JP2000358071A - Information server and carousel information arraying method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To insert additive payload information without confusing the whole transport stream by allowing a carousel builder to supply information in an output transport stream for deciding the insertion point of transport stream display in the middle of construction of a payload. SOLUTION: Under the command of an API server 22, a stream generator 26 simply retrieves data from a storing device 24 and output it without identifying its content. A stream generator 26 is designed so that a carousel such as a DSMCC object carousel, a DSMCC data carousel is constructed. Consequently, the generator 26 is provided with at least one carousel builder 28. Then, the builder 28 supplies information in an output transport stream for deciding the insertion point of a transport stream display in the middle of construction of a payload.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information server and a carousel information arranging method, and more particularly to an information server and a carousel information arranging method. And an information server method for arranging the carcel information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A method has been proposed for providing an information server for supplying information in a selected channel of a transport stream. For example, various data files are provided in specific channels of a transport stream for broadcasting video data and the like.

[0003]

At present, it has been proposed, for example, to transmit a number of different data files one after another using a carcel. By the way, current applications recognize that the content of Carcel's pages needs some flexibility. In particular, it has been proposed according to the invention that it should be possible to insert a file into the carcel of another given file. Unfortunately, it is not possible to simply insert additional payload information without disrupting the entire transport stream because of the transformations that occur in the transport stream payload from the original Carcel file.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and when transmitting a large number of different data files one after another using a carousel, additional payload information is transmitted without disturbing the entire transport stream. Provided are an information server and a method of arranging carousel information that can be inserted.

[0005]

According to the present invention, determining an insertion point in a payload list of a transport stream representation during construction, calculating a transport stream payload of an additional file, Inserting a transport stream payload in the transport stream representation at the insertion point of the method, and inserting an additional file from a pre-constructed sequence of transport stream representations of the carousel of the file comprising: .

According to the present invention, a carousel builder for constructing a transport stream payload of a transport stream display of a carousel of a file, and a payload builder for constructing a transport stream payload of an inserted file inserted into the carousel of the file The transport transport characterized in that the carousel builder determines the insertion point of the transport stream indication during construction of the payload such that the payload of the insertion file is inserted at the next available insertion point An information server for providing information in a stream is provided.

[0007] In this way, the insertion point allows additional payload to be inserted into the output transport stream without disrupting the content of the entire transport stream. Furthermore, insertion points are provided via the carousel at relatively short intervals so that additional files are inserted relatively quickly.

[0008] Preferably, the information server circularly refers to the payload calculated by the Carcel Builder,
It further comprises a multiplexer / packetizer for constructing transport stream packets to be transmitted. The multiplexer refers to the insertion point and inserts the payload of the insertion file at the next available insertion point.

[0009] In this way, the need for large recalculations is eliminated and the multiplexer / packetizer can simply insert the required payload information on the next available insertion point.

[0010] The information server includes, for example, at least one stream generator for generating a transport stream, and the stream generator includes at least one carcel builder and a multiplexer determined as described above.

[0011] The multiplexer preferably forms MPEG2 transport stream packets from the calculated payload to be transmitted, and the insert file is a DCMC
C objects, the Carcel Builder builds the complete set of DCMC sections of the object Carcel.

The user may wish to determine the different pages of the carcel in different ways. For example, as described above, some files require immediate insertion, for example, just when an updated file is received. Similarly, some pages of the carousel have multiple versions such that successive versions are output on each round of the carousel.

According to the present invention, a step of determining each page of the carousel together with a reference name, a step of determining one or more file addresses of each reference name, and an output characteristic by assigning an attribute to each reference name And a step of successively referring to the pages of the carcel and outputting a file determined by the address according to the attribute associated with each page.

According to the present invention, each page of the carcel is determined together with the reference name, one or more file addresses of each reference name are determined, attributes are assigned to each reference name, and the output characteristics of the page are determined. An information server for outputting a carcel file, comprising: a register to be determined; and a carcel builder that successively refers to the pages of the carcel and outputs a file determined by an address according to an attribute related to each page. .

In this way, the user can easily determine the structure of the carousel.

Preferably, the attributes are a normal attribute indicating that only the file indicated by each address of each page is output in each round of the carcel, and a list of each page for each round of the carcel. A circular attribute indicating that a continuous file from the file address is output.

The attribute not only outputs the file indicated by the file address when the carcel arrives at each reference name, but also indicates the file address of the reference name whenever the content of the file address is updated. The file may also have an immediate attribute to be output.

In this way, each page of the carousel is easily determined not only with respect to its content, but also with respect to how it is output on each round of the carousel.

Previously, in order to rank processing resources or transmission bandwidth, tasks or data files were set with a value indicating their relative importance. For example, in the transmission of data, one data source is allocated, for example, to 80% of the available bandwidth and another data source is allocated to the remaining 20% of the available bandwidth. Similarly, where a processor must perform many different tasks, a particular task is assigned, for example, to a particular percentage of available processing time.

Even if this system works well for systems where tasks or data sources change little, constantly reconfigured, the method is computationally inefficient. In particular, where data sources or tasks are added or removed, the system must recalculate bandwidth or processing time percentage allocations.

The present invention first assigns priorities to data operations so that the relative priorities of the data operations do not change and do not need to be recalculated as data operations are added or deleted. Recognize the need.

According to the present invention, for example, constructing a circular array of a predetermined number of conceptual time slots;
Specifying a frequency value for an array of conceptual time slots for each data operation, and registering each data operation in the array of successive conceptual time slots with an interval determined according to the frequency value; One or more data operations sequentially refer to each conceptual time slot of the registered array, and whenever a data operation is registered and selected for the current conceptual time, a data operation is performed. And assigning priorities to data operations such as processing or transmission.

According to the present invention, for example, a cyclic arrangement of a predetermined number of conceptual time slots, an input device for assigning a frequency value relating to the arrangement of the time slots to each data operation, Register each data operation in the array at different timeslots with an interval determined according to the frequency value, 1 or 2
A control device for continuously referring to each conceptual time slot of the array in which the above data operation is registered, and starting the data operation when the data operation is registered and selected according to the conceptual time progress; A system for assigning priorities to data operations, such as processing or transmission, comprising:

In this way, the priorities of the data operations are all set for the conceptual time slots of the array. When an input for one data operation occurs at every nth input and an input for another data operation occurs at every mth input, the relative occurrence of the two inputs is, for example, apparently the first two operations. Even if the actual allocation of one data operation is reduced, it will be the same regardless of whether the input was made for another data operation. Thus, the method and system provide for the relative priorities of various data operations without requiring calculations to recalculate the overall allocation when other data operations are added or removed. give.

Preferably, the system comprises a stream generator, for example, which assembles transport stream packets from a selection of data sources, wherein frequency values are assigned to each data source, and the stream generator controls the transport according to the control. Select the data source that will take the stream payload data.

By assigning priorities to the data sources for transmission in the transport stream,
Certain data sources with more bandwidth can be allocated on the transport stream. Where data from a data source is repeatedly transmitted, it can be used to control the relative frequency at which data from a particular data source is transmitted.

By the method described above, different data sources with different priorities can be easily selected or deleted without changing the relative transmission bandwidth already allocated to the data sources used. You.

Preferably, the information server providing information in the output transport stream, such as DVB / MPEG2, can, for example, comprise such a system and carry out such a method. . The information server preferably generates a DVB compatible output stream.

When performing data operations, the proportioning of processing time or transmission bandwidth may be significant, but in the sense of requiring immediate action,
Some data operations are further time dependent. For example, for a processor that handles video display and word processing operations, it may be even more important that the video processing operation be performed before the word processing operation. Similarly, for an information server that has allocated only a small portion of bandwidth for the transmission of news items, it is more likely that a particular breaking news will be immediately allocated to bandwidth rather than waiting for the scheduled allocation of bandwidth. It might be very important.

Thus, the need to assign priorities to data operations was first recognized by the present application.

Each data operation is assigned a call time indicating the relative urgency of the data operation, and the selection of the next data operation to be performed is determined at least based on the value of the call time, such as processing or transmission. A method and system for assigning priorities to data operations has been proposed.

In this way, the processor or transmitter can determine, for example, what is the most important data operation to perform next.

A method has been proposed for providing an information server for providing information in selected channels of a transport stream. For example, to broadcast video data and the like, for example, various data files are provided in specific channels of a transport stream. It is desirable to transmit a number of different data files through a carousel in a sequence. It is also desired that individual files in the carcel should be changed from time to time. By the way, unfortunately, since the file is transmitted via the protocol stack forming the transport stream packet, no direct communication is performed between the original file and the transport stream packet. Thus, the exchange of individual files is a significant change in the transport stream.

According to the present invention, for example, a step of converting data from a file into a transport stream packet via a protocol stack, and a conversion generated by the conversion for each file used in the conversion. For any conversion data used to store the dependent links indicating data and used in the conversion to further form the converted data, the recalculation caused by the changes when the file in the carcel is changed Storing a dependency link indicating the further conversion data to indicate any conversion data requesting a transport stream.

According to the invention, there is also provided at least one Carcel builder for converting data from a file via a protocol stack to form a transport stream packet, a series of registers, and for use in the conversion. For each file that is stored, stores a dependency link that indicates the conversion data resulting from the conversion, and forms a further conversion data for any conversion data used in the conversion when the file in the carcel is modified. ,
A dependency mechanism that stores a dependency link indicating further conversion data, such that the dependency link stored in the register indicates any conversion data that requires recalculation caused by the change. An information server for outputting a carcel is provided.

Thus, when a file is changed or exchanged, a simple configuration is provided, showing only those parts of the overall conversion of the transport stream that require recalculation. In other words, when the file changes, there is no need to recalculate the transform for the entire transport stream.

For a large carousel, recalculating the entire corresponding transport stream takes a very long time. However, by identifying only those parts of the transport stream that need to be recalculated, it is possible, for example, to provide an information server that quickly updates individual files in the carousel.

Preferably, the register is a part of a dependency network consisting of a key node based on Carcel's file and a calculated node based on the transformed data at successive layers of the protocol stack. To form

The relying node preferably stores a pointer that serves as a content reference to the bitstream in a particular part of the carousel bitstream representation of the file. Preferably, the dependency indication is stored as part of the dependency network and indicates how a portion of the bitstream is used to calculate another portion of the bitstream.

In this way, the dependency network provides a computationally simple mechanism for the information server to identify the required part of the bitstream for insertion into the transport stream. Following the dependency structure, the pages of the original file are briefly described.

Preferably, the carcel is configured so that the dependent node's content reference pointer points to a particular subpart of the bitstream representation of the DSMCC object carcell, and that the primary node includes the DSMCC file's content reference and directory object.
It has a CC object carousel.

Again, this provides a computationally simple system for identifying the appropriate data to insert into a transport stream packet.

At least one of the files of the carousel comprises, for example, different versions of this file, so that different versions are transmitted in successive rounds of the carousel broadcast. In this case, preferably, this or at least one Carcel builder converts each version of the data so that successive versions of the transport stream packet are selected on each round of Carcel broadcast. , The dependency configuration stores the dependency link for each version.

Thus, the information server does not need to recalculate the required payload and transport stream packets on each round of carousel broadcasting.
The dependency configuration allows the information server to simply change pointers for different versions, so that the output transport stream is easily changed on each round of the carousel.

It is known to extract video and / or audio data from various sources, arrange them in transport stream packets such as MPEG2, and transmit them as respective channels of the transport stream.

It has been proposed to transmit various forms of information into such a transport stream. The information includes a video, a Java application, and the like.

According to the present invention, an API server for receiving control and data from an external host controller, a storage device for storing at least this data,
An information server for providing information in an output transport stream comprising a stream generator for constructing a transport stream packet from this data under the control of an I server.

Thus, the information server, for example,
It is provided as a separate integrated unit that is easily multiplexed with other similar information servers or providers of other transport streams of video information. The information server is controlled and configured by an external host computer by the API server. Any information for transmission by the information server is transferred from the host controller to the storage of the information server. Similarly, the stream generator can insert the selected information into the selected channel of the transport stream as required by the host controller and under the control of the API server. Where the information is transmitted repeatedly or the different information is transmitted cyclically, the already calculated payload for the transport stream so that the transport stream data does not need to be constructed for each time of transmission Can be stored in the stream generator.

[0049] Preferably, each stream generator comprises at least one Carcel builder that builds a series of payloads for cyclic transmission in the transport stream.

The Carcel Builder is, for example, a DSMCC
Construct an object carcel and / or DSMCC data carcel, and create a DSMC from the input data file
Build the C section.

In this way, for example, a series of payloads are prepared and cyclically transmitted in the transport stream channel. Where more than one carcel builder is provided, for example, a number of different carcel pages are provided in the transport stream channel.

Preferably, each stream generator comprises a multiplexer / packetizer which arranges the payload in the transport stream packets and multiplexes them to form a transport stream.

In particular, where different sources of data are fed into the stream generator, for example, to transmit raw data from multiple Carcel Builders and / or storage devices, the various pages are put together. It can be multiplexed and provided in transport stream packets.

Preferably, the API server and the at least one stream generator interface with one of a plurality of operating systems such that the information server can operate with different operating systems by simply changing the operating system abstraction layer. And an operation system abstraction layer.

As described above, the information server is provided with IRIX (registered trademark), LINUX (registered trademark), and SOLARIS.
It can be built on any of a number of operating systems, such as Windows®, Windows NT®.
Although the information server is based on a platform such as C ++, simply changing the operating system abstraction layer allows the operating system to be changed without changing the configuration of the information server.

Preferably, the stream generator is a DV server, for example, such that the information server is used with a different driver by changing the driver abstraction layer.
It has a driver abstraction layer that interfaces with one of the drivers of the B encoder.

As described above, by changing the driver abstraction layer, it is possible to change the driver that uses the information server without changing other parts of the information server.

[0058]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an information server and a carcel information arrangement method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In particular, a DVB-compliant data server architecture called an information server capable of generating a DVB-compliant transport stream including DCMCC data and an object carousel has been proposed. In addition, this information server
Supports dynamic updating of content in DCMCC data and object carousel while DCMMC data and object carousel flows out.

FIG. 1 shows a D in which the information server 18 is incorporated.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a specific configuration of a part of the VB system. Here, the information server 18 can be incorporated into another DVB network such as a cable network or a terrestrial network, or a network other than the DVB network.

The playout section 2 includes, for example,
Multiple video / audio sources 4 and live sources 6
Is incorporated. From these sources, for example, M
Data in the form of a PEG2 transport stream packet is supplied to the multiplexer 8 and output from the playout section 2. The data stream multiplexed by the multiplexer 8 is supplied to the modulator 10a and then transmitted to, for example, the artificial satellite 12, and transmitted from the artificial satellite 12 to the ground. This transmitted signal is then received by the setup box 14 of the television receiver 16. Signals from many other modulators 10m, 10n, etc. are also transmitted to the satellite.

In this system, the information server 18 can be supplied. Like the video / audio sources 4 and 6, the information server 18 supplies data in the form of MPEG2 transport stream packets to the multiplexer 8 for insertion into the data stream for transmission. The information server 18 is used for broadcasting data of any shape, and in particular, for example, MHEG5 application, HTML page, Java application,
Used for IRD software upgrades and for broadcasting data services in the form of DCMCC objects on the data carousel. As shown in FIG. 1, the host computer 20 controls the content and characteristics of data output from the information server 18 and controls the operation of the information server 18.

The information server 18 uses the T
It is controlled by a host computer 20 using some control network such as CP / IP. The generated transport stream is Ethernet, DVB
It is reproduced by a receiver (PC, STB, etc.) by a streaming network such as ASI, DVB LVDS or ATM.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of the entire architecture of the information server 18.

A control signal and data are supplied from the host computer 20 to the API server 22. The data is transferred to storage device 24 for subsequent retrieval.
At least one stream generator 26 is provided for outputting an MPEG2 data stream. Therefore, in its operation, the API server receives data such as a series of image data and transfers the image data to the storage device 24. Each stream generator 2
6 is an API server 22 based on the description of the carcel.
Generates a stream of data under the control of. In particular,
The API server 22 receives a control signal from the host computer 20, and controls the stream generator 26 appropriately in order. As will be described in detail later, the stream generator 2
6 includes, for example, a carcel builder, and a storage device 24.
Data in the correct order.

The purpose of the API server is to provide a software interface that allows remote access to the host computer (eg, PC) 20 by TCP / IP. The software interface is
Implemented by using the RPC protocol, it provides the user of the information server 18 with a set of software abstractions that are independent of the transport bitstream but rather must be broadcast by Carcel. The user can determine the object and data carousel in such a way as to focus on the conceptual structure of the carcel starting with the content that does not need to be.

Further, the API server is the information server 18
Manages the content data on the content disk.

From an architectural point of view, the API
The server is implemented as a single threaded process that includes the two main modules of the RPC layer and API implementation. The RPC layer manages a control network connection with one or many host computers 20. Each connection is called a session. Each session receives RPC requests from the host computer session, serializes those requests, checks if they are valid, demarshals the data (arguments) of those requests, and returns the appropriate data in the API implementation. Call the appropriate entry point, receive the result (or error) from the API implementation, marshal the received result to an RPC response, and finally send the response back to the host computer 20. The API implementation provides a set of functions that perform the functions of the information server API. A
The PI implementation interacts with the content disk, reads / writes data to / from the content disk, and checks the validity of the arguments for each API call.

The transmission of the stream from the stream generator 26 to the multiplexer 8 of the playout section 2 takes many different forms. It is proposed that the streaming be provided as a separate unit to the information server 18. Thus, for example, streaming can be performed using DVA-ASI PR (produced by Sony Digital Network Solutions Japan).
Selected by ISM board, DVB-LVDS, ATM or Ethernet.

It has been proposed that the information server 18 be supplied as a standard 4U 19 inch rack mount. The control network between the host computer 20 and the information server 18 is, for example, Ethernet or ATM.

FIG. 3 shows that one host computer 20 generates several information servers 18 which generate many streams.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the control is performed.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of the information server 18 from the viewpoint of one stream generator 26. The API server 22 allows the API 27 to be accessed by the host computer 20.
It has a PC (Remote Procedure Call) protocol 23. As IIOP has become more popular, control APIs can be run, for example, with IIOP. Thus, the API server 22 receives data and control signals from the remote host computer 20. Further, the API server 22 includes an operating system abstraction layer 25, that is, an OS
It is executed under AL25. OSAL 25 is provided to allow information server 18 to run on a number of different operating systems. In particular, it is necessary to modify OSAL 25 in order to adapt information server 18 to run on a different operating system.

The stream generator 26 can output raw transport stream data. In particular, under the command of the API server 22, the stream generator 26 simply retrieves the data from the storage device 24 and outputs the content without identifying it. By the way, for example, the DSMCC
It is intended that carousels such as object carousels and DSMCC data carousels can be constructed. Therefore, the stream generator 26 comprises at least one Carcel builder 28.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of a thread of the stream generator 26. The stream generator 26 is responsible for dynamically constructing a transport bitstream starting from a conceptual description of the data / object carousel. The architecture of the stream generator 26 is composed of a large number of threads that are executed at the same time.

1. SG main thread 42: This thread has an obligation to communicate with the API server. The SG main thread 42 receives commands from the API server, starts or stops the object carousel, drops the carousel from the running stream, or updates some content in the running stream. Further, the SG main thread 42 has an obligation to manage other threads. This includes starting / stopping these threads and controlling the synchronization of these threads.

2. Carcel Builder (CB) Thread 4
4: This thread is responsible for building the (binary) DSMCC section that makes up the object carousel. The CB thread 44 receives the description of the carcel from the SG main thread 42. Once the DSMCC sections are constructed, they are
ux thread 48 (see below). The CB thread 44 also communicates with the SI thread 46 and inserts appropriate service information into a table managed by the SI thread 46.

3. SI thread 46: This thread is
There is an obligation to generate and update service information (SI) tables. The SI thread 46 constructs an MPEG2 section constituting the SI table, and sends the MPEG2 section as the payload to the Mux thread 48.
At present, two tables, PAT and PMT, are managed by the SI thread 46. CB thread 44,
Upon receiving a request from the CB thread 44, the program reserves the program number in the PMT, reserves the PID of the carcell, and adds or deletes the description of the PMT necessary to identify the carcell.

4. Mux thread 48: This thread receives the payload from the CB thread 44 and the SI thread 46 and multiplexes this payload into MPEG2 transport stream packets. further,
The Mux thread 48 communicates with the physical device driver, and executes the physical interface Ethernet ASI, A
Pump out transport stream packets by TM.

Each component of the stream generator 26 (SG
The main thread 42, the SI thread 46, the carousel builder thread 44, and the Mux thread 48) are separate threads that are executed simultaneously with other threads.
SI thread 46 and Carcel builder thread 44
Work in "push" mode. These compute parts of the transport bitstream and push them out to the Mux thread 48 ahead. Mux thread 48 works in a "pull" mode. Data is SI thread 46
Or, as soon as it becomes available from any of the carousel builder threads 44, it begins pulling off this data and multiplexing the payload into transport stream packets.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific configuration of the carousel. Each carousel builder 28 can build a carousel of information, for example, as shown in FIG.
Carcel builder 28 appropriately constructs the transport stream data so that a series of DSMCC files are transmitted in order. For example, each page shown in FIG. 6 includes an MHEG or HTML file, or a Java application. As a result, the stream generated by the stream generator 26 has each of these pages in turn.

The carousel builder 28 can construct a sub carousel in which a particular page itself rotates through a series of sub pages in each rotation of the main car cell consisting of pages.

Since each output stream can have a number of different carcels, a number of different carcel builders 28 may be provided. A multiplexer / packetizer 30 arranges the data from the various carousel builders 28 into an output stream.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the stream generator 26 also uses an operating system abstraction layer. Further, the stream generator 26 uses a driver abstraction layer. As described above, the output driver is changed together with the operating system without changing the entire configuration of the information server 18, for example. Instead, you need to change the driver implementation.

The driver 32 carries the transport stream data to the DVB encoder board.

Each carcel builder 28 operates, for example, with its own data, and the multiplexer handles the schedule between the various carcels of the transport stream.

[0086] The carousel builder 28 effectively owns its own memory. In fact, since the pages of the carousel are made up of data in the storage device 24, for example, the transport streams of these pages are:
For example, it is stored by the carcel builder 28. As described above, the page of the carcel is stored in the host computer 20.
Does not need to recalculate the entire carcel data, only the changed pages need to be recalculated. Even when data on one page is dependent on another page, you can also incorporate dependent structures so that you need to recalculate data only for pages that require change, not all pages. Proposed.

Each carcel builder 28 reads the content and the description of the content, constructs a DSMCC object carcel, and creates appropriate DSI, DII, DDB
Prepare a section.

The SI table manager 34 has a PAT /
Manages PMT section, program number and PID. Multiplexer / packetizer 30 divides the section into packets and builds the divided packets in the slots of driver 32.

As described above, the information server 18 preferably has the operating system abstraction layer OSAL. This is, for example, the object-oriented C +
Class library based on +. Windows
OSAL has been proposed that provides an API that abstracts some of the essential operating system services provided by various operating systems such as s95, Windows NT, UNIX, LINUX, and the like. OSAL is proposed to provide abstractions for threads, semaphores, files, directories, processors, file system independent path names and interprocess message requests.

The OSAL thread abstraction supports the creation and destruction of independent units of execution within a single process address space. Thread scheduling follows a simple priority scheme based on discrete numbers of priority classes.

The OSAL semaphore abstraction supports intra processes, bounded and unbounded counting semaphores and associated Wait / Signal operations used to synchronize the execution state of different threads.

The OSAL file / directory abstraction is
Provides a simple virtual file system with a hierarchical directory structure and read / write / executable / directory permissions. File system independent pathnames provide an operating system independent naming scheme that can be mapped onto different physical file system features. To create / delete files, read / write byte sequences from / to files,
The operation is supplied at a specific byte number position,
Find the size of a file. Operations from directories include creation / deletion and repetition from component files / directories.

The OSAL process abstraction supports, for example, the concept of a virtual address space and code / data segments that need to be part of the address space. For example, an operation is provided to start / stop a process and query its state (execution, termination).

The OSALm queue abstraction provides a means for performing inter / process communication based on, for example, a byte-oriented first-in-first-out message queue. For example, an operation is provided to put or retrieve a variable length byte string from a queue and check the total number of messages / bytes available in each queue.

Each OSAL abstraction is supported, for example, by different strong types of C ++ handle classes.
Handle classes provide object-oriented vision on operating system abstractions. Because of the strong typing application written at the beginning of OSAL,
APIs benefit from stringent compile time type checking. The example handle class represents an operating system dependent entity, and operating system services are represented as methods on the handle class. The hand class is implemented by the operating system (Windows).
95, WindowsNT, Unix), the hand-class implementation is light, efficient and portable on all platforms supporting the ANSIC ++ standard. In most cases, the low-level API is
Map directly onto the services supported by the underlying operating system so that the overhead imposed by L is minimized.

The OSAL class library and API are as follows:
For example, it is used to build a cross-platform implementation of a DVB-compliant data broadcast server that supports the transmission of HTML, Java, MHEG and other data via DSMCC objects and data carcels. The thread abstraction is obtained, for example, from (a) DS from content data.
To support multiple threads for generating MCC object carousel bitstreams, (b) dedicated threads for generating DVB service information, and (c) threads for multiplexing DSMCC section and table data into transport stream packets. Used. Semaphore abstractions are used to synchronize between these threads. File and directory abstractions are
Used to perform access to the persistent content of the server's file system. Process abstraction is
It is used to execute a process dedicated to network communication and another process that handles generation of a transport stream output from a server. The mqueue abstraction is used to perform communication during the generation of the networking stack and bitstream. OSA
Using the L-class library and the API, the data broadcast server application code is flowing unchanged on each operating system currently supported by OSAL.

As described above, for example, the stream generator 26 includes a number of Carcel builders 28.
It is desired that one carcel page be transmitted more than other carcell pages. To do this, the multiplexer / packetizer 30 takes in, for example, more transport stream packets from one carcel than does transport stream packets from another carcell. For example, there are only two carcels and one carcel is three
When trying to fill a transport stream packet when it has double weight, multiplexer / packetizer 30 assigns 75% of the weight to one carcel, fills the data from that carcel into three packets, and fills the other carcell with data. The data from is also filled in three packets.

Unfortunately, this system is computationally expensive when changes are made to the characteristics of the data transmitted in the transport stream. For example, according to the example described above, when a third carousel having the same importance as a less important carousel already used is added, the system assigns each of these three carousels a transmission time of 60 times. It must be recalculated to give%, 20% and 20%. In other words, when the importance of the carcel is changed or when the carcel is added or deleted, the multiplexer / packetizer 30
Have to recalculate the ratio allocation performed by

Within the information server 18, a new algorithm is proposed for packet scheduling.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a data array for assigning the importance of various data sources.

A series of conceptual time slots t are arranged. Each time slot t arranged permits the registration of one or more data sources, such as, for example, a carcel, raw data from the storage device 24. By assigning relative priorities based on conceptual frequencies to each data source, various data priorities are easily specified.

In the example of FIG. 7, data source 1 is assigned a priority of 4 and thus appears every four conceptual time slots. Similarly, data source 2 is given priority 3 and data source 3 is given priority 2. The multiplexer / packetizer 30 creates an MPEG packet according to the specified sequence of data sources along the array, ignoring any empty idea time slots. For example, according to the data source shown in FIG. 7, multiplexer / packetizer 30 fills a packet with data from data source 1, then fills a packet with data from data source 2, and then fills a packet from data source 3. Fill with data, then fill the packet with data from data source 2, then fill the packet with data from data source 3, and then fill the packet with data from data source 1, etc. In this manner, data from data source 1 is transmitted three times every four transmissions from data source 2 and every six transmissions from data source 3.

By using arrays as described above, when data sources are added or deleted,
Alternatively, when the priority of the data source is changed, no recalculation is required. For example, when a data source is deleted, the relative priority between data sources 1 and 2 is maintained. Similarly, when a fourth data source is transmitted under a very high priority, for example, assignment 1, data source 1,
Even if a few are all transmitted, their relative priority and frequency remain the same. In this way, the system for assigning priorities to data operations is computationally more efficient.

The use of this system in the stream generator 26 of the information server 18 described above simplifies the allocation of bandwidth to various data sources, for example, various Carcel Builders 28. On the other hand, CPU
Can be assigned in the same way. In particular, the various tasks that require execution are assigned priorities in the same manner as the bandwidth was allocated.

For example, the ability to obtain resources, such as processing or bandwidth, need not be based not only on the relative shares of the resources, but also on the paging time of the first access. That is, some processes require action more quickly than others. For example, CPU
Low call time allocations are important in ensuring smooth operation of multi-media applications. For example, once a predetermined percentage of the processing time has been allocated to the two processes, word processing and video display, it becomes even more necessary to be able to give more immediate access to process the video display.

To clarify this need, whether data processing or data transmission, for example, additional parameters are assigned to each resource consumer or data operation. This parameter is intended to determine the call time for resource access.

In this way, for each resource or data operation, multiple resource customers are compared to determine which to do first, or similarly to determine which to transmit first. Because multiple resource customers are compared or given a call time value. In the case of the information server 18 described above, where there is a very important piece of information that must be transmitted and received as quickly as possible, this data is inserted into the data stream as quickly as possible by the multiplexer / packetizer 30. Very high call time values are given to appropriate data sources.

[0108] Among the above-mentioned carcel builders 28, each carcel builder 28 constructs a plurality of DVB sections for supplying to the multiplexer / packetizer 30, respectively. These sections contain data indicating the carousels of that particular carousel builder 28.
It is desired that the information server 18 or the carousel builder 28 itself be able to change or exchange one or more of the pages in the carousel. However, as mentioned above, once the carousel builder 28 has constructed the appropriate carousel from the data in the storage device 24, that data is simply stored for cyclic transmission without being recalculated. In order to change the page or file in a carcel, it is possible to recalculate all the data in that carcel. However, there is an undesirable delay before a new car cell is transmitted.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a data change process performed by the carcel builder 28. The data files have a header added to these data files to create a BIOP as part of the DSMCC object carcel. These data files are then grouped together to create DSMCC data carousel modules, which are:
Next, it is divided into DVB sections so as to be sequentially sent to the multiplexer.

Obviously, when file 1 is changed, BIOP file 1 will be changed as well as modules and sections created later. However, the BIOPs of files 2 and 3 remain unchanged. So, after the change to file 1,
The need for the Carcel Builder 28 to recalculate the BIOP for files 2 and 3 is eliminated.

A dependency mechanism has been proposed to allow the Carcel Builder 28 to avoid unnecessary recalculations. By using this mechanism, by using updates to components such as file directories, the DSMCC
The bitstream display of the object carousel can be updated quickly.

The dependency structure is arranged in the carousel builder 28 by a series of nodes and pointers. In particular,
The dependency network uses two types of entities: (a) DSMCC pointers called content references.
A dependency node to store in a particular subpart of the bitstream representation of the object carcel, and (b) a dependency link indicating how one set of content references is used to calculate another set of content references; Consists of Dependent nodes themselves are of two types: (1) key nodes that contain content references to the components of the DSMCC object carcel (ie, DSMCC file and directory objects); and (2) content references of other nodes. , Computed nodes, including the transformation of The transformation is applied to a set of content references, resulting in a new set of content references that point to new parts of the DSMCC object Carcel bitstream.

When the carcel builder 28 has constructed the appropriate data, how one piece of the DSMCC object carcel bitstream (eg, a module) is transformed into another piece of the bitstream (eg, a compressed module of the same module). ) Is stored to indicate if the event is reached. The dependency link is established when the transformation is performed by the calculated node of the dependency network. In particular, if the transformation of the dependent node uses a content reference associated with another node (primary node or computed node), a dependency is established between the used node and the node that computes the transformation. Dependent links are
Shows the node stored for the used node and used for the dependent link.

The dependency link defines the set of transformations that the dependency mechanism needs to apply again to calculate a new bitstream when the components of the object carousel change, ie, when the data at the principal node changes. Allows you to make decisions quickly.

When an update is made, some of the DSMCC file and directory objects are changed.
As a result, the principal nodes associated with these changes are changed. For those key nodes where the change took place, followed by the dependent links associated with these key nodes,
Mark any resulting computed nodes. Where the calculated node arrives, the dependent link of the calculated node is used to advance again toward the further calculated node. All computed nodes arriving in this way are cleared, along with any dependent links ahead. As a result, the dependency network has some linked and calculated empty nodes. Thus, the carousel builder 28 repeats the original computation process for these computed nodes that are currently empty. As a result, when the computed nodes reapply their transformations to recalculate a new set of content references, the dependent nodes are reestablished from the nodes they referenced.

When the principal node is not changed or the computed node is not deleted, the resulting computed node simply refers to the principal or computed node that has not changed. Thus, when the computed node just refers to the unchanged primary computed node, it is used directly without applying the transformation again. As long as the content reference on which the result depends is not changed, the result is used again directly in the updated bitstream without having to recalculate it. Since the part of the carousel that is not affected by the update is already stored in the dependent network, the dependent network
Allows the content of the MCC object carousel to be updated quickly.

In this way, the dependency mechanism is used to construct a bitstream representation of the DSMCC section that makes up the object carousel. The bitstream representation consists of a list of content references pointing to different sections. The content reference is sent to a multiplexer that packetizes the DSMCC section into an MPEG transport stream. This mechanism is called DSM
When the component parts (ie, files and directories) of the CC object carousel change, the changed D
Used to recalculate the SMCC section. This technique can also be applied to DSMCC data carousels.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a data transmission dependency structure. In particular, it is clear that by changing the main node n4 and referring to the dependent link, the calculated content of the node n7 must be changed. It is also clear that by referencing the calculated dependent link of node n7, the calculated content of node n8 must be changed. With the content of deleted computed nodes n7 and n8, and with principal node n4 containing the new content reference, computed node n7 is recomputed by using the content references of principal nodes n4 and n5. The content reference of the calculated node n8 is calculated by the calculated node n
6 and n7. It can be seen that there is no need to recalculate the calculated content reference of node n6 during this process.

Each stream generator 26 of the information server 18
Therefore, it is preferable to provide some additional flexibility when updating the DSMCC file object carried by the transport stream.

As described above, this stream generator 2
6 comprises one or more carousel builders 28 and a multiplexer / packetizer 30 that builds the resulting MPEG transport stream. Further, the dependent network is called the payload and the DSM
The DSMCC object that builds the bitstream at the CC level is incorporated into the process of calculating the required DSMCC section of the carousel.

It is desired to provide a "hot insertion" of the DSMCC file object. This is as fast as possible out-of-band insertion of the DSMCC file object into the broadcast bitstream.

As mentioned above, once the required DSMCC sections of the DSMCC object carcel have been calculated for the carcel, they are simply stored and cyclically retransmitted. Since the DSMCC level bitstream must then be recalculated, it is not desired to simply hot insert the DSMCC file object into the carcel object. On the other hand, hot-inserting a DSMCC section into an already established bitstream is
This would corrupt the transmission of the C carousel.

The multiplexer loops iteratively through the calculated list of payloads and dynamically chops up the payloads into MPEG2 transport stream packets for transmission. To allow "hot insertion" of the DSMCC file object, the "insertion point" is determined in the payload list of the complete set of the DSMCC section of the object carousel.
These "insertion points" indicate that the multiplexer is out of band DS
A marker that can safely insert an additional payload for the MCC file object.

Thus, the out-of-band update payload is calculated and sent to the multiplexer. The multiplexer waits for the next available marked insertion point and inserts the out-of-band payload. The effect of this is to have the transmission of the remaining carcel data sent without interfering with the content.

As mentioned above, it is also preferable to provide a cyclic update of one DSMCC file object.
In other words, in every round of carousel broadcasting,
For example, different versions of a particular DSMCC file may be transmitted.

With respect to the dependency network described above, cyclic updates are achieved by having a separate node in the dependency network used to calculate the payload of each version of the DSMCC object. Although the complete list of payloads is shown in the multiplexer, this list is internally organized to send the next payload value whenever the multiplexer requests in the next cycle of the object carousel. This mechanism is very effective, since the pointer simply points to the appropriate payload, rather than calculating an updated version of the DSMCC object for each round of carousels.

The selection of the DSMCC file object associated with the broadcast order, broadcast frequency and hot update is preferably performed by the user. For this reason, it is preferable that the data is input by a method based on the following table.

[0128]

[Table 1]

As can be seen from Table 1, the table has three columns. The first column lists the reference name of the DSMCC file object as it is handled by the broadcast recipient. The complete list of reference names consists of a virtual name space manipulated by the recipient. The second column defines the attributes of the item referenced by the reference name. It has been proposed to provide three attributes: normal, cyclic and immediate. These are shown below. The third column defines a list of full names, in other words, physical file names.

The attribute "normal" means that a file in which the reference page is always listed is output. On the other hand, for the "cyclic" attribute, the table has more than one full name, so that in each cycle of the carcel, the next full name listed for that page is included. The attribute "immediate" has the same effect as "normal" in that one file is transmitted for the page. On the other hand, as soon as an update is received for that page, the referring page will have the attribute "Immediate"
Where the page is inserted as a "hot insert" but does not reappear to its normal position in the carousel.

In the above example, the carousel configuration table determines a logical carousel composed of three pages named page 1, page 2, and page 3. The order of the broadcasts is determined by the first column: page 1-page 2-page 3-page 2 and back to page 1.
However, because of the cyclic page of each cycle of Carcel, is the next item from the list of full names (the third column is taken). Thus, from a content perspective, the order of the carousel is / sports / intro /
News / Item 1 / Gambling / Hose- /
News / Item 5- / Sports / Intro- / News / Item 2- / Gambling / Hose- / News / Item 6- / Sports / Intro- / News / Item 3- / Gambling / Hose- / News / Item 5 − / Sports / intro− / news / item 4− / gambling / horse− / news / item 6.

Following entry of the data in the carousel configuration table, the appropriate carcel builder 28 calculates the required DSMCC section, depending on the dependency network described above. In particular, pages determined by reference names are set up as primary nodes. Where one page is determined to be circular, Carcel Builder 28
Sets up a similar duplicate page for each object in the cycle. Carcel builder 28 calculates the appropriate module for the page. Preferably, when calculating that module, each cycle a similar recurring page is assigned to a separate module so that recalculation is kept to a minimum. Similar pages with the attribute "immediate" are assigned to a separate module,
Facilitates insertion when needed.

[0133]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the information server and the carcell information arrangement method according to the present invention, when transmitting a large number of different data files one after another using the carcell, the entire transport Additional payload information can be inserted without disrupting the stream.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a broadcast network to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a playout section of an information server to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an arrangement of information servers to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an information server to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an information server to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an object / data carcel to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a conceptual arrangement of time slots for assigning priorities to data operations.

FIG. 8 illustrates the construction of a DVB section from a file.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a dependency structure of data transmission.

[Explanation of symbols]

22 API server, 23 RPC, 24 storage device,
25 OSAL, 26 stream generator, 27 AP
I, 28 Carcel builder, 30 multiplexers /
Packetizer, 32 driver, 34 SI table manager,

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuation of the front page (31) Priority claim number 99300439.9 (32) Priority date January 21, 1999 (1999.1.21) (33) Priority claim country European Patent Office (EP) ( 72) Inventor Ludo Kuipers-1130 Santo Stevens Volvestrat, Brussels, Belgium 55 Sony Service Center (Europe) NV. (72) Inventor Macek Wasowsky, Belgium-1130 Santo Stevens, Brussels, Brussels. Volvesstraat 55 Sony Service Center (Europe) Nvuiy (72) Inventor Andrey Hagerbert 1130 Santo Stephens Brussels, Belgiumー Service Center (Europe) Inside Nvuiy (72) Inventor Monica Barrangnac B-1130 Brussels, Brussels, Belgium 1130 Sony Service Center (Europe) Nvuiy (72) Inventor Joe Mitchell Belgium 1130 Santo Stevens Wolvestratte 55 Sony Service Center in Brussels, Brussels, B-1130 Santo Stevens Volvestrato 55 Sony Service Center (Europe) (Europe) Inside Nvui (72) Inventor Stephane Lujan Be-1130, Brussels, Belgium Santo Stevens Wolvestrat 55 Sony Service Center (Europe) N In the buoy (72) Inventor Alan Messer B-1130 Santo Stevens Wolvestratte, Brussels, Belgium 55 Sony Service Center (Europe) In Nbuoy (72) Inventor Eric Weiboau In Belgium, Brussels, Be-1130 Santo Stevens Wolvestrat 55 Sony Service Center (Europe) Nvui (72) Inventor Christoph Bambecarale B-1130 Brussels, Belgium Sainte Stephens Wolvestrat 55 Sony Service Center (Europe) Nvui (72) ) Inventor Kenichi Sato B-1130, Brussels, Belgium 55 Santo Stevens Wolvestraat 55 Sony Service Center (Europe) NV, F-term (reference) 5C059 KK00 MA00 PP04 RA04 RB02 RB08 RB10 RB16 SS02 SS06 UA36 UA38 5K028 AA11 KK01 LL12 MM04 MM08 RR02 5K030 GA01 HA15 JA01 KA01 KA02 LD07 LE06 9A001 BB04 EE02 JJ27 KK56

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A carcel builder for constructing a transport stream payload of a transport stream display of a carousel of a file, and a payload builder for constructing a transport stream payload of an insertion file inserted into the carcel of the file. The carousel builder determines an insertion point of the transport stream indication during the construction of the payload such that the payload of the insertion file is inserted at the next available insertion point. An information server for supplying information therein. 2. The apparatus further comprises a multiplexer / packetizer for circulating and referencing a payload calculated by the Carcel builder and constructing a transport stream packet to be transmitted, wherein the multiplexer refers to an insertion point, and The information server according to claim 1, wherein the payload of the information server is inserted at the next available insertion point. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising at least one stream generator for generating a transport stream, said stream generator comprising at least one of said carousel builder and said multiplexer. Information server. 4. The information server according to claim 3, wherein said multiplexer forms an MPEG2 transport stream packet from the calculated payload to be transmitted. 5. The information server according to claim 1, wherein the insertion file is a DCMCC object, and the carcel builder constructs a complete set of DCMCC sections of the object carcel. 6. A step of determining an insertion point in the payload list of the transport stream representation during construction; a step of calculating a transport stream payload of the additional file; Inserting said transport stream payload therein; and inserting an additional file from a pre-established transport stream display sequence of the carcel of the file comprising: 7. An information server for outputting a carcel file, wherein each page of the carcel is determined together with a reference name, one or more file addresses of each reference name are determined, and an attribute is assigned to each reference name. A register for determining the output characteristics of the page; and a carcel builder for continuously referring to the pages of the carcel and outputting a file determined by an address according to an attribute related to each page. server. 8. The attributes include a normal attribute indicating that only the file indicated by each address of each page is output in each round of the carcel, and a list of files in each page for each round of the carcel. The information server according to claim 7, further comprising: a circulation attribute indicating that a continuous file from the address is output. 9. The attribute indicates not only the file indicated by the file address when the carcel arrives at each reference name, but also the file address of the reference name whenever the content of the file address is updated. The information server according to claim 8, further comprising an immediate attribute indicating that the output file is also output. 10. A step of determining each page of the carousel together with a reference name, a step of determining one or more file addresses of each reference name, and a step of assigning attributes to each reference name to determine characteristics of output. And a step of successively referring to pages of the carcel and outputting a file determined by an address according to an attribute associated with each page.