JP2001345807A - System and method for simultaneous multi-address communication for feeding back statistic information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system and a method for simultaneous multi-address communication for feeding back statistic information, with which the receiving conditions of a receiving terminal can be reported to a transmitting station or communication network provider in live manner, even when the number of reception terminals is extremely large in the case of performing the simultaneous multi-address transmission of stream data, such as video program from a specified transmitting station via a communication network to an extremely large number of reception terminals. SOLUTION: Each of repeating nodes is provided with an information input means 34 for acquiring information receiving condition data sent from each of connected receiving terminals or repeating node under control to an incoming line, a statistic information processing means 36 for generating statistical information, showing the receiving conditions of connected receiving terminals by totaling the receiving condition data according to predetermined rules and a statistic information output means 37 for periodically sending the generated statistical information to the high-order repeating node or transmitting station.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a broadcast communication technique in which a specific transmitting station distributes data to a large number of receiving terminals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For transmitting a large amount of stream data such as a video program from a specific transmitting station to a very large number of receiving terminals simultaneously, the following communication system is used. It is possible to do. (1) Use a radio broadcasting system such as terrestrial television broadcasting or satellite broadcasting. In this case, the broadcast is transmitted by radio waves from the transmitting station to a large number of receiving terminals or via a specific relay station.

(2) A wired communication network such as CATV or Internet TV (which may include a wireless line) is used. In this case, information is simultaneously broadcast from a specific transmitting station to a plurality of predetermined receiving terminals via a network. When a wired communication network is used, if the distance between the transmitting station and the receiving terminal is large, the transmitting station and the receiving terminal cannot be connected without passing through a plurality of relay nodes. When information is simultaneously distributed to a large number of receiving terminals, it is necessary to form a communication network in which a plurality of relay nodes are connected in a tree shape.

[0004] Each relay node copies program data input from an upstream relay node or a transmitting station connected thereto, and transfers the program data to a downstream relay node or a receiving terminal. By the way, regardless of the configuration and type of the communication system used for transmitting information, when delivering program data, statistical information on the number of terminals (audience rating) and reception quality that have received the program is transmitted to the sender. And providing feedback to the network provider is very important to increase the satisfaction of program senders and receivers.

[0005] When program data is distributed using a wireless broadcasting system, there is no means for the sender to directly obtain information on the reception status of each receiving terminal. Therefore, it is necessary to appropriately select a specific receiving terminal or receiver as a monitor, and to collect information on the reception status using a communication means completely different from the broadcasting system.

[0006] On the other hand, when program data is distributed using a broadcast network, bidirectional communication can be performed between a transmitting station and each receiving terminal. The situation can be notified to the transmitting station using the same communication network as the broadcast. For example, IETF (Internet Engineering
Task Force) adopted RFC1889 and RFC
In 1890, RTCP (Real Time transport Control
l Protocol) has been published. This communication protocol allows the receiving terminal to report the receiving status to the transmitting station.

[0007] Further, the receiving terminal reports the reception status to the transmitting station, thereby notifying the transmitting station that the quality of the received data has deteriorated or that the data has been dropped.
A method of performing retransmission as needed has been studied. For example, in the paper 1 “JC Lin and S. Paul,“ RMTP: a reliabl
e multicast transport protocol, ”in IEEE Infocom,
(San Fransisco, California), Mar. 1996. "shows a method for performing broadcast without error to a plurality of receiving terminals.

[0008]

When the above RTCP is used, all the receiving terminals operate so as to return a response to the transmitting station. If the number of receiving terminals is not so large, no particular problem occurs even if RTCP is used. However,
When the number of receiving terminals is very large, there is a problem that congestion occurs because reports from each receiving terminal concentrate on the transmitting station.

[0009] In order to avoid congestion due to concentration of responses,
In the above article 1, the reports from the receiving terminals are collected for each relay node. That is, each relay node identifies whether all the receiving terminals or relay nodes under its own have responded correctly, and whether there is even one that requires retransmission, and transmits only the identification result upstream. Responds to the relay node or the transmitting station.

[0010] However, the method of thesis 1 is a technique for performing simultaneous broadcast without error, and determines whether each receiving terminal correctly receives data to be sequentially transferred in a fragmented manner from the transmitting station to the receiving terminal. The relay node or the transmitting station performs a process for ascertaining whether or not retransmission is necessary. In the communication using the protocol as in thesis 1, when the receiving terminal fails to receive specific information, the relay node or the transmitting station retransmits the specific information for which transfer failed based on the response of the receiving terminal. . In such communication, information transmission is intermittent due to retransmission control, and the information transmission order is also changed. Therefore, it is inevitable that the immediacy and continuity of information delivery are impaired, and it is not suitable for delivery of large-capacity stream data such as a video program, that is, information that appears continuously in real time.

On the other hand, in the case of delivering large-capacity stream data such as a video program, a slight deterioration in quality or a drop in data is often tolerated, but immediateness and continuity are very important. The present invention is directed to a case where the number of receiving terminals is extremely large when broadcast data such as a video program is broadcast from a specific transmitting station to a very large number of receiving terminals via a communication network. To provide a broadcast system and method for feeding back statistical information capable of transmitting the reception status of a receiving terminal to a transmitting station or a communication network provider in a live state without causing congestion in a communication network. Aim.

Further, the present invention provides a method for transmitting a stream data from a plurality of transmitting stations simultaneously performing broadcasts having different contents, when a receiving terminal can select one of the transmitting stations and receive stream data. A broadcast system and method for correctly transmitting stream data to a desired receiving terminal and feeding back statistical information capable of transmitting the receiving status of the receiving terminal to a transmitting station or a communication network provider in a live state. The purpose is to provide.

[0013]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program wherein a plurality of relay nodes are connected to a specific transmitting station in a tree-like manner, and are continuously transmitted on a downlink from the transmitting station to a receiving terminal. A broadcast communication system for feeding back statistical information using a communication network capable of bidirectional communication for relaying data at least a part of the plurality of relay nodes and delivering the data to each of a plurality of receiving terminals, The node has information on the reception status of each receiving terminal that is periodically transmitted from the receiving terminal connected to the relay node to the transmitting station in the uplink direction, and other information connected to the relay node. An information input means for acquiring at least one of the statistical information periodically transmitted from the relay node to the uplink as subordinate reception status data; and a subordinate obtained by the information input means. Statistical processing means for summing reception status data according to a predetermined rule and generating statistical information on reception status of all receiving terminals connected directly to the relay node or via another relay node; and the statistical processing means And a statistical information output means for periodically transmitting the generated statistical information to another relay node or the transmitting station connected to the transmitting station side of the relay node.

In the first aspect, each relay node is provided with information input means, statistical processing means and statistical information output means. The information input means includes information on the reception status of each reception terminal that is periodically transmitted from the reception terminal connected to the relay node to the transmission station side on the uplink, and other information connected to the relay node. At least one of the statistical information periodically sent out from the relay node to the uplink is obtained as subordinate reception status data.

The statistical processing means aggregates the reception status data under the information acquired by the information input means in accordance with a predetermined rule, and collects all the receiving terminals connected to the relay node directly or via another relay node. Generate statistical information about the reception status. The statistical information output means periodically sends the statistical information generated by the statistical processing means to another relay node connected to the transmitting station side of the relay node or the transmitting station.

Therefore, the information indicating the reception status of each receiving terminal is converted into statistical information at each relay node and transferred to the transmitting station via the uplink of the communication network. Since the generation and transfer of the statistical information are periodically performed, the transmitting station can grasp the reception status of all the receiving terminals as the statistical information in a real situation. The statistical information is information required by a transmitting station or a communication network provider, such as a rating. Such statistical information has a much smaller information amount than the sum of the information transmitted by the connected receiving terminals. Therefore, the amount of information going from the receiving terminal to the transmitting station decreases each time the signal passes through the relay node, and the statistical information input to the transmitting station is less likely to cause congestion because the information amount is small.

In other words, even when broadcast data such as a video program is simultaneously broadcast to a large number of receiving terminals, the receiving conditions of all receiving terminals required by the transmitting station and the communication network provider are congested. Can be constantly monitored by the transmitting station without causing the problem. According to a second aspect, in the broadcast system for feeding back the statistical information according to the first aspect, at least one of the plurality of relay nodes or the transmitting station receives a downlink according to the statistical information generated by each relay node. Data quality adjusting means for automatically adjusting the quality of program data distributed over a line is provided.

In general, when broadcasting large-capacity stream data such as a video program, a slight deterioration in quality or a drop in data is often allowed. Therefore, when the information transmission capacity of the communication path actually used is relatively small, priority is given to smooth transmission of information, and stream data input from a higher-level device is thinned out according to the capacity of the communication path. It is desirable to reduce the information amount of the stream data to be transmitted (for example, by reducing the number of screen frames per second).

However, the reception quality at the receiving terminal is degraded due to a decrease in the amount of information due to the thinning. When the deterioration of the reception quality becomes remarkable, the dissatisfaction of the receiver side increases.
Therefore, in claim 2, the reception quality satisfaction of the receiving terminal is detected from the aggregated statistical information. If there are many receiving terminals that are not satisfied with the reception quality, the reception quality can be improved by reducing the degree of data thinning.

As described above, by automatically adjusting the quality of program data to be distributed on the downlink according to the statistical information, it is possible to optimize the use conditions of the communication network so as to ensure smooth reception while ensuring sufficient reception quality. Can be Claim 3
3. The broadcast system for feeding back statistical information according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of relay nodes includes the relay node and the receiving terminal based on the statistical information generated by the relay node. And a failure detecting means for determining whether or not a failure has occurred in a communication path between the first and second communication paths.

When a failure occurs in the communication path between the relay node and the receiving terminal, some receiving terminals cannot receive stream data normally, and the average value of the receiving quality of the receiving terminal is extremely reduced. Therefore, the fault detecting means of claim 3 monitors the reception quality of the receiving terminal based on the statistical information generated by the relay node, and identifies whether or not a fault has occurred in the communication path. Claim 4
2. The broadcast system for feeding back statistical information according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of sets of information from a plurality of connected receiving terminals or relay nodes are temporarily stored in each of said plurality of relay nodes. A temporary storage table is provided.

The statistical processing means needs to refer to a plurality of sets of information obtained from a plurality of receiving terminals or relay nodes almost simultaneously in order to generate statistical information. According to the fourth aspect, a plurality of sets of information acquired from each receiving terminal or relay node can all be held in the temporary storage table. Therefore, the statistical processing means can always obtain the information necessary for generating the statistical information from the temporary storage table. Therefore, there is no need to particularly define the timing at which each receiving terminal sends the information on the reception status to the uplink, and it is not necessary to synchronize the timings of a plurality of receiving terminals with each other, so that control is facilitated.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of relay nodes are connected to a specific transmitting station in a tree-like manner, and program data continuously transmitted to a downlink from the transmitting station to a receiving terminal is transmitted to the plurality of relay nodes. A broadcast communication method for feeding back statistical information using a communication network for relaying at least a part of a node and distributing to each of a plurality of receiving terminals, wherein each of the relay nodes is connected to the relay node. Information on the reception status of each receiving terminal that is periodically transmitted from the receiving terminal to the uplink in the direction toward the transmitting station side,
And periodically acquiring at least one of the statistical information transmitted from the other relay nodes connected to the relay node to the uplink as reception status data of the subordinate, and periodically receiving the subordinate reception Aggregate the status data according to a predetermined rule, generate statistical information on the reception status of all the receiving terminals connected to the relay node directly or via another relay node, and generate the generated statistical information by the relay The transmission is periodically performed to another relay node connected to the transmitting station side of the node or the transmitting station.

In the present invention, the information indicating the reception status of each receiving terminal is converted into statistical information at each relay node,
The data is transferred to the transmitting station via the uplink of the communication network. Since the generation and transfer of the statistical information are periodically performed, the transmitting station can grasp the reception status of all the receiving terminals as the statistical information in a real situation. The amount of statistical information is much smaller than the sum of the information transmitted by the connected receiving terminals. Therefore, the amount of information going from the receiving terminal to the transmitting station decreases each time the signal passes through the relay node, and the statistical information input to the transmitting station is less likely to cause congestion because the information amount is small.

That is, even when broadcasting data such as a video program is simultaneously broadcast to a large number of receiving terminals, the receiving conditions of all the receiving terminals required by the transmitting station or the communication network provider are congested. Can be constantly monitored by the transmitting station without causing the problem. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the broadcast method for feeding back the statistical information according to the fifth aspect, at least one of the plurality of relay nodes or the transmitting station performs downlink according to the statistical information generated by each relay node. And automatically adjusting the quality of the program data to be distributed.

In general, when delivering large-capacity stream data such as a video program, a slight deterioration in quality or a drop in data is often allowed. Therefore, when the information transmission capacity of the communication path actually used is relatively small, priority is given to smooth transmission of information, and stream data input from a higher-level device is thinned out according to the capacity of the communication path. It is desirable to reduce the information amount of the stream data to be transmitted.

However, the reception quality at the receiving terminal deteriorates due to the decrease in the amount of information due to the thinning. When the deterioration of the reception quality becomes remarkable, the dissatisfaction of the receiver side increases.
Therefore, in claim 6, the reception quality satisfaction of the receiving terminal is detected from the aggregated statistical information. If there are many receiving terminals that are not satisfied with the reception quality, the reception quality can be improved by reducing the degree of data thinning.

As described above, by automatically adjusting the quality of the program data to be distributed on the downlink according to the statistical information, it is possible to optimize the use conditions of the communication network so as to perform a smooth information transmission while ensuring a sufficient reception quality. Can be Claim 7
The method of claim 5, wherein at least one of the plurality of relay nodes communicates with the relay node and a receiving terminal based on statistical information generated by the relay node. It is characterized in that it is determined whether or not a failure has occurred in a communication path between them.

When a failure occurs in the communication path between the relay node and the receiving terminal, some receiving terminals cannot receive the stream data normally, and the average value of the receiving quality of the receiving terminal is extremely lowered. Therefore, in claim 7, the reception quality of the receiving terminal is monitored based on the statistical information generated by the relay node, and the presence or absence of a failure in the communication path is identified. Claim 8 is Claim 5
In the broadcast method for feeding back statistical information, at each of the relay nodes, for a plurality of reception status data obtained through an uplink communication path, at least one of a calculation of a sum and a detection of a maximum value is performed. And generating the statistical information.

According to the present invention, for example, by calculating the sum of the plurality of acquired reception status data, it is possible to obtain, for example, the number of receiving terminals receiving program data. Further, by detecting the maximum value of the plurality of acquired reception status data, for example, the maximum value of the transmission delay time (the time required for transmission from the transmitting station to each receiving terminal) can be obtained.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of transmitting stations having a function of continuously transmitting program data by simultaneous broadcast, and one of the plurality of transmitting stations is selected to receive the program data. Statistical information comprising a plurality of receiving terminals having a function, and a communication network capable of two-way communication connecting the transmitting station and the receiving terminal in a mesh via a plurality of relay nodes having a function of relaying program data. A broadcast communication system for providing feedback, wherein each of the relay nodes receives, from each of the receiving terminals connected to the relay node, reception of each of the receiving terminals which is periodically transmitted to an uplink line toward a desired transmitting station. Information input means for acquiring at least one of status information, and statistical information periodically transmitted in the upstream direction from another relay node connected to the relay node as reception status data under the information input means, A classification means for classifying the reception status data under the control obtained by the report input means for each data relating to the same transmitting station; and a means for totalizing the data classified by the classification means according to a predetermined rule, and directly or to another relay node. Statistical processing means for generating statistical information relating to the reception status of all receiving terminals connected via the relay node of the above, and transmitting the statistical information generated by the statistical processing means in the uplink direction for each classified transmitting station. Statistical information transmission destination determining means for determining the destination and another relay node or the transmitting station of the transmission destination; and transmitting the statistical information generated by the statistical processing means to the transmission destination determined by the statistical information transmission destination determining means. Statistical information output means for periodically sending out the program data, and copying the program data sent from the transmitting station to a destination receiving terminal or another relay node. Characterized by providing a program data replication delivery means for transferring.

According to the ninth aspect, even in the case of simultaneously transmitting stream data such as a video program to a large number of receiving terminals in the same manner as the first aspect, a transmitting station or a communication network provider is required. The receiving station can constantly monitor the reception status of all receiving terminals without causing congestion. In claim 9, since there are a plurality of transmitting stations, each receiving terminal can freely select any transmitting station to receive the program data. However, in this case, in each relay node, it is not possible to fixedly determine an uplink line toward the transmitting station and a downlink line toward the receiving station.

Therefore, in order to determine the destination of the relay node, statistical information destination determining means is provided in each relay node. The statistical information transmission destination determining means, for the statistical information that the receiving terminal and other relay nodes periodically transmit to the transmission station, grasps an upward transmission destination for each classified transmission station, Of the relay node or the transmitting station.

For example, by using the same method as the IP packet transfer used in the current Internet protocol, the identifier of the transmitting station is extracted from the statistical information, and the identifier of the transmitting station on the side closer to the transmitting station is used as a clue. The destination can be specified and the destination can be determined. In a mesh communication network, a connection destination other than the upstream line can be used as the downstream line, so that once the upstream line is determined, the downstream line can be specified.

The statistical information output means periodically sends the statistical information generated by the statistical processing means to the destination determined by the statistical information destination determining means. The program data copy / delivery means copies the program data sent from the transmitting station and transfers it to a destination receiving terminal or another relay node. In this way, even when the upper and lower lines for the transmitting station are not determined in advance, a tree-shaped broadcast communication path can be automatically created between the relay nodes as needed.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the broadcast system for feeding back the statistical information according to the ninth aspect, at least one of the plurality of relay nodes or the transmitting station includes the statistical information generated by each relay node. , A data quality adjusting means for automatically adjusting the quality of program data to be distributed on the downlink line is provided. In general, when broadcasting large-capacity stream data such as a video program, slight deterioration in quality or omission of data is often allowed. Therefore, when the information transmission capacity of the communication path actually used is relatively small, priority is given to smooth transmission of information, and stream data input from a higher-level device is thinned out according to the capacity of the communication path. It is desirable to reduce the information amount of the stream data to be transmitted (for example, by reducing the number of screen frames per second).

However, the reception quality at the receiving terminal deteriorates due to the decrease in the amount of information due to the thinning. When the deterioration of the reception quality becomes remarkable, the dissatisfaction of the receiver side increases.
Therefore, in claim 10, the reception quality satisfaction of the receiving terminal is detected from the aggregated statistical information. If there are many receiving terminals that are not satisfied with the reception quality, the reception quality can be improved by reducing the degree of data thinning.

As described above, by automatically adjusting the quality of the program data to be distributed on the downlink according to the statistical information, the use conditions of the communication network can be optimized so that the information can be transmitted smoothly while ensuring sufficient reception quality. Can be Claim 1
1. The broadcast system for feeding back statistical information according to claim 9, wherein at least one of the plurality of relay nodes communicates with the relay node based on statistical information generated by the relay node. It is characterized in that a failure detecting means for identifying the presence or absence of a failure in a communication path with a terminal is provided.

When a failure occurs in the communication path between the relay node and the receiving terminal, some receiving terminals cannot receive the stream data normally, and the average value of the receiving quality of the receiving terminal is extremely reduced. Therefore, the fault detecting means of the present invention monitors the reception quality of the receiving terminal based on the statistical information generated by the relay node, and identifies whether or not a fault has occurred in the communication path.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the broadcast system for feeding back statistical information according to the ninth aspect, a plurality of sets of information from a plurality of receiving terminals or relay nodes connected to each of the plurality of relay nodes are provided. Is provided, a temporary storage table for temporarily storing is stored.
The statistical processing means needs to refer to a plurality of sets of information acquired from a plurality of receiving terminals or relay nodes almost simultaneously in order to generate statistical information. In the twelfth aspect, a plurality of sets of information acquired from each receiving terminal or relay node can all be held in the temporary storage table.

Therefore, the statistical processing means can always obtain the information necessary for generating the statistical information from the temporary storage table. Therefore, there is no need to particularly define the timing at which each receiving terminal sends the information on the reception status to the uplink, and it is not necessary to synchronize the timings of a plurality of receiving terminals with each other, so that control is facilitated. In each relay node, if the regular arrival of the statistical information from the receiving terminal or another relay node is stopped for a certain period of time,
It is preferable that the corresponding receiving terminal or another relay node stops receiving the program data and deletes the corresponding information from the temporary storage table.

In this manner, the capacity of the temporary storage table can be saved, the number of transfer destinations on the downstream line can be reduced, and unnecessary data transfer can be omitted, and the communication path can be used economically. . Also, if a receiving terminal receiving program data from one transmitting station switches to receiving program data from another transmitting station on the way, the destination of the statistical information that is periodically fed back from the receiving terminal is changed. Is changed, the content of the temporary storage table is updated, and as a result, it is possible to automatically control so that program data from a newly desired transmitting station is transmitted.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of transmitting stations having a function of continuously transmitting program data by simultaneous broadcast, and one of the plurality of transmitting stations is selected to receive the program data. Statistical information comprising a plurality of receiving terminals having a function, and a communication network capable of two-way communication connecting the transmitting station and the receiving terminal in a mesh via a plurality of relay nodes having a function of relaying program data. A broadcast method for feeding back, wherein at each of the relay nodes, each of the receiving terminals periodically transmitted from each of the receiving terminals connected to the relay node to an uplink line toward a desired transmitting station. Reception status information, and at least one of the statistical information periodically transmitted in the upstream direction from another relay node connected to the relay node is obtained as subordinate reception status data, and the acquired subordinate The transmission status data is classified for each data relating to the same transmitting station, and the reception status data under the classified subordinates is totaled according to a predetermined rule, and all the relay nodes connected directly to the relay node or via other relay nodes are collected. Generating statistical information on the reception status of a receiving terminal, and for the generated statistical information, determine the upstream destination for each classified transmitting station and determine another relay node or the transmitting station of the destination. Transmitting the generated statistical information periodically to the determined destination, duplicating the program data transmitted from the transmitting station, and transferring the duplicated program data to a destination receiving terminal or another relay node; It is characterized by.

According to the thirteenth aspect, similarly to the fifth aspect, even in the case of simultaneously transmitting stream data such as a video program to a large number of receiving terminals, a transmitting station or a communication network provider is required. The receiving station can constantly monitor the reception status of all receiving terminals without causing congestion.
In claim 13, since there are a plurality of transmitting stations, each receiving terminal can freely select any transmitting station to receive the program data. However, in this case, in each relay node, it is not possible to fixedly determine an uplink line toward the transmitting station and a downlink line toward the receiving station.

Therefore, the relay node grasps the upward destination for each classified transmitting station for the statistical information that the receiving terminal and other relay nodes periodically transmit to the transmitting station, and determines the destination of the destination. Determine another relay node or the transmitting station.

For example, by using a method similar to the IP packet transfer used in the current Internet protocol, an identifier of the transmitting station is extracted from the statistical information, and the identifier of the transmitting station closer to the transmitting station is used as a clue. The destination can be specified and the destination can be determined. In a mesh communication network, a connection destination other than the upstream line can be used as the downstream line, so that once the upstream line is determined, the downstream line can be specified.

The generated statistical information is periodically transmitted to the destination determined in the upward direction. The program data transmitted from the transmitting station is copied at the relay node and transferred to the destination receiving terminal or another relay node. In this way, even when the upper and lower lines for the transmitting station are not determined in advance, a tree-shaped broadcast communication path can be automatically created between the relay nodes as needed.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the broadcast method for feeding back statistical information according to the thirteenth aspect, at least one of the plurality of relay nodes or the transmitting station operates according to the statistical information generated by each relay node. And automatically adjusts the quality of program data to be distributed on a downstream line. In general, when broadcasting large-capacity stream data such as a video program, slight deterioration in quality or omission of data is often allowed. Therefore, when the information transmission capacity of the communication path actually used is relatively small, priority is given to smooth transmission of information, and stream data input from a higher-level device is thinned out according to the capacity of the communication path. It is desirable to reduce the information amount of the stream data to be transmitted (for example, by reducing the number of screen frames per second).

However, the reception quality at the receiving terminal is degraded due to the decrease in the amount of information due to the thinning. When the deterioration of the reception quality becomes remarkable, the dissatisfaction of the receiver side increases.
Therefore, in claim 14, the reception quality satisfaction of the receiving terminal is detected from the aggregated statistical information. If there are many receiving terminals that are not satisfied with the reception quality, the reception quality can be improved by reducing the degree of data thinning.

As described above, by automatically adjusting the quality of the program data to be distributed on the downlink according to the statistical information, it is possible to optimize the use conditions of the communication network so as to perform a smooth information transmission while ensuring a sufficient reception quality. Can be Claim 1
5. The broadcast method for feeding back statistical information according to claim 13, wherein at least one of the plurality of relay nodes determines whether the relay node and the receiving terminal are based on statistical information generated by the relay node. It is characterized in that the presence / absence of a failure in the communication path during the period is identified.

When a failure occurs in the communication path between the relay node and the receiving terminal, some receiving terminals cannot receive stream data normally, and the average value of the receiving quality of the receiving terminal is extremely reduced. Therefore, in claim 15, the reception quality of the receiving terminal is monitored based on the statistical information generated by the relay node, and whether or not a failure has occurred in the communication path is identified. According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the broadcast method for feeding back statistical information according to the thirteenth aspect, each of the relay nodes calculates a sum of a plurality of reception status data obtained through a communication path of an uplink line. And detecting at least one of a maximum value and the statistical information.

According to the sixteenth aspect, by calculating the sum of the plurality of acquired reception status data, for example, the number of receiving terminals receiving program data can be obtained. Further, by detecting the maximum value of the plurality of acquired reception status data, for example, the maximum value of the transmission delay time (the time required for transmission from the transmitting station to each receiving terminal) can be obtained.

[0053]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) One embodiment of a broadcast communication system and method for feeding back statistical information according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. . This embodiment corresponds to claims 1 to 8.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the relay node of this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of uplink input / output data in the relay node of this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the communication network of this embodiment. In this embodiment, the information input means, the statistical processing means, and the statistical information output means of claim 1 are embodied as an uplink input device 34, a data totaling device 36, and an uplink output device 37, respectively.

The data quality adjusting means of claim 2 corresponds to the delivery control device 32, the failure detecting means of claim 3 corresponds to the delivery control device 32, and the temporary storage table of claim 4 corresponds to the temporary storage table 35. Corresponding to In this embodiment, it is assumed that a communication network as shown in FIG. 3 is used. That is, the transmitting station 10 has a number of relay nodes 11, 12,.
13 and 14 are connected in a tree shape. One or a plurality of receiving terminals 21 are connected to some of the relay nodes as the ends of the tree.

In this communication network, bidirectional information transmission is possible. Here, a communication line from transmitting station 10 toward each receiving terminal 21 is called a downlink, and a communication line from each receiving terminal 21 toward transmitting station 10 is called an uplink. The transmitting station 10, the relay node 11,
Each of the transmission lines 15 connecting the terminals 12, 13, and 14 and the receiving terminal 21 may be configured by a wired line or a wireless line as long as bidirectional communication is possible.
The number of other relay nodes connected to one relay node, the number of tree layers, the number of receiving terminals 21 to be connected, and the like may be changed as necessary.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that a large amount of stream data such as a video program is simultaneously broadcasted from the transmitting station 10 to each of the large number of receiving terminals 21 using the downlink. . For example, the receiving terminal 21 of FIG.
(1), 21 (1), 21 (2), 21 (3), 21 (4), 21 (5),
The same program data is transmitted to the transmission station 1 for 21 (6),.
It can be distributed simultaneously from 0.

In the example of FIG. 3, the program data transmitted from the transmitting station 10 is relayed by the relay node 11 and received by the receiving terminal 21.
Delivered to (1). Also, the same program data is relayed by the relay node 11 and the relay node 12 (1), respectively, and delivered to the receiving terminal 21 (2). Similarly, the same program data is relayed by the relay node 11 and the relay node 12 (2), respectively, and delivered to the receiving terminal 21 (3). Further, the same program data is relayed by the relay nodes 11, 12 (1), and 13 (1), and the receiving terminals 21 (4), 21 (1)
Delivered to (5).

Such data distribution can be realized by various communication protocols. In this example, the IETF has been adopted as the communication protocol of the transmitting station 10, the relay nodes 11, 12, 13, 14 and the receiving terminal 21. RFC-768
UDP (User Datagram Protocol) and RFC-79
It is assumed that one IP (Internet Protocol) is used.

When UDP is used, complicated processing such as error correction and retransmission is not performed. If an error is found in the packet on the receiving side, it is simply discarded.
That is, when distributing stream data such as a video program, the quality degradation and data loss can be tolerated on the receiving side, but the immediacy and continuity of delivery are very important. Communicate to give priority.

In this embodiment, each relay node 11, 1
2, 13, and 14 are configured as shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 1, a downlink input device 3 is provided at this relay node.
1, delivery control device 32, downlink output device 33, uplink input device 34, temporary storage table 35, data totaling device 3
6, up line output device 37, clock circuit 38 and counting rule 3
9 is provided.

The downlink communication will be described. Stream data such as a video program input from another upper relay node or the receiving terminal 21 is received by the downlink input device 31. The received stream data is copied and output to the downlink via the delivery control device 32 and the downlink output device 33. That is, the relayed stream data is transmitted to another subordinate relay node or each receiving terminal 21.

In the following description, the relay node in FIG.
The description will be made assuming the case of the relay node 12 (1), but all the relay nodes 11, 12, 13, and 14 have the same configuration and perform the same operation. The stream data transmitted by the relay node 11 to the downlink is
2 (1), which is received by the downlink input device 31 and transmitted via the delivery control device 32 and the downlink output device 33 to the relay node 13
(1) and transmitted to the receiving terminal 21 (2).

The delivery control unit 32 thins out data as necessary to smoothly deliver data on the downlink. That is, when the information amount (bits / second) of the stream data to be transmitted is larger than the transmission capacity (bits / second) of the transmission line (15) connected to the output side of the downlink, the downlink on the output side is used. Stream data to be transmitted to the line is thinned out, for example, in units of image frames or in units of scanning lines to reduce the amount of information on the output side.

When the information amount of the data to be transmitted is larger than the capacity of the transmission path, it is necessary to wait for the transmission path to become empty before transmitting the data, so that the delay time increases. However, by reducing the amount of information of the stream data to be transmitted after thinning out, it is not necessary to wait for time, and it is possible to secure the immediacy of stream data delivery.

When the thinning is performed, the amount of information of the stream data distributed to the receiving terminal 21 naturally becomes small, and the receiving quality deteriorates. However, even when the number of frames per second is reduced, for example, the reception quality is slightly reduced, and the viewer is often allowed. On the other hand, each receiving terminal 21 reports information on the reception status to the relay node to which it is connected via the uplink. More specifically, each receiving terminal 21 spontaneously sends information D0 to D5 shown in FIG. 2 to the uplink at fixed intervals (for example, every one second).

Information D0 to D5 is stored in each receiving terminal 21.
Is automatically generated periodically (for example, every second). The information D0 indicates whether or not the receiving terminal 21 is receiving program data distributed from the transmitting station 10. The information D1 indicates the reception speed (bits / second) of the stream data that the receiving terminal 21 is receiving from the downlink. The information D2 indicates the reception error rate of the stream data that the receiving terminal 21 is receiving from the downlink.

The information D3 indicates whether or not the reception quality of the stream data that the receiving terminal 21 is receiving from the downlink is acceptable. For example, in the case of a receiving terminal such as a television monitor, generally, higher receiving quality is required as the size of the screen increases. Therefore, a threshold of the reception quality according to the model is determined and registered in each receiving terminal 21 in advance. The receiving terminal 21 can identify whether the reception quality is acceptable by comparing the actual reception quality (for example, the number of frames per second) with a threshold.

The information D4 indicates the delay time of the program data.
This delay time can be obtained as follows. The stream data transmitted from the transmitting station 10 to the downlink includes information on the transmission time at which the transmitting station 10 transmitted the packet for each packet. Therefore, each receiving terminal 21 specifies the receiving time of each packet based on the time of a clock built in itself, and determines the delay time (the transmitting station 10 transmits the From the time until it reaches the receiving terminal 21).

The information D5 indicates the number of relay stages. Receiving terminal 21
Has not been relayed yet, the receiving terminal 21 outputs the numerical value 0 as the information D5 in this example. Such information D0 to D5 is input to the relay node 12 via the uplink. Information input from the uplink to the relay node 12 (1) is received by the uplink input device 34 shown in FIG. 1 and stored in the temporary storage table 35.

In the temporary storage table 35, the relay node 1
An independent storage area is allocated in advance to each of the other relay nodes (13 (1)) and each of the receiving terminals (21 (2)) connected to the input side of the 2 (1) uplink. The temporary storage table 35 holds a reporter ID 41, an update time 42, and a report content 43 as a set of information. Reporter I
D41 is information for distinguishing between a large number of receiving terminals 21 and a large number of relay nodes.
4 represents the number of the interface or port for connecting 4 to each receiving terminal 21.

The update time 42 is a set of information (41, 4
(2, 43) represents the updated time. In this example, when information is input from each of the relay nodes (13 (1)) and each of the receiving terminals (21 (2)), the uplink input device 34 immediately writes the information into the temporary storage table 35. . If a report from the same reporter has been stored in the past, the contents of the temporary storage table 35 are overwritten with new information.

The upstream line input device 34 obtains information on the current time from the clock circuit 38 built in the relay node (12 (1)), and sends the information to each reporter (each relay node, each receiving terminal).
, The reception time at which the information was input is specified, and the reception time is recorded as the update time 42. The report content 43 indicates information input from the relay node (13 (1)) or the receiving terminal (21 (2)). Information input from the receiving terminal (21 (2)) is information D0 to D5 shown in FIG.

The data totaling device 36 periodically (for example, every second) processes all information held in the temporary storage table 35 and automatically generates statistical information described later.
The content of the processing of the data totaling device 36 is determined by the totaling rule 39 stored in the relay node (12 (1)) in advance. The contents of the counting rule 39 can be updated as needed. In this example, the data totaling device 36 generates statistical information S0 to S6 shown in FIG. 2 by totalizing the information held in the temporary storage table 35.

The statistical information S0 is a terminal (receiving terminal 21) that is receiving stream data of a program distributed on the downlink.
Represents the total number of In the statistical information S0, the information D0 is “receiving”.
Is the total number of receiving terminals 21 that have reported the information, and can be generated by totaling the sum of the information D0 of “receiving” in the report content 43. When a terminal that has not received a program does not report information D0 to D5, statistical information S0 can be generated as the total number of terminals that have reported information D0 to D5. If the update time 42 is too old compared to the current time, it can be considered that the terminal associated with the information has not reported the information D0 to D5.

The statistical information S1 indicates the audience rating of the program, that is, the ratio of the number of terminals receiving the program to the total number of terminals that can receive the program. The number of terminals receiving a program is obtained as statistical information S0. The total number of terminals that can be received is stored in the data totaling device 36 or the totaling rule 39 as a constant in advance. Therefore, the statistical information S1 is obtained by the calculation. Statistical information S2
Represents the number of receiving terminals that are classified according to reception quality. The reception quality of each terminal changes according to the degree of thinning of stream data to be distributed. When the capacity of the transmission line 15 is low and the reception speed of the terminal connected thereto is low, it is necessary to increase the degree of thinning. That is, the reception quality of each terminal can be identified from the reception speed, that is, the information D1. Therefore, if the statistical information S0 is classified for each reception quality, the statistical information S2 can be obtained.

The statistical information S3 indicates the ratio between the terminal satisfying the reception quality (or the terminal not satisfying the reception quality) and the total number of terminals receiving the program. The former can be obtained by totalizing the total number of terminals that have reported the information D3 of “within the allowable range”. The latter is the same as the statistical information S0. Therefore, the total number of terminals that have reported the information D3 of “within an allowable range” and the statistical information S
By calculating the ratio to 0, statistical information S3 is obtained.

The statistical information S4 indicates the total amount of data (the number of bits) received by all terminals in the last minute. The amount of data received by one terminal is obtained by multiplying the reception speed (D1) from that terminal by the time (60 seconds). The statistical information S4 can be obtained by adding the received data amounts of all the terminals that are receiving the program. The statistical information S5 indicates the maximum number of relay stages (the number of relays) up to this node. Actually, all the receiving terminals 2 reported to the relay node (12 (1))
The maximum value is detected from the information D5 of No. 1 and the statistical information S5 reported from the lower relay node (13 (1)), and "1" is added to the maximum value (reflecting the relaying amount of this node). The result is generated as the statistical information S5 of the node.

The statistical information S6 indicates the maximum delay time of the stream data. In practice, the relay node (12
The maximum value is detected from the information D4 of all the receiving terminals 21 reported to (1)) and the statistical information S6 reported from the lower-order relay node (13 (1)), and the maximum value is determined by this node. Generated as statistical information S6. At the time of the aggregation, the data aggregation device 36 checks the contents of the update time 42 of each data. And how many times the reporting cycle (for example, 3 times)
Data that has not been updated since is excluded from aggregation.
It is deleted from the temporary storage table 35. As a result, only the latest information can be reflected in the aggregation.

The contents of the statistical information generated by the data totaling device 36 can be variously changed, added, and deleted according to the contents described in the totaling rule 39. The tally result obtained at the output of the data tallying device 36, that is, the statistical information S <b> 0 to S <b> 6 is immediately transmitted to the upper-level relay node 11 via the up line under the control of the up line output device 37.

Accordingly, the statistical information S0 to S6 totaled by the lower relay node (12 (1)) is automatically transmitted periodically (for example, 1 second) to the upper relay node 11 automatically. To the transmitting station 10. For this reason,
The transmitting station 10 can obtain statistical information on the reception status of all the receiving terminals 21 that are receiving the program in a live situation.

The delivery control device 32 of each relay node (12 (1)) performs control as follows using the statistical information S0 to S6 generated by the data totaling device 36. First,
In order to control the transmission quality of stream data distributed to the lower relay node (13 (1)) or the receiving terminal 21 (2) on the downlink, the latest statistical information S3 is compared with a predetermined threshold.

Since the statistical information S3 indicates the ratio between the terminal satisfying the reception quality and the total number of terminals receiving the program, if the statistical information S3 is smaller than the threshold value, the reception quality is too low. Consider In this case, the degree of thinning out of stream data to be transmitted to the downlink is reduced within the range permitted by the capacity of the transmission line 15. As a result, the reception quality can be automatically improved.

The distribution control device 32 averages the obtained statistical information S3 over time to obtain an average value of the reception quality. Further, the average of the reception quality is compared with a predetermined lower limit to check whether the reception quality has been extremely reduced. If the reception quality is extremely reduced, the relay node (12
A communication failure may have occurred in the communication network under (1)). Therefore, when the reception quality is extremely lowered, the delivery control device 32 generates a failure alarm in its own station, and transmits the information of the failure occurrence to the data totaling device 3.
6. The data is transmitted to the uplink via the uplink output device 37, and is reported to the upper-level relay node 11 and the transmitting station 10.

In the case of the communication network shown in FIG. 3, since only a single relay node 11 is connected to the transmitting station 10, the transmitting station 10 transmits a set of statistical information S from the relay node 11.
0 to S6 can be obtained, and there is no need to add a special function to the transmitting station 10. However, in the case of a communication network in which a plurality of relay nodes 11 are connected to the transmitting station 10, it is desirable to provide the transmitting station 10 with the same function as the data aggregation device 36 in FIG.

In any case, when a communication network as shown in FIG. 3 is configured using the relay node in FIG. 1, information transmitted on the uplink is counted up every time the signal passes through the relay node and the information amount is increased. Becomes smaller. For this reason, even in the case of performing a remarkably large-scale broadcast communication in which the number of receiving terminals exceeds one million, the transmission result is actually reported to the transmitting station 10 without causing congestion in the communication network. Can be conveyed.

(Second Embodiment) Another embodiment of the broadcast system and method for feeding back statistical information according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This embodiment corresponds to claims 9 to 16. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the communication network of this embodiment. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the relay node of this embodiment.

In this embodiment, the information input means of claim 9
The classification unit, the statistical processing unit, the statistical information transmission destination determining unit, the statistical information output unit, and the program data copy / delivery unit include an input device 61, a data classification device 62, an upstream data totaling and transferring device 66, a transfer destination determining device 68, and an output device, respectively. It corresponds to the device 69 and the downstream data copy transfer device 64. Further, the data quality adjusting means of claim 10 is a downlink data copy and transfer device 6.
In this case, the fault detecting means in claim 11 corresponds to the downstream data copy transfer device 64, and the temporary storage table in claim 12 corresponds to the temporary storage table 63.

This embodiment is a modification of the first embodiment, and assumes a case where large-capacity stream data such as a video program is simultaneously broadcasted similarly to the first embodiment. . Further, a mechanism for totalizing and feeding back the statistical information and a mechanism for using the statistical information are the same as those in the first embodiment. Therefore, the input / output data of the uplink in the relay node is the same as that in FIG.

However, in this embodiment, it is assumed that there are a plurality of transmitting stations, and each receiving terminal can freely select a transmitting station. Therefore, the tree-shaped communication path between the transmitting station and the receiving terminal is not fixed.
That is, in this embodiment, since the communication network is formed in a network as shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of tree-shaped communication paths for simultaneously broadcasting program data must coexist on the communication network. Can be.

In the example of FIG. 4, a tree-shaped communication path for distributing program data from the transmitting station 51 (1) to the receiving terminals 53 (1) to 53 (5), and a receiving path from the transmitting station 51 (2). Terminal 53 (6)
53 (9) coexists with a tree-shaped communication path for distributing program data. The transmission path connecting each of the transmitting station 51, the relay node 52, and the receiving terminal 53 may be a wired line or a wireless line as long as bidirectional communication is possible. Further, the number of lines connected to one relay node 52, the number of receiving terminals 53, and the geometric structure of the communication network may be changed as necessary.

In this embodiment, the delivery route of the program data is determined according to the receiving request of each receiving terminal 53 or the receiver, so that each relay node 52 fixedly determines the uplink and downlink used for communication. I can't put it. Therefore, each relay node 52 automatically generates an independent tree-shaped communication path for each transmitting station 51 in response to a request from the receiving terminal 53, and when the transmission path becomes unnecessary, the communication path is changed. Has a function to automatically disappear.

As shown in FIG. 5, each relay node 52 of this embodiment includes an input device 61, a data classification device 62, a temporary storage table 63, a downstream data copy and transfer device 64, a clock circuit 65, an upstream data totaling and transfer device 66, The storage device includes a storage device that holds the data of the aggregation rule 67, a transfer destination determination device 68, and an output device 69. All the relay nodes 52 have basically the same configuration and perform the same operation.

The operation of the relay node 52 will be described below. The data packet of the statistical information that the receiving terminal 53 or another relay node 52 periodically sends to the transmitting station is received by the input device 61 and sent to the data classification device 62. The data classifying device 62 extracts the transmitting station ID (ID of the transmission source of the program data) 74 included in the input data packet, and classifies the data packet for each transmitting station ID 74. Also, the reporter ID 71 is obtained from the data packet of the statistical information input to the data classification device 62.
The report content 73 is also extracted and recorded in the temporary storage table 63.

When the data is recorded in the temporary storage table 63, the data update time 72 is also recorded simultaneously with reference to the current time information obtained from the clock circuit 65. As shown in FIG. 5, in the temporary storage table 63, the recorded information is classified by the transmitting station ID 74 of the program data, and further classified by the reporter ID 71. When both the newly input transmitting station ID 74 and reporter ID 71 are the same as the contents already recorded in the temporary storage table 63, the old information is lost by overwriting and only the new information is stored.

The information on the temporary storage table 63 is periodically monitored to check the update status. If there is information that is not updated even after a predetermined time elapses, the information is deleted. Therefore, outdated information is not reflected in the aggregation of statistical information. The upstream data totaling and transferring apparatus 66 periodically refers to the contents of the temporary storage table 63 and totalizes statistical information for each transmitting station ID 74. Further, a data packet of statistical information is generated from the result of the aggregation, and the data packet is periodically sent to the transfer destination determining device 68.

The destination determining device 68 determines the next destination on the side closer to the transmitting station 51 by using the value of the transmitting station ID 74 included in the data packet as a clue.
Then, the data packet of the statistical information is transmitted to the determined transfer destination. As a method of determining the transfer destination in the transfer destination determining device 68, a method similar to the case of IP packet transfer widely used in the current Internet may be used. That is, as described in (RFC-791), the determination may be made based on the destination IP address using the routing table.

On the other hand, the data packet of the downward program data transmitted from the transmitting station 51 is also transmitted to the relay node 5 shown in FIG.
In 2, the data is input to the input device 61 and sent to the data classification device 62. The data classification device 62 identifies the type of the data packet, and sends the data packet of the program data in the downstream direction to the downstream data copy and transfer device 64.

The downlink data copy and transfer apparatus 64 refers to the temporary storage table 63 using the transmission station ID 74 included in the data packet as a key, and desires to receive program data from the transmission station 51 corresponding to the transmission station ID 74. The reporter ID 71 of the receiving terminal 53 and the other relay node 52 that are present are detected. Then, the downlink data duplication / transfer device 64 transmits each reporter ID who wants to receive the program data.
The data packet of the program data is copied for 71, and the data packet is sent to the transfer destination determining device 68.

In the transfer destination determining device 68, the reporter ID 71
Based on this, the receiving terminal 53 or the subordinate relay node 52 near it is determined as the next transfer destination, and the data packet is transferred to the transfer destination via the output device 69. As described in (RFC-791), the method of determining the transfer destination in the transfer destination determining device 68 in this case is also as follows.
The determination may be made based on the destination IP address using the routing table.

As described above, even when the tree-shaped communication path used in the broadcast communication is not determined in advance, the communication path is changed when the relay node 52 shown in FIG. 5 is used. Program data and statistical information can be automatically generated and delivered. When the receiving terminal 53 receiving the program data stops receiving the program data, the periodic report of the statistical information is interrupted. The corresponding information is deleted, and as a result, the transfer of the downstream program data is also stopped. That is, the information of the communication path formed on the relay node 52 automatically disappears when it becomes unnecessary.

[0102]

As described above, according to the present invention, the information on the reception status reported from the receiving terminal on the uplink is totaled for each relay node, so that the amount of information to be reported each time the signal passes through the relay node is reduced. Can be smaller. For this reason, for example, even when a large-capacity stream data such as a video program is broadcasted simultaneously using an extremely large-scale communication network having more than one million receiving terminals, It is possible to transmit the summary result to the transmitting station in a live condition without causing any interference.

Since the transmitting station and the communication network provider can know the statistical information regarding the audience rating and the quality deterioration in a live condition, use the information as a material for increasing the degree of satisfaction of the program sender and the receiver. Can be. Further, according to the present invention, in each relay node, statistical information on all receiving terminals under its own can be known in a live state, so that transmission quality is automatically adjusted so as to optimize operation of a communication network. It is possible to obtain information for making adjustments and specifying the cause of a failure or failure occurring in a communication network.

The present invention can also be applied to a case where there are a large number of transmitting stations for broadcasting different programs at the same time and each receiving terminal freely selects a transmitting station. Based on the contents of the statistical information data to be reported, the transmitting station used is identified, and a necessary tree-like communication path can be automatically generated. Furthermore, a part of the tree-shaped communication path that is no longer used can be naturally deleted after a certain time has elapsed. As a result, it is possible to save labor for setting and canceling the delivery tree when performing the simultaneous broadcast communication, and it becomes easy to manage the communication network.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a relay node according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of input / output data of an uplink in a relay node according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication network according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication network according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a relay node according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Transmission station 11, 12, 13, 14 Relay node 15 Transmission path 21 Receiving terminal 31 Downlink input device 32 Delivery control device 33 Downlink output device 34 Uplink input device 35 Temporary storage table 36 Data compilation device 37 Uplink output device 38 Clock Circuit 39 Counting Rule 41 Reporter ID 42 Update Time 43 Report Contents 51 Transmitting Station 52 Relay Node 53 Receiving Terminal 61 Input Device 62 Data Classification Device 63 Temporary Storage Table 64 Downlink Data Duplication / Transfer Device 65 Clock Circuit 66 Uplink Data Aggregation Transfer Device 67 Counting rule 68 Forwarding destination determining device 69 Output device 71 Reporter ID 72 Update time 73 Report contents 74 Transmitting station ID D0-D5 Information S0-S6 Statistical information

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) H04N 17/00 H04L 11/18 11/00 340 F term (reference) 5C061 BB03 BB18 5C064 BA01 BB05 BB06 BB07 BC07 BC10 BC16 BC20 BD03 BD05 BD08 5K030 GA13 HC14 JA11 LD04 LD07 5K033 CB13 DA16 5K042 AA02 CA13 CA15 DA11 DA15 DA27 EA01 EA14 FA15 GA12 LA15

Claims (16)

[Claims] A plurality of relay nodes are connected to a specific transmitting station in a tree-like manner, and program data continuously transmitted from a transmitting station to a downlink in a direction toward a receiving terminal is transmitted to at least one of the plurality of relay nodes. A broadcast communication system for feeding back statistical information using a communication network capable of two-way communication for partially relaying and delivering to each of a plurality of receiving terminals, wherein each of the relay nodes is connected to the relay node. Information on the reception status of each receiving terminal that is periodically transmitted from the receiving terminal to the transmitting station in the direction toward the transmitting station, and the uplink is periodically transmitted from another relay node connected to the relay node. Information input means for acquiring at least one of the statistical information transmitted to the user as subordinate reception status data; and the subordinate reception status data obtained by the information input means is predetermined. Statistical processing means for summarizing according to the rules described above, generating statistical information on the reception status of all receiving terminals connected directly to the relay node or via another relay node, and statistical information generated by the statistical processing means Statistical information output means for periodically transmitting to another relay node connected to the transmitting station side of the relay node or to the transmitting station, and providing statistical information as feedback. Information communication system. 2. The broadcast system for feeding back statistical information according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said plurality of relay nodes or said transmitting station receives downlink information according to statistical information generated by each relay node. A broadcast communication system for feeding back statistical information, comprising a data quality adjusting means for automatically adjusting the quality of program data distributed on a line. 3. The broadcast system for feeding back statistical information according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said plurality of relay nodes is provided with said relay node based on statistical information generated by said relay node. A broadcast communication system for feeding back statistical information, characterized in that a fault detecting means for determining whether or not a fault has occurred in a communication path between the communication terminal and the receiving terminal is provided. 4. The broadcast system according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of sets of information from a plurality of receiving terminals or relay nodes connected to each of the plurality of relay nodes are temporarily stored in each of the plurality of relay nodes. A broadcast communication system for feeding back statistical information, wherein a temporary storage table for storing the information is provided. 5. A plurality of relay nodes are connected to a specific transmitting station in a tree shape, and program data continuously transmitted from the transmitting station to a downlink in a direction toward a receiving terminal is transmitted to at least one of the plurality of relay nodes. A broadcast communication method for feeding back statistical information using a communication network that partially relays and delivers to each of a plurality of receiving terminals, wherein at each of the relay nodes, each of the receiving terminals connected to the relay node Of reception status of each receiving terminal periodically transmitted to the uplink in the direction from the terminal to the transmitting station, and statistics periodically transmitted to the uplink from another relay node connected to the relay node At least one of the information is periodically acquired as subordinate reception status data, and the periodically acquired subordinate reception status data is aggregated according to a predetermined rule. Generating statistical information on the reception status of all receiving terminals connected to the relay node directly or via another relay node, and generating the generated statistical information with another relay station connected to the transmitting station side of the relay node. A broadcast communication method for feeding back statistical information, wherein the broadcast information is periodically transmitted to a relay node or the transmitting station. 6. The broadcast method for feeding back statistical information according to claim 5, wherein at least one of said plurality of relay nodes or said transmitting station is connected to a downlink according to the statistical information generated by each relay node. A broadcast method for feeding back statistical information, characterized by automatically adjusting the quality of program data to be distributed by the method. 7. The broadcast method for feeding back statistical information according to claim 5, wherein at least one of said plurality of relay nodes communicates with said relay node based on statistical information generated by said relay node. A broadcast communication method for feeding back statistical information, characterized by identifying whether a failure has occurred in a communication path with a terminal. 8. A broadcast method for feeding back statistical information according to claim 5, wherein each relay node calculates a total sum and a maximum of a plurality of reception status data obtained through an uplink communication path. A broadcast communication method for feeding back statistical information, wherein the statistical information is generated by performing at least one process of detecting a value. 9. A plurality of transmitting stations having a function of continuously transmitting program data by broadcast, and a function of selecting one of the plurality of transmitting stations to receive program data. Simultaneous feedback of statistical information including a plurality of receiving terminals and a communication network capable of two-way communication connecting the transmitting station and the receiving terminals in a mesh via a plurality of relay nodes having a function of relaying program data The broadcast communication system, wherein each relay node has a reception status of each reception terminal periodically transmitted from each reception terminal connected to the relay node to an uplink line directed to a desired transmission station. Information input means for acquiring at least one of information and statistical information periodically transmitted in the uplink direction from another relay node connected to the relay node as reception status data under the information input means; Under the reception status data obtained by the means,
A classifying means for classifying each data relating to the same transmitting station, and all the receiving terminals connected to the relay node directly or through another relay node by totalizing the data classified by the classifying means according to a predetermined rule Statistical processing means for generating statistical information on the reception status of, the statistical information generated by the statistical processing means, grasps the upstream destination for each classified transmission station, other relay nodes of the destination or Statistical information destination determining means for determining the transmitting station; statistical information output means for periodically transmitting the statistical information generated by the statistical processing means to the destination determined by the statistical information destination determining means; And a program data copy / delivery means for copying the program data transmitted from the transmitting station and transferring the program data to a destination receiving terminal or another relay node. A broadcast communication system that feeds back statistical information characterized by the following. 10. The broadcast system for feeding back statistical information according to claim 9, wherein at least one of said plurality of relay nodes or said transmitting station receives a downlink according to the statistical information generated by each relay node. A broadcast communication system for feeding back statistical information, comprising a data quality adjusting means for automatically adjusting the quality of program data distributed through a line in a direction. 11. The broadcast system for feeding back statistical information according to claim 9, wherein at least one of said plurality of relay nodes is provided with said relay node based on statistical information generated by said relay node. A broadcast communication system for feeding back statistical information, characterized in that a fault detecting means for determining whether or not a fault has occurred in a communication path between the communication terminal and the receiving terminal is provided. 12. The broadcast system according to claim 9, wherein a plurality of sets of information from a plurality of connected receiving terminals or relay nodes are temporarily stored in each of the plurality of relay nodes. A broadcast communication system for feeding back statistical information, wherein a temporary storage table for storing the information is provided. 13. A plurality of transmitting stations having a function of continuously transmitting program data by broadcast, and a function of selecting one of the plurality of transmitting stations to receive program data. Simultaneous feedback of statistical information including a plurality of receiving terminals and a communication network capable of two-way communication connecting the transmitting station and the receiving terminals in a mesh via a plurality of relay nodes having a function of relaying program data A broadcast communication method, wherein at each of the relay nodes, the reception status of each of the receiving terminals periodically transmitted from each of the receiving terminals connected to the relay node to an upstream line toward a desired transmitting station is determined. Information, and at least one of the statistical information periodically transmitted in the upstream direction from another relay node connected to the relay node is obtained as subordinate reception status data, and the obtained subordinate reception status data is obtained. Data according to the same transmitting station, and categorizes the reception status data under the classified subordinates according to a predetermined rule, and receives all reception data connected directly to the relay node or via another relay node. Generating statistical information on the reception status of the terminal, for the generated statistical information, determine the upstream destination for each classified transmitting station and determine another relay node or the transmitting station of the destination. Transmitting the generated statistical information periodically to the determined destination, duplicating the program data transmitted from the transmitting station, and transferring the duplicated program data to a destination receiving terminal or another relay node. A broadcast method in which characteristic statistical information is fed back. 14. The broadcast method for feeding back statistical information according to claim 13, wherein at least one of said plurality of relay nodes or said transmitting station performs downlink transmission according to statistical information generated by each relay node. A broadcast communication method for feeding back statistical information, characterized by automatically adjusting the quality of program data distributed over a line. 15. The broadcast method according to claim 13, wherein at least one of the plurality of relay nodes communicates with the relay node based on the statistical information generated by the relay node. A broadcast communication method for feeding back statistical information, characterized by identifying whether a failure has occurred in a communication path with a terminal. 16. The method according to claim 13, wherein each relay node calculates a sum of a plurality of reception status data obtained through an uplink communication path. And performing a process of detecting at least one of a maximum value and the statistical information to generate the statistical information.