JP2005223397A - Video recording viewing system, management server in video recording viewing system, home server in video recording viewing system, video recording viewing method, and program for computer to execute the method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a video recording viewing system whereby a plurality of home servers for distributingly recording contents on a network can transmit recorded contents to a home server viewing the contents distributingly in a stable communication state. <P>SOLUTION: Each of video recording sections 11 of a plurality of home servers 10 connected to the network 1 in the video recording viewing system distributingly records contents broadcast from a contents transmission server 2 by an instruction of a video recording instruction section 31 of a management server 30. A viewing reception section 32 of the management server 30 receives viewing request information from a viewing request section 15 of a home server 10 viewing the contents, a transmission instruction section 33 allows the video recording transmission section 12 of the other home server 10 to transmit data distributingly video recorded to the home server 10 viewing the contents, a composite section 16 of the home server 10 viewing the contents receives the data to apply composite processing to the data and an output section 17 provides an output of the resulting data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording / viewing system including a plurality of home servers, a management server in the recording / viewing system, a home server in the recording / viewing system, a recording / viewing method, and a program for causing a computer to execute the method. Recorded data that is distributed and shared with each other, and when viewed on the home server, the distributed recorded data is transmitted to other home servers, and the distributed recorded data is received and combined for viewing. The present invention relates to a viewing system, a management server in a recording / viewing system, a home server in a recording / viewing system, a recording / viewing method, and a program for causing a computer to execute the method.

  Conventionally, when content such as a broadcast program to be received is recorded on a home server using a hard disk, there has been a problem that the capacity of the hard disk becomes insufficient. In order to solve the shortage of storage capacity of such home servers, a system has been proposed in which a plurality of home servers share recorded data with each other. In this system, data recorded and stored in one home server can be viewed on another home server (Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-46958 A

  However, the technique proposed in Patent Document 1 merely allows the data recorded and stored on the home server to be viewed on another home server. In the above technology, for example, when the network is connected to a transmission side such as ADSL (Asymmetrical DSL = non-target digital subscriber line) that is widely used, the upstream and downstream communication speeds are asymmetric and the upstream communication speed is low. Since the data transfer speed is not fast enough, viewing problems may occur.

  In addition, since the home server is assumed to be installed in a home, it is not possible to respond quickly to failures such as disconnection and power outages, and there is a possibility that the home server may be discarded due to the owner's circumstances. In addition, there is a problem that there are many factors that cause the operation of transmitting the recording information to be unstable, such as the network communication speed fluctuating depending on the degree of congestion.

  Moreover, since the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 does not show a technique for protecting the copyright of the recorded data, there is a problem that the technique for protecting the copyright of the video recorded by the home server is unsolved.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a recording / viewing system including a plurality of home servers that can secure the amount of transmission data even when the communication speed in the network decreases when viewing. Is to provide.

  It is another object of the present invention to provide a recording / viewing system to which a large number of recordable home servers that can be viewed in a stable transmission / reception state are improved by improving an unstable operation peculiar to a network connection.

  In addition, the object of the present invention is that it is possible to reduce the consideration to the copyright holder when synthesizing and viewing data recorded in a distributed manner in a recording and viewing system to which a large number of recordable home servers are connected. It is to provide a recording and viewing system.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the invention according to claim 1 records and transmits content transmitted by connecting to a network, and receives and outputs the recorded content. A recording / viewing system comprising: a plurality of home servers; and a management server connected to the network to cause the plurality of home servers to record the content and to transmit the content to another home server. Recording instruction means for distributing and recording the content to the plurality of home servers, viewing acceptance means for accepting viewing request information that is a viewing request for the recorded content transmitted by the home server, and viewing acceptance means Based on the viewing request information received by the plurality of home servers, the content recorded in a distributed manner on the plurality of home servers, Transmission instruction means for transmitting to the home server that has received the request for listening, the home server receiving the content to be transmitted, and based on a distributed recording instruction for recording in a distributed manner instructed by the recording instruction means Recording means for recording, viewing request means for receiving the viewing request information received by an operator and transmitting to the management server, and the content recorded by the recording means in a distributed manner, Recording transmission means for transmitting to the plurality of home servers based on a transmission instruction by the transmission instruction means, combining means for receiving and combining the distributed and recorded contents transmitted by the recording transmission means, and the combining Output means for outputting the recorded content synthesized by the means.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a recording / viewing system including a plurality of home servers and a management server connected via a network causes the management server to record and distribute the transmitted content to the plurality of home servers, Recorded recorded data is distributed and transmitted to home servers for viewing, and the home servers for viewing are combined and output. Therefore, even when the network communication speed is low, a sufficient amount of transmission data can be received and viewed. Therefore, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the recording / viewing system according to claim 1, wherein the management server further distributes and multiplexes the content to the plurality of home servers for recording. Allocating and allocating means for allocating the recorded contents to the plurality of home servers so that the recorded contents are multiplexed and transmitted to the home server, and the recording instruction means is allocated by the multiplex allocating means. The content is distributed and multiplexed on the plurality of home servers based on the recording, and the transmission instruction unit is configured to record the distributed and multiplexed content recorded on the basis of the allocation by the multiplexing allocation unit. The home server multiplexes and transmits the data to the plurality of home servers, and the home server has the recording unit configured to transmit the recording instructions. The content is distributed and multiplexed on the basis of an instruction from the means for recording, and the recording and transmission means records the content that has been distributed and multiplexed on the basis of a transmission instruction from the transmission instruction means on the home server. Is transmitted in a multiplexed manner.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the management server is distributed to a plurality of home servers, multiplexed, allocated, recorded, multiplexed and transmitted to the viewing-side home server. Recording data can be multiplexed and transmitted from a plurality of home servers, and can be viewed in a good communication state without any interruption of viewing.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the video recording and viewing system according to claim 2, wherein the management server further comprises communication detecting means for detecting communication states of the plurality of home servers, and the multiplexing is performed. An allocating unit determines allocation of the multiplexed recording and multiplexed transmission based on communication states of the plurality of home servers detected by the communication detecting unit.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the management server detects the communication state of the home server, and performs allocation to distribute and multiplex and record and transmit, so that the communication state is good for the viewing-side home server. Since the transmission-side home server can be allocated and transmitted, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the recording / viewing system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the home server further measures a communication speed of the recorded content received by the combining means. A communication speed measuring means for transmitting to the management server, wherein the management server sends the plurality of home servers to the plurality of home servers based on the communication speed information received from the communication speed measuring means; An allocation for multiplexing and transmitting the distributed, multiplexed and recorded content is determined.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the management server receives the reception speed information of the recording data detected by the viewing-side home server and assigns the transmission home server based on the received reception speed information, thereby viewing the home-side server. Since the data is transmitted by the transmission-side home server having a good communication speed, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the recording / viewing system according to claim 4, wherein the home server further includes other cases where the reception speed measured by the communication speed measurement means is equal to or lower than a predetermined speed. Switching means for switching to receive the recorded content from the home server, and the synthesizing means receives and synthesizes the recorded content from the transmission source home server switched by the switching means. To do.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the viewing-side home server detects the reception speed at which the viewing-side home server receives the recorded data, and switches to the home server having a good transmission speed to receive it. Since it is possible to switch to a high-speed home server for reception, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the recording / viewing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the home server further accepts an input of a user registration by an operator and is accepted. Registration request means for transmitting the registered information to the management server, the management server further receiving user registration of the home server transmitted based on the registration information transmitted from the registration request means; And charging means for calculating a viewing usage fee for the registered contents of the user based on the user registration received by the user registration means.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the management server can register a home server for recording and viewing, and can charge a usage fee for viewing the home server. It becomes.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the video recording and viewing system according to claim 6, wherein the management server further includes communication recording means for recording transmission / reception of the content by the plurality of home servers, The billing unit calculates a viewing usage fee of the content for viewing by the user based on a transmission / reception record recorded by the communication recording unit.

  According to the seventh aspect of the invention, the management server records the transmission / reception by the home server, and calculates the viewing fee for viewing the home server based on the record. Is possible.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the video recording and viewing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the home server further receives the recorded content from another home server. A watermark embedding unit that embeds the identification information of the home server in the received content as a digital watermark.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the content transmitted by connecting to a network is distributed and recorded in a plurality of home servers, and the home server that transmits viewing request information for requesting viewing of the content is transmitted to the home server. A management server in a recording / viewing system that distributes and transmits distributed recorded content and causes the home server that transmitted the viewing request information to view the content, and distributes the content to the plurality of home servers Recording instruction means for recording, viewing accepting means for accepting viewing request information from the home server, and viewing and receiving request information accepted by the viewing accepting means, distributed to the plurality of home servers. Transmission instruction means for transmitting the content to a home server that has received the viewing request; And wherein the door.

  According to the invention of claim 9, the management server of the recording / viewing system that manages a plurality of home servers connected via a network distributes the contents to be transmitted to the home server to the plurality of home servers and records the recording. The recorded data is distributed and transmitted to the home servers for viewing, and the home servers for viewing are combined and output, so that even when the network communication speed is low, a sufficient amount of transmission data can be received. Therefore, it is possible to view in a good communication state without any interruption in viewing.

  The invention according to claim 10 is the management server in the recording / viewing system according to claim 9, further allocating the plurality of home servers to multiplex and record the content, And a multiplexing assignment means for assigning the recorded contents to the plurality of home servers to be multiplexed and transmitted to the home server, wherein the recording instruction means is based on the assignment by the multiplexing assignment means. The content is distributed to the plurality of home servers and multiplexed and recorded, and the transmission instruction unit is configured to record the distributed and multiplexed content recorded based on the allocation by the multiplexing allocation unit. It is characterized by being multiplexed with the home server and transmitted.

  According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, the management server distributes, multiplexes, allocates and records to a plurality of home servers, and multiplexes, allocates, and transmits to the viewing home server, thereby transmitting and receiving the home The recording data can be multiplexed and transmitted from a plurality of home servers to the server, and can be viewed in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  The invention according to claim 11 is the management server in the recording / viewing system according to claim 10, further comprising communication detection means for detecting a communication state of the plurality of home servers, and the multiplexing assignment means. However, the allocation of the multiplexed recording and multiplexed transmission is determined based on the communication status of the plurality of home servers detected by the communication detection unit.

  According to the eleventh aspect of the invention, the management server detects the communication state of the home server, distributes and multiplexes and performs recording allocation, so that the transmission-side home having a good communication state with respect to the viewing-side home server. Since the server can be allocated and transmitted, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  The invention according to claim 12 is the management server in the recording / viewing system according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the multiplexing assignment means receives the recorded content transmitted by the plurality of home servers. Communication speed information is received from the home server, and based on the received communication speed information, allocation is determined to multiplex and transmit the distributed, multiplexed and recorded content to the plurality of home servers. It is a thing to do.

  According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, the management server detects the reception speed at which the home server on the viewing side receives the recording data, assigns the transmission home server, and transmits to the viewing side home server on the transmission side having a good communication speed. Since it is transmitted by the home server, it can be viewed in a good communication state without any interruption of viewing.

  The invention according to claim 13 is the management server in the recording / viewing system according to any one of claims 9 to 12, and further receives and accepts an input of user registration by an operator of the home server. User registration means for receiving user registration of the home server based on the received registration information, and contents of the user registered based on the user registration received by the user registration means And a charging means for calculating the viewing usage fee.

  According to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, the management server can register a home server for recording and viewing and charge a usage fee for viewing the home server, so that the compensation to the copyright holder can be reduced. It becomes.

  The invention according to claim 14 is the management server in the recording / viewing system according to claim 13, further comprising communication recording means for recording transmission / reception of the contents by the plurality of home servers, Is characterized by calculating a viewing usage fee for the content for viewing by the user based on a transmission / reception record recorded by the communication recording means.

  According to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, the management server records the transmission / reception by the home server, and calculates the viewing fee for the viewing-side home server based on the record. Is possible.

  According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, content transmitted by connecting to a network is recorded based on an instruction from a management server and transmitted to a plurality of home servers, and the recorded content is transmitted to the plurality of home servers. A home server in a recording / viewing system that receives and outputs from a home server, receives the content to be transmitted, and records based on distributed recording instructions from the management server for distributed recording, and an operation Receiving a request for viewing the content by the user and transmitting the received viewing request information to the management server; and the viewing request information received by the management server for the plurality of home servers. Receiving the assigned transmission instruction information, and viewing the recording of the content based on the transmission instruction information; Recording transmission means for transmitting to the home server that transmitted the request information, composition means for receiving and synthesizing the distributed and recorded content transmitted by the plurality of home servers, and recorded content synthesized by the composition means And output means for outputting.

  According to the fifteenth aspect of the present invention, a home server of a recording / viewing system connected to a network, managed by a management server, and composed of a plurality of home servers for receiving, recording and transmitting content to be transmitted is Content can be distributed and recorded according to instructions, distributed and transmitted to home servers to be viewed, and the home servers to be viewed are synthesized and output, so that even if the network communication speed is low, sufficient transmission data amount Therefore, it is possible to view in a good communication state without any interruption of viewing.

  The invention according to claim 16 is the home server in the recording / viewing system according to claim 15, wherein the recording means is based on a multiplexed recording instruction for recording in a distributed and multiplexed manner from the management server. Distributed and multiplexed recording, wherein the recording and transmitting means receives the distributed and multiplexed recorded content based on a multiplexed transmission instruction from the management server for distributed and multiplexed transmission It is characterized by being transmitted in a multiplexed manner to the home server.

  According to the sixteenth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of home servers are distributed and multiplexed in accordance with a recording instruction from the management server, and are recorded and multiplexed and transmitted to the viewing-side home server. You can watch in the state.

  The invention according to claim 17 is the home server in the recording / viewing system according to claim 16, and further measures the communication speed of the recorded content received by the synthesizing means to the management server. A communication speed measuring means for transmitting, and based on the communication speed transmitted by the communication speed measuring means, another home is determined by the allocation information to be multiplexed and transmitted to the plurality of home servers determined by the management server. When the recorded content is received from a server, the synthesizing means receives the recorded content from the another home server and performs synthesis processing.

  According to the seventeenth aspect of the present invention, by receiving the recording data from the transmission home server allocated by the management server based on the reception speed of the recording data detected by the viewing-side home server, the communication speed is good. Since it can be received by the transmission-side home server, it can be viewed in a good communication state without any interruption in viewing.

  The invention according to claim 18 is the home server in the recording / viewing system according to claim 17, wherein the home server further has a reception speed measured by the communication speed measuring means equal to or lower than a predetermined speed. A switching unit that causes the management server to switch to receive the recorded content from another home server, and the combining unit receives and records the recorded content from the transmission source home server switched by the switching unit. It is a thing to do.

  According to the eighteenth aspect of the present invention, the viewing-side home server detects the reception speed of the recorded data, and causes the home server having a good transmission speed to switch to the management server for transmission based on the detected reception speed. Thus, it is possible to switch to the home server having a higher communication speed with respect to the viewing-side home server and transmit it, so that it is possible to view in a good communication state without any viewing interruption.

  The invention according to claim 19 is the home server in the recording / viewing system according to any one of claims 15 to 18, and further, when the recorded content is received, There is provided watermark embedding means for embedding identification information in the received content as an electronic watermark.

  According to the nineteenth aspect of the present invention, when the home server views the recorded data, the identification information of the home server is embedded, so that illegal copying can be prevented.

  According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, a content is transmitted to a home server connected to a network and distributed to a plurality of home servers by a management server, and the home server receives the distributed and recorded content. A recording / viewing method for viewing, wherein the management server distributes and records the content to the plurality of home servers, and the home server issues a viewing request by an operator of the home server. A viewing request step for transmitting the received viewing request information to the management server after receiving an input; a viewing receiving step for receiving and receiving the viewing request information transmitted by the management server in the viewing request step; Based on the viewing request information received in the viewing acceptance process, the management server A recording and transmitting step of transmitting the content distributed and recorded on the plurality of home servers to the home server that has received the viewing request information, and the home server transmits the distributed and recorded content transmitted in the recording and transmitting step. Receiving the synthesized content and synthesizing the content, and the home server includes an output step of outputting the recorded content synthesized in the synthesizing step.

  According to the twentieth aspect of the present invention, in a recording / viewing method of a recording / viewing system including a plurality of home servers and a management server connected via a network, the management server distributes the content to be transmitted to the plurality of home servers. The recorded data is distributed to the home servers for viewing and transmitted, and the home servers for viewing are combined and output so that a sufficient amount of transmission data can be obtained even when the network communication speed is low. Therefore, it is possible to view in a good communication state without any interruption of viewing.

  The invention according to claim 21 is the recording / viewing method according to claim 20, wherein the management server distributes and multiplexes the content to the plurality of home servers for recording. Multiplex recording allocation step for allocating, and a multiplexing transmission allocating step for allocating the management server to multiplex and transmit the recorded content to the home server for the plurality of home servers. The management server distributes and multiplexes the content to the plurality of home servers based on the allocation in the multiplexed recording allocation step, and the recording transmission step includes the multiplexed transmission allocation step. The distributed, multiplexed and recorded content is multiplexed and sent to the plurality of home servers based on the allocation by Characterized in that it is one which.

  According to the twenty-first aspect of the present invention, the management server distributes to a plurality of home servers, multiplexes, allocates, records, and multiplexes and transmits to the viewing-side home server, thereby transmitting to the viewing-side home server. On the other hand, since the recording data can be multiplexed and transmitted from a plurality of home servers, it can be viewed in a good communication state without any interruption of viewing.

  The invention according to claim 22 is the recording / viewing method according to claim 21, further comprising a communication detection step in which the management server detects communication states of the plurality of home servers, and the multiplexing One or more of the recording allocation process and the multiplexed transmission allocation transmission process determine the allocation based on communication states of the plurality of home servers detected in the communication detection process. And

  According to the twenty-second aspect of the present invention, the management server detects the communication states of a plurality of home servers, distributes, multiplexes and records them, and transmits them to the viewing-side home server. Since the side home server is allocated and transmitted, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  The invention according to claim 23 is the recording / viewing method according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the management server further measures the communication speed at which the plurality of home servers receive the recorded content. Including a communication speed measurement step for transmitting to the multiplexed transmission allocation step, wherein the multiplexed transmission allocation step determines transmission allocation of the recorded content based on the communication speed measured in the communication speed measurement step. It is characterized by.

  According to the twenty-third aspect of the present invention, the viewing-side home server detects the recording data reception speed and transmits it to the management server, and the transmission-side home server is allocated for viewing based on the reception speed received by the management server. By transmitting to the side home server, the transmission side home server having a good communication speed transmits the recorded data, so that it can be viewed in a good communication state without any interruption of viewing.

  The invention according to claim 24 is the recording / viewing method according to any one of claims 20 to 23, wherein the home server accepts an input of user registration by an operator. A registration request step for transmitting the registered information to the management server, a user registration step for accepting user registration of the home server transmitted by the management server based on the registration information transmitted in the registration request step, and the user And a billing step of calculating a viewing usage fee for the registered content of the user based on the user registration received in the registration step.

  According to the invention of claim 24, a registration request is issued from the home server, and the management server registers the home server for recording and viewing, and charges the usage fee for viewing of the home server. The consideration can be reduced.

  The invention according to claim 25 is the recording / viewing method according to claim 24, further comprising a communication recording step in which the management server records transmission / reception of the content by the plurality of home servers, The charging step is to calculate a viewing usage fee for the content for viewing by the user based on the transmission / reception record recorded in the communication recording step.

  According to the invention of claim 25, since the management server records the transmission / reception by the home server and calculates the viewing fee by the viewing-side home server based on the record, the compensation to the copyright holder is reduced. It becomes possible.

  The invention according to claim 26 is the recording / viewing method according to any one of claims 20 to 25, wherein the home server receives the recorded content from another home server. In this case, the method includes a watermark embedding step of embedding the received identification information of the home server in the received content as a digital watermark.

  According to the twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention, when the home server views the recorded data, the identification information of the home server is embedded, so that illegal copying can be prevented.

  The invention according to claim 27 comprises a plurality of home servers connected to a network, records content transmitted via the network and transmits it to a plurality of home servers, and records the recorded content to the plurality of home servers. A home server in a recording / viewing system comprising a plurality of home servers that receive and output from a home server, receiving the content to be transmitted and recording in a distributed manner, and a request for viewing the content by an operator Viewing request means for receiving an input and transmitting the received viewing request information to another home server; and when receiving the viewing request information, the received viewing request to the home server that transmitted the viewing request information Recording transmission means for transmitting the distributed and recorded content based on request information, and the recording transmission When receiving the distributed and recorded content transmitted by the stage, combining means for combining the received distributed and recorded content and output means for outputting the recorded content combined by the combining means It is characterized by having.

  According to the invention of claim 27, the home server of the recording / viewing system comprising a plurality of home servers connected to the network and receiving, recording and transmitting the content to be transmitted receives the user's viewing request, Distributing and recording content from the recorded home server, receiving it, synthesizing it, and outputting it, so that even when the network communication speed is low, it can be received and viewed with a sufficient amount of transmission data Therefore, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  The invention according to claim 28 is the home server in the recording / viewing system according to claim 27, wherein the recording means records the content in a distributed and multiplexed manner, and the recording transmitting means The distributed and multiplexed contents are transmitted in a multiplexed manner to the home server that is the transmission source of the viewing request.

  According to the invention of claim 28, since a plurality of home servers are distributed and multiplexed and recorded, and multiplexed and transmitted to the viewing-side home server, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing. .

  The invention according to claim 29 is the home server in the recording / viewing system according to claim 28, wherein the synthesizing means further measures a reception speed from a transmission source home server that transmits the recorded content. Communication speed measuring means, and switching means for switching to receive the recorded content from another home server when the reception speed measured by the communication speed measuring means is equal to or lower than a predetermined speed, the synthesizing means, The recorded content is received from another transmission source home server switched by the switching means and synthesized.

  According to the twenty-ninth aspect of the present invention, the viewing-side home server detects the reception speed of the recorded data, and switches the transmission source to the home server having a good transmission speed so that the viewing-side home server communicates. Since it is possible to switch to a high-speed home server for reception, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  The invention according to claim 30 is the home server in the recording / viewing system according to any one of claims 27 to 29, and further includes user registration means for receiving an input of user registration by an operator of the home server. Charging means for recording transmission / reception of the recorded content in the home server and calculating a viewing usage fee for the recorded content by the user based on the transmission / reception recording and user registration information received by the user registration means. It is characterized by that.

  According to the thirty-third aspect of the present invention, the user registration means for accepting an input of user registration by the operator of the home server, the recorded content by the user based on the transmission / reception record of the recorded content in the home server and the user registration information Calculate the viewing usage fee. With this configuration, since the record that the user has registered and viewed using the home server remains as billing information, the compensation to the copyright holder can be reduced.

  The invention according to claim 31 is the home server in the recording / viewing system according to any one of claims 27 to 30, and further, when the recorded content is received from another home server, There is provided watermark embedding means for embedding identification information of its own home server in the received content as a digital watermark.

  According to the invention of claim 31, when the home server views the recorded data, the identification information of the home server is embedded, so that illegal copying can be prevented.

  The invention according to claim 32 is a recording / viewing method of a recording / viewing system including a plurality of home servers connected to a network, wherein the plurality of home servers receive content transmitted via the network. A distributed recording process for recording in a distributed manner, and a viewing request process for transmitting the received viewing request information to another home server when the home server accepts an input of a viewing request for the content by an operator, When the plurality of home servers receive the viewing request information transmitted in the viewing request step, the distributed recording is performed based on the received viewing request information to the home server that is the transmission source of the viewing request information. A recording transmission step for transmitting the recorded content, and the dispersedly recorded content transmitted in the recording transmission step. Receiving the tool, characterized in that it comprises a synthesis step of synthesizing the recorded content, and an output step of outputting the recorded contents synthesized in said synthesizing step.

  According to the invention of claim 32, a recording / viewing method of a recording / viewing system including a plurality of home servers connected to a network and receiving, recording and transmitting transmitted content accepts a user's viewing request, By receiving, synthesizing, and outputting from the recorded home server, distributed and recorded content can be received and viewed with a sufficient amount of transmission data even when the network communication speed is low. Therefore, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  The invention according to claim 33 is the recording / viewing method according to claim 32, wherein the distributed recording step records the content by distributing and multiplexing the recording and transmitting step, Content distributed and multiplexed in the distributed recording process is transmitted in a multiplexed manner to the home server that is the transmission source of the viewing request.

  According to the invention of claim 33, since a plurality of home servers are distributed, multiplexed and recorded, and multiplexed and transmitted to the viewing-side home server, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing. .

  The invention according to claim 34 is the recording / viewing method according to claim 33, further comprising a communication speed measuring step of measuring a communication speed of the recorded content received in the combining step, and the communication A switching step of switching to receive the recorded content information from another home server connected to a network when the communication speed measured in the speed measurement step is equal to or lower than a predetermined speed, and the combining step is performed by the switching step. It is characterized in that the recorded content is received and synthesized from another switched transmission source home server.

  According to the invention of claim 34, the viewing-side home server detects the reception speed of the recorded data, and switches the transmission source to the home server with a good transmission speed so that the viewing-side home server communicates. Since it is possible to switch to a high-speed home server for reception, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  The invention according to claim 35 is the recording / viewing method according to any one of claims 32 to 34, further comprising a user registration step of accepting an input of user registration by an operator of the home server; A charging step of recording transmission / reception of the recorded content in the server, and calculating a viewing usage fee of the recorded content by the user based on the transmission / reception recording and the user registration information received in the user registration step. And

  According to the invention of claim 35, the user registration input by the operator of the home server is further received, and the recorded content viewing fee for the user based on the transmission / reception record of the recorded content and the user registration information in the home server. Is calculated. With this configuration, since the record that the user has registered and viewed using the home server remains as billing information, the compensation to the copyright holder can be reduced.

  The invention according to claim 36 is the recording / viewing method according to any one of claims 32 to 35, and further, when the recorded content is received from another home server, It includes a watermark embedding step of embedding server identification information in the received content as a digital watermark.

  According to the thirty-sixth aspect of the present invention, when the home server views the recorded data, it embeds its own identification information, so that illegal copying can be prevented.

  The invention according to claim 37 is a program which causes a computer to execute the method described in any one of claims 20 to 26 and claims 32 to 36.

  According to the thirty-seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to cause a computer to execute any one of the recording and viewing methods according to the twentieth to twenty-sixth and thirty-second to thirty-sixth aspects.

  A recording / viewing system according to the present invention (Claim 1) includes a plurality of home servers and a management server connected via a network, and the management server distributes and records the content to be transmitted to the plurality of home servers. Since the recorded recording data is distributed to the home servers for viewing and transmitted, and the home servers for viewing are synthesized and output, even if the communication speed of the network is low, it is received and viewed with a sufficient amount of transmission data Therefore, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  In the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (claim 2), the management server distributes, multiplexes, allocates and records to a plurality of home servers, and multiplexes and transmits to the viewing side home server. Recording data can be multiplexed and transmitted from a plurality of home servers to the home server, and there is an effect that viewing can be performed in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  Further, the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (Claim 3) is configured such that the management server detects the communication state of the home server, and performs distribution and multiplexing so that recording and transmission are performed. Since the transmission-side home server having a good communication state can be allocated and transmitted, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  In the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (claim 4), the management server receives the reception speed information of the recording data detected by the home server on the viewing side, and assigns the transmission home server based on the received reception speed information. By transmitting to the viewing-side home server, transmission is performed by the transmitting-side home server having a good communication speed, so that it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  Also, the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (Claim 5) detects the reception speed at which the home server on the viewing side receives the recorded data, and switches to the home server having a good transmission speed to receive it. Since the home server can be switched to a home server with a high communication speed for reception, there is an effect that the home server can be viewed in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  In the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (Claim 6), the management server can register a home server for recording and viewing and charge a usage fee for viewing of the home server. There is an effect that the compensation can be reduced.

  In the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (claim 7), the management server records transmission / reception by the home server, and calculates the viewing fee for viewing of the home server based on the recording. There is an effect that the consideration can be reduced.

  Further, the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (claim 8) has the effect that when the home server views the recorded data, its identification information is embedded in the viewed data, so that illegal copying can be prevented. Play.

  Further, the management server of the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (claim 9) manages a plurality of home servers connected via a network, distributes the content to be transmitted to the home servers to the plurality of home servers, and records them. Recorded recorded data is distributed and transmitted to home servers for viewing, and the home servers for viewing are combined and output, so that even when the network communication speed is low, it can be received with a sufficient amount of transmission data. Therefore, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  In the recording / viewing system management server according to the present invention (claim 10), the management server distributes and multiplexes and allocates recordings to a plurality of home servers, and multiplexes and allocates to the viewing home servers. By transmitting, it is possible to multiplex the recording data from a plurality of home servers to the viewing-side home server and transmit the recorded data, and it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  In addition, the management server of the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (claim 11) detects the communication state of the home server, distributes and multiplexes the recording server, and assigns the recording to the viewing-side home server. Since the transmission-side home server having a good communication state can be allocated and transmitted, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  In the recording / viewing system management server according to the present invention (claim 12), the management server detects a reception speed at which the viewing-side home server receives the recorded data, and assigns a transmission home server, so that the viewing-side home server Therefore, the transmission side home server having a good communication speed allows the user to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  In addition, the management server of the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (Claim 13) can register a home server for recording and viewing and charge a usage fee for viewing of the home server. There is an effect that the consideration can be reduced.

  Further, in the management server of the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (claim 14), the management server records the transmission / reception by the home server, and calculates the viewing fee for the viewing-side home server based on the record. The effect is that the consideration can be reduced to the copyright holder.

  The home server of the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (Claim 15) is connected to the network, managed by the management server, receives the received content, records and transmits it, and distributes the content according to the instruction of the management server. The recorded and transmitted home servers are distributed to the viewing home servers, and the viewing home servers synthesize and output, so that even when the network communication speed is low, a sufficient amount of transmission data can be received and viewed. Therefore, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  In the home server of the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (claim 16), a plurality of home servers are distributed and multiplexed in accordance with a recording instruction from the management server, and are multiplexed and transmitted to the viewing-side home server. Thus, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  Further, the home server of the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (claim 17) receives the recording data from the transmission home server allocated by the management server based on the reception speed of the recording data detected by the viewing-side home server. As a result, the transmission side home server having a good communication speed can receive the data, so that it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  In the home server of the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (claim 18), the home server on the viewing side detects the reception speed of the recorded data, and manages it as a home server having a good transmission speed based on the detected reception speed. By switching to the server and transmitting, it is possible to switch to the home server having a higher communication speed with respect to the viewing-side home server, so that it can be viewed in a good communication state without interruption of viewing. Play.

  Further, the home server of the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (claim 19) embeds its own identification information when the home server views the recorded data, so that it is possible to prevent illegal copying. .

  Also, in the recording / viewing method according to the present invention (claim 20), the content to be transmitted is distributed and recorded by a management server to a plurality of home servers, and the recorded recording data is distributed and transmitted to home servers. By synthesizing and outputting the home server for viewing, it is possible to receive and view with a sufficient amount of transmission data even when the communication speed of the network is low. There is an effect that it can be viewed on.

  Further, in the recording / viewing method according to the present invention (claim 21), the management server distributes, multiplexes, allocates and records to a plurality of home servers, and multiplexes and transmits to the viewing-side home server. Since the recorded data can be multiplexed and transmitted from the plurality of home servers to the viewing-side home server, there is an effect that the viewing can be performed in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  In the recording / viewing method according to the present invention (claim 22), the management server detects communication states of a plurality of home servers, distributes and multiplexes them, records them, and transmits them to the viewing-side home server. Since the transmission-side home server in a good state is allocated and transmitted, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  In the recording / viewing method according to the present invention (Claim 23), the home server on the viewing side detects the reception speed of the recording data and transmits it to the management server, and the transmission side home is based on the reception speed received by the management server. By allocating the server and transmitting it to the viewing-side home server, the transmitting-side home server having a good communication speed transmits the recorded data, so that it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  In the recording / viewing method according to the present invention (claim 24), a registration request is issued from the home server, the management server registers the home server for recording and viewing, and charges the usage fee for viewing of the home server. As a result, it is possible to reduce the consideration to the copyright holder.

  In the recorded viewing method according to the present invention (claim 25), since the management server records transmission / reception by the home server and calculates the viewing fee by the home server on the viewing side based on the recording, It is possible to reduce the price of the product.

  Also, the recording / viewing method according to the present invention (claim 26) has an effect that illegal copying can be prevented because the identification information of the home server is embedded when the recording data is viewed by the home server.

  Further, the home server of the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (Claim 27) is composed of a plurality of home servers connected via a network to receive, record and transmit the content to be transmitted, and accept a user's viewing request. By distributing, recording, receiving, synthesizing, and outputting from the recorded home server, it is possible to receive and view with a sufficient amount of transmission data even when the network communication speed is low. Therefore, it is possible to view in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  The home server of the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (Claim 28) is good because there is no interruption in viewing because a plurality of home servers are distributed and multiplexed and recorded, and multiplexed and transmitted to the viewing-side home server. There is an effect that viewing can be performed in a communication state.

  In the home server of the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (claim 29), the viewing-side home server detects the reception speed of the recording data, and switches the transmission source to the home server having a good transmission speed for transmission. As a result, the viewing-side home server can switch to a home server with a high communication speed for reception, so that it is possible to view in a good communication state without any viewing interruption.

  Also, the home server of the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (Claim 30) has the record registered and viewed by the user using the home server as the billing information, so that the compensation to the copyright holder can be reduced. It has the effect of becoming.

  Further, the home server of the recording / viewing system according to the present invention (claim 31) embeds its own identification information when the home server views the recorded data, so that it is possible to prevent illegal copying. .

  In addition, the recording / viewing method according to the present invention (Claim 32) is connected via a network to receive, record and transmit content to be transmitted, accept a user's viewing request, and record distributed recorded content. By transmitting, receiving, synthesizing, and outputting from the home server, it is possible to receive and watch with a sufficient amount of transmission data even when the network communication speed is low, so viewing is not interrupted and good There is an effect that it is possible to view in a simple communication state.

  In the recording / viewing method according to the present invention (Claim 33), a plurality of home servers are distributed and multiplexed and recorded, and multiplexed and transmitted to the viewing-side home server. There is an effect that it can be viewed.

  In the recording / viewing method according to the present invention (claim 34), the viewing-side home server detects the reception speed of the recording data, and switches the transmission source to the home server having a good transmission speed to transmit the recording data. Since the side home server can be switched to a home server with a high communication speed for reception, there is an effect that viewing can be performed in a good communication state without interruption of viewing.

  Further, in the recording / viewing method according to the present invention (Claim 35), since the recording registered and viewed by the user using the home server remains as billing information, it is possible to reduce the consideration to the copyright holder. There is an effect.

  Also, the recording / viewing method according to the present invention (claim 36) has an effect that illegal copying can be prevented because the identification information of the home server is embedded when the recording data is viewed by the home server.

  Further, the program according to the present invention (invention 37) exhibits an effect that the computer can execute any one of the recording and viewing methods according to claims 20 to 26 and claims 32 to 36.

  BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION With reference to the attached drawings, the best mode for recording and viewing system, management server in recording and viewing system, home server in recording and viewing system, recording and viewing method, and program for causing a computer to execute the method Will be described in detail.

(1. Embodiment 1)
(1.1. Network configuration of recording / viewing system)
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a network configuration of a recording / viewing system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The recording / viewing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of home servers 10a to 10c connected to the network 1 and a management server 30 connected to the network. A content transmission server 2 is connected to the network 1, and contents such as audio / video data are broadcast to the home servers 10 a to 10 c via the network 1. Here, although three home servers are depicted in the figure, the number is not limited to three, and is representatively represented as being plural.

  The content transmission server 2 transmits a program video such as an audio video to each of the home servers 10a to 10c and the management server 30 via the network. The viewer uses the home servers 10a to 10c to view the transmitted program content.

  Each of the home servers 10a to 10c includes an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) as the storage unit 21, and has a network communication function to exchange data. The management server 30 connected via the Internet 1 manages each home server as a whole. The home server side is connected to a normally connected network such as ADSL (Asymmetrical DSL = non-target type digital subscriber line) which is generally widely used. The management server 30 is connected to a sufficiently high speed network such as an optical cable for both upstream and downstream.

  The management server 30 causes the home servers 10a to 10c to record the content via the network 1 and transmit the content to the home server.

(1.2. Configuration of each server of the recording / viewing system)
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the recording / viewing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Here, although there are actually a plurality of home servers 10 (for example, reference numerals 10a to 10c in FIG. 1), the function will be described below by representing only one.

  The management server 30 of the recording / viewing system according to the first embodiment includes a recording instruction unit 31, a viewing reception unit 32, a transmission instruction unit 33, a user registration unit 34, a charging unit 35, a communication recording unit 36, and a communication. A detection unit 37 and a storage unit 38 are provided.

  The home server 10 of the recording and viewing system according to the first embodiment includes a recording unit 11, a recording transmission unit 12, a communication speed measurement unit 13, a switching unit 14, a viewing request unit 15, a combining unit 16, and an output unit. 17, a registration request unit 18, a watermark embedding unit 19, an input unit 20, and a storage unit 21.

  The recording instruction unit 31 of the management server 30 instructs the home server 10 to distribute and record the content data distributed by the content transmission server 2. The viewing accepting unit 32 accepts viewing request information transmitted from the home server 10 to the management server 30. Based on the viewing request information from the home server 10 received by the viewing accepting unit 32, the transmission instruction unit 33 accepts a viewing request for content recorded by the plurality of home servers 10a to 10c connected to the network 1 in a distributed manner. The transmission instruction information is transmitted so as to be transmitted to the home server 10.

  The recording unit 11 of the home server 10 receives the content data transmitted from the content transmission server 2 and receives distributed recording instruction information which is an instruction to perform distributed recording transmitted from the recording instruction unit 31 of the management server 30. Then, the content data is recorded according to the received distributed recording instruction information.

  The input unit 20 is configured with a keyboard or the like and receives an operator input. The operator inputs a viewing request from the input unit 20, and the viewing request unit 15 transmits the received viewing request information to the management server 30.

  The recording transmission unit 12 of the home server that has received the transmission instruction information requests the viewing of the content data distributed and recorded by the recording unit 11 based on the transmission instruction information of the transmission instruction unit 33 of the management server 30. Send to.

  The synthesizing unit 16 of the home server that requested the viewing receives and synthesizes the recorded content data transmitted by the recording transmitting unit 12 of the transmitting home server.

  A program to be recorded on each home server and recording on the home server will be described. The management server 30 determines the part of the content to be recorded, and the recording instruction unit 31 transmits recording instruction information as a recording request to each home server. The management server 30 manages the usable amount of the recording area of the storage unit 20 of each home server. Each home server records the assigned program portion in accordance with an instruction from the management server 30.

  Here, the recording of the assigned portion by the recording instruction instructed by the recording instruction unit 31 is not a simple recording, but is recorded in a distributed manner in each home server in a time-sliced recording data format or a frequency-divided recording data format. Is done.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining that the contents transmitted from each home server are distributed and recorded in the recording / viewing system according to the first embodiment. The time-sliced content data 101a and 101b are distributed and recorded in the home servers 10a and 10b, respectively. The content data 101a and 101b recorded in the home servers 10a and 10b are transmitted to the requested home server 10 in accordance with the viewing request requested from the home server 10 of the viewing-side user's home, and the received home server 10 The unit 16 can perform composition processing on the time-sliced data and view the content data 101 subjected to the composition processing.

  When distributed recording data is time-sliced, if time-slicing is performed in units of 0.1 second, the viewing delay will be less than 2 seconds when the upstream and downstream communication speeds are asymmetry. It only needs to be. The time-sliced distributed content data includes recording data identification information, recording home server identification information, time slice portion time information, and the like in addition to the recording data itself.

  FIG. 4 is another diagram for explaining that the home server distributes and records the content transmitted in the recording / viewing system according to the first embodiment. Here, the recording data is divided by frequency division. The frequency-divided recorded content data 111a and 111b are transmitted to the home server 10 that is the viewing request source, and the synthesizing unit 16 of the home server 10 receives the transmitted content data 111a and 111b and performs synthesis processing. The viewer can view the content data 111 that has been subjected to the composition processing. When dividing by frequency, unlike the case of division by time slice, viewing is possible without time delay. The partial data of the content that is frequency-divided and distributed and recorded includes, in addition to the recording data itself, identification information of the recording data, identification information of the home server that records, and division information of the frequency division portion.

  A viewing operation in the home server will be described. The viewing request unit 15 of the viewing-side home server 10 transmits a recorded data viewing request to the management server 30. In the management server 30, the transmission instruction unit 33 refers to the management data stored in the storage unit 38, determines a home server to transmit, and sends a transmission instruction to the determined home server. The transmission instruction includes information on which partial data of which program is transmitted to which home server. The transmission home server transmits the partial data that has been distributed and recorded in accordance with an instruction from the management server 30.

  The receiving home server 10 receives the distributed recording data sent from the plurality of home servers 10a and 10b, performs buffering, and combines the distributed recording data into the original format. Do. The synthesizing process can be performed by rearranging the partial data in time order in the case of time slice, and in the case of frequency division, the conversion process is performed after collecting data of each frequency.

  The output unit 17 of the home server on the receiving side outputs the recorded content synthesized by the synthesis unit 16. Here, the output by the output unit 17 may be in any form such as audio / video display output, storage in a storage device, or storage in another storage medium.

  Further, the communication speed measuring unit 13 measures the reception speed of the recorded content transmitted from another home server received by the combining unit 16 and transmits it to the management server 30. Here, the reception speed may be measured by transmitting specific data from another home server, or the reception speed of recorded data transmitted for viewing may be measured.

  Further, the switching unit 14 of the home server 10 connects another switching request for switching to receive the recorded content from another home server when the reception speed measured by the communication speed measuring unit 13 is equal to or lower than a predetermined speed. The data is transmitted to the server or the transmission instruction unit 33 of the management server 30. The home server that has received the switching request or the transmission instruction unit 33 switches the home server that transmits the recording data to another home server, and the switched home server transmits the recorded content data to the viewing destination home server. To do.

  Further, the registration request unit 18 of the home server 10 receives an input of user registration by the operator and transmits the received registration information to the management server 30. A viewer of each home server 10 inputs user information from the registration request unit 18 of the home server 10 and registers the input home server 10 in the management server 30.

  The user registration unit 34 of the management server 30 receives the user registration of the home server 10 that has transmitted the registration information in accordance with the registration information transmitted from the registration request unit 18 of the home server 10. The user registration unit 34 stores the received information in the storage unit 38.

  In addition, the accounting unit 35 of the management server 30 calculates the viewing usage fee for the registered user content according to the user registration information of the home server 10 received by the user registration unit 34. The accounting unit 35 can calculate a subscription fee for the home server 10 that subscribes to a recorded viewing member when operating this recorded viewing system, for example, according to the user registration information.

  Further, the communication recording unit 36 of the management server 30 records transmission / reception data of the recorded content data transmitted from the plurality of home servers to the viewing destination home server. Based on the transmission / reception record recorded by the communication recording unit 36, the billing unit 35 calculates the viewing usage fee for the recorded content viewed by the user who viewed the home server 10.

  When the watermark embedding unit 19 of the home server 10 receives content data recorded from another home server, the watermark embedding unit 19 embeds the received identification information of the home server in the received content data as a digital watermark. The watermark embedding unit 19 embeds an electronic watermark in the viewed content data, which can contribute to copyright protection even when the viewing data is copied.

  That is, when the synthesis process of the recorded data is completed, a process of embedding the ID (identification information) of the home server that has been subjected to the synthesis process and the viewing date / time information into the video data as a digital watermark is performed. This is to prevent illegal copying. After embedding a digital watermark in the recorded data, the data is sent to a display device (generally a television) and the user views it. The processing following the transfer of the partial data is repeated until the viewing ends.

  When the viewing is completed, or when the viewing ends in the middle, the input viewing completion information received by the input unit of the viewing-side home server 10, the request signal for stopping viewing, or the reception and synthesis process by the synthesis unit 16 ends. A signal is transmitted to the management server 30, and transmission end instruction information is transmitted from the transmission instruction unit 33 of the management server 30 to each home server on the transmission side.

  The communication recording unit 35 of the management server 30 records which home server is used for viewing. The viewing record is used for charging a user, paying a copyright fee to a broadcast content right holder, and the like.

(1.3. Operation in recording and viewing system)
(1.3.1. Registration of home server to management server)
FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a user registration procedure in which the home server performs user registration with the management server. In order to perform recording and viewing by the recording / viewing system, the home server first registers with the management server. The operator of the home server 10 who wants to register inputs registration information via the input unit 20. The registration request unit 18 is in a state of receiving accepted registration information (step S101). When the registration information is received (Yes in step S101), the registration request unit 18 transmits to the management server 30 (step S102). . If no reception is detected (No in step S101), the process waits as it is.

  The user registration unit 34 of the management server 30 that receives the registration information from the home server 10 receives the input of registration request information from the home server 10 (step S103), and sets the home server 10 as a home server that has joined the recording / viewing system. Registration processing is performed (step S104).

  The communication detection unit 37 of the management server 30 transmits communication speed measurement request information to the home server that has received registration (step S105). The communication speed measurement unit 13 of the home server 10 that has received the transmitted communication speed measurement request information measures the communication speed (step S106) and transmits the measurement value to the communication detection unit 37 (step S107). The communication detection unit 37 of the management server 30 that has received the transmitted measurement value records the communication speed measurement value (step S108), and the user registration unit 34 transmits a home server registration completion notification and ends. (Step S109). The registration request unit 18 of the home server 10 receives the registration completion notification (step S110) and ends.

(1.3.2. Distributed recording of content by home server)
FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a procedure for recording content by the home server of the recording / viewing system according to the first embodiment. The recording instruction unit 31 of the management server 30 assigns the recorded program and the recording of the recorded portion to the registered home server (step S201). The recording instruction unit 31 transmits the assigned recording instruction information to the home server to be instructed (step S202). The recording unit 11 of the home server that has received the recording instruction information receives the recording instruction information (step S203), and transmits a recording instruction reception notification to the management server 30 (step S204).

  The recording instruction unit 31 is in a reception standby state for receiving a recording instruction reception notification (step S205). If the recording instruction unit 31 does not wait for a predetermined time (step S205: No), the recording instruction unit 31 performs a reassignment process between the recorded program and the recording part. (Step S206), the process returns to Step S202. On the other hand, on the home server 10 side, the recording unit 11 automatically prepares for recording in accordance with the recording instruction information (step S207), and records the allocated portion by performing data distribution processing using a method such as time slice or frequency division. (Step S208). When the recording is completed, the recording unit 11 transmits a completion notification to the management server 30 and ends (step S209).

  The recording instruction unit 31 of the management server 30 is in a reception state of a recording completion notification (step S210). If not received, the recording instruction unit 31 stands by (No in step S210), and if received (Yes in step S210), communication recording The section records the recording status (step S211), and the process ends.

(1.3.3 Viewing operation in home server)
FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining a procedure for viewing the recorded content by the home server of the recording / viewing system. In the viewing-side home server 10, the operator operates the input unit 20 to input a viewing request. The viewing request unit 15 receives the input viewing request information and transmits it to the management server 30 (step S301). The viewing accepting unit 32 of the management server is waiting to receive viewing request information (step S302). If not received, the viewing accepting unit 32 stands by (No in step S302). If received (Yes in step S302), the transmission instruction unit 33 determines a transmission source home server to be actually transmitted from the transmission side home servers recording the content (step S303). The transmission instruction unit 33 transmits the transmission instruction information for transmitting the recording data to the transmission source home server determined in step S303 (step S304).

  The recording transmission unit 12 of the transmission-side home server receives the transmitted recording data transmission instruction information (step S305), and transmits an acceptance notification for accepting the recording data transmission instruction information to the management server 30 (step S306). The transmission instructing unit 33 of the management server 30 is in a reception standby state (step S307). If the reception notification is not received, the standby state is continued (No in step S307), and if received (Yes in step S307), viewing is performed. Enters a standby state for receiving a viewing completion notification informing that the video has been completed (step S315).

  The recording transmission unit 12 of the transmission-side home server transmits the recording data to the transmission-side viewing-side home server according to the received transmission instruction information (step S308). The synthesizing unit 16 of the viewing-side home server that has received the recording data receives the recording data, performs buffering processing (step S309), and performs combining processing of the received recording data (step S310). The watermark embedding unit 19 performs an electronic watermark embedding process on the identification data of the home server and the like on the content data subjected to the synthesizing process (step S311). By this processing, even if the content is recorded, it is identified that the content has been recorded by the recorded viewing-side home server, which can contribute to the protection of copyright.

  The output unit 17 transmits the content data embedded with the digital watermark by the watermark embedding unit to the display device (step S312). The viewer can view the content displayed on the display device.

  The synthesizing unit 16 determines whether or not the viewing is completed (step S313). If not completed (No in step S313), the process returns to step S309, and if completed (Yes in step S313), the synthesizing unit 16 transmits a viewing completion notification to the management server 30 (step S314).

  If the transmission instruction unit 33 of the management server 30 does not receive the viewing completion notification, the transmission instruction unit 33 waits as it is (No in step S315), and if received (Yes in step S315), the transmission instruction unit 33 transmits the viewing completion notification. It transmits to the side home server (step S316). Further, the communication recording unit 36 records the viewing information (step S317) and ends.

  On the other hand, the recording / transmission unit 12 of the transmission-side home server is waiting to receive a viewing completion notification (step S318). If not received (No in step S318), the recording / transmission unit 12 continues to wait and receives (step S318). Yes), it is further determined whether or not the entire viewing has been completed (step S319). If not completed, the process returns to step S308. If completed (Yes in step S319), the process ends.

(1.4. Effect)
By distributing and recording to the recording units of a plurality of home servers, and receiving and synthesizing and viewing the recorded contents transmitted and distributed from the recording and transmitting units of the plurality of home servers, the communication speed can be increased. Thus, even when the downlink is asymmetric, the communication speed necessary for viewing can be stably obtained.

  Even when the operation is unstable like a home server at home, the risk of data loss can be reduced.

  In addition, the recording unit of each home server for recording records the time slice portion in a short time, and the recording and transmitting unit of a plurality of home servers distributes according to the viewing request from the home server that requests viewing at the time of transmission. Then, the recorded partial data is transmitted, and the home server that requested the viewing combines the received partial data to restore the content. With this configuration, for example, by using 10 distributed recording units to be distributed, even if the upstream communication speed is 1/10 of the required communication speed, 10 home servers transmit 10 at the same time. If the data transfer amounts for the units are added together, it is possible to transmit the same data amount as that transmitted at the originally required downlink communication speed.

  Here, the recording data distribution method is not limited to the time slice, and can be selected from a division by spectrum, a division by resolution, and another division method, or a combination thereof.

  When the quantitative performance of such a distributed recording system is estimated, for example, if the distributed recording is performed on 20 home servers in order to cope with the slow upstream communication speed, 12M of typical ADSL is used. Even if the uplink communication speed is only 500 kbps, which is half of the theoretical value of 1 Mbps, the data transmission amount is 500 kbps × 20 = 10 Mbps, and the data transmission speed necessary for viewing the recorded data (standard image quality is about 4 Mbps, high image quality is about 8 Mbps) ) Can be secured sufficiently.

  Further, unlike a personal computer, the data in the home server cannot be altered by the user, so that the rights of the author can be protected and returned to the right holder by making an appropriate charge.

  In general, in a network-connected system, infringements such as copyrights of downloaded recorded data are likely to be a problem, but user registration is performed with respect to the user of the home server to view and charging is performed according to the amount viewed on the home server. By doing so, it is possible to return the consideration to the copyright holder. In other words, the management server records the usage status of the recording data received or viewed by the home server, and pays an appropriate recording usage fee to the right holder such as the copyrighted work used on the network, thereby allowing the recording of the content to be recorded. Can solve the problem of infringement.

  Furthermore, by embedding the ID (identification information) of each home server received and viewed at the time of reproduction on the home server as a digital watermark in recorded data such as video or audio, the viewed video copied on the home server can be reproduced. Even if it is leaked, it is possible to identify the leaked home server, so it is possible to cope with the illegal copy problem.

(2. Embodiment 2)
(2.1. Configuration of recording / viewing system according to Embodiment 2)
FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of the recording / viewing system according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 8, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 2 are the same as those in the recording / viewing system according to the first embodiment, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  The recording / viewing system according to the second embodiment is different from the recording / viewing system according to the first embodiment in that when the management server instructs the home server to perform recording, the same part of one program is divided into a plurality of parts. It is distributed over the home server and is duplicated and multiplexed and recorded. That is, the management server allocates program recording to a plurality of home servers.

  Another difference is that the management server causes the home server to be viewed to select and transmit the content recorded in the plurality of home servers from among the plurality of home servers, for example, the communication state deteriorates. In this case, multiplexed transmission is performed so that transmission is performed from another home server. That is, the management server allocates a plurality of home servers to be transmitted to the home server that views the recorded program, and transmits it as switchable.

  The management server 40 in the recording / viewing system according to the second embodiment includes an allocation unit 41, a recording instruction unit 42, and a transmission instruction unit 43.

  The assigning unit 41 assigns content to a plurality of home servers so that the content is distributed and multiplexed and recorded. In addition, the home server that requests viewing is assigned so that the recorded content is multiplexed and transmitted to a plurality of home servers having the recorded content.

  In accordance with the assignment by the assignment unit 41, the recording instruction unit 42 distributes and multiplexes the recorded content to a plurality of home servers for recording.

  In accordance with the assignment by the assigning unit 41, the transmission instructing unit 43 multiplexes and records the content that has been distributed and multiplexed over a plurality of home servers to the home server that requests viewing.

  Here, the communication detection unit 37 detects communication states of a plurality of home servers and stores them in the storage unit 38. Information about the recorded communication state is used later as information for determining a transmission home server. The communication state includes, for example, communication speed, presence / absence of communication abnormality, and communication interruption due to disconnection. Further, it is preferable to measure the communication speed as appropriate.

  Here, the allocating unit 41 determines the allocation of multiplexed recording and multiplexed transmission according to the information regarding the communication states of the plurality of home servers detected by the communication detecting unit 37. For example, it is preferable that a home server with a stable communication state and a high communication speed is preferentially assigned to recording or transmission of recorded content.

  Here, the home server 10 that receives and views the recorded content transmits the communication speed information at the time of reception measured by the communication speed measuring unit 13 to the management server 40, and receives the transmitted communication speed information. 40 searches for a home server on the transmission side having a higher communication speed and a stable communication state based on the received communication speed information, and if there is a corresponding home server, the allocating unit 41 transmits the recorded content again. Select and assign the sending home server.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a network configuration of the recording / viewing system according to the second embodiment. When the home server 10 on the viewing side detects a failure of the home server 10a or the like during viewing, the management server 40 performs a switching process for switching the home server on the transmission side. The transmission instruction unit 43 of the management server 40 issues a recording data transmission preparation instruction to the switchable home servers 10b to d that have the same recording data in advance and can be switched in preparation for a failure or the like. Further, another home server that can be switched is notified to the viewing-side home server 10. The switchable home servers 10b to 10d enter a standby state until a destination switching request is received.

  When the viewing-side home server 10 detects that the recorded data is not sent within a certain time, the viewing-side home server 10 determines that the transmission-side home server 10a is out of order and sends the transmission source switching request information to the switchable home server 10b. Send. The switching destination home server 10b starts transmitting the recording data instead of the failed home server 10a. As a result, even if the transmission home server breaks down during viewing, viewing can be performed in a stable state.

  Here, the viewing-side home server 10 may be configured to transmit the transmission source switching request information to the management server 40 and switch the home server to be transmitted on the management server 40 side.

  Here, when the management server 40 detects a failure of the home server registered in the recording / viewing system or abandonment of the home server when it is not during viewing, the home server is replaced and replaced. A configuration is also possible in which an instruction to copy the same data that the home server has is sent from another normal server to the assigned home server, and each home server copies data according to the instruction. . With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the recorded data from being lost due to a failure of the home server or the disposal of the home server.

(2.2. Each operation in the recording and viewing system)
(2.2.1. Distributed multiplexing recording instruction operation by management server)
FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining a procedure in which the management server in the recording / viewing system according to Embodiment 2 distributes and multiplexes with the home server and allocates recordings. The allocation unit 41 of the management server 40 allocates the recording of the broadcast content to the plurality of home servers 10a to 10d (step S401). The allocation of the distributed multiplexed recording allocated by the allocation unit 41 is transmitted to the plurality of home servers 10a to 10d allocated as recording instruction information (step S402). In the home server that has received the recording instruction information from the management server 40, the content transmitted from the content distribution server 2 is recorded in accordance with the recording instruction information received by the recording unit 11. At this time, the plurality of home servers 10a to 10d perform recording processing in a state of being distributed and multiplexed.

(2.2.2. Operation in which management server assigns recording based on detection by communication detector)
FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining a procedure for the management server to allocate a recording-side home server based on detection by the communication detection unit. The viewing request unit 15 of the viewing-side home server 10 transmits the recorded data viewing information, which is the viewing request input by the operator through the operation of the input unit 20, to the management server 40 (step S501). The viewing accepting unit 32 of the management server 40 is in a state of receiving the recorded data viewing request information (step S502). If received (Yes in step S502), the communication detecting unit 37 transmits the home server 10b-d on the transmission side. A communication speed measurement data transmission instruction is sent to one of these (step S503). When the viewing acceptance unit 32 does not receive the recorded data viewing request information, the reception standby state is continued as it is (No in step S502).

  The communication speed measurement unit 13 of the transmission-side home server 10b receives the communication speed measurement data transmission instruction information transmitted from the management server 40 (step S504), and transmits the communication speed measurement data to the management server 40 (step S504). S505). The communication detection unit 37 of the management server 40 receives the transmitted communication speed measurement data (step S506), and calculates the transmission speed of the home server 10b (step S507). Steps S503 to S507 are performed with respect to the number of transmitting-side home servers set as the necessary number for multiplexed transmission. As a result, the transmission speeds of a plurality of transmission-side home servers are measured.

  In addition, since the steps from step S503 to step S507 measure the transmission speed of the transmission side home servers for the number set as the necessary number, the communication of the transmission side home server selected as the transmission source. A method of transmitting and receiving the communication speed information directly measured by the speed measuring unit 13 and acquiring the received communication speed information may be used.

  Next, the assigning unit 41 determines and assigns the priority order of the home servers to be actually transmitted from among the plurality of home servers 10b to 10d detected by the communication detecting unit 37 (step S508).

  The transmission instructing unit 43 transmits the recorded data transmission instruction information to the home server with the highest priority determined by the allocating unit 41 so that the recorded data is transmitted to the viewing home server (step S509). At this time, the recorded data transmission instruction information includes data transfer amount instruction information. Since the operation of the management server 40 after step S509 is the same as that after step S307 described above, description thereof is omitted.

  The recording / transmission unit 12 of the home server 10b on the transmission side receives the recording data transmission instruction information (step S510), and the recording data stored in the home server for viewing according to the received recording data transmission instruction information. Is transmitted (step S511). Since the operation of the home server 10b on the transmission side after step S511 is the same as that after step S317 described above, description thereof is omitted.

  The synthesizing unit 16 of the viewing-side home server 10 receives the recording data transmitted by the recording and transmitting unit 12 of the transmitting-side home server 10b (step S512). Since the operation of the home server 10 on the viewing side after step S512 is the same as that after step S310 described above, description thereof is omitted.

(2.2.3. Operation in which the management server switches the home server on the transmission side according to the communication speed)
FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the management server switches the home server on the transmission side according to the communication speed in the recording / viewing system. Here, a description will be given after the first transmission-side home server 10a has started transmission of recorded data to the viewing-side home server 10.

  The recording transmission unit 12 of the first transmission-side home server 10a transmits the recording data to the viewing-side home server 10 (step S601), and the combining unit 16 of the viewing-side home server 10 receives the transmitted recording data, A synthesis process is performed (step S602). Here, the number of home servers on the transmission side is not limited to one, and a plurality of home servers are used when transmitting in a distributed manner. Further, it is assumed that the home server on the second transmission side is waiting in a transmission preparation state in order to multiplex and transmit.

  The communication speed measuring unit 13 measures the communication speed received from the transmission source while receiving the recording data. Then, the communication speed measurement unit 13 transmits the measured communication speed information to the communication detection unit 37 of the management server 40 (Step S603).

  The communication detection unit 37 of the management server 40 receives the communication speed information and detects the transmission speed of the home server on the transmission side (step S604). The allocation unit compares the detected transmission speed of the home server on the transmission side with a predetermined value (step S605), and if below (Yes in step S605), the transmission instructing unit 43 switches to switch the home server on the transmission side Instruction information is transmitted (step S606). Here, the switching instruction information is transmitted to the first transmitting-side home server 10a and the second transmitting-side home server 10b that are currently transmitting.

  When it is determined that the transmission speed of the home server on the transmission side is equal to or higher than the predetermined value (No in step S605), the operation in the management server 40 proceeds to step S315 described above. Since the operation of the management server 40 after step S315 is the same as that after step S315 described above, the description thereof is omitted.

  The video recording transmission unit 12 of the first transmission-side home server 10a receives the switching instruction information from the transmission instruction unit 43 (step S607), performs a termination process for terminating the transmission (step S608), and terminates as it is.

  The recording transmission unit 12 of the second transmission-side home server 10b receives the switching instruction information from the transmission instruction unit 43 (step S610), and starts transmission of the recording data (step S610). Since the operation of the home server 10b on the second transmission side after step S609 is the same as that after step S308 described above, description thereof is omitted.

(2.2.4. Operation in which the management server switches the failed sending home server)
FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the management server switches the transmission-side home server. When the viewer-side home server 10 transmits viewing request information to the management server 40 (step S701), the viewing receiving unit 32 of the management server 40 receives the transmitted viewing request information (step S702), and the allocating unit 41 transmits the viewing request information. The allocation of home servers is determined (step S703).

  In accordance with the assignment determined by the assigning unit 41, the transmission instructing unit 43 sends a recorded data transmission instruction to the home server 10 that has requested viewing of the recorded data recorded to the first transmitting home server 10a, and the first The transmission preparation instruction information that enters the transmission preparation state and waits is transmitted to the home server 10 that views the recorded data to the home server 10b on the transmission side 2 (step S704).

  The recorded data transmission unit 12 of the first transmitting-side home server 10a receives the recorded data transmission instruction information (step S705), and transmits a recorded data transmission instruction information acceptance notification to the transmission instruction unit 43 of the management server 40. (Step S706), the recording transmission unit 12 transmits the recording data to the viewing home server 10 according to the recording data transmission instruction information (Step S707). On the other hand, the recording transmission unit 12 of the second transmission-side home server receives the recording data transmission preparation instruction information transmitted from the transmission instruction unit 43 (step S708), and sends a recording data transmission preparation instruction information reception notification to the transmission instruction unit. 43 (step S709).

  The transmission instruction unit 43 of the management server 40 includes recording data transmission instruction information reception notification information transmitted from the first transmission-side home server 10a and recording data transmission preparation instruction reception notification transmitted from the second transmission-side home server. Information is received (step S710).

  The synthesizing unit 16 of the viewing-side home server 10 receives the recording data transmitted from the first transmitting-side home server 10a (step S711), and the synthesizing unit 16 can further receive the recording data transmitted in a normal state. It is determined whether or not (step S712). When the composition unit 16 determines that the recorded data can be received in a normal state (Yes in Step S712), the process proceeds to Step S310.

  When the combining unit 16 determines that the recorded data cannot be received in a normal state (No in step S712), the switching unit 18 switches the transmission source to switch the transmission source home server 10a to transmission from another home server. The request information is transmitted to the transmission instruction unit 43 of the management server 40.

  The transmission instruction unit 43 of the management server 40 is waiting to receive the transmission source switching request information (step S714). If the transmission source switching request information is not received, the transmission instructing unit 43 continues to wait (No in step S714). When the request information is received (Yes in step S714), the transmission instruction unit 43 transmits transmission switching request information for switching the transmission source to the home server 10 to be viewed to the second transmission-side home server ( Step S715) and the process proceeds to Step 315.

  The recording transmission unit 12 of the second transmission-side home server 10c receives the transmission source switching request information (step S716), starts transmitting the recording data (step S717), and proceeds to step 318.

(2.3. Effect)
Reduce the risk of data loss by storing recorded data of the same content on multiple home servers by recording the recorded data on multiple home servers in a multiplexed (multiplexed) manner Can do. Also, transmission from a home server with a low communication speed or a home server with a communication failure can be avoided, and transmission can be reassigned to transmission from a home server with an appropriate communication speed or a home server in a normal communication state. . With such a configuration, even when the home server is installed in a general home, the communication operation of the home server can be stabilized and the viewing state can be favorably maintained.

  For example, if the same data is stored in three home servers and there is a viewing request, the first home server has a failure caused by a device or a failure caused by a network. Even in the case of deterioration, recording data to be viewed can be stabilized and transmitted in a good viewing state by assigning transmission to the second or third home server and switching the transmission.

  In addition, when there is a margin in the downlink communication speed, the same content is simultaneously recorded from a plurality of recorded home servers without switching and transmitting the distributed and multiplexed recorded content among the plurality of home servers to be transmitted. It is also possible to transmit a plurality of different partial data and store the data received within a predetermined time at the receiving home server and use it for viewing. With this configuration, it is possible to omit waiting time when switching transmission data, and to transmit a large amount of recorded data.

  When the system recording capacity in the multiplexed recording system in the recording / viewing system according to the second embodiment is estimated, when one home server is equipped with a 120 GB HDD, recording is performed for about 50 hours in the standard image quality mode. Assuming that 5 units are multiplexed in order to ensure the safety of recorded data, if 10,000 registered home servers are used, 100,000 hours of recording can be performed. Since 365 days × 24 hours = 8760 hours, broadcasting of 10 channels can be recorded for one year or more with this system. If the number of registered home servers reaches 100,000, it is possible to record over 10 years on 10 channels. If the number of registered home servers reaches 1 million, it is possible to record more than 33 years with 30 channels. If the number of such devices becomes so wide, it is practically possible to record all channels of digital broadcasting.

(3. Embodiment 3)
(3.1. Configuration of Recorded Viewing System according to Embodiment 3)
FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram of the recording / viewing system according to the third embodiment. The recording / viewing system according to the third embodiment is different from the recording / viewing system according to the first embodiment in that there is no management server, a plurality of home servers are connected to the network, and home servers that are recording each other are searched and transmitted. It is a point that is received from the home server and viewed.

  Although only two home servers are depicted in FIG. 14, the number of home servers is not limited to two, and represents an arbitrary plurality. In the figure, the two home servers have the same configuration and are distinguished for the sake of explanation by reference numerals a and b. However, when described as a common configuration, the distinction between a and b is not particularly described.

  Recording unit 51, recording transmission unit 52, communication speed measurement unit 53, switching unit 54, viewing request unit 55, composition unit 56, output unit 57, watermark embedding unit 59, input of the home server in the viewing system according to the third embodiment The unit 60 and the storage unit are the recording unit 11, the recording transmission unit 12, the communication speed measurement unit 13, the switching unit 14, the viewing request unit 15, the combining unit 16, and the output unit 17 of the home server in the viewing system according to the first embodiment. Since it corresponds to the watermark embedding unit 19, the input unit 20, and the storage unit 21, description of elements that execute the same function is omitted, and elements that execute different functions are mainly described.

  The recording unit 51 of the home server 50 receives the content data transmitted from the content transmission server 2 and records the received content data. There is no particular restriction on the recording at this time. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which performs transmission or recording by assigning from the beginning by the content transmission server 2 side.

  The input unit 60 is configured with a keyboard or the like and receives an operator input. The operator inputs a viewing request from the input unit 60, and the viewing request unit 55 accesses another home server connected to the network 1 based on the received viewing request information and searches for the presence or absence of recorded data to view. To do.

  When the recording transmission unit 52 of the home server accessed from the viewing-side home server has confirmed the presence or absence of the corresponding recorded content data, the recorded content data is transmitted to the home server that requests viewing.

  The synthesizing unit 16 of the home server 50 that requested the viewing receives and synthesizes the recorded content data transmitted by the recording and transmitting unit 52 of the home server on the transmission side.

  The registration request unit 58 receives an input of an operator's registration request, and the operator registers in the home server as a viewer to view. The registration information is stored in the storage unit 61. In addition, the registration request unit 58 can transmit registered registration information in response to an inquiry from another home server 50b or a general information terminal via the network.

  When the content recorded by the home server 50 is transmitted to another home server 50 b, the billing unit 501 calculates the transmission / viewing information transmitted from the recorded content as billing information and stores it in the storage unit 61. With this configuration, billing information for a user who views another home server 50b generated by transmitting the recorded content can be accumulated.

  Further, when receiving the recorded content transmitted from the other home server 50 b, the billing unit 501 calculates the received viewing information received by the home server 50 as billing information for the user of the home server 50 and stores it in the storage unit 61. To do. With this configuration, it is possible to accumulate billing information for the user who receives and views the recorded content by the home server.

  The billing unit 501 can transmit the billing information stored in the storage unit 61 in response to an inquiry from another home server 50b or a general information terminal via the network. With this configuration, even when a management server is not particularly provided, billing information for the user viewing with the home server is accumulated in a recording / viewing system using only the home server, and in response to a request from the copyright holder or the like as necessary. Accordingly, information can be collected between home servers that connect user billing information via a network, and the collected billing information can be transmitted, thereby allowing compensation to the copyright holder.

(3.2. Viewing operation in home server)
FIG. 15 is a flowchart for explaining the procedure for viewing the recorded content by the home server of the recorded viewing system according to the third embodiment. In the viewing-side home server 50a, the operator operates the input unit 60a to input a viewing request. The viewing request unit 55a receives the input viewing request information, searches for another home server on the network, and searches for a plurality of corresponding home servers as a result of the search (step S801). The searched home server 10b determines whether or not there is recorded data in the storage unit 61b (step S802). If there is no recorded data, the home server 10b continues to stand by (No in step S802). 52b transmits the recording data to the home server 50a that requests viewing (step S803). The received synthesizing unit 50a synthesizes the recording data (step S804).

  The communication speed measuring unit 53a measures the speed of the recorded data (step S805), and the switching unit determines whether or not the measured reception speed is equal to or lower than a predetermined speed (step S806). When it is determined that the speed is equal to or lower than the predetermined speed (Yes in Step S806), the switching instruction information is transmitted to the transmission-side home server 10b (Step S807), and the received recording transmission unit 52b stops transmission (Step S807). S808), the process ends. At the same time, the switching unit 54a transmits transmission instruction information for switching the transmission source to be transmitted from another home server 10c (not shown) that is first accessed and searched (step S809). If the reception speed is higher than the predetermined speed, the synthesis process is continued as it is (No in step S806).

  When the recording transmission unit 52c of the other transmitting-side home server 10c receives the switching instruction information (Yes in step S809), the recording transmission unit 52c includes the recording data included in the switching instruction information that has received the stored recording data. It transmits to the viewing-side home server 10a according to the transmission instruction information (step S810), and then enters a standby state for receiving a viewing completion notification (step S813). On the other hand, the home server 10a receives and synthesizes the transmitted recording data (step S804), and again proceeds to step S805.

  When the recording transmission unit 52c does not receive the switching instruction information (No in step S809), the recording transmission unit 52c continues as it is and waits for reception.

  The synthesizer 56a detects whether or not viewing is completed (step S811). If not completed (No in step S811), the process returns to step S804. If completed (Yes in step S811), a notification of viewing completion is sent from the transmission side. The message is transmitted to the home server 10c (step S812), and the process ends as it is.

  When the recording / transmission unit 52c receives the viewing completion notification (Yes in step S813), the recording / transmission unit 52c ends the transmission of the recording data (step S814) and ends as it is.

(3.3. Effect)
The recording / viewing system retrieves, transmits, receives, and views the recorded data of the home server from the home server according to the third embodiment that receives and records the recorded data broadcast via the network when viewing the recorded data. Therefore, with a simple configuration in which there is no management server, it is possible to receive and view recorded data to be viewed and received from a wide network with a good communication state and transfer amount secured.

(4. Hardware configuration and storage medium)
FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the management server and the home server in the recording / viewing system according to the embodiment. The above-described management server and home server can be realized by executing a program prepared in advance on a computer system such as a personal computer or a workstation. The entire computer 1100 is controlled by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 1101. A ROM (Read Only Memory) 1102, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 1103, a hard disk drive (HDD: Hard Disk Drive) 1104, a graphic processing device 1105, and an input interface 1106 are connected to the CPU 1101 via a bus 1107. The ROM 1102 and the RAM 1103 store at least a part of an OS (Operating System) program and application programs to be executed by the CPU 1101. The RAM 1103 stores various data necessary for processing by the CPU 1101. The HDD 1104 stores an OS, various driver programs, application programs, detected data, and the like.

  A monitor 1111 is connected to the graphic processing device 1105. The graphic processing device 1105 displays an image on the screen of the monitor 1111 in accordance with a command from the CPU 1101. A keyboard 1112 and a mouse 1113 are connected to the input interface 1106. The input interface 1106 transmits a signal sent from the keyboard 1112 or the mouse 1113 to the CPU 1101 via the bus 1107.

  With the hardware configuration as described above, the processing functions of the present embodiment can be realized. In order to implement the present embodiment on the computer 1100, a driver program is mounted on the computer 1100.

  Note that various programs executed on the management server and the home server of the present embodiment are files that can be installed or executed, and can be recorded on a computer such as a CD-ROM, floppy (R) disk, or DVD. Provided by being recorded on a medium.

  Further, various programs executed by the management server or the home server of the present embodiment may be provided and distributed by storing them on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and downloading them via the network. good.

  As described above, the recording / viewing system, the management server in the recording / viewing system, the home server in the recording / viewing system, the recording / viewing method, and the program for causing the computer to execute the method are useful for the recording / viewing system. In particular, the present invention is useful for a wide-area recording / viewing system including home-use viewing apparatuses connected via a network.

It is a figure explaining the network structure of the video recording viewing system by Embodiment 1 of this invention. 1 is a functional block diagram of a recording / viewing system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining that content transmitted by each home server is distributed and recorded in the recording / viewing system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 12 is another diagram for explaining that the home server distributes and records the content transmitted in the recording / viewing system according to the first embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the procedure in which a home server registers as a user in a management server. It is a flowchart explaining the procedure in which the home server of a video recording viewing system records a content. It is a flowchart explaining the procedure in which the home server of a video recording viewing system views video recording content. 6 is a functional block diagram of a recording / viewing system according to Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a figure explaining the network structure of the video recording viewing system by Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the procedure which the management server distributes and multiplexes with respect to a home server, and allocates a recording in a recording viewing system. It is a flowchart explaining the procedure which a management server allocates the video recording side home server based on the detection by a communication detection part. It is a flowchart explaining the procedure in which a management server switches the home server of a transmission side in a video recording viewing system. It is a flowchart explaining the procedure in which a management server switches a transmission side home server. FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of a recording / viewing system according to a third embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the procedure in which the home server of a video recording viewing system views video recording content. It is a figure which shows the example of hardware constitutions of the management server in the video recording viewing system by embodiment, and a home server.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Network 2 Content transmission server 30, 40 Management server 10, 10a-d, 101, 101a, 101b, 111, 111a, 111b Home server 11,51 Recording part 12,52 Recording transmission part 13,53 Communication speed measurement part 14, 54 switching section 15, 55 viewing request section 16, 56 composition section 18, 58 registration request section 19, 59 watermark embedding section 20, 60 input section 21, 61 storage section 31, 42 recording instruction section 32 viewing acceptance section 33, 43 Transmission instruction unit 34 User registration unit 35 Billing unit 36 Communication recording unit 37 Communication detection unit 38 Storage unit 41 Allocation unit 1100 Computer

Claims (37)

A plurality of home servers for recording and transmitting content transmitted by connecting to a network, and receiving and outputting the recorded content, and recording the content on the plurality of home servers connected to the network And a management server for transmitting to the other home server, and a recording / viewing system comprising:
The management server
Recording instruction means for distributing and recording the content to the plurality of home servers;
Viewing acceptance means for accepting viewing request information that is a viewing request for the recorded content transmitted by the home server;
Based on the viewing request information received by the viewing accepting means, the transmission instruction means for transmitting the content distributed and recorded on the plurality of home servers to the home server that received the viewing request,
The home server is
Recording means for receiving the content to be transmitted and recording based on a distributed recording instruction for recording in a distributed manner instructed by the recording instruction means;
Viewing request means for receiving the viewing request information received by an operator and transmitting the received viewing request information to the management server;
Recording transmission means for transmitting the content distributed by the recording means to the plurality of home servers based on a transmission instruction by the transmission instruction means;
Combining means for receiving and combining the distributed and recorded content transmitted by the recording transmission means;
A recording / viewing system comprising: output means for outputting the recorded content synthesized by the synthesizing means; The management server further includes:
Multiplexing to allocate the plurality of home servers to multiplex and record the content and to allocate the recorded content to the home servers to be multiplexed and transmitted to the home server Having a allocating means,
The recording instruction unit is configured to distribute and multiplex the content to the plurality of home servers based on the allocation by the multiplexing allocation unit,
The transmission instructing unit is configured to multiplex and transmit the distributed, multiplexed and recorded content to the plurality of home servers based on the allocation by the multiplexing allocation unit,
The home server is
The recording unit is configured to distribute and multiplex and record the content based on an instruction from the recording instruction unit;
2. The video recording / transmitting means is configured to transmit the distributed, multiplexed and recorded content in a multiplexed manner to the home server based on a transmission instruction from the transmission instruction means. Recorded viewing system described. The management server further includes:
Comprising communication detecting means for detecting communication states of the plurality of home servers;
3. The multiplexing allocation unit determines allocation of the multiplexed recording and multiplexed transmission based on communication states of the plurality of home servers detected by the communication detection unit. Recording viewing system described in. The home server further includes:
A communication speed measuring means for measuring the communication speed of the recorded content received by the combining means and transmitting it to the management server;
The management server
Based on the communication speed information received from the communication speed measuring means, the multiplexing allocation means determines an allocation for multiplexing and transmitting the distributed, multiplexed and recorded content to the plurality of home servers. The recording / viewing system according to claim 2, wherein the recording / viewing system is one. The home server further includes:
When the reception speed measured by the communication speed measurement means is equal to or lower than a predetermined speed, it comprises switching means for switching to receive the recorded content from another home server,
5. The recording / viewing system according to claim 4, wherein the synthesizing unit receives and synthesizes the recorded content from a transmission source home server switched by the switching unit. The home server further includes:
A registration request means for receiving an input of user registration by an operator and transmitting the received registration information to the management server;
The management server further includes user registration means for receiving user registration of the home server transmitted based on the registration information transmitted from the registration request means;
6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a billing unit that calculates a viewing usage fee for the registered content of the user based on the user registration received by the user registration unit. Recording viewing system described in one. The management server further includes:
Communication recording means for recording transmission / reception of the content by the plurality of home servers;
7. The recording / viewing system according to claim 6, wherein the charging unit calculates a viewing usage fee of the content for viewing by the user based on a transmission / reception record recorded by the communication recording unit. . The home server further includes:
8. A watermark embedding unit that embeds identification information of the home server in the received content as a digital watermark when the recorded content is received from another home server. The recording / viewing system according to any one of the above. Content distributed and connected to a network is distributed and recorded on a plurality of home servers, and the distributed and recorded content is distributed to home servers that transmit viewing request information for requesting viewing of the content. A management server in a recording and viewing system for transmitting and viewing the content on a home server that has transmitted the viewing request information;
Recording instruction means for distributing and recording the content to the plurality of home servers;
Viewing accepting means for accepting viewing request information from the home server;
Based on the viewing request information received by the viewing receiving means, transmission instruction means for transmitting the content distributed and recorded on the plurality of home servers to the home server that has received the viewing request;
A management server in a recording and viewing system, comprising: further,
Multiplexing to allocate the plurality of home servers to multiplex and record the content and to allocate the recorded content to the home servers to be multiplexed and transmitted to the home server Provided with allocating means,
The recording instruction unit is configured to distribute and multiplex the content to the plurality of home servers based on the allocation by the multiplexing allocation unit,
10. The transmission instructing unit is configured to multiplex and transmit the distributed, multiplexed and recorded content to the plurality of home servers based on the allocation by the multiplexing allocation unit. A management server in the described recording and viewing system. further,
Comprising communication detecting means for detecting communication states of the plurality of home servers;
11. The multiplexing allocation unit determines allocation of the multiplexed recording and multiplexed transmission based on communication states of the plurality of home servers detected by the communication detection unit. A management server in the recording / viewing system according to claim 1.   The multiplexing assignment means receives communication speed information from the home server when receiving the recorded content transmitted by the plurality of home servers, and based on the received communication speed information, the plurality of homes. 12. The management server in the recording / viewing system according to claim 10 or 11, wherein an assignment for multiplexing and transmitting the distributed and multiplexed content recorded on the server is determined. further,
User registration means for receiving registration information received by receiving an input of user registration by an operator of the home server, and receiving user registration of the home server based on the received registration information;
13. The apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a billing unit that calculates a viewing usage fee of the registered content of the user based on the user registration received by the user registration unit. A management server in the recording / viewing system according to one. further,
Communication recording means for recording transmission / reception of the content by the plurality of home servers;
14. The recording / viewing system according to claim 13, wherein the billing unit calculates a viewing usage fee for the content for viewing by the user based on a transmission / reception record recorded by the communication recording unit. Management server. Recording and viewing of content transmitted by connecting to a network based on an instruction from the management server, transmitting to a plurality of home servers, and receiving and outputting the recorded content from the plurality of home servers A home server in the system,
Recording means for receiving the content to be transmitted and recording based on a distributed recording instruction from the management server to record in a distributed manner;
Viewing request means for receiving an input of the viewing request for the content by an operator, and transmitting the received viewing request information to the management server;
The transmission instruction information assigned to the plurality of home servers by the viewing request information received by the management server is received, and the recording of the content is recorded based on the transmission instruction information to the home server that has transmitted the viewing request information. Recording transmission means for transmitting;
Combining means for receiving and combining the distributed and recorded content transmitted by the plurality of home servers;
An output means for outputting the recorded content synthesized by the synthesizing means. The recording means is to distribute and multiplex and record based on a multiplexed recording instruction from the management server to scatter and multiplex and record,
The recording / transmission means multiplexly transmits the distributed, multiplexed and recorded content to the plurality of home servers based on a multiplexed transmission instruction transmitted from the management server. The home server in the recording / viewing system according to claim 15, wherein further,
A communication speed measuring means for measuring the communication speed of the recorded content received by the combining means and transmitting it to the management server;
When the recorded content is received from another home server by the allocation information to be multiplexed and transmitted to the plurality of home servers determined by the management server based on the communication speed transmitted by the communication speed measuring means The home server in the recording / viewing system according to claim 16, wherein the combining means receives the recorded content from the another home server and combines the recorded content. The home server further includes:
When the reception speed measured by the communication speed measurement means is equal to or lower than a predetermined speed, it comprises switching means for switching the management server to receive the recorded content from another home server,
18. The home server in the recording / viewing system according to claim 17, wherein the synthesizing unit receives and synthesizes the recorded content from a transmission source home server switched by the switching unit. further,
19. The method according to claim 15, further comprising: a watermark embedding unit that embeds identification information of its home server as an electronic watermark in the received content when the recorded content is received. A home server in the described recording and viewing system. A recording and viewing method for connecting to a network, causing a management server to distribute and record content to be transmitted to a plurality of home servers, and receiving and viewing the distributed and recorded content by the home server,
A recording instruction process in which the management server causes the plurality of home servers to record the content in a distributed manner;
A viewing request step in which the home server receives the viewing request information received by an operator of the home server and transmits the viewing request information received to the management server;
The management server receives and accepts the viewing request information transmitted in the viewing request step;
Based on the viewing request information received in the viewing accepting step, the management server has received the viewing request information for content that has been distributed and recorded on the plurality of home servers with respect to the plurality of home servers. Recording transmission process to be sent to the home server;
A composition step in which the home server receives and synthesizes the distributed and recorded content transmitted in the recording transmission step;
The recording / viewing method, wherein the home server includes an output step of outputting the recorded content synthesized in the synthesizing step. further,
A multiplexed recording allocation step in which the management server allocates the content to be distributed and multiplexed and recorded to the plurality of home servers;
A multiplexing transmission allocating step in which the management server allocates the recorded contents to the plurality of home servers so that the recorded contents are multiplexed and transmitted to the home servers;
The recording instruction step is to cause the management server to distribute and multiplex the content to the plurality of home servers based on the allocation in the multiplexed recording allocation step, and to record.
21. The recording / transmission step is to multiplex and transmit the distributed, multiplexed and recorded content to the plurality of home servers based on the allocation in the multiplexed transmission allocation step. Recording viewing method described in. further,
The management server includes a communication detection step of detecting a communication state of the plurality of home servers;
At least one of the multiplexed video recording allocation step and the multiplexed transmission allocation transmission step determines the allocation based on the communication states of the plurality of home servers detected in the communication detection step. The recording / viewing method according to claim 21. further,
A communication speed measuring step of measuring a communication speed at which the plurality of home servers receive the recorded content and transmitting the measured content to the management server,
The multiplexed transmission allocation step determines transmission allocation of the recorded content based on the communication speed measured in the communication speed measurement step. How to watch and record. further,
A registration request step in which the home server receives an input of user registration by an operator and transmits the received registration information to the management server;
A user registration step of accepting user registration of the home server transmitted by the management server based on the registration information transmitted in the registration request step;
24. A billing step of calculating a viewing usage fee for the registered content of the user based on the user registration received in the user registration step. How to watch and record. further,
The management server includes a communication recording step of recording transmission / reception of the content by the plurality of home servers;
25. The recorded viewing according to claim 24, wherein the accounting step calculates a viewing usage fee for the content for viewing by the user based on the transmission / reception record recorded in the communication recording step. Method. further,
When the home server receives the recorded content from another home server, the home server includes a watermark embedding step of embedding the received identification information of the home server in the received content as a digital watermark. The recording / viewing method according to any one of claims 20 to 25. A plurality of home servers connected to the network, a plurality of contents transmitted via the network are recorded and transmitted to the plurality of home servers, and the recorded contents are received from the plurality of home servers and output. A home server in a recording and viewing system comprising a home server,
Recording means for receiving and distributing the content to be transmitted;
Viewing request means for receiving an input of a content viewing request by an operator and transmitting the received viewing request information to another home server;
When the viewing request information is received, a recording transmission unit that transmits the content recorded in a distributed manner based on the received viewing request information to a home server that is a transmission source of the viewing request information;
When receiving the distributed and recorded content transmitted by the recording transmission means, the synthesizing means for synthesizing the received distributed and recorded content;
An output means for outputting the recorded content synthesized by the synthesizing means. The recording means records the content in a distributed and multiplexed manner;
28. The recording / viewing according to claim 27, wherein the recording / transmission means transmits the distributed and multiplexed content recorded in a multiplexed manner to a home server that is a transmission source of the viewing request. Home server in the system. further,
A communication speed measuring means for measuring a reception speed from a transmission source home server where the synthesizing means transmits the recorded content;
Switching means for switching to receive the recorded content from another home server when the reception speed measured by the communication speed measurement means is equal to or lower than a predetermined speed;
29. The home server in the recording / viewing system according to claim 28, wherein the synthesizing unit receives and synthesizes the recorded content from another source home server switched by the switching unit. further,
User registration means for receiving input of user registration by an operator of the home server;
Charging means for recording transmission / reception of the recorded content in the home server, and calculating a viewing usage fee for the recorded content by the user based on the transmission / reception recording and user registration information received by the user registration means; 30. The home server in the recording / viewing system according to any one of claims 27 to 29. further,
31. A watermark embedding unit that embeds identification information of its own home server in the received content as a digital watermark when the recorded content is received from another home server. A home server in the recording / viewing system according to any one of the above. A recording / viewing method of a recording / viewing system comprising a plurality of home servers connected to a network,
A plurality of home servers, receiving a content transmitted via the network, and performing a distributed recording step of recording in a distributed manner;
A viewing request step of transmitting the received viewing request information to another home server when the home server accepts an input of a viewing request for the content by an operator;
When the plurality of home servers receive the viewing request information transmitted in the viewing request step, the distributed recording is performed based on the received viewing request information to the home server that is the transmission source of the viewing request information. A recording transmission process for transmitting the content,
Receiving the distributed and recorded content transmitted in the recording and transmitting step, and combining the recorded content;
An output step of outputting the recorded content synthesized in the synthesizing step. In the distributed recording step, the content is distributed and multiplexed and recorded.
33. The recording / transmission step is a step of transmitting the content distributed and multiplexed in the distributed recording step to the home server that is the transmission source of the viewing request in a multiplexed manner. Recording viewing method described in. further,
A communication speed measuring step of measuring a communication speed of the recorded content received in the combining step;
A switching step of switching to receive the recorded content information from another home server connected to the network when the communication speed measured in the communication speed measurement step is equal to or lower than a predetermined speed,
34. The recording / viewing method according to claim 33, wherein the synthesizing step receives and synthesizes the recorded content from another transmission source home server switched by the switching step. further,
A user registration step for accepting an input of user registration by an operator of the home server;
A charging step of recording transmission / reception of the recorded content in the home server, and calculating a viewing usage fee of the recorded content by the user based on the transmission / reception recording and the user registration information received in the user registration step. 35. The recording / viewing method according to any one of claims 32-34. further,
36. A watermark embedding step of embedding identification information of its own home server as a digital watermark in the received content when the recorded content is received from another home server. The recording viewing method according to any one of the above.   A program for causing a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 20 to 26 and claims 32 to 36.

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