JP2001309333A - Video server device and program recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a video server device capable of flexibly performing a band allocation to an asynchronous system by allocating a band to be allocated to the asynchronous system in <=1 unit and also managing a band even when a plurality of video server devices share a disk. SOLUTION: When a band managing means 208 receives a transfer request for AV data from a control terminal 117 or a computer terminal 118, the means 208 allocates a necessary transfer band when space exists in the transfer band of a plurality of video data disks 109 and rejects the transfer request when the space does not exist. In the case of the transfer request from the control terminal 117 when the space does not exist, if there is a band that has already allocated to the computer terminal 118, a band necessary to the transfer request of the terminal 117 is allocated in the band, and the residual band is allocated to the computer terminal 118 to which the band has been already allocated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video server device connected to at least one control terminal or a computer terminal, for inputting / outputting digital data including video and / or audio data in response to a command from the terminal, and a video server device therefor. The present invention relates to a program storage medium storing an operation program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A video server device accumulates and sends out video and / or audio data (hereinafter, AV data) constituting a content such as a movie or a television program, and is connected by a serial line (usually RS422). AV data requested in response to a command from each of the plurality of control terminals is recorded / reproduced through a video data signal line (usually a coaxial cable),
and transmits / receives requested AV data through the same network in response to a command from a computer terminal connected by a network such as ET (registered trademark).

When recording / reproducing AV data in response to a command from a control terminal, it is necessary to transfer AV data in real time as video data, and this is called a synchronous system. On the other hand, when transmitting / receiving AV data in response to a command from a computer terminal, the AV data may be transferred in a non-real-time manner in order to transfer the AV data as a computer file. This is called an asynchronous system.

In recent years, a video server device using a hard disk (hereinafter referred to as an HDD) as a storage medium for storing AV data has become mainstream in place of a conventional tape. The average bandwidth at the time of reading / writing per HDD is about 32 Mbps (= 4 Mbytes / sec)
It is. Here, a first recording format having data of 120 Kbytes / sec per frame in the case of an NTSC signal will be considered. Since the NTSC signal is composed of 30 frames per second, the video data per second is 1
20Kbyte / Frame × 30Frame / sec
= 3600 Kbyte / sec (= 3.5 Mbyte /
sec). Thus, it can be seen that the video of the first format has a bandwidth of 3.5 Mbytes / sec. For example, a video server that simultaneously inputs and outputs eight pieces of video data of the first format is 3.5 × 8 = 28 Mb.
Although a band of ye / sec is required, it is impossible for one HDD to support this band. For this, the concept of striping is introduced.

Here, the video server device has ten HDDs for storing AV data, and each HDD has an A
It is assumed that V data is recorded in order. Transfer AV data to multiple H
When the data is distributed to the DD and recorded, when one AV data is reproduced or recorded, one access is made every 10 frames by the HDD.
It occurs in one unit. At this time, the bandwidth required for one HDD is 3.5 Mbytes / sec ÷ 10 = 10 data because data for every 10 frames is stored in one HDD.
0.35 Mbyte / sec, and in the case of a video server supporting eight data in the first format,
0.35 × 8 = 2.8 Mbytes / sec.
This is a band range in which DD can be realized.

As described above, the first method using striping
It has been found that it is possible to construct a video server device that supports eight data formats, but how to allocate this band in a synchronous system and an asynchronous system becomes a problem. AV data transferred in a synchronous system must be transferred in real time of the video, but AV data transferred in an asynchronous system is transferred as a computer file, so it is not always necessary to transfer it in real time. For example, the transfer may be performed at 1/2 or 1/3 speed. For example,
Assuming that the total transfer band of the video server device is seven video data streams, simultaneous transmission of five synchronous AV data and four asynchronous AV data at 1/2 speed becomes possible.

However, in the conventional video server apparatus, a fixed buffer for transfer is assigned to one video data stream, so that real-time transfer is performed even in an asynchronous system. In addition, Fibre Channel
Using techniques such as described above, it has become possible to share a video data storage unit among a plurality of video server devices. However, a synchronous system and an asynchronous system in a video server device sharing such a video data storage unit have become available. There is no band management technology considering the AV data transfer of the system.

Also, the bandwidth management is not performed by the video server device itself. For example, a personal computer is connected to the video server device, and information on the requested transfer bandwidth is sent to the personal computer, so that the bandwidth can be secured on the personal computer. Then, the result is sent to the video server, and the video server transfers the AV data to the requesting terminal or rejects the transfer according to the result.

[0009]

However, the following problem arises in securing the bandwidth of one stream of AV data constantly regardless of the synchronous / asynchronous system as in the prior art. For example, assume that one video data stream in the first format is used as a basic unit of bandwidth, and a video server apparatus having a maximum of eight bandwidths occupies seven bandwidths in a synchronous system and one bandwidth in an asynchronous system. At this time, if a request for one more band is sent to the video server device from the asynchronous system, the video server device refuses the new band request at present. However, the asynchronous system does not always need one band per port, and it is acceptable to transfer a file in twice the real time while sharing one band with two asynchronous systems.

[0010] In addition, a plurality of video server devices can transmit an HD.
In the case where the video data storage unit composed of D is shared, unless a method for managing the bandwidth among a plurality of video server devices is established, the bandwidth management is broken and the AV data is interrupted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem. The present invention has been made to make it possible to flexibly allocate bandwidth to an asynchronous system by allocating a bandwidth to an asynchronous system in one unit or less. It is an object of the present invention to provide a video server device capable of managing a band even when a disk is shared between the video server devices.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, a video server apparatus of the present invention has band management means for performing band management of an AV data storage unit, and is used in synchronous and asynchronous data transfer. If the band management means cannot secure the band required for the transfer of the requested AV data, the transfer of the requested AV data is refused, or the transfer of the asynchronous AV data to the transfer of the synchronous AV data is performed. Bandwidth is assigned with priority.

When a plurality of video server devices share the video data storage unit, the bandwidth management means manages the bandwidth of the entire plurality of video server devices.

With this configuration, the video server apparatus of the present invention increases the flexibility in allocating a band to an asynchronous system.
Bandwidth management in the video server device sharing the V data recording unit becomes possible.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS According to a first aspect of the present invention, the band management means is connected to at least one or more control terminals, and in response to a request from the control terminal, video and / or audio data ( In the following, digital data including AV data is input / output in real time (hereinafter, synchronous mode), and is connected to at least one or more computer terminals. Real-time (hereinafter, asynchronous mode)
1. A video server device for inputting and outputting data in an AV system, comprising: an AV data storage means for storing the AV data and having a predetermined transfer band; and a synchronous system A for inputting and outputting the AV data in a synchronous mode.
A V data input / output control unit; an asynchronous AV data input / output control unit for inputting / outputting the AV data in an asynchronous mode; an AV data storage unit and the synchronous AV data input / output control unit or the asynchronous AV data input / output unit When transferring the AV data between output control units, a buffer for temporarily storing the AV data, and a band management for controlling a transfer band of the AV data storage unit by managing a transfer band of the buffer. Means for receiving the transfer request of the AV data from the control terminal or the computer terminal, wherein the transfer band allocated to the buffer does not exceed a predetermined transfer band of the AV data storage means. A video server device, wherein the bandwidth management means comprises the control terminal or the computer terminal. Receiving the transfer request for the AV data from the control terminal or the computer terminal, if the transfer band required for the transfer request cannot be allocated, the transfer request for the AV data from the control terminal or the computer terminal is rejected. The video server device can transfer the AV data within the limited bandwidth, and the AV data is not interrupted.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the band management means includes:
When the transfer band required for the transfer request of the AV data from the control terminal cannot be allocated, and there is a transfer band already allocated to at least one or more computer terminals, the transfer band is allocated to the computer terminal. A video server device that allocates a transfer band necessary for the control terminal as a transfer band of the control terminal in a transfer band in which the video terminal device of the present invention asynchronously transfers synchronous AV data. System A
Since the transfer is performed prior to the transfer of the V data, the probability that the synchronous transfer of the AV data can be realized is improved. Third of the present invention
In the first invention, in the first invention, when the transfer band required for the transfer request of the AV data from the control terminal is not allocated, the band management means is already allocated to at least one or more computer terminals. If there is a transfer band, the transfer band required for the control terminal is allocated as the transfer band of the control terminal in the transfer band allocated to the computer terminal, and the remaining transfer band has already been allocated. A video server device that is assigned as a transfer band of a computer terminal. With this configuration, synchronous AV data can be transferred preferentially to asynchronous AV data, and a plurality of asynchronous AV data transfers can be transferred to a transfer band. It is not necessary to stop asynchronous transfer because it is shared.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a disk sharing type video server apparatus in which a plurality of the video server apparatuses of the first or second aspect share AV data storage means, wherein the bandwidth management means comprises a specific video server. A video server device that operates only in the device and manages the transfer band of the AV data to the plurality of video server devices. With this configuration, in a system in which the video data storage unit is shared by the plurality of video server devices, A in the range
Since the V data can be transferred, the interruption of the video does not occur.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the present invention, the bandwidth management means operates only in a specific video server device, and when the specific video server device fails, the other bandwidth management means operates. A video server device that operates in a video server device. With this configuration, even if a video server device that performs band management fails, another video server device can take over the band management, and the possibility of the system increases.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the video server device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) In the present embodiment, when a transfer request for AV data is received, a video server which rejects the transfer request when a band required for transfer of the requested AV data cannot be secured. The device will be described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a video server device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a video server device;
Reference numeral 01 denotes an MPU (Micro Processor Unit) for executing the function of the video server device 1 by executing a program stored in the main memory 103, and reference numeral 102 denotes an MPU 101.
A bus bridge unit for connecting a device connected to the main memory 103 and the bus 105; a main memory 103 configured by a RAM or a similar storage medium and storing a program for controlling the entire device; 104 is a buffer in the main memory 103 for storing video data;
106, an operating system control device (hereinafter, referred to as an OS control device) that controls an operating system disk 107 (hereinafter, referred to as an OS disk); 107, an OS disk that stores a plurality of programs including a file management program; Reference numeral 108 denotes a disk control device for controlling a video data storage unit including a plurality of video data disks 109; 109, a video data disk for storing video data; 110, input / output of video data via a video data signal line 111; A video input / output device 112 for inputting and outputting commands and video data to a plurality of computer terminals 114 via a network line 113;
Reference numeral 14 denotes a computer terminal for requesting input / output of video data via a network line 113. Reference numeral 115 denotes an external I / F device for inputting / outputting commands and video data to / from a plurality of control terminals 117 via a command control line 116. , 1
Reference numeral 17 denotes a control terminal for requesting input / output of video data via the command control line 116. The video server device of the present embodiment includes N (N> 1 natural number) computer terminals 114 and K (N> 1 natural number) control terminals 11.
It is assumed that seven or ten video data disks 109 are connected.

The video server device configured as described above will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, a case where video data is transferred as AV data will be described as an example.

First, the operation of each device will be described.

The MPU 101 is connected to each computer terminal 11
4 or a command from each control terminal 117, the video data is transferred between the disk control device 108 and the video data input / output device 110 or the network input / output device 112. The video data input / output device 110 inputs / outputs video data via a video data signal line 111 according to an instruction from each control terminal 117. The video data input / output device 110 is, for example, an SDI (Serial Digital Interface).
e) Input and output video data based on the standard. The video data signal line 111 is composed of, for example, a coaxial cable, an optical fiber cable, or the like.

The external I / F device 115 receives a command from each control terminal 117 via the command control line 116 and outputs a response to the command. The network input / output device 112 is connected to each computer terminal 114
From the network line 113 via the network line 113, and returns the command.
Input and output of video data via the. The network input / output device 112 inputs and outputs commands and video data based on, for example, Ethernet (registered trademark). The external I / F device 115 is, for example, RS422.
Command is received and a response is sent out to and from each control terminal 117 based on the serial line based on.

[0027] The OS control device 106 stores the OS disk 10
An OS that manages a plurality of programs including the file management program stored in the OS 7 is operated. And
When the video server device 1 operates, necessary programs are read from the OS disk 107 to the main storage 103 and held. Also, the disk control device 108
In response to the read / write command from S.01, an access command to a plurality of video data disks 109 is executed. The video data disk 109 is configured by a nonvolatile large-capacity storage device, and stores digital data including video data forming a title of a movie, for example.

Next, the configuration and operation of software in the video server device 1 will be described.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of functional modules of software of the video server device 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the software of the video server device 1 is divided for each function unit, and an input / output processing unit 201 for performing a command transmission / reception process with each control terminal 117 and each computer terminal 114, a command input / output unit A command interpretation processing unit 202 for interpreting a command received by the processing unit 201, and a disk control processing unit 20 for controlling the disk control device 108
3. File management unit 204 for managing video data stored in video data disk 109, video data transfer processing unit 205 for controlling video data transfer, video data input / output processing for controlling video data input / output device 110 It comprises a unit 206, a network input / output processing unit 207 for controlling the network input / output device 112, and a bandwidth management unit 208 for managing a buffer to manage the bandwidth of the video server device 1. Each processing unit operates on an OS on the OS disk 107.

The operation of each processing unit will be described below.

The command input / output processing unit 201 performs command transmission / reception processing between each control terminal 117 and each computer terminal 114, and receives commands via the external I / F device 115 and the network input / output device 112. . The command input / output processing unit 201 includes the external I / F device 1
15 and the network input / output device 112 determine which of the commands has been received by polling or interruption. When the command is received, the command and information on the device receiving the command are passed to the command interpretation processing unit 202. .

The command interpretation processing unit 202 interprets the command received by the command input / output processing unit 201, and executes processing necessary for executing the command based on information of the interpreted command and the device that has received the command. Control processing section 203, file management section 204, video data transfer processing section 205, video data input / output processing section 206, network input / output processing section 207, and bandwidth management section 208
To ask.

The file management unit 204 manages where in the plurality of video data disks 109 the video data has been written. The video data disk 109 is
It is divided into units of a certain size (block) from the beginning of the disc, and video data is divided into one block.
It is read and written as a unit. In the present embodiment, video data is stored using ten video data disks 109, and each video data disk 109 has a block having the same size as the frame size of the video data, and the blocks extend over the disks. It is assumed that serial numbers (hereinafter, block numbers) are sequentially numbered from 1 in the direction.

FIG. 3 shows ten video data disks 10
9 shows the block number added.

As shown in FIG. 3, each video data disk is divided into blocks, and serial numbers are sequentially assigned in the direction across the disks.

The file management unit 204 manages, in a free list, the numbers of blocks (unused blocks) in which video data has not been recorded in the plurality of video data disks 109, and is free when recording new video data. Obtain a block from the list and record the video data.

FIG. 4 shows a free list of blocks in the disk managed by the file management unit 204. FIG. 4 shows a free list of ten video data disks 109, and each list corresponds to each video data disk 109. As shown in FIG. 4, the in-use flag in the free list is 1 when the flag is in use, and 0 when it is not used. This is management information necessary to determine in which block video data can be written when video data is newly recorded on the video server. For example, the file management unit 204 can search for an empty block by a method of searching for an empty block in order from block number 1.
In the case of FIG. 4, the block number 21 of the first video data disk 109 is detected as an empty block.

Further, the file management unit 204 manages each frame and block number of the video data.
Video data is stored in frame units (for example, 120 Kbytes).
e), and serial numbers (hereinafter, frame numbers) are assigned in order from 1 in the frame order. Here, to simplify the description, it is assumed that the size of each frame matches the size of each block on the video data disk 109. The file management unit 204 manages which block number in the disk stores each frame of the video data.

FIG. 5 shows block numbers corresponding to video data.

As shown in FIG. 5, it can be seen that the data of the frame number 1 indicated by 401 in FIG. 5 is stored in the block number 100 indicated by 402 in FIG. The file management unit 204 manages the correspondence between the frame number and the block number shown in FIG.

The disk control processing unit 203 controls the process of reading video data from each video data disk 109 during reproduction and the process of writing to each video data disk 109 during recording. In the video server device 1, as is well known, the video data input / output device 110
It is not permissible to interrupt video data during playback or recording processing via the. For this reason, the disk control processing unit 20
Reference numeral 3 controls reading or writing of video data in the disk control device 108 so that the video data is not interrupted. For example, when data of each block of the video data disk 109 in FIG. 3 is read by the disk control processing unit 203, it is performed using a Read function and a Write function generally prepared by the operating system. For example, in WindowsNT® 4.0, ReadFileEx and W
There is a writeFileEx.

The video data transfer processing unit 205 provides a buffer 104 between the disk control device 108 and the video data input / output device 110 or the network input / output device 112.
The video data is transferred via. The video data transfer processing unit 205 temporarily stores the video data output from the disk control device 108 during reproduction or transmission in the buffer 104, and in the case of a reproduction request from each control terminal 117, stores the video data stored in the buffer 104. Is transmitted to the video data input / output device 110, and in the case of a transmission request from the computer terminal 114, the video data stored in the buffer 104 is transmitted to the network input / output device 112. Video data input / output device 110, network input / output device 112
Transmits the video data to the control terminal 117 and the computer terminal 114 that have been requested.

The video data transfer processing unit 205 sends the video data received by the video data input / output device 110 or the network input / output device 112 to the disk control device 108 via the buffer 104 during recording or reception. In the case of a recording request from the control terminal 117, the data received by the video data input / output device 110 is stored in the buffer 1
04 to the disk control device 108. In the case of a reception request from the computer terminal 114, the video data received by the network input / output device 112 is transferred to the disk control device 108 via the buffer 104.

When reproducing the video data, the video data input / output processing unit 206 sends out the frame of the video data stored in the video data input / output device 110 to the video data signal line 111 while keeping the reproduction time. When video data is received from the video data signal line 111 at the time of video data recording, the video data transfer processing unit 205 is notified. Upon receiving the notification, the video data transfer processing unit 205 executes video transfer.

The network input / output processing unit 207 sends out the video data received from the video data transfer processing unit 205 to the network line 113 when transmitting the video data. When receiving video data, the network line 1
In the case where the video data is received from the H.13, the video data transfer processing unit 205 is notified. Video data transfer processing unit 2
05 transfers the video in response to the notification.

The bandwidth management unit 208 manages the bandwidth of the video server device 1 by managing the buffer 104.
First, the buffer 104 will be described.

FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the buffer 104.

As shown in FIG. 6, the buffer 104 is composed of a plurality of buffer columns. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the buffer 104 is composed of eight buffer columns. This means that the video server device 1 can support eight video data streams. That is,
The bandwidth management unit 208 has 10 video data disks 109
Manages the transfer band of the AV data that can be performed by. As shown in FIG. 6, each buffer row includes 20 buffer areas each including a video data frame storage area and an assigned terminal tag. Frame data of video data is stored in the video data frame storage area, and the terminal number to which the buffer area is allocated is entered in the assigned terminal tag.
In FIG. 6, each buffer area of the buffer rows 1 and 2 is
These are assigned to the control terminals 1 and 2, respectively, and indicate that the buffer area of the buffer row 8 is alternately assigned to the computer terminals 1 and 2. This indicates that synchronous transfer is performed for the control terminal and asynchronous transfer is performed for the computer terminal.

The band management unit 208 manages which terminal is allocated to each buffer column by using a buffer column management array. (Table 1) shows a buffer column management array used by the band management unit 208.

[0050]

[Table 1]

As shown in Table 1, the buffer column management array indicates to which terminal the buffer column is allocated. For example, in (Table 1), it is shown that the buffer column 1 is allocated to the control terminal 1 and the buffer column 8 is allocated to the computer terminals 1 and 2. This indicates that the control terminal is performing synchronous transfer and the computer terminal is performing asynchronous transfer. The assignment of a plurality of computer terminals as in the buffer row 8 shown in Table 1 is called mixed mode assignment. At this time, as shown in the buffer row 8 of FIG. 6, the computer terminals 1 and 2 are alternately allocated to each buffer area. An assigned terminal of 0 indicates no assignment. Also, mixed mode assignment may be performed on a plurality of buffer columns. For example, buffer row 7 and buffer row 8
May be assigned to the computer terminals 1, 2, and 3. In such a case, the buffer row 7
And the buffer area of the buffer row 8 are combined to virtually 40
The computer terminals 1, 2, and 3 are sequentially assigned to the buffer area, assuming that the buffer row is composed of the buffer areas. When a number N (N is a natural number from 1 to 40) starting from 1 is sequentially assigned to the buffer area from the beginning of the buffer row 7, the number of the buffer area assigned to the computer terminal J (J = 1, 2, 3) is ((N -1)% 3) is a region where J is obtained. As described above, the bandwidth management unit 208 manages a bandwidth by allocating a buffer row.

The processing procedure of the bandwidth allocation in the video server device 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of the bandwidth allocation processing.

The command input / output processing unit 201 has an external I / F
A video data transfer request is received from the control terminal 117 or the computer terminal 114 via the device 115 or the network input / output device 112, and the received command and information on the terminal that has made the transfer request (hereinafter, request terminal) are interpreted by the command interpretation processing unit. Output to 202. Command interpretation processing unit 2
02 interprets the received terminal information and command and outputs it to the band management unit 114 (S01 in FIG. 7). Band management section 208 performs band allocation for the requesting terminal. For example, if the requesting terminal is the control terminal 117, the control terminal 117 normally uses the industry standard protocol Lou of RS422.
The server is controlled by th etc. A SelectPort command is included in the Lout command, and when this command is received by the video server device 1, the bandwidth management unit 2
08 assigns a buffer string to the control terminal that issued the command. Also, from the control terminal 117, ClosePort
When receiving the t command, the bandwidth management unit 208 releases the reserved buffer string. Similarly, the bandwidth management unit 20
8 indicates that the requesting terminal is the computer terminal 114,
Ftp session from the computer terminal 114
A buffer row is allocated when a no open command is received, and the buffer row is released when an Ftp session close command is received.

Hereinafter, the processing of the band management unit will be described in detail.

The band management unit 208 checks the buffer column management array shown in (Table 1) and checks whether there is an empty buffer column (S02). If there is an empty buffer row, the bandwidth management unit 208 writes the requested terminal name in the corresponding part of the buffer row management array to be used (S0
3). In this case, for example, assuming that the requesting terminal is the control terminal 3, the buffer column 3 is vacant in (Table 1), so the control terminal 3 is written at the buffer column index 3. When the allocation is completed, the bandwidth management unit 208 returns a response to secure the bandwidth (S04). A when the bandwidth is secured
Transfer of V data is started. If there is no empty buffer row in the buffer row management array, that is, if the transfer bandwidth exceeds eight buffer rows, the bandwidth management unit 208 returns an allocation refusal via the command input / output processing unit 201. (S05). The command input / output processing unit 201 returns the result of the assignment rejection to the external I / F device 115 when the requesting terminal is the control terminal 117 and to the network input / output device 112 when the requesting terminal is the computer terminal 114.
The / F device 115 and the network input / output device 112 notify the requesting terminal of the result of rejecting the video data transfer request.

Next, FIG. 8 shows a processing procedure at the time of band release.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of releasing a band by the band management unit 208.

When the command interpretation processing unit 202 receives a band release request from the control terminal 117 or the computer terminal 114 via the command input / output processing unit 201, it requests the band management unit 208 to release the band (S0 in FIG. 8).
6). The bandwidth management unit 208 updates the buffer column management array by setting the assigned terminal of the buffer column index corresponding to the released buffer column in the buffer column management array of (Table 1) to 0 (S07), and executes command input / output. A bandwidth release response is returned to the requesting terminal via the processing unit 201 (S0
8).

In this embodiment, for simplicity, the number of buffer rows in the same server is eight and the number of buffer areas in the buffer row is twenty. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

In the free list, when the in-use flag is 1, it indicates that it is in use, and when it is 0, it indicates that it is not in use. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

(Embodiment 2) In this embodiment, a video server apparatus that transfers synchronous AV data with higher priority than asynchronous AV data will be described. The video server device and software according to the present embodiment
It has the same configuration as the video server device of the first embodiment.
The difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment is the operation of the band management unit 208. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the operation of the band management unit 208 will be mainly described. In this embodiment, a case will be described in which AV data is video data. In the following description, the buffer row allocated to the control terminal 117 is called a synchronous allocation buffer row, and the buffer row allocated to the computer terminal 114 is called an asynchronous allocation buffer row.

The operation of band management section 208 will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of band allocation by the band management unit 208.

The command input / output processing unit 201 has an external I / F
A video data transfer request is received from the control terminal 117 or the computer terminal 114 via the device 115 or the network input / output device 112, and the received command and information on the terminal that has made the transfer request (hereinafter, request terminal) are interpreted by the command interpretation processing unit. Output to 202. Command interpretation processing unit 2
02 interprets the received terminal information and command and outputs it to the band management unit 114 (S01 in FIG. 9). The bandwidth management unit 208 checks the buffer column management array shown in (Table 1) and checks whether there is an empty buffer column (S02). If there is an empty buffer row, the bandwidth management unit 208 writes the requested terminal name to the assigned terminal of the buffer row management array to be used (S03), and returns a response to secure the bandwidth (S04). When the band is secured, the video data is transferred.

If there is no empty buffer row in the buffer row management array, the bandwidth management unit 208 checks whether the request for securing the bandwidth is a request from the control terminal 117 (S09). Table 2 shows a buffer column management array in a case where all the buffer columns are allocated.

[0064]

[Table 2]

If the bandwidth management unit 208 determines that the request for securing the bandwidth is from the control terminal 117, it checks whether there is an asynchronous system allocation buffer column (S10). For example, since the computer terminal 1 is assigned to the buffer column index 7 of the buffer column management array shown in (Table 2), the bandwidth management unit 208 determines that the buffer column 7 is an asynchronous system allocated buffer column. The bandwidth management unit 208 forcibly discards the connection with the computer terminal 1 using the buffer row 7 (S11), allocates the buffer row 7 to the control terminal requesting the bandwidth (S12), and secures the bandwidth. A response is returned to the terminal (S04). When the band is secured, the video data is transferred. In this case, assuming that the terminal requesting the video data transfer is the control terminal 7, the buffer column management array of (Table 2) is as shown in (Table 3).

[0066]

[Table 3]

As shown in Table 3, the buffer column 7 is allocated to the control terminal 7 instead of the computer terminal 1.

When there is no bandwidth allocation request from the control terminal 117 or when there is no asynchronous allocation buffer column, the bandwidth management unit 208 returns an allocation refusal via the command input / output processing unit 201 (S05). Command input / output processing unit 2
01 indicates the result of the assignment rejection when the requesting terminal is the control terminal 117, the external I / F device 115 and the computer terminal 11
If it is 4, it is returned to the network input / output device 112,
External I / F device 115 and network input / output device 1
Numeral 12 notifies the requesting terminal of the result of rejecting the video data transfer request.

The procedure of the band release processing is the same as that of the first embodiment of the present invention, and will not be described here. (Embodiment 3) In the present embodiment, synchronous video data transfer is performed with priority over asynchronous video data transfer, and video data sharing a buffer column in a plurality of asynchronous video data transfers is performed. The server device will be described. The video server device and software according to the present embodiment have the same configuration as the video server device according to the first embodiment. The difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment is the operation of the band management unit 208. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the operation of the band management unit 208 will be mainly described. In the following description, the buffer row allocated to the control terminal is called a synchronous allocation buffer row, and the buffer row allocated to the computer terminal is called an asynchronous allocation buffer row.

The third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of band allocation according to the present embodiment.

The command input / output processing unit 201 has an external I / F
A video data transfer request is received from the control terminal 117 or the computer terminal 114 via the device 115 or the network input / output device 112, and the received command and information on the terminal that has made the transfer request (hereinafter, request terminal) are interpreted by the command interpretation processing unit. Output to 202. Command interpretation processing unit 2
02 interprets the received terminal information and command and outputs it to the band management unit 114 (S01 in FIG. 10). If the requesting terminal is a control terminal, the bandwidth management unit 208 determines whether the number of asynchronous allocation buffer columns is greater than 1 (S0).
9, S13). When the number N of asynchronous allocation buffer rows is greater than 1, the bandwidth management unit 208 takes one asynchronous allocation buffer row, allocates it as a buffer row for the requesting terminal, and allocates the remaining asynchronous allocation buffer row to the asynchronous allocation buffer row. A buffer row is allocated in the mixed mode (S14). For example, when there are two asynchronous allocation buffer columns as shown in (Table 2), as shown in (Table 4), one of the asynchronous allocation buffer columns is allocated to the control terminal 7 which is the requesting terminal, and the remaining is allocated. Allocate the asynchronous buffer sequence as mixed mode.

[0073]

[Table 4]

As shown in (Table 4), the buffer column 7 allocated to the asynchronous system is allocated to the control terminal 7, and the remaining buffer column 8 is allocated to the computers 1 and 2 in the mixed mode.

When the number N of asynchronous system allocated buffer columns is 1 or less, the bandwidth management unit 208 checks the number N of asynchronous system allocated buffer columns (S15). The released buffer column is given to the terminal (S16), and if the number N of asynchronous system allocated buffer columns is not 1, that is, if there is no asynchronous system allocated terminal, the allocation is rejected via the command input / output processing unit 201 (S05).

When the requesting terminal is a computer terminal, the band management unit 208 checks whether there is an empty buffer column (S02), and if there is an empty buffer column, allocates it to the requesting terminal (S17). If there is no buffer column, check if there is an asynchronous allocation buffer column,
If there is, a buffer row is allocated to the requesting terminal in the mixed mode (S18). For example, when there is no empty buffer as shown in (Table 3) and the asynchronous system allocated buffer column is only the buffer column 8, if the requesting terminal is the computer terminal 1, the buffer is as shown in (Table 4). The computer terminals 1 and 2 are assigned to the column 8 in the mixed mode. If there is no asynchronous allocation buffer column, the command input / output processing unit 201
(S05). Band management unit 208
Updates the buffer array management array when the allocation of the buffer array is completed (S03).
A request for securing a band is returned via S1 (S04).

When the bandwidth is secured, the video data is transferred, and when the bandwidth is rejected, the command input / output processing unit 201 returns the result of the assignment refusal when the requesting terminal is the control terminal 117. Is returned to the external I / F device 115 or the network input / output device 112 in the case of the computer terminal 114, and the external I / F device 115 and the network input / output device 112 reject the video data transfer request to the request terminal. Notify.

Hereinafter, a processing procedure for releasing a band in the video server according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

When the command interpretation processing unit 202 receives a band release request from the control terminal 117 or the computer terminal 114 via the command input / output processing unit 201, it requests the band management unit 208 to release the band (S0 in FIG. 11).
6). The band management unit 208 checks whether the terminal requesting band release (hereinafter, request terminal) is a control terminal or a computer terminal (S18), and if the request terminal is a computer terminal, releases the assignment to the request terminal and mixes If there is a computer terminal whose bandwidth is secured in the mode, the allocation of the buffer sequence to them is reconstructed (S21). For example, when the computer terminals 1 and 2 are allocated to the buffer column 7 and the computer terminals 3 and 4 are allocated to the buffer column 8 and the allocation to the computer terminal 1 is released, the computer terminals 2 are allocated to the buffer columns 7 and 8. , 3,4
Is assigned in mixed mode.

If the requesting terminal is a control terminal, the band management unit 208 releases the band allocated to the requesting terminal (S
19), it is checked whether there is an asynchronous allocation buffer row, and if there is, the released buffer row is reallocated as an asynchronous allocation buffer row (S20). Upon completion of the allocation, the bandwidth management unit 208 updates the buffer column management array (S07).
Then, a response of bandwidth release is returned to the requesting terminal via the command input / output processing unit 201 (S08).

(Embodiment 4) In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which a specific video server manages the entire band in a system in which the video data storage unit is shared by a plurality of video servers. In the present embodiment, the AV data is video data.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the overall hardware configuration of the video server device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 12, 1 is a video server device,
Reference numeral 118 denotes a disk device storing a plurality of video data disks 109, and reference numeral 114 denotes a computer terminal connected to a network input / output device 112 of each video server device via a network line 113. The first video server device has the same configuration as the video server device of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. Also, the software in each video server device 1 has the same configuration as in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 shows a processing procedure for securing a band in a plurality of video server apparatuses 1 sharing a video data storage unit.
4 will be described below. When the video data storage unit is shared, one video server device 1 among the plurality of video server devices 1 manages the bandwidth. In the present embodiment, 3
A case will be described as an example where a video data transfer request is made in one video server device 1. In the present embodiment, three video server devices 1 are connected to servers T1 and T1, respectively.
It is assumed that the server T2 is a server T2 and the server T1 performs band management.

Table 5 shows the bandwidth management unit 208 of the server T1.
Indicates a buffer row management array to be managed.

[0086]

[Table 5]

In Table 5, when the allocation terminal is 0, it indicates that there is no allocation, and the buffer row in the same server is called a buffer row in the same server. In the buffer column management array shown in (Table 5), buffer column indexes 1 to 8, 9 to 1
6, 17 to 24 are server T1, server T2, respectively.
3 shows a buffer column of a server T3. Here, the server T1,
The server T2 and the server T3 are the video server devices 1 each capable of supporting a bandwidth corresponding to eight video data streams. However, when the video data storage unit is shared, the bandwidth of the video data storage unit is not necessarily 24 in the entire system. It cannot support book bandwidth. For example, when the transfer bandwidth of the video data storage unit corresponds to 16 video data streams, and when terminals are allocated to 16 of the buffer rows shown in (Table 5), a new bandwidth beyond that is newly assigned. It becomes impossible to assign. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the total bandwidth of the video data storage unit is 16 video data streams. That is, assuming that ten video data disks 109 are required to secure a band corresponding to eight video data streams, the video storage unit of the present embodiment is composed of twenty video data disks 109. It is assumed that it is.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of band allocation according to the present embodiment.

First, server T1, server T2, server T
A process performed when a terminal connected to any one of the servers No. 3 issues a transfer request for AV data will be described.

The processing in the server that issues a transfer request will be described below.

The command input / output processing unit 201 has an external I / F
A video data transfer request is received from the control terminal 117 or the computer terminal 114 via the device 115 or the network input / output device 112, and the received command and information on the terminal that has made the transfer request (hereinafter, request terminal) are interpreted by the command interpretation processing unit. Output to 202. Command interpretation processing unit 2
02 interprets the received terminal information and command and outputs it to the bandwidth management unit 114 of the server T1 (S0 in FIG. 13).
1). A transfer request from a server other than the server T1 is made via the network line 113.

Hereinafter, the processing in the server T1 will be described.

The band management unit 208 checks whether the band is allocated from the control terminal (S09). When the requesting terminal is a control terminal, the bandwidth management unit 208 checks whether there is a free space in the buffer 104 of the video server device 1 to which the requesting terminal is connected (S22). If there is a vacancy in the buffer 104, the bandwidth management unit 208 checks whether or not the total bandwidth of the entire system is exceeded when the bandwidth is allocated to the requesting terminal (S2).
3). If the requested bandwidth exceeds the total frame, the bandwidth management unit 208 checks whether there is a video server device 1 that has allocated a bandwidth to the asynchronous system (S24). The number of the asynchronous buffer columns is reduced by one, and the buffer columns are allocated to the requesting terminal (S25). For example, in (Table 5), when the server T1 receives a video data transfer request from the control terminal 14, the bandwidth management unit 208 has a vacancy in the buffer column of the server T1, but has already received the total bandwidth 16 Since the number of buffer rows is allocated, the buffer allocated to the asynchronous system in the server T2 or the server T3 is reduced by one, and the bandwidth of the control terminal 14 is allocated to an empty buffer of the server T1. If there is no server that has allocated a band to the asynchronous system, a band rejection is notified (S05).

When there is no free buffer in the video server 1 to which the requesting terminal is connected, the bandwidth management unit 208 checks whether the server has an asynchronous allocation buffer (S10). If one buffer is reduced from the allocation buffer and assigned to the requesting terminal (S26), if not, an allocation rejection is notified to the requesting terminal (S05). For example, when the server T2 in (Table 5) receives a video data transfer request from the control terminal 14, there is no empty buffer column in the server T2. The band of the control terminal 14 is allocated to the column 15 or 16. Also, the band management unit 208
When the requesting terminal is a computer terminal, the video terminal device 1 to which the requesting terminal is connected checks whether there is a free space in the buffer (S27), and if so, allocates a band (S27).
43) If there is no free space in the buffer, it is determined whether a buffer has already been allocated to the asynchronous system (S10). If the result of the determination is that there is an allocation, the bandwidth management unit 208 allocates the requesting terminal to the buffer in the mixed mode (S2).
8). For example, in (Table 5), when there is a transfer request of video data from the computer terminal 6 to the server T2,
Although the server T2 has no available buffer columns, the buffer columns 15 and 16 are allocated to the asynchronous buffer columns, so the bandwidth of the computer terminal 6 is allocated to the buffer columns 15 or 16 in the mixed mode. Upon completion of the bandwidth allocation, the bandwidth management unit 208 updates the buffer array management array (S03) and returns a response to the terminal to secure the bandwidth (S04). In the above processing, a response to a transfer request from a server other than the server T1 is sent to each server via the network line 113.

Next, a processing procedure for releasing a band in the video server device according to the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the process of releasing the bandwidth, the server T1 performs the bandwidth management as in the case of securing the bandwidth.

The processing in the server making the request will be described below.

When the command interpretation processing unit 202 receives a band release request from the control terminal 117 or the computer terminal 114 via the command input / output processing unit 201, it requests the band management unit 208 to release the band (S0 in FIG. 11).
6).

Hereinafter, the process of releasing the band in the server T1 will be described.

The band management unit 208 checks whether the terminal requesting band release (hereinafter, requesting terminal) is a control terminal or a computer terminal (S18). If the requesting terminal is a control terminal,
The bandwidth allocated to the requesting terminal is released (S19), and it is checked whether there is an asynchronous allocation buffer column in the same server (S29). If there is an asynchronous allocation buffer column, the released buffer column is allocated to the asynchronous system. It is reallocated as a buffer column (S20). If the requesting terminal is a computer terminal, the allocation of the requesting terminal is released from the buffer sequence to which the requesting terminal is allocated, and the bandwidth for other computer terminals allocated to the target buffer sequence is re-allocated. Assignment is performed (S21). For example, when a bandwidth release request is received from the computer terminal 2 to the server T2 in (Table 5), the allocation of the computer terminal 2 is released in the buffer row 15 to which the bandwidth of the computer terminal 2 has been allocated. At 16, the computer terminals 1, 3, and 4 are reassigned in the mixed mode. Upon completion of the buffer allocation, the bandwidth management unit 208
The buffer management array is updated (S07), and the requesting terminal S
(S08).

In the above processing, the server T1 and the server T
2. Transmission / reception of information between the server T3 and the network line 11
3 is performed.

In the present embodiment, for simplicity, the number of video server devices constituting the system has been described as three, but it is not necessary to limit to this.

Also, the server that performs the bandwidth management is the server T1.
However, the same operation is performed even when another server performs the operation. (Embodiment 5) In this embodiment, in a system in which a video data storage unit is shared by a plurality of video server devices, a specific video server device performs overall bandwidth management,
A case will be described in which, when the video server device breaks down, another video server device takes over the entire bandwidth management. The video server device of the present embodiment has the same configuration as the video server device of the fourth embodiment. However, in the present embodiment, among the video server devices that perform disk sharing, the bandwidth allocation and the buffer column management array The server holding the server will be described as a master server, the server receiving a copy of the buffer column management array from the master server as a secondary server, and the other servers as client servers. The copy of the buffer row management array between the master server and the secondary server is performed via the network line 113. The difference between the present embodiment and the fourth embodiment is that a master server and a secondary server are set and the buffer column management array is copied between the two servers. Only the operation will be described. FIG. 15 is a flowchart of a process of copying a buffer array management array between servers according to the fifth embodiment. As shown in FIG. 15A, the master server always checks whether there is a change in the buffer column management array (S29 in FIG. 15), and if there is a change, notifies the secondary server of the change (S30). ). FIG.
As shown in (b), when the secondary server always waits for a notification from the master server, and receives a notification from the master server that the buffer column management array has changed, the secondary server stores the notification contents (S31, S32). . FIG.
6 shows a processing procedure in which the secondary server determines whether the master server is operating. As shown in FIG. 16A, the secondary server sends a message M to the master server (S33 in FIG. 16). As shown in FIG. 18B, the master server sends the message M
Is received, a response to the message M is immediately returned to the secondary server (S39, S40). As shown in FIG. 16A, the secondary server determines that the master server is alive if the response to the transmitted message is within a certain period of time, and stops the operation for a certain period of time, as shown in FIG.
(S34, S36). When there is no response to the message M from the master server, the secondary server notifies all servers that the master server has been stopped and the master server has been changed (S37), and operates as a master server (S38). As shown in FIG. 16C, when the client server receives the notification of the change of the master server from the secondary server, it changes the master server (S41, S42). The change of the master server is performed by changing the IP address of the master server. By following the above procedure, the bandwidth management can be performed by the secondary server even after the master server has failed. The transmission and reception of messages and changes between the master server and the secondary server are performed by the network input / output processing unit 207 of each server, and the update of the buffer column management array is performed by the bandwidth management unit 208. Here, after the failure of the master server, the secondary server operates as the master server. At the same time, if a secondary server is selected from the client servers and operated as the secondary server, the operability is further improved. Note that each unit such as the band management unit in the present invention can be computerized as described in the first to fifth embodiments, so that the band management unit of the present invention can be stored in a computer-readable recording medium. It can also be recorded and implemented. Also,
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described as operating independently of each other, the present invention is not limited to this, and an operation in which the embodiments are combined may be performed.
Further, in the present invention, the band allocated to the asynchronous system is set to one unit or less. For example, when the transfer bandwidth of the video server device is eight video data streams and five synchronous video data streams and one asynchronous video data stream are transferred, three asynchronous video data streams are required for asynchronous transfer. When a video data stream is allocated, it is possible to transfer the video data stream at a transfer speed three times the real time.

[0103]

As described above, the video server apparatus according to the present invention allows the bandwidth to be allocated to the asynchronous system to be flexibly allocated by allocating the bandwidth to the asynchronous system in one unit or less. A video server device capable of managing a band even when a disk is shared between devices.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video server device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a software configuration in the video server device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video data disk in the video server device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a free list managed by a file management unit in the video server device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining correspondence between video data and block numbers managed by a file management unit in the video server device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a buffer in the video server device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating bandwidth allocation processing of the video server device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining band release processing of the video server apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating bandwidth allocation processing of the video server device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating bandwidth allocation processing of the video server device according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining bandwidth release processing of the video server device.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a video server device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating bandwidth allocation processing of the video server device.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining band release processing of the video server apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a buffer array arrangement copy process between a server and a secondary server of the video server device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart for explaining processing when a server failure occurs in the video server apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 video server device 101 MPU 102 bus bridge unit 103 main memory 104 buffer 105 bus 106 operating system control device 107 operating system disk 108 disk control device 109 video data disk 110 video data input / output device 111 video data signal line 112 network input / output device 113 Network line 114 Computer terminal 115 External I / F device 116 Command control line 117 Control terminal

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A digital communication system connected to at least one or more control terminals, and in response to a request from the control terminal, digital data including video and / or audio data (hereinafter, AV data) in real time (hereinafter, synchronous mode). A) a video server device connected to at least one or more computer terminals and inputting / outputting the AV data in a non-real-time manner (hereinafter, asynchronous mode) in response to a request from the computer terminals. An AV data storage unit that stores the AV data and has a predetermined transfer band; a synchronous AV data input / output control unit that inputs / outputs the AV data in a synchronous mode; and inputs / outputs the AV data in an asynchronous mode. Asynchronous A
A V data input / output control unit; when transferring the AV data between the AV data storage unit and the synchronous AV data input / output control unit or the asynchronous AV data input / output control unit, A buffer for temporarily storing, and a band management unit for performing a transfer band of the AV data storage unit by managing a transfer band of the buffer, wherein the band management unit is configured to receive the buffer from the control terminal or the computer terminal. When an AV data transfer request is received,
A video server device which manages a transfer band allocated to the buffer so as not to exceed a predetermined transfer band of the AV data storage means. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the band management unit receives the AV data transfer request from the control terminal or the computer terminal, and if the transfer band required for the transfer request cannot be allocated, the control terminal or the computer. 2. The video server device according to claim 1, wherein a request to transfer the AV data from a terminal is rejected. 3. The bandwidth management means, when unable to allocate a transfer bandwidth required for a transfer request of AV data from a control terminal, has a transfer bandwidth already allocated to at least one or more computer terminals. The video server device according to claim 1, wherein in the case, a transfer band required for the control terminal is allocated as a transfer band for the control terminal in a transfer band allocated to the computer terminal. 4. A bandwidth management unit, wherein when a transfer bandwidth required for an AV data transfer request from a control terminal is not assigned, there is a transfer bandwidth already assigned to at least one or more computer terminals. In the case, in the transfer band assigned to the computer terminal, the transfer band required for the control terminal is assigned as the transfer band of the control terminal, and the transfer band of the computer terminal to which the remaining transfer band has already been assigned. 2. The video server device according to claim 1, wherein the video server device is assigned. 5. A disk-sharing type video server device in which a plurality of video server devices share AV data storage means, wherein the bandwidth management means operates only in a specific video server device, and The AV
4. The video server device according to claim 1, wherein a management of a transfer band of the data storage means is performed. 6. The bandwidth management unit according to claim 5, wherein the bandwidth management unit operates only in a specific video server device, and operates in another video server device when the specific video server device breaks down. Video server device. 7. A program recording a program for causing a computer to execute all or a part of the functions of each means or each part of the video server apparatus according to claim 1. recoding media.