example the WiFi Direct or the Bluetooth or wired like PPPoE Ethernet. The transmission devices may also use communication networks between transmission devices (41) through connections (52) that allow them to communicate indirectly with each other. The connections (52) may be wired or wireless. The communication networks between transmission devices (41) have hardware infrastructures such as WiFi access points or switches / routers to enable communication between transmission devices that can not communicate directly with each other because, for example, limited radio range. The communication networks (41) between transmission devices can use any technology or combination of technologies including for example radio links such as WiMAX or wired as Ethernet through one or more nodes switching, routing or processing. Communication networks (41) between transmission devices may also be connected to the communications networks (40) through wired or wireless links (56). Each transmission device can simultaneously use one or more types of connectivity to communicate with the other transmission devices and the control and reception unit.

The transmission devices (10B) and (10C) are connected to external capture devices such as a camera (31), a microphone (32), a camera (33) or a wind force sensor (34). ) via wired connections for example FireWire standard IEEE 1394 (61) or USB (63) or wireless such as the ZigBee standard IEEE 802.15.4 (64). The transmission devices (10A), (10B) and (10C) also have internal capture devices such as microphones and integrated cameras.

The control and reception unit (20) controls the transmission devices (10A), (10B) and (10C) through the bidirectional communication channels provided by the links (55), (56) and ( 51), (52), the communication networks (40), (41) and the access networks (45), (46), (47), (48) and (49). Said unit (20) transmits instructions to execute such as for example: the constitution of a group; the start of capture and transmission of a data stream; planning the sending and receiving of data from each transmission device to the control and reception unit (20) and to the other transmission devices of the group.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of transmission of data segments at a given instant between transmission devices forming a group (30) according to one embodiment of the invention. In other words, at this particular moment, the figure illustrates the schedules of sending and receiving data of each device of the group. This group (30) contains six transmission devices (11), (12), (13), (14), (15) and (16). The transmission devices (11) and (13) are each the source of a data stream transmitted by this group to the control and reception unit (20) through different communication networks (40).

In this group, all the transmission devices are able to communicate with each other through direct or indirect links. The arrows only indicate the direction of transmission of the data segment at this time.

The control and reception unit (20) which controls the group transmits to the set of transmission devices the instructions to be executed. These instructions indicate, for example, to the transmission devices (11) and (13) the characteristics of the flows, the size of the segments to be used, the schedules of transmissions to said unit (20) and to the other transmission devices (12), ( 14), (15) and (16). The set of segments presented in the figure are identified by two identifiers specified in the following notation: (Fy) where x identifies the data stream to which the segment belongs and identifies the sequence number of the segment in this stream. These numbers allow the various devices of the invention to uniquely identify each segment, to detect losses, to assemble the data received to reconstruct the flows, etc.

The control and reception unit (20) also transmits to all the transmission devices the schedules for sending and receiving the data segments they will have to perform. By way of example, the figure shows that the planning of the transmission device (11) caused it to transmit the segment number 10 of the stream number 1 (7¾) to the transmission device (14). At the same time, the transmission device (12) transmits the number 8 segment of the stream number 1 (Fg) to the control and reception unit (20) and receives the number 9 segment of the number 1 (Fg) flow of the device transmission (15). Also, at the same time, the transmission device (13) transmits the segment number 21 of the stream number 3 (7¾) to the transmission device (15). The transmission device (14) in turn transmits the number segment (20) of the stream number 3 (7¾) to the transmission device (16), which simultaneously transmits the segment number 18 of the stream number 3 (7¾) to the unit control and reception (20). All these transmissions and receptions of data segments belonging to different streams are carried out simultaneously by the transmission devices (10). The planning decided by the unit (20) ensures the complete reception of all the streams by optimally exploiting all the resources made available by the transmission devices (10) to ensure optimum reception by operating by For example, the best network connections and ensuring the availability of different network paths to remedy failures and loss of connections.

Figure 3 illustrates the modules of the communication device said transmission device (10). The transmission device is composed of a control module (160), a monitoring module (170) and a management module for sending and receiving (180). It may also include a data conversion module (190). The transmission devices may be the source of a digital or analog data stream converted to digital. They can also relay or receive other streams simultaneously.

The management module for sending and receiving (180) provides the operations of sending and receiving data and communications with other communication devices (10) and (20). This module thus manages the transformation of a data stream into uniquely identifiable numbered data segments and the reverse operation of gathering segments to reconstruct a contiguous flow. It has the means to carry out all the operations of encryption / decryption, coding / decoding, compression / decompression, interleaving / scheduling, encapsulation / decapsulation. All evoked operations can be applied to communications, data flows, or constituent segments.

The management module for sending and receiving (180) can also act as a relay between at least two other devices of the system and route their messages or data in both directions. All the flows and communications of the relayed transmission device are carried by this module which can respond to priority rules in its management of segment-level transmission and reception queues, IP headers through the DSCP field "Differentiated Services" Code Point ", at level 2 through priority Vlans or architectures capable of supporting quality of service such as IntServ for" Integrated Services "in English or DiffServ for" Differentiated Services ".

The data conversion module (190) controlled dynamically and continuously by the control module (160) is capable of converting data captured locally on the transmission device, be they digital, such as the transcoding of a stream H.264 video at a lower resolution or analog like encoding an electrical signal into a binary alphabet. It can also convert data received by the device for the same purpose. The characteristics of the conversion operations can be adapted dynamically in real time according to the instructions of the control module of the terminal (160), for example the adaptation of the quantization matrix during the video encoding to increase or decrease the compression ratio of the terminal. digital signal.

The monitoring module (170) ensures the collection of usage statistics and performance of the transmission device, its components and its peripherals continuously. It thus retrieves all the information available on the device, its components and peripherals and tracks the evolution of resources available to provide reports to the control module (160).

The control module (160) communicates with all the other modules of the device. It also communicates with the communication device called control and reception unit to receive the instructions to be executed and report the results of operations and the state of the device. The control module (160) may request the execution of periodic or well-planned actions over time as it may require the execution of an isolated action to the other modules and peripherals of the device. It coordinates the operation of the other modules of the device: monitoring (170), sending / receiving (180) and conversion (190). This module is also able to control one or more devices internal and external to the device simultaneously through specific interfaces available or developed for this purpose or standard interfaces. For example, it can control a video capture device like a camera through the ONVIF interface "Open Network Video Interface Forum" to start or stop the capture or intervene on the encoding parameters.

FIG. 4 illustrates the elements of the sending and receiving management module (180) of a transmission device (10). The shipping and receiving management module (180) is composed of a connection manager (181), a delivery manager (182), a reception manager (183), a buffer memory (184) and a packaging entity data (185).

The connection manager (181) receives instructions from the control module (160) to establish connections with other transmission devices (10) and with the control and reception unit (20). It can establish several connections simultaneously with another communication device using different types of network connectivity available such as a WiFi connection and a mobile connection in 4G LTE "Long Term Evolution" on a smartphone. The connection manager (181) can also receive instructions from the control module (160) to perform tests on already established or established connections. These tests may concern the success of the connectivity, the network paths taken, the strength of the radio signal, the performance of the connection in terms of delay or bandwidth, etc. The connection manager (181) reports periodically or on demand to the control module (160) the status of all established network connections.

The consignment manager (182) receives instructions from the control module (160) for preparing and carrying out data or communication messages with other transmission devices (10) and with the control unit. and receiving (20). These instructions specify for each flow of data or communications, the processing to be performed on the data before sending. All of these conditioning operations are performed by the data conditioning entity (185). These operations can be carried out in advance or during the sending phase. The sent data and segments are stored by the sending handler (182) in the buffer (184) of the module (180) for a possible retransmission in the event of sending failure or reception failure by the remote device .

The dispatch manager (182) is also responsible for applying the instructions defining the scheduling of the data sent by the control and reception unit (20) and relayed by the control module of the device (160). . In other words, the shipping manager receives a shipment schedule in the form of seven-folds indicating: (a) the relevant data flow; (b) the part and quantity of data; (c) data conditioning operations; (d) the network connection to use; (e) the transmission priority; (f) the recipient communication device; (g) the moment of sending. It has the network connections already established by the connection manager (181) to send the data and communications according to the planning caused. It reports to the control module (160) the sending failures and other anomalies.

The reception manager (183) receives instructions from the control module (160) to prepare and perform the reception of data or communication messages. These instructions specify for each stream of data or communications, the processing to be performed after reception. Some data segments are for example intended to be retransmitted without modification and are accordingly stored in the buffer (184) pending their sending. Other data may require certain packaging operations performed by the data conditioning entity (185).

The reception manager (183) also receives a reception planning defined by the control and reception unit (20) and relayed by the control module of the device (160). In other words, the receptions manager prepares receptions in the form of septuplets indicating: (a) the data flow concerned; (b) the part and quantity of data; (c) data decommissioning operations; (d) the network connection to use; (e) the priority of the data to be received; (f) the transmitting communication device; (g) the moment of reception. It has the network connections already established by the connection manager (181) to receive the data and communications according to the planning generated. It reports to the control module (160) the failures or delays of receptions in addition to other possible anomalies.

The buffer memory (184) serves to store the data or data segments to be transmitted or received. It allows to keep these data available for a certain period of time thus ensuring the possibility of retransmitting them if necessary.

The data conditioning entity (185) is used by the sending manager (182) to condition the data or messages to be transmitted. It is also used by the reception manager (183) to process the received data or messages that are to be retransmitted or deconditioned when they are intended for the transmission device itself. The data conditioning entity (185) performs data segmentation operations to divide them into segments of equal or different size, for example by dividing a video stream into segments each containing an image of the video. The entity (185) also assembles the data segments to reconstruct the stream. The packaging entity (185) allows data compression to reduce their size and decompression to render them. It also performs data coding by adding error correction codes, used during the decoding or correction operation to reconstruct missing data parts or correct corrupted parts. The data conditioning entity (185) also makes it possible to encrypt data and decrypt it. It also performs interleaving operations on the data to reduce the memory effect of the channels introducing errors and losses in the data and offers the inverse operation of scheduling to restore the data in the original format before the interleaving. The packaging entity (185) also makes it possible to encapsulate the data in frames while adding additional information in a header or at the end of the data such as the size of the frame, its sequence number, the identifier of the frame. a data stream or the instant of sending. The reverse decapsulation operation makes it possible to extract the data from this frame and to access all the information added.

The sending (182) and receiving (183) managers may request the carrying out of data conditioning operations by the entity (185) independently and in any order. Several operations may succeed each other and result in a result provided to the requesting manager in response to his request.

FIG. 5 illustrates the modules of the communication device called control and reception unit (20). The control and reception unit (20) is composed of a communication module with the transmission devices (210), a transmission device management module (220), a group management module (230), a data flow management module (240), a system management module (250) and a data receiving module (260). The control and reception unit (20) controls all the transmission devices connected to the system. In other words, it is responsible for the management of transmission devices, groups and data streams that are conveyed between the transmission devices and to said unit (20).

The data receiving module (260) can be located separately from the rest of the modules of the control and reception unit (20) while keeping a constant communication with the management module of the system (250) to apply its instructions. and to remit the information collected on the data flows to the example the statistics on the received data like the flow or the losses. When located separately, it has an instance of the communication module with the transmission devices (210).

The communication module with the transmission devices (210) provides the communication operations with the transmission devices (10) and receiving the data transmitted by the latter. It thus has the means to carry out all the operations of encryption / decryption, coding / decoding, compression / decompression, interleaving / scheduling, encapsulation / decapsulation. All flows and communications between the devices called transmission devices and the communication device called control and reception unit (20) are carried by this module which can respond to priority rules in its management of reception queues at the level of application frames, IP headers across the Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) field, at level 2 through priority Vlans or architectures capable of supporting quality of service such as IntServ for Integrated Services or DiffServ for Differentiated Services.

The transmission device management module (220) provides the management operations of said transmission devices including for example their identification, the management of their registration or departure from the system, the receipt and processing of their report. activity, etc. This information is made available to the system management module (250).

The group management module (230) supports the operations of constitution and removal of groups of transmission devices, decided by the management module of the system (250). It is able to associate transmission devices to one or more groups or to remove them. It communicates to the transmission devices (10) the instructions for the groups such as establishing connections between the devices of a group or the planning of the sending and receiving of data in the group. It also collects the activity reports of the group and makes them available to the system management module (250).

The data flow management module (240) is responsible for the management of the data flows transmitted by the system including, for example, all requests for creating new flows, stopping or pausing existing flows. , identification and characterization of flows, prioritization, updating, etc.

The system management module (250) is the manager of the resources and the operation of the system. It has the means to initially quantify and run the available resources and resources needed for all system operations including execution, administration and data flow transmissions. It also has periodically updated activity reports on all system devices, groups and data flows carried by the system. The system management module (250) has analysis and decision methods integrating all the information generated and producing instructions for optimizing the operation of the system with respect to the various constraints according to established criteria such as, for example, the cost of operation, reliability or performance of transmissions, etc. These instructions may relate to data streams, groups, or transmission devices. They are communicated to the modules concerned for application.

Referring now to FIG. 6, the progress of a process controlled by the communication device, said control and reception unit (20), which enables a communication device (10) to send a control device to it, is described. data streams such as audiovisual data by distributing the transmission of these data on a set of transmission devices belonging to a group defined by said control unit and receiving (20). It is considered that initially the communication device (10) is not connected to the system but has in its read-only memory or in one of its storage media programs for launching the various modules to play the role a transmission device. The communication device (10) can also download over a network connection these programs from a remote device and execute them to act as a transmission device.

In this initial state, in step El, the communication device (10) executes the programs to become a transmission device. It establishes a communication with the control and reception unit (20). During step E2, said unit (20) performs the authentication of the communication device (10) to determine its rights and interrogate it about its information context, such as its network connections, its processor capabilities and memory, the state of use of its battery, its location and other similar information.

In step E3, synonymous with successful identification of the communication device (10), it becomes an effective transmission device and registered with the system. It can simultaneously act as a data source device, a relay device for other transmission devices and belong to one or more groups to route different data streams to the control and reception unit ( 20). The transmitting device (10) sends a request to the control and reception unit (20) to capture, generate and transmit an audiovisual stream to it.

At step E4. said unit (20) evaluates the transmission capabilities of the transmission device (10) and analyzes all the resources that are available and likely to contribute to the routing of this stream to its data receiving module. In case of incapacity of the transmission device (10) and the system to dispose of sufficient resources for the transmission of data to the device (20), the request is refused and the transmission device (10) remains available returning to the state of step E3.

The routing of an audiovisual stream requires a large and stable bandwidth which does not have the transmission device (10). The control and reception unit (20) finds the necessary resources to create a new group (G5) of transmission devices in order to distribute the transmission of the audiovisual stream (F4) on all of these transmission devices.

In step E5, the control and reception unit (20) defines the planning of the sendings and receptions of the stream data segments (F4) for all the transmission devices of the group (G5) as a function of the resources they make available to the system and communicate these instructions to the devices in the group (G5).

In step E6, the transmission device (10) establishes the connections with the other transmission devices of the group (G5) identified by the control and reception unit (20). If these connections are not successful, the transmission device returns to the state of step E4 to request a new reassessment of its request.

In step E7, synonymous with successful establishment of these connections, the transmission device (10) begins to send segments of the audiovisual stream (F4) to the control and reception unit (20) and to the targeted transmission devices of the group (G5) according to the instructions of said unit (20).

The transmission device (10) continuously monitors the various statistics related to its performance and the use of its resources generated by the transmission of the stream (F4) and communicates all of this information to the control unit and receiving (20). Said unit (20) analyzes in step E8 all the information gathered from the transmission device (10), the group (G5) and the data reception module (260) concerning the flow (F4) and decides according to either to validate the continuity of the previously defined operations or to make changes to the planning of data transmissions between the transmission devices, or to the group by addition or eviction of transmission devices, or on the audiovisual flows through adaptations or conversions.

FIG. 7 represents a communication method implemented by a communication device, made to play the role of a transmission device (10).

In step H1, the communication device (10) is previously connected and identified by the control unit and reception (20), described above with reference to steps E1 and E2. It is available for receiving instructions from the unit (20) and is ready to execute them. It can simultaneously be transmitting different data streams of which it is the source, relay or member in the transmission groups to which it is assigned.

In response to the receipt of new instructions from the control and reception unit (20) to participate in the transmission of a data stream in step H2, the transmission device (10) performs the necessary procedures to become a member of the group (G7) to participate in the transmission of the data stream (F8) in the final destination group of said unit (20).

In step H3, it establishes connections with the other members of the group (G7) according to the instructions of the control unit and reception (20). If this connection phase is successful, the transmission device (10) becomes an effective member of the group (G7). In case of failure, it returns to its initial state described in step H1 and reports the results of the phase to the communication device (20).

In step H4, synonymous with the success of the previously described step H3, the transmission device (10) receives part or all of the data stream (F8) from the transmission devices of the group (G7) according to the data transmission schedules established by the control and reception unit (20) for the group.

In step FI5, the transmission device (10) sends part or all of the data stream (F8) that it has received to the other transmission devices of the group (G7) and to the transmission unit. control and reception (20) according to the instructions established by said unit (20) for the group.

The device (10) continuously monitors the various statistics related to its performance and the use of its resources generated by the transmission of the stream (F8) and other flows to which it possibly contributes to the transmission and communicates the whole. this information to the control and reception unit (20). Said control and reception unit (20) analyzes in step H6 all the information collected from the transmission device (10), the other device of the group (G7) and the reception module concerning the stream (F8) and decides according to whether to validate the continuity of the previously defined operations or to make changes to the schedules of data transmission between the transmission devices, or to the group by addition or eviction of transmission devices, or of course the audiovisual stream through adaptations or conversions.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. Thus, in another variant, the transmission device (10) can play the role of a relay between two other devices. transmission or between a transmission device and the control and reception unit. Moreover, in another variant, the transmission device (10) can play the role of a display device which can participate in the transmission of the stream in the group but not to the communication device (20).

Claims (10)

1) Communication method for the generation and the upstream transmission of a data stream carried out by a plurality of transmission devices (10) grouped into a group of which a device is the source of the data and by a device communication said control and reception unit (20), characterized in that it comprises: - a step (E4) of decision of use or not by the control unit and reception (20) of the transmission device ( 10) source for the generation and transmission of a new data stream, - a step (E5) of reception, by the transmission device (10), of instructions for the generation of the flow, the establishment of connections with a group of transmission devices and the planning of the sending of data generated to said transmission devices (10) and to the control and reception unit (20), - a step (E7) of sending data segments of the flux generated to the transmission devices of said group and to the control and reception unit (20) according to the planning of the items previously received from said unit (20), - a step (E8) of updating the instructions decided on step (E4) by the unit (20) after receiving and analyzing information on the device (10), the group and the reception of the stream. 2) A method of communication, according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises before step (E4): - a step (El) sending, to the control unit and receiving (20) managing the system devices and the transmission of data streams, of a registration message accompanied by information on the device and its resources, - a step (E2) of identification and registration of the device (10) by the unit ( 20), - a step (E3) for receiving recording instructions by the device (10). 3) Communication method, according to claim 1 or 2, for participation in the upstream transmission of a data stream of a transmission device (10) administered by a control and reception unit (20) , characterized in that it comprises: - a step (H2) of reception, by the transmission device (10), of instructions for the establishment of connections with a group of transmission devices, the planning of data receptions from the devices of said group and the planning of the sending of data to said devices and to the unit (20), - a step (H4) of receiving data segments making up part or all of the flow from the other transmission devices of said group according to the schedule established by said unit (20), - a step (H5) of sending previously received data segments to the transmission devices of said group and to the control unit and to the control unit. receiving (20) according to the dispatch schedule defined by said unit (20), - a step (H6) of updating by the unit (20) of the instructions transmitted to the step (H2) after reception and analysis of information on the transmission device (10), the group and the reception of the stream. 4) communication method according to any one of the preceding claims, for relaying the upstream transmission of data between communication devices, characterized in that it comprises: - a step of receiving, by the transmission device (10), instructions for establishing connections with the communication devices to be relayed, - a step of receiving data and communication messages from the relayed and transmitting communication devices, - a step of sending data and communication messages to relayed and addressed communication devices; - a step of updating the relay instructions by the control and reception unit (20) after receiving and analyzing information on the transmission device (10) and the performance of the relay operations performed. 5) transmission device (10) for implementing the method according to claims 1 to 4, comprising a module for managing the shipments and receptions, characterized in that it comprises: - means for receiving data from least another transmission device using one or more direct or indirect network connections simultaneously, - means for sending data in accordance with an established schedule to other transmission devices and to the control and reception unit (20) using one or more direct or indirect network connections simultaneously. - Means of establishing and testing network connections, - Means of segmentation and assembly, compression and decompression, coding and decoding, interleaving and scheduling, encapsulation and decapsulation of data. 6) Transmission device (10) according to claim 5, for transmitting secure data to the control and reception unit (20) comprising a dispatch and reception management module, characterized in that it comprises additional means of encryption and decryption of data. 7) transmission device (10) according to claim 5 or 6, for collecting information on the device and operations performed comprising a monitoring module, characterized in that it comprises means for acquiring information on the device, its resources and peripherals, their usage and performance statistics. 8) transmission device (10), according to claim 5,6 or 7, for controlling the device, its peripherals and its operations comprising a control module, characterized in that it comprises: - Means for executing d instructions of the control and reception unit (20) for sending, receiving and relaying data; Establishment and testing of connections generation, adaptation, conversion and conditioning of data, - means for sending registration messages to said unit (20) - means for sending information messages to said unit (20) - Control means of the internal and external components and peripherals and modules of the device for executing the received instructions. 9) Transmission device (10), according to claims 5 to 8, for adapting the data according to the instructions of the control module, transmitted by the control and reception unit (20), comprising a data conversion module, characterized in that it comprises: - means for digitizing analog signals - means for converting and transforming digital data - means for adapting the data flows. Computer program comprising instructions for performing the steps of the communication method according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4 when said program is executed by a computer.