JP2004146875A - Moving picture file distributor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a moving picture file distributor which can distribute both the latest moving picture file and the past moving picture file. <P>SOLUTION: An event identifier 6 identifies the event attribute of a moving picture file received from a file provider upon uploading it. If the moving picture file is identified that it has an event, the file name is changed for an upload request and stored in a memory means 5. If the moving picture file is identified that it has no event, the file name of the moving picture file is stored in the memory means for the upload request. A file list generator 7 generates a changed file list to provide it to clients. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a moving image file distribution device, and more particularly to a moving image file distribution device capable of achieving both distribution of the latest moving image file and distribution of a past moving image file.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a moving image file is downloaded and distributed by HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol), a general WWW file distribution device (hereinafter, referred to as a server) that is not specialized for moving image file distribution is generally used. is there.
[0003]
FIG. 7 shows a configuration of a conventional server. The server 1 includes a network I / F unit 2, an HTTP server unit 3, a file I / O unit 4, and a storage unit 5 such as a hard disk connected to a network such as a LAN or ADSL.
[0004]
When storing a file from the file provider to the server 1, that is, when uploading the file, the HTTP server unit 3 immediately uploads the uploaded file via the file I / O unit 4 according to the upload request received via the network I / F unit 2. The data is transferred to the storage means 5 and stored in a predetermined location (directory). In addition, the result of the success or failure of the upload is transmitted to the file provider as a response.
[0005]
The file name when storing the file is specified by the file provider. In the case of uploading a moving image file continuously for the purpose of always providing the latest information, such as the distribution of live moving images, only the latest file needs to exist on the server. In general, it is common to perform continuous overwrite upload using the same file name for convenience.
[0006]
At the time of file distribution to a recipient (hereinafter, referred to as a client), that is, when downloading a file, the client first selects a file to be downloaded from a file list prepared in advance on the server 1 side, and sends a request for the selected file to the server 1. Send to 1. The HTTP server unit 3 in the server 1 searches for the requested file from the directory and distributes the file to the client as a response. Error information such as when the requested file cannot be found is also transmitted as a response.
[0007]
In the case of live video distribution, the client only needs to be able to obtain the latest video file, so if a download request is made with the same file name, the client must always obtain the latest video file regardless of the file name. Can be.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional server, the file name of the moving image file stored in the storage unit is determined initiatively by the file provider, and the file name displayed in the list at the time of download is prepared in advance. It has become something.
[0009]
A distribution system using such a server has the advantage that uploading and downloading can be performed with the same file name, and the latest file can always be obtained without regard to the file name. However, such a system cannot cope with a request to save some moving image files uploaded in the past or a request to later confirm a moving image file having important information.
[0010]
It is possible to save a specific file in the server by changing the file name of the specific file as appropriate at the time of uploading and avoiding overwriting by the file uploaded later, but the list of saved files Are not updated and cannot be referenced from the download side, making it difficult to access those specific files.
[0011]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional technology and to provide a moving image file distribution device that can achieve both the distribution of the latest moving image file and the distribution of a past moving image file. is there.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention provides a moving image file distribution device that receives a moving image file by uploading, stores the moving image file in a storage unit, and distributes the moving image file stored in the storage unit to a client by download. Means for identifying an event attribute received at the time of uploading, for a moving image file identified as having an event, means for changing the information specifying the moving image file in response to the upload request and storing the information, The first feature is that the obtained moving image file includes means for storing information for specifying the moving image in accordance with an upload request.
[0013]
Further, the present invention has a second feature in that the moving image file has a multi-part configuration, and the event attribute is included in a part of the multi-part configuration.
[0014]
Further, the present invention has a third feature in that the event attribute is included in an upload file.
[0015]
The present invention has a fourth feature in that the event attribute is included in an upload request.
[0016]
Further, the present invention has a fifth feature in that the information for specifying the moving image is a file name of the moving image file.
[0017]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a means for deleting a moving image file after a certain period of time has elapsed after the storage of a moving image file in which information specified in response to an upload request has been changed. There are features.
[0018]
Further, the present invention includes means for deleting moving image files in a predetermined order when the information specified for the upload request is changed and the number of stored moving image files exceeds a certain number. Has a seventh feature in that is set to be equal to or less than the predetermined number.
[0019]
An eighth feature of the present invention resides in that the present invention includes means for creating an event history for a moving image file stored by changing information specified in response to an upload request.
[0020]
Further, the present invention includes a means for deleting a moving image file and its event history after a certain period of time has elapsed after storing the moving image file in which the information specified in response to the upload request has been changed. Has a ninth feature.
[0021]
Further, if the information specified in response to the upload request is changed and the number of accumulated moving image files exceeds a certain number, the moving image file and the event history thereof are deleted in a predetermined order, and the stored moving image file is provided. A tenth feature is that the event history is set to be equal to or less than the predetermined number.
[0022]
According to the feature of the present invention, even if the file has the same file name from the file provider, the file identified as having no event is always kept the latest file by continuous upload and the file identified as having an event Are stored as separate files, so that the distribution of the latest moving image file and the distribution of the past moving image file can be made compatible.
[0023]
In addition, for a moving image file stored with changed information specified in response to an upload request, the moving image file is appropriately deleted after a certain period of time after the storage or when the number of the moving image files exceeds a certain number. In addition, the storage capacity required for storage can be minimized.
[0024]
Further, by creating an event history of the stored moving image file, the history of the moving image file can be easily known, and the access to the related image file can be facilitated using the history.
[0025]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a moving image file distribution device according to the present invention. The same or equivalent parts as those in FIG. 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals. This embodiment is different from the server in FIG. 7 in that an event identification unit 6 and a file list generation unit 7 are provided between the HTTP server unit 3 and the file I / O unit 4.
[0026]
FIGS. 2A and 2B show examples of a file structure to be transmitted. FIG. 2A shows a normal file structure including video data V and audio data A with one piece of header information H. 2B shows a fragment structure in which a fragment F including video data V and audio data A accompanied by one piece of header information H is continuous.
[0027]
One chunk of V and A is called a chunk. In the case of FIG. 2A, in a specific example, one chunk of V and A includes data for one second, and a video frame rate of 10 fps and x = Assuming 15 seconds, each file contains 15 sets of V and A, and there are 10 video frames per chunk.
[0028]
The header information includes, for example, (1) file time length, (2) file creation date and time, (3) time length for each medium (V, A), (4) creation date and time for each medium, (5) V size (length × width), (6) V chunk arrangement position (byte offset), (7) total number of V frames, (8) data size per V frame (number of bytes), (9) V frame display duration, (10) V encoding bit rate, (11) A sampling frequency, (12) A mode (monaural, stereo), (13) A chunk arrangement position (byte offset), (14) The data size of each frame of A, (15) the frame reproduction duration of A, and (16) the total number of frames of A.
[0029]
In the case of FIG. 2B, the header information at the head of the file includes the above (1) to (16) as in the case of FIG. 2A, but the subsequent header information includes the above (6) to (10) and (13) to (16) are included.
[0030]
FIG. 3 shows an example of a header of an HTTP request transmitted from the file provider at the time of uploading. Here, “Boundary” designates a delimiter when an actual data part that follows is in a multipart format. . Also. “Content-Length” indicates the size of the file to be transmitted.
[0031]
First, the operation of the moving image file distribution device (server) 1 according to the present embodiment will be described for uploading. When the server 1 receives an upload request by the HTTP protocol from the file provider via the network I / F unit 2, the HTTP server unit 3 starts one HTTP upload session. Here, the session corresponds to transmission of one file.
[0032]
Upon uploading, event attribute information is also received. The event attribute information is information to be added when the uploaded moving image file is stored as it is in distinction from other moving image files, and includes, for example, the presence or absence of an event, Of the moving image file, the storage period of the moving image file, the importance of the moving image file, and the like can be used as effective information for later file use.
[0033]
Several forms of transmission of the event attribute information are conceivable, for example, as in the following (1) to (3).
(1) As shown in FIG. 4 (a), a file to be uploaded (corresponding to “actual data” in FIG. 3) has a multi-part configuration, each of which is a moving image file part and an event attribute information part. Note that “xx-−xx” in the figure is a delimiter character string, and is specified by a request header (“boundary” in FIG. 3) at the time of upload.
[0034]
Note that the leading “−−” is automatically added. The event attribute information includes, for example, the presence / absence of an event. If an event is present, the event attribute information further includes the date and time of occurrence of the event, the storage period of the file, and the relative importance. The last "---" indicates the end of the multi-part file.
(2) As shown in FIG. 4B, a form in which event attribute information is embedded in the header information of the moving image file shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B and transmitted. As shown in FIG. 2B, in the case of a fragment format in which the inside of the file is divided, it may be embedded in a subsequent header.
(3) As shown in FIG. 4C, a form embedded in the HTTP upload request header. That is, a form in which event attribute information is added to a query part of an upload file name. FIG. 4C shows the <file> name in FIG. mp4 is uploaded, event attribute information in which a “? ev = 1... s = 10” part (query part) is embedded, “ev = 1” indicates that an event is present, date = 20021010 & time = 173502 "," keep = 24 ", and" s = 10 "indicate that the event occurrence date and time are 17: 35: 2 on October 10, 2002, the file storage period is 24 hours, and the importance is 10 It is shown that.
[0035]
The event attribute information and the moving image file transmitted from the file provider as described above are input to the event identification unit 6 and the file I / O unit 4 via the network I / F unit 2 and the HTTP server unit 3. You.
[0036]
The event identification unit 6 extracts and identifies the transmitted event attribute information. If the event identification unit 6 identifies that there is an event, the event identification unit 6 appropriately changes the file name of the received moving image file, and sends a list addition instruction to the file list generation unit 7. Issue At the same time, it notifies the file I / O unit 4 of the changed file name and issues an instruction to save the file as an event file having the changed file name.
[0037]
When the event identification unit 6 identifies that there is no event, the moving image file name is not changed and the list addition instruction is not issued. As a result, the storage unit 5 overwrites and saves the file with the same name. Note that the case where no event is identified includes a case where the event attribute information is not transmitted and is not extracted.
[0038]
When receiving the list addition command from the event identification unit 6, the file list generation unit 7 adds the file name of the moving image file as a downloadable file list. The file name to be added may be an item of the event, and the date and time of occurrence of the event can be added at the same time.
[0039]
The file list generated by the file list generating unit 7 is an HTML file that is dynamically generated. For example, as shown in FIG. A click button is displayed. Furthermore, the latest moving image file required when the client downloads the moving image file, link information to the moving image file when the event occurs, and the history of the event can be displayed in a list.
[0040]
Next, the operation at the time of downloading will be described. At the time of download, upon request from a client, first, an initial page is presented to make the file list page accessible. The initial page can first allow selection of the latest moving image file or event file, and then can select the file.
[0041]
Subsequently, when the client selects a moving image file to be obtained on the file list page, a request for the moving image file is issued to the HTTP server unit 3. Thus, the HTTP server unit 3 acquires the requested moving image file from the storage unit 5 through the file I / O unit 4, and distributes the requested moving image file to the client. Downloading a file is also possible by directly specifying the file name. FIG. 6 shows an example of a download request transmitted in this case and a response to the request.
[0042]
The embodiments have been described above, but various modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, with respect to a moving image file whose file name has been changed in response to an upload request, the moving image file can be deleted after a certain period of time has elapsed after the storage. If the number of stored moving image files exceeds a certain number after the file name is changed in response to the upload request, the moving image files are deleted according to a predetermined order, for example, the order from the oldest one or the order according to the importance. You can also do so.
[0043]
When an event history is created for a moving image file that has been stored with a file name changed in response to an upload request, the moving image file and its event history are deleted after a certain period of time after the storage. Further, when the file name is changed in response to the upload request and the number of accumulated moving image files exceeds a certain number, the moving image files and their event histories can be deleted in a predetermined order. These processes can be performed by software.
[0044]
Further, the moving image file may not include the audio data A. Further, the storage means for storing the moving image file is not limited to a hard disk, and various data storage means such as a virtual disk using a memory can be adopted.
[0045]
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The moving image file distribution device of the present invention can be applied to a surveillance video distribution server system that distributes live images captured by a surveillance camera to mobile phones and the Internet, and other moving image distribution server systems.
[0046]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the present invention, event attribute information included in an upload file is identified, and a file list is newly generated for an event recognized as having an event, and the file list can be displayed as a list. Also, since the upload file is stored with a unique file name, even if the file has the same file name from the file provider, the file identified as having no event is always kept the latest file by continuous upload, The file identified as having an event is stored as another file, and it is possible to make the distribution of the latest moving image file compatible with the distribution of the past moving image file.
[0047]
In addition, for a moving image file stored with changed information specified in response to an upload request, the moving image file is appropriately deleted after a certain period of time after the storage or when the number of the moving image files exceeds a certain number. In addition, the storage capacity required for storage can be minimized.
[0048]
Further, by creating the event history of the accumulated moving image file, the history of the moving image file can be easily known, and there is an effect that the access to the related image file is facilitated using the history. .
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a moving image file distribution device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a file configuration to be transmitted.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a header of an upload request.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a transmission form of event attribute information.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a list of event files displayed at the time of download.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a download request by specifying a file name and its response.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a conventional server.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Server, 2 ... Network I / F part, 3 ... HTTP server part, 4 ... File I / O part, 5 ... Storage means, 6 ... Event identification part, 7 ... File list generator

Claims (10)

A moving image file distribution device that receives a moving image file by uploading, stores the moving image file in a storage unit, and distributes the moving image file stored in the storage unit to a client by download,
Means for identifying an event attribute received at the time of upload, and for a moving image file identified as having an event, changing information for specifying the moving image file in response to an upload request and accumulating the information;
Means for storing, for a moving image file identified as having no event, information for specifying the moving image in accordance with an upload request. 2. The moving image file distribution device according to claim 1, wherein the moving image file has a multi-part configuration, and the event attribute is included in a part of the multi-part configuration. The moving image file distribution device according to claim 1, wherein the event attribute is included in an upload file. The moving image file distribution device according to claim 1, wherein the event attribute is included in an upload request. 4. The moving image file distribution device according to claim 1, wherein the information specifying the moving image is a file name of the moving image file. 5. A system according to claim 1, further comprising means for deleting the moving image file after a certain period of time has elapsed after storing the moving image file in which the information specified in response to the upload request has been changed. The moving image file distribution device according to any one of the above. When the information specified for the upload request is changed and the number of accumulated moving image files exceeds a certain number, the moving image file is deleted according to a predetermined order, and the stored moving image files are reduced to the fixed number or less. The moving image file distribution device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein 7. The moving image file distribution device according to claim 1, further comprising means for creating an event history for a moving image file stored by changing information specified in response to an upload request. . For a moving image file stored by changing information specified in response to an upload request, a means for deleting the moving image file and its event history after a lapse of a predetermined time after the storing is provided. 8. The moving image file distribution device according to 7. If the information specified for the upload request is changed and the number of accumulated moving image files exceeds a certain number, the moving image files and the event history thereof are deleted according to a predetermined order. 9. The moving image file distribution device according to claim 7, wherein the event history is equal to or less than the predetermined number.

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