JP2004030423A - Content distribution controller and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the need for storing the same contents in each storage directory in a system for distributing contents to a user from a plurality of distribution servers having their own contents storage directory. <P>SOLUTION: The user transmits a contents file and additional information to a server 30 in uploading contents. The server side determines a distribution server information identification ID that corresponds to a storage destination directory 60 according to a prescribed condition and stores the contents in the storage destination. Its contents name and the additional information are stored in a contents information DB 34. In the contents information DB 34, a contents identification ID is attached, a set of a contents identification ID obtained from a distribution server information DB 36 and the distribution server identification ID is stored in a contents storage destination DB 37. When a contents distribution request is received, prescribed records are acquired from the contents storage destination DB 37 and the distribution server information DB 36 to prepare control information of the distributions server, transmitting the control information to the user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a content distribution control device that distributes contents such as moving images and audio over a network, and a program used in the device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a conventional content distribution system.
This conventional system includes a plurality of distribution servers and a plurality of content storage means corresponding to the respective distribution servers to store the content, and when a user requests a content to be viewed, a method such as round robin is used. To select an appropriate distribution server and transmit the distribution server URL to the user.
[0003]
In FIG. 3, a user terminal 20, a WWW server (hereinafter simply referred to as a server) 30 as a content distribution control device, and a distribution server 50 for distributing content to a user are provided on a network 10 such as the Internet or an intranet including a mobile phone network. It is connected. Here, it is assumed that three distribution servers (α, β, γ) 50 are provided. In addition, a public content storage directory (hereinafter referred to as a storage directory) 60 for storing content is connected to each distribution server 50.
[0004]
The user terminal 20 includes a communication processing device 21, a browser 22 for browsing the Internet, and a moving image player 23 for reproducing moving images. In the following description, a user refers to the user terminal 20 or a user who owns the user terminal 20.
The server 30 manages a communication processing device 31, a content receiving unit 32, a content distribution request receiving unit 33, a content information DB (database) 34 for managing content and its additional information (identification ID, storage name, and the like), and information about users. The user information DB 35 is provided.
[0005]
Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.
First, when the user wants to show the contents such as a moving image and a sound created by himself or the contents on the network to others, the contents are registered together with the additional information. For this purpose, the server 22 is accessed by the browser 22 to request registration. In the server 30, the content receiving unit 32 acquires additional information of the content from the user, creates content information based on the additional information, and registers the content information in the content information DB. Further, the server 30 determines a distribution destination URL of the distribution server 50 that distributes the content, and registers the URL in the content information DB 34. The user transmits the content using the URL of the distribution server, and the distribution server 50 stores the received content in each of the three storage directories 60.
[0006]
Next, when the user wants to view the registered content, the user makes a distribution request to the content distribution request receiving unit 33 of the server 30, and in response to this, the server 30 presents a list of registered content information on a browser, The user searches and selects the content to be viewed. When the content to be viewed is selected, the server 30 sends a distribution destination URL (<distribution server URL> / <public path name> / content file name) indicating the location of the content, and a mime type (MimeType) which is information indicating the type of the content. To the user. In this case, one distribution server URL is determined by the server 30 based on the load distribution information of the three distribution servers 50. The user receiving these pieces of information selects and starts the moving image player 23 based on the mime type, and the moving image player 23 connects to the distribution server 50 of the distribution destination URL. The distribution server 50 searches the storage directory 60 with reference to the correspondence table, extracts the target content, and transmits the target content to the user.
[0007]
As described above, in the conventional content distribution system, the content is stored in a plurality of storage directories 60, and the server 30 uses the content information DB 34 and the user information DB 35 to store the content and its additional information (identification ID, storage name, etc.) and user information. When the content distribution request receiving unit 33 receives a viewing request of the content identified based on the identification ID of the content from the user, the content distribution request receiving unit 33 selects one of the distribution servers 50 and includes the URL of the distribution server 50. The destination URL was transmitted to the user.
[0008]
Usually, the distribution server 50 stores information (server URL) for specifying its own location on the network, information for specifying the location of the content in the distribution server (storage directory 60), and stores the location on the network. Information (public path) to be specified is stored as a correspondence table. Upon receiving a request for <server URL> / <public path name> / <content file name> from the user, distribution server 50 corresponds to <content file name> in storage directory 60 corresponding to <public path name>. The content file to be scanned is scanned, and if it exists, the content is transmitted to the user. Also, a plurality of distribution servers are provided, and an appropriate distribution server URL is sequentially returned to the user in an appropriate manner in response to a content viewing request, thereby distributing the distribution load.
[0009]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the above-described content distribution system in which load distribution is performed using a plurality of distribution servers, there is a problem that the same content must be stored in the storage directories of all the distribution servers.
[0010]
The present invention has been made to solve the above problem, and has as its object to realize a content distribution system in which it is not necessary to store the same content in the storage directories of all distribution servers.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a content distribution control device according to the present invention includes a plurality of content storage units for storing content, and a predetermined determination condition from the plurality of content storage units in response to a content upload request from a user. Storage destination determining means for determining one or a plurality of storage destinations based on the content, reception storage processing means for receiving content from a user and storing the content in the content storage means of the determined storage destination, and the plurality of content storage means Holding means for holding a set of identification information of a distribution device corresponding to the determined storage destination and a set of control information for controlling the distribution device and the distribution device, among a plurality of distribution devices for extracting content from the plurality of distribution devices and distributing the content to a user; Holding means for holding a set of the content ID and the ID of the distribution device corresponding to the storage destination; In response to a content distribution request based on the content ID, a storage location is selected based on the content ID and the information held in the holding unit, a corresponding distribution device is selected, and control information of the distribution device is created. And transmitting means for transmitting to the user.
[0012]
Further, the program according to the present invention includes a storage destination determining process for determining one or a plurality of storage destinations based on predetermined determination conditions from a plurality of content storage units in response to a content upload request from a user; Receiving and storing the content in the determined content storage unit, and a distribution device corresponding to the determined storage destination among a plurality of distribution devices for extracting content from the plurality of content storage units and distributing the content to a user A holding process for holding a set of identification ID, content storage destination, and control information for controlling the distribution device; a holding process for holding a set of content ID, and a distribution device ID corresponding to the storage destination; In response to a content distribution request based on the content ID, the content ID and the stored information are used. Select a destination Te, while selecting a corresponding distribution device, a program for executing a transmission process of transmitting to the user to create control information of the distribution apparatus to the computer.
[0013]
[Action]
In the present invention, when there is a content upload request from a user, one or more storage destinations are determined from a plurality of content storage units based on predetermined determination conditions, and then the content is received from the user and the content is determined. A set of identification information of a distribution device corresponding to the determined storage destination among the plurality of distribution devices, control information for controlling the content storage destination and the distribution device, and a content identification ID. And a set of identification IDs of the distribution apparatuses corresponding to the storage destinations. Then, when there is a content distribution request from the user based on the content ID, a storage destination is selected based on the content ID and the stored information, a corresponding distribution device is selected, and control of the distribution device is performed. Create information and send it to the user. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to store the same content in all storage directories.
[0014]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the present embodiment, the server 30 is provided with a content upload function, and when a content upload request is received, the server 30 determines the storage destination of the content based on the load information of the distribution server 50, and Information (storage file name) and storage destination information of the content are stored. Then, when a user receives a content viewing request by designating a content identification ID, one distribution URL of the content is determined based on the content information and the storage destination information of the content, and transmitted to the client. is there.
[0015]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a content distribution system using a content distribution device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and portions corresponding to FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
1, the server 30 includes a distribution server DB 36, a content storage destination DB 37, and a storage destination determination unit 38. Each distribution server 50 is provided with a distribution server monitoring agent (referred to as a monitoring agent) 51 and an access log 52. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an example of the contents of each of the DBs 34 to 37 in FIG.
[0016]
The monitoring agent 51 monitors the resources (the number of simultaneous connections, the CPU, the storage capacity, the access log 52, etc.) of the distribution server 60 on the distribution server, and returns necessary information when there is an inquiry from outside. is there. The contents of the access log 52 are as shown in the figure.
[0017]
Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.
The procedure of the present embodiment includes a content upload procedure and a distribution request processing procedure.
First, a procedure for uploading content will be described.
(1) The user transmits the content file and the additional information of the content to the content receiving unit 32 of the server 30.
(2) The server 30 receives the content file and the additional information of the content.
(3) The server 30 determines the name of the content based on the unique content name on the server, and stores it in the content information DB 34 together with the additional information of the content. At this time, a unique content identification ID is assigned to the content information DB 34.
[0018]
(4) The storage destination determination unit 38 of the server 30 determines one or more of the storage directory 60 of the storage destination of the content and the distribution server information identification ID of the distribution server 60 corresponding to the storage destination by one or a combination of the following. decide.
(A) Based on the access log 52 information of each distribution server 50, one or more are determined in ascending order of the number of accesses.
(B) Based on the access log 52 information of each distribution server 50, one or more are determined in ascending order of the total distribution capacity in a certain period.
(C) Based on the access log 52 information of each distribution server 50, one or more are determined in ascending order of distribution capacity per unit time.
(D) Based on the access log 52 information of each distribution server 50, one or more are determined in ascending order of the total distribution capacity in a specific period.
[0019]
(E) Inquire the monitoring agent 51, and determine one or more according to the remaining storage capacity of the storage area of the storage directory 60 of the distribution server 50.
(F) Inquire the monitoring agent 51, and determine one or more in order from the one with the smallest number of simultaneous connections on the distribution server.
(G) One or more are randomly determined.
(H) One or more are determined according to the ratio described in the distribution server information DB 36 in advance.
(I) In (a) to (h), the number of identification IDs of the distribution server 50 at the storage destination is determined according to the type of the user. For example, a paying user is allowed to save on multiple distribution servers. As a result, the quality of distribution is improved.
[0020]
(5) The content is stored in the storage directory 60 of the distribution server 50 identified by one or more distribution server identification IDs determined in (4), and the content storage information DB 37 stores (content identification ID, distribution server identification). ID) are stored as many as the number of distribution server identification IDs.
[0021]
Next, a procedure of a content distribution request processing will be described.
(1) The user transmits the identification ID of the content to be viewed to the content distribution request receiving unit 33 of the server 30.
(2) The server 30 searches whether or not the corresponding content identification ID exists in the content information DB 34.
(3) If it exists in (2), the content storage information DB 37 is scanned and a record of the corresponding content identification ID is acquired. If not, return an error to the user.
[0022]
(4) If there is only one record of the content ID acquired in (3), the process proceeds to (5). When there are a plurality of records of the content ID, one is determined, for example, according to the following determination conditions.
(A) It is determined randomly.
(B) Determined by the ratio described in advance in the distribution server information DB 36.
(C) Determined according to a priority determined in advance.
[0023]
(5) The distribution server URL and the public path name are acquired from the distribution server information DB 36 based on the distribution server identification ID of the record determined in (4). Also, the content information DB 34 is searched by the content identification ID, and the content file name is obtained. Then, the following control information is returned to the user.
That is, <delivery server URL> / <public path name> / <content file name> and the mime type (MIME type) of the content are transmitted to the user. Since the mime type is a fixed value, the content distribution request receiving unit 33 of the server 30 may hold the mime type.
[0024]
Next, a program according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The program for the CPU in the server 30 to execute the processing based on the above-described operation of the WWW server 30 as the content distribution control device constitutes the program according to the present invention.
[0025]
As a recording medium for recording this program, a magneto-optical disk, an optical disk, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic recording medium, or the like can be used, and these are configured and used in a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a flexible disk, a memory card, and the like. May be.
[0026]
This recording medium stores the program for a certain period of time, such as a volatile memory such as an internal RAM of a computer system serving as a server or a client when the program is transmitted through a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. What is retained is also included.
[0027]
Further, the above program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. The transmission medium is a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line.
[0028]
Further, the program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, and what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.
[0029]
Therefore, by using the program and the recording medium in a system or an apparatus different from the system or the apparatus in FIG. 1 and executing the program stored in the recording medium by the computer of the system or the apparatus, The same functions and effects as those described above can be obtained, and the object of the present invention can be achieved.
[0030]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, in a content distribution system including a plurality of content storage directories and a plurality of distribution servers, it is not necessary to store the same content in all the storage directories, and efficient load distribution is performed. be able to. In addition, the quality of the content to be distributed can be improved, and the system can be operated efficiently.
Further, since the content is uploaded on the server side as the content distribution control device, the convenience is improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a content distribution system using a content distribution control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an example of the contents of each database of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a content distribution system using a conventional content distribution control device.
[Explanation of symbols]
10: Network, 20: User terminal, 30: WWW server, 31: Communication processing device, 32: Content receiving unit, 33: Content distribution request receiving unit, 34: Content information DB, 35: User information DB, 36: Distribution server Information DB, 37: content storage destination DB, 38: storage destination determination unit, 50: distribution server, 51: monitoring agent, 52: access log, 60: public content storage directory

Claims (5)

A plurality of content storage means for storing content,
Storage destination determining means for determining one or more storage destinations based on predetermined determination conditions from the plurality of content storage means in response to a content upload request from a user;
Receiving storage processing means for receiving content from the user and storing the content in the determined storage destination content storage means,
A set of an identification ID of a distribution device corresponding to the determined storage destination, a content storage destination, and control information for controlling the distribution device, among a plurality of distribution devices for extracting content from the plurality of content storage units and distributing the content to a user. Holding means for holding,
Holding means for holding a set of the content ID and the ID of the distribution device corresponding to the storage destination;
In response to a content distribution request from the user with the content ID, a storage location is selected based on the content ID and the information held in the holding unit, a corresponding distribution device is selected, and control information of the distribution device is selected. And a transmission means for generating the content and transmitting the generated content to the user. The content distribution device according to claim 1, wherein the control information is for activating the distribution control device, extracting the corresponding content from the content storage unit, and distributing the content to a user. 3. The content distribution control device according to claim 1, wherein the control information is information including <URL of distribution server> / <public path name> / <content file name> and mime type. The predetermined determination condition is:
(A) The distribution devices are determined in order from the one with the smallest number of accesses.
(B) The distribution capacity is determined in ascending order of the total distribution capacity of each distribution apparatus during a predetermined period.
(C) The distribution capacity of each distribution device per unit time is determined in ascending order.
(D) The total distribution capacity of each distribution device in a specific period is determined in ascending order.
(E) Determined according to the remaining storage capacity of each distribution device.
(F) The number of simultaneous connections to each distribution device is determined in ascending order.
(G) It is determined randomly.
(H) Determined by a pre-registered ratio.
(I) In (a) to (h), it is determined according to the type of the user.
4. The content distribution control device according to claim 1, wherein the content distribution control device is any one of the above, or a combination of any one of the above. Storage destination determination processing for determining one or more storage destinations based on predetermined determination conditions from a plurality of content storage units in response to a content upload request from a user;
A receiving and storing process of receiving content from the user and storing the content in the determined content storing unit;
A set of an identification ID of a distribution device corresponding to the determined storage destination, a content storage destination, and control information for controlling the distribution device, among a plurality of distribution devices for extracting content from the plurality of content storage units and distributing the content to a user. Holding processing to be held,
Holding processing for holding a set of a content identification ID and an identification ID of a distribution device corresponding to a storage destination;
In response to a content distribution request from the user with the content ID, a storage destination is selected based on the content ID and the stored information, a corresponding distribution device is selected, and control information of the distribution device is created. For causing a computer to execute a transmission process for transmitting to a user by using a computer.

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