JP2002077826A - Contents access system and its method and medium recording contents access program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a contents access system and its method which can be expanded to large scale contents storage and realize high speed access. SOLUTION: The storage unit comprises n(n>=2), e.g. 4, logic drives (A, B, C and D) comprising six parallel drives, i.e., drives V1-V5 and a drive Vp. The logical drive A is designated for static use and the logical drives B, C and D are designated for dynamic use by a controller. The logical drive can mount media in unit of (six DVD-RAMs of five DVD-RAMs for data and one DVD-RAM for parity). According to the arrangement of the logical drive, medium units MA and MB are constituted of five media storing the data of content and one medium recording parity. Head videos of a plurality of contents are stored in the medium unit MA and the videos of respective contents following to the head video are recorded in the medium unit MB.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a request-type multimedia (video / audio / still image / text) information providing system and an archive system center.
The present invention relates to a content access system and method for storing contents such as digital video, audio, still images, and text in a storage device and reading the contents.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional data storage device, an optical MSS (hereinafter referred to as MO) using a magneto-optical disk (hereinafter referred to as MO) is used.
ss Storage System (large-scale storage device). However, in the optical MSS, as a method for reproducing and displaying long-time information such as video without interruption, all data of the connection portion is stored in advance in a magnetic DK (disk), and the data of the connection portion is exchanged when MO is exchanged. Is read from the magnetic DK. in this way,
2. Description of the Related Art Hierarchical configurations of an optical MSS and a magnetic DK have been used to reproduce and display video without interruption.

[0003]

When the above-described magnetic DK is used as the storage device of the request-type multimedia information providing system, access is quick and long-time information such as video can be reproduced and displayed without interruption. However, the conventional system using the magnetic DK described above has a problem in that it is necessary to increase the number of drive-type DK devices in order to increase the storage scale, resulting in poor economic efficiency.

When a medium storage device such as an MSS is used, a large amount of content can be stored by adding a medium. However, a medium exchange time (10 seconds or more) is required as a hardware bottleneck. However, there is a drawback that a waiting time is generated even if access is made. Further, the configuration combining the magnetic DK and the MSS requires a magnetic DK for storing the data of the connecting portion in order to solve the above-mentioned hardware bottleneck, and when the amount of data in the connecting portion increases, the fixed number of the magnetic DKs is increased. There is a problem that increases. In addition, in the configuration in which the magnetic DK and the MSS are combined, if the content is stored over a plurality of media, the number of data stored at the connection portion differs for each content, and the management of the data at the connection portion becomes complicated. There is also a problem.

The present invention has been made under such a background, and is scalable for large-scale content storage.
An object of the present invention is to provide a content access system and a method thereof that enable high-speed access.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a leading video storage means for storing a leading video of a leading portion of a plurality of contents in a specific medium unit, and a succeeding video of a succeeding portion of the content are stored in each content. A subsequent video storage unit that stores the media in a corresponding media unit, and a unit mounting unit that removes the media from the storage for each media unit;
Static drive using means for mounting the specific media unit on a static use drive, and dynamic drive using means for mounting a media unit storing the requested content on a dynamic use drive when a user requests content. A unit reading means for reading content data from the mounted medium unit; and a video combining means for combining and reproducing the leading video and the subsequent video on a time axis.

The present invention relates to a storage device comprising a storage for storing a medium unit having a RAID configuration, and n (n ≧ 2) logical drives capable of mounting media from the storage on a unit basis. This drive is divided into a static use drive that fixedly mounts a specific media unit by selecting the use of a logical drive, and a dynamic use drive that mounts the media unit containing the requested content at the time of request, The first video of each content is placed in a specific media unit, the subsequent video is placed in the media unit to be mounted on the dynamic use drive, and when the content is accessed, the first video is found as a cue from the specific media unit. Read out,
At the same time, the media unit of the subsequent video is mounted in the dynamic use drive, and the playback time length of the first video is longer than the mounting time of the media unit storing the subsequent video.

The present invention is characterized in that the media unit of the subsequent video is mounted while the first video of the specific media unit is being reproduced, and the subsequent video is connected and reproduced after the first video. . The present invention relates to a method for producing a DV
It is characterized by using a rewritable magneto-optical medium such as a D-RAM, DVD-RW, or MO.

According to the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium on which a content access program for accessing content is recorded, the drive comprising n logical drives (n ≧ 2) mountable in unit units. The process of dividing the media unit containing the requested content into the dynamic use drive that mounts the requested content, and the process of dividing the media unit containing the requested content into a fixed use media, and the specific media on which the first video of each content is placed Mounting the unit from the hangar storing the RAID-structured media unit to the static use drive; and, when the content is accessed, reading the first video of the selected content and reading the subsequent video of the selected content. Media units are mapped from the hangar to a dynamic use drive. A process of cement, on the time axis, characterized in that to perform the process of playing by coupling the succeeding image and the top image to the computer.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a content (program) access system (archive server) according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, the storage device 3 is composed of at least a storage 3A and a drive 3B. A plurality of storage media (hereinafter, media) are stored in units in the storage 3A. The unit of this medium includes a medium unit MA (a specific medium unit) which is a unit of a medium on which data of a first video of a plurality of contents (a program as video information) is recorded, and a content of each content following the first video. Medium unit MB (medium unit) on which the data of the subsequent video is recorded
There are two types.

As will be described in detail later, the drive 3B has a configuration in which the medium can be mounted in units of a plurality of units. Selected and used separately. The mount control unit 2 mounts the medium from the storage 3A in units of units to the drive 3B according to a command from the controller 1.

In the medium unit MA, for example, the first picture of the content for 25 seconds is recorded, and in the medium unit MB, the last data (end part) of the last picture of the first picture and the succeeding picture from the next data. Is recorded. The first videos of all the contents stored in the storage device 3 are recorded in the medium unit MA.

The read / write unit 4 reads data from a medium mounted on the drive 3B or writes new data under the control of the controller 1. The read / write unit 4 writes the content newly stored in the storage device 3 to each medium of the medium unit MA and the medium unit MB as data of a leading video and a subsequent video, respectively.

The video combining unit 5 combines the first data of the succeeding video after the last data of the first video in accordance with the transfer timing. This archive server is Internet, ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Net
work) and an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode).

Next, the configuration of the storage device will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration example of the storage device 3 in FIG. Referring to FIG. 2, for example, RAIL (Redunant Arra) developed by NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
y of Inexpensive Libraries) will be described with reference to FIG.

[0016] As shown in FIG.
The logic drive is composed of n (n ≧ 2), for example, four logic drives (A, B, C, D) composed of six parallel drives of 1 to drive V5 and drive Vp. Here, the logical drive A is designated by the controller 1 as a static use drive, and the logical drives B, C and D are designated as dynamic use drives. The configuration of the logical drive and the number of logical drives in the drive unit 3B are adjusted as needed based on the number and capacity of the contents stored in the storage device 3.

In this logical drive, media can be mounted in units (5 media for storing data + 1 media for storing parity, a total of 6 DVD-RAMs).
According to the configuration of this logical drive, the media unit MA
The medium unit MB includes five media on which content data is stored and one medium on which parity is recorded. Here, each logical drive (A, B, C,
In D), a medium on which content data is recorded is mounted on each of the drives V1 to V5, and a medium on which parity data is recorded is mounted on the drive Vp.

Each of the mounted medium units can be read and written by the read / write unit 4 in a RAID configuration. Hangar (slot) 3A
In this configuration, a medium can be stored, for example, 100 units or more, and under the control of the mount control unit 2, a required medium unit can be taken out and mounted on a predetermined logical drive of the drive 3B.

A method of using the above-described RAIL system requiring medium exchange as the storage device 3 and enabling high-speed access to contents from each medium will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing the operation of reading content. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation example of content reading. In the following description, it is assumed that the controller 1 controls and operates each unit according to a program stored in the storage unit of the controller 1.

When the archive server is started and the medium transmission service in the content access system is started (step S1), the mount control unit 2 sends the medium unit MA (Digi) storing the first video from the storage 3A.
tal Video Disc-Random Access Memory: DVD-RA
(Group M) is taken out and mounted in advance on a drive A for static use (step S2). Here, usually, at the start of the content transmission service, the medium unit MA is mounted on the static use drive A. However, during the medium transmission service, during the content transmission service, the addition and the addition of the content in the content access system are performed. With the deletion, the changed media unit MA is sequentially mounted on the static use drive A. In other words, the media unit MA is provided to the static use drive A not only when the transmission service of the content access system is started but also when the data content is changed by adding or deleting the content during the transmission service of the content access system. Mounted.

At this time, the use of each of the four logical drives of the drive section 3B is divided into a static use drive A and dynamic use drives B, C and D. Further, as described above, the leading video (early video) for 25 seconds of all contents is recorded in the medium unit MA. Then, it is assumed that the user connects a line to the archive server (step S3) and requests reading of required content (at the time of use access, step S4).

As a result, the read / write unit 4
The first video of the content requested to be read by the user is read from the medium unit MA and transmitted to the user terminal via the video combining unit 5 (step S5). Then, the first video is read out from the fixed unit, and the mount control unit 2 transmits the first video to the medium unit MB (DV).
The D-RAM group) is taken out from the storage 3A and mounted on the dynamically used drive B (and C, D) (step S6).

Here, the number of dynamically used drives to be used is variable depending on the data amount of the succeeding image. As described above, the playback time of the top video is set to the first 25 seconds in this example. However, in order to continuously transmit the content to the user (client), the playback time of the drive 3A from the storage 3A is changed. To use drive, medium unit MB
Need to take more time to mount.

Next, the read / write unit 4 mounts the data on the dynamically used drive B (and C, D) when the data of the first video of the medium unit MA mounted on the statically used drive A ends. Media unit M
The data of the subsequent video of B is read. As a result, the video of the content is transmitted to the client without any waiting time, and during the reproduction of the first video, the medium unit MB on which the subsequent video to be reproduced next is recorded is dynamically used in the drive B (and C, C). D), the subsequent video can be set in a reproducible state before the reproduction of the first video is completed.

The video combining unit 5 connects (couples) the leading end of the subsequent video to the end of the leading video on the time axis and reproduces the video, and transmits the reproduced video to the user terminal. (Step S7). Therefore, by the above-described processing, the client terminal 1 can view the requested content as the combined video reproduced without interruption with the leading video and the subsequent video (step S).
8).

As described above, content (video)
In the archive system that stores the data, the storage device (R
Each logical drive of the drive section 3B of the AIL 3 is used for static use (for fixed use) and for dynamic use separately for purposes of use. Then, in the static use drive A, the first video (early video) of each content is stored in the RAI.
A DVD-R in which a DVD-RAM group stored in the D configuration is mounted as a unit and a subsequent video of each content is stored.
AM group is at the time of transmission request from the user (at the time of use access)
And the remaining logical drive, Dynamic Use Drive B
(C, D).

In this way, when a user requests content, at the start of the service, the first video, which is a quick video, is read out from the medium unit MA (DVD-RAM group) mounted on the static drive A and played back. During the playback of the video, the media unit MB of the subsequent video
(DVD-RAM group) can be taken out of the slot (hangar 3A), set to dynamic drive B (C, D), and connected to the end of the quick-start video for playback. It is possible to avoid a hardware bottleneck until the medium is taken out and the video is reproduced.

The content access system of the present invention can increase the scale of content storage in the storage device 3 by increasing the number of media units stored in the storage (slot) 3A. A high-speed access archiving system that is not affected by the waiting time can be realized. In the use of RAIL, by expanding the number of RAIL systems, it is possible to increase the number of content management items to be efficiently accumulated.

Further, a program for realizing the above-described processing in the archive server including the steps shown in FIG. 4 is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on this recording medium is read into a computer system. Then, the graphic display processing may be performed by executing the processing. Here, the “computer system” includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices. The “computer-readable recording medium” is a general medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a CD-ROM, a DVD, or a storage device such as a hard disk built in a computer system. Say.

Further, a "computer-readable recording medium" refers to a program which is dynamically transmitted for a short time, such as a communication line for transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. In this case, a program that holds a program for a certain period of time, such as a volatile memory in a computer system serving as a server or a client in that case, is also included. Further, the above-mentioned program may be for realizing a part of the above-mentioned functions, or may be for realizing the above-mentioned functions in combination with a program already recorded in a computer system.

As mentioned above, one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and a design change and the like within a range not departing from the gist of the present invention. The present invention is also included in the present invention. In the above-described archive server of the present invention, the amount of content to be stored is large, and the medium unit M mounted on a drive for static use
If the capacity of A is not sufficient, the head image of the content frequently requested to be used from the client is put in the medium unit MA, and the subsequent image is stored in the medium unit MB. Conversely, the request frequency is not very high. Regarding the content, a form in which all data is used in the medium unit MB is also possible. In this case, in response to a change in the request frequency of the client, the content in which the head video is put in the medium unit MA is sequentially upgraded.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the archiving system for storing contents, the drive of the storage device is divided into a static use drive and a dynamic use drive. Then, a specific media unit storing the first video of each content in a RAID configuration is mounted, and the media unit storing the subsequent video of each content is mounted in the dynamic use drive at the time of content request. At the time of content request, the first video is read from the specific media unit mounted on the static drive and played, and during the playback of the first video, the media unit of the subsequent video is taken out of the hangar and mounted on the dynamic drive. Can be connected to the end of the first video and played back. It is possible to avoid the hardware neck until the reproduction of the video removed the body.

Further, according to the present invention, by increasing the number of media units stored in the hangar, it is possible to increase the storage scale of the contents in the storage device, and further, the influence of the waiting time at the time of replacing the media unit is obtained. An archive system with no high-speed access can be realized. In the use of RAIL, by expanding the number of RAIL systems,
It is possible to increase the number of content managements to be efficiently accumulated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a content access system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration example of a storage device 3 in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing an operation of reading content in the content access system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the content access system of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Controller 2 Mount control part 3 Storage device 3A Hangar 3B Drive part 4 Read / write part 5 Video coupling part A Static use drive B, C, D Dynamic use drive V1, V2, V3, V4, V5, Vp drive

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/765 H04N 5/91 L (72) Inventor Shuichi Sumita 2-3-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo No. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation F-term (reference) 5B065 BA04 CA30 CA40 CC08 CE26 CH18 ZA04 ZA16 5C052 AA03 AA04 AB04 DD04 DD10 5C053 FA14 FA23 FA25 GB14 GB15 KA24

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A leading video storage means for storing a leading video of a leading part of a plurality of contents in a specific media unit, and a trailing video for storing a trailing video of a trailing part of the contents in a media unit corresponding to each content. A video storage unit, a unit mounting unit for taking out the medium from the storage for each medium unit, a static drive using unit for mounting the specific medium unit in a static use drive, and a request when a user requests content. Dynamic drive using means for mounting the media unit storing the stored contents in a dynamic use drive; unit reading means for reading content data from the specific media unit and media unit mounted; and reading on the time axis. A video to be reproduced by combining the first video and the subsequent video A content access system comprising: an image combining unit. 2. A storage apparatus comprising: a storage for storing a media unit having a RAID configuration; and n (n ≧ 2) logical drives capable of mounting a medium from the storage on a unit basis. Is divided into a static use drive that permanently mounts a specific media unit by selecting the use of a logical drive, and a dynamic use drive that mounts a media unit containing the requested content at the time of the request. Place the first video of each content on the media unit, place the subsequent video on the media unit to be mounted on the dynamic use drive,
When the content is accessed, the first video is read as a cue from a specific media unit, and at the same time, the media unit of the subsequent video is mounted on the dynamic use drive, and the playback time length of the first video is A content access method, wherein the mounting time is longer than a mounting time of a media unit in which a subsequent video is stored. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein a media unit of a succeeding video is mounted while the head video of the specific media unit is being played, and the subsequent video is connected and played back after the head video. 2. The content access method described in 2. 4. A medium comprising a DVD-RAM, a DVD-R,
4. The content access method according to claim 2, wherein a rewritable magneto-optical medium such as W or MO is used. 5. A computer-readable recording medium on which a content access program for accessing content using the content access system according to claim 1 is recorded, wherein n logical drives can be mounted in unit units. (N
≧ 2) is divided into a static drive in which a specific media unit is fixedly mounted, and a dynamic drive in which a media unit containing the requested content is mounted upon request. A process of mounting a specific media unit in which a head video is arranged from a storage for storing a media unit having a RAID configuration in the static use drive; and when the content is accessed, reading the head video of the selected content and A process of mounting a media unit of a subsequent video of the selected content from the hangar to a dynamic use drive, and a process of combining and reproducing the leading video and the subsequent video on a time axis. A recording medium on which is recorded a content access program to be executed.