JP2009093460A - Information processor, information processing method, and program for information processing - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a distribution system for decreasing power consumption as a whole. <P>SOLUTION: In downloading content from a content holder shown by index information, a distribution start time, end prediction time, the additional possible number of distribution and the current number of distribution about the content which is being distributed at present are acquired from the content holder (steps S14 to S16), and a content holder CH whose end prediction time is the latest is selected (step S17), and the distribution of the content is received (step S18). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention belongs to the technical field of an information processing device, an information processing method, and an information processing program, and more specifically, stores content (distribution information) such as a movie to be distributed via a network for the distribution. The information processing apparatus belongs to the technical field of an information processing apparatus that distributes distribution information from the storage apparatus, the information processing method in the information processing apparatus, and the information processing program.

  In recent years, network technologies such as the Internet have been remarkably advanced, and research on a content distribution system as disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1 below has been conducted.

  Here, in the content distribution system, for example, a content such as a movie is any content in the content distribution system by the producer or manager (hereinafter, the producer or manager is simply referred to as a manager or the like). It is first distributed to the node via the network and stored / stored in each content node. Note that the first distribution of content in the content distribution system by the administrator or the like is hereinafter referred to as “content input”.

  When the input content is distributed in the content distribution system, it is operated by a person who desires to view the content from the content node that stores / stores moving image information or the like corresponding to the content. The moving image information and the like are distributed (transmitted) to the request node.

  For the definition of the “content node”, the paragraph number [0071] of the following Patent Document 1 can be referred to. For example, the definition of the “request node” can be referred to, for example, Patent Document 1 below. Reference may be made to paragraph numbers [0064] and [0065] of the specification.

  Further, in the content distribution system, the content once entered is not limited to the content node that is the first destination after the initial introduction, but is based on, for example, a distributed hash table (so-called DHT (Distributed Hash Table)) algorithm. Thus, a copy (replica) of the content is created in another node. Then, by creating the replicas for a while, there are a plurality of content nodes in the content distribution system that store / store the same content in addition to the content node that was initially input. As a result, distribution of the distribution sources is realized, and the distribution to the request node is speeded up and stabilized.

  The node on which the replica is created is hereinafter referred to as “replica node” as appropriate. For the DHT algorithm, reference can be made to, for example, the description of paragraph numbers [0039] to [0072] of FIG.

Here, in the DHT used in the DHT algorithm described in Patent Document 1 below, since the content node or replica node has not been weighted relatively, the content that is desired to be distributed is displayed. Regarding the accumulated content nodes or replica nodes, each node is provided for the distribution of the content with almost equal opportunity.
JP 2006-197400 A

  However, in the content distribution system described in Patent Document 1 described above, each of the content nodes or replica nodes that store the content desired to be distributed as described above is provided for the distribution of the content almost equally. Therefore, the number of content nodes or replica nodes operating when the content distribution system is viewed as a whole increases.

  As a result, when assuming, for example, a distribution company where a large number of content nodes and replica nodes are collected in one place, there is a problem that the power consumption of the entire content distribution system related to the distribution company increases. there were.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a node included in a content distribution system capable of reducing overall power consumption, and an information processing method in the node. And providing a program for the node.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention according to claim 1 stores distribution information for distribution in an information processing apparatus included in a network system in which a plurality of information processing apparatuses are connected via a network. The location information acquisition means such as a communication unit that acquires the location information indicating the location of the storage device that is the information processing device, and the distribution status for each of the storage devices corresponding to the acquired location information First transmission means such as a communication unit for transmitting inquiry information for inquiring, and distribution status information indicating the distribution status in each storage device, and transmitted from each storage device corresponding to the transmitted inquiry information Receiving means such as a communication unit for receiving the distribution status information that is received, and the distribution stored in each storage device based on the received distribution status information A search unit such as a control unit that searches for the storage device that is predicted to be distributed to the latest time, and distribution request information that requests distribution of the distribution information is transmitted to the searched storage device Second transmission means such as a communication unit, and distribution information such as a control unit that acquires the distribution information transmitted in response to the distribution request information from the storage device that has received the transmitted distribution request information Obtaining means.

  Therefore, new distribution information is distributed from the storage device that is expected to distribute any of the distribution information until the latest time. By increasing the possibility of being received, it is possible to suppress an increase in power consumption caused by the start of distribution processing in a new storage device.

  In order to solve the above problem, the invention according to claim 2 is the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the distribution status information is stored in the corresponding storage device in the distribution status information. Schedule information indicating a scheduled delivery completion time for each delivery information is included, and the search means transmits the scheduled time information with the latest scheduled delivery completion time from among the plurality of storage devices. And configured to search for the storage device.

  Therefore, based on the scheduled time information transmitted from each storage device as distribution status information, the storage device that distributes the distribution information with the latest distribution completion scheduled time is searched and the distribution request information is transmitted. The distribution request information can be transmitted by accurately grasping the distribution state in the apparatus.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 3 is the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the search means receives the reception means during a preset waiting time. The search is performed on the distribution status information.

  Therefore, since the search is executed from the distribution status information received during the preset standby time, it is possible to quickly search for the necessary storage device and acquire the distribution information without requiring a wasteful waiting time. it can.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention according to claim 4 is the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the distribution status information corresponds to the distribution status information. The storage device includes distributable number information indicating the number of distribution information that can be additionally distributed, and the search means can distribute the number of distribution information that can be additionally distributed larger than zero. A search is performed on the storage device that has transmitted the distributable number information indicating the number.

  Therefore, since the search is performed from the storage device that can perform additional distribution, for example, the necessary storage can be quickly performed without performing unnecessary processing such as transmitting distribution request information to a storage device that cannot perform further distribution. The device can be searched to obtain distribution information.

  In order to solve the above problem, the invention according to claim 5 is an information recording method executed in the information processing apparatus included in a network system in which a plurality of information processing apparatuses are connected via a network. A location information acquisition step of acquiring location information indicating the location of the storage device that is the information processing device that stores the distribution information for distribution; and for each of the storage devices corresponding to the acquired location information, A first transmission step of transmitting inquiry information for inquiring a distribution state; and distribution state information indicating the distribution state in each of the storage devices and transmitted from each of the storage devices in response to the transmitted inquiry information. A receiving step for receiving incoming distribution status information, and the distribution stored in each of the storage devices based on the received distribution status information A search step for searching for the storage device that is predicted to be distributed until the latest time, and a second transmission for transmitting distribution request information for requesting distribution of the distribution information to the searched storage device And a distribution information acquisition step of acquiring the distribution information transmitted corresponding to the distribution request information from the storage device that has received the transmitted distribution request information.

  Therefore, new distribution information is distributed from the storage device that is expected to distribute any of the distribution information until the latest time. By increasing the possibility of being received, it is possible to suppress an increase in power consumption caused by the start of distribution processing in a new storage device.

  In order to solve the above problem, an invention according to a sixth aspect causes a computer to function as the information processing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.

  Therefore, since the computer functions to receive distribution of new distribution information from the storage device that is expected to distribute any of the distribution information until the latest time, it can be performed simultaneously from the storage device that is currently distributed. In addition, since the possibility of receiving a new distribution is increased, an increase in power consumption caused by the distribution process being started in the new storage device can be suppressed.

  According to the present invention, new distribution information is received from the storage device that is expected to distribute any of the distribution information until the latest time. Since the possibility of receiving a new distribution increases, it is possible to suppress an increase in power consumption caused by the distribution process being started in the new storage device.

  Therefore, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the entire content distribution system.

Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiment described below is an embodiment when the present invention is applied to a distribution system that distributes the content using a network such as the Internet. More specifically, a distribution system in which the content is directly exchanged between terminal devices belonging to the network (in other words, the content is shared among a plurality of terminal devices), that is, so-called P2P (Pear to Pear This is an embodiment in the case where the present invention is applied to a distribution system. In the following description, the terminal device is generally referred to as a “node”.
Initially the principle of (I) the present invention, before the specifically described embodiments of the present invention, per the principles of the present invention, P2P type distribution system according to the embodiment (hereinafter, simply referred to as a delivery system) with Overview explain.

(A) Overview of Distribution System First, an overview of a distribution system according to an embodiment will be generally described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. 1 and 2 are schematic diagrams showing an outline of the distribution system.

  The distribution system using DHT described in Patent Document 1 is partially described in Patent Document 1, but the content itself distributed by the distribution system is unique from other contents. A unique content ID is assigned. The bit length of the content ID is also the same as the bit length of the node ID. In general, the content ID includes title data indicating the title of the content, attribute data indicating the attributes of the data constituting the content, data for several bytes from the top of the data configuring the content, and the like. A value obtained by applying a hash function is used.

  Here, in relation to the fact that corresponding node IDs and content IDs are expressed with the same bit length, the nodes and content are assumed to be scattered in the same ring-shaped virtual ID space. Can think. That is, as shown in FIG. 1A in which one node is displayed with ● and one content is displayed with ○, the ring Rc to which the content belongs and the ring Rn to which the node belongs are assumed virtually concentrically. . Further, if it is defined that the value of each ID increases counterclockwise in each ring Rc and Rn, it can be assumed that each node or each content exists without overlapping on each ring Rc and Rn. If each ID is expressed in 128-bit length as in the above example, the number of digits is too large. In FIG. 1A, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, the bit length of each ID is set to 32 bits. Expressed (the same applies hereinafter). Then, as described above, due to the use of the hash function in determining the value of each ID, each node and each content are present in a substantially distributed manner on each of the above rings Rc and Rn. Become.

  On the other hand, in the distribution system using the DHT, “a node that manages content to which a certain content ID is assigned is a node to which a node ID having a value closest to the value of the content ID is assigned”. ing.

  Here, “near” may be any definition as long as it is consistent in various regulations regarding the distribution system. Specifically, for example, it is defined such that “the value does not exceed the value of the content ID and the difference between the values as the ID is the smallest”.

  More specifically, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 1A, a node having a node ID value “A0334055” and a node having a node ID value “A03340FF” are adjacent to each other on the ring Rn. Suppose it exists. In this case, the content whose content ID value is “A0334080” is managed by the node whose node ID value is “A0334055”. In FIG. 1A, the terminal information for managing the content of “◯” is indicated by an arrow extending from each “◯”. In this way, various contents can be managed by being distributed among a large number of nodes.

  At this time, “management” does not mean that the content assigned with the content ID is recorded therein, but recognizes the location of the node where the content is recorded (for example, an IP address). It means that The node where the content is actually recorded may be different from the managed node, or the content to be managed may be recorded in the managed node.

  The above-described content management node is referred to as a “root node”. The root node records index information consisting of a pair of a content ID indicating the content that is to be managed and the IP address of the node in which the content indicated by the content ID is recorded. Record so that it can be referred to by other nodes in the distribution system. In some cases, the index information includes the title of the content, the attribute (genre), and the like.

  In addition, when the content IDs indicating different contents are close to coincidence, and there is no other node having a node ID close to that value, a plurality of indexes corresponding to a plurality of contents by one root node Information will be recorded. Furthermore, when the same content is recorded in a plurality of different nodes and the node recording the same content is close to one root node by chance, The index information of a plurality of nodes each recording content is recorded. An example of the index information EX in the root node described above is shown in FIG.

  Further, a node that actually records each content itself is referred to as a “content holder”. At this time, since the content holder itself is a node, the node ID exists on the ring Rn in FIG.

  Next, in the distribution system using the DHT, the DHT (routing table) itself, which is one of the devices for eliminating the necessity for each node to record the IP addresses of all the nodes as described above, will be described. To do.

  In the DHT according to the embodiment, the ID space illustrated in FIG. 1 is subdivided while increasing the number of levels for each stepped level (for example, in the case of level 1, the ID space is divided into four). Routing information that describes a pair of a node ID of an arbitrary node and its IP address is described for each area (for each area subdivided in stages). For example, when the distribution source inquiry information for requesting the content distribution source information is transferred to the root node in which the index information is recorded, the inquiry information is transferred to the target root node while referring to the routing information. To do. That is, each time the level in DHT increases, the node ID of the routing destination matches the node ID of the root node to be reached one digit at a time, and the request information finally reaches the root node to be reached. Will do.

  In the distribution system using DHT, the inquiry information as described above, the distribution request information for requesting the distribution of the content itself, the registration message and the download request message, which will be described later, are referred to as “message”. Yes. When the DHT having the above-described mechanism is used, the message can be efficiently transferred to the target node in the ID space as illustrated in FIG. In the following description, when a new content is recorded in the content holder, a message generated in the content holder is referred to as a registration message so that it can be discovered (published) from other nodes. A message transmitted from a requester described later to a root node or a cache node described later is referred to as a distribution source inquiry message.

  Here, as described above, since the value of the node ID of the root node is closest to the value of the node ID of the content holder that manages the content by the root node, the distribution source inquiry message is the distribution request. Immediately before the content holder requested by the message is reached, the root node that manages the content to be distributed is reached. Then, the root node that has received the distribution source inquiry message returns the IP address of the content holder storing the content requested by the distribution source inquiry message to the transmission source of the distribution source inquiry message. That is, from the index information (see FIG. 1B) recorded in the root node, the title indicating the content requested by the distribution source inquiry message, the attribute information, and the IP of the node as its content holder The address or the like is returned to the node that is the source of the distribution source inquiry message. By utilizing such DHT, the location of the desired content can be efficiently recognized at the distribution request source, for example. The node that is the content distribution request source described above is hereinafter referred to as a “requester”.

  Next, a description will be given of content registration processing when new content is accumulated in a certain node.

  When new content is stored in a node, that is, the content holder for that content, the content holder will publish that the content has been stored to other nodes in the distribution system.

  That is, when new content is stored in a certain node, the node that is a content holder for the stored content calculates a content ID corresponding to the content based on the title of the stored content.

  Next, the content holder transmits a registration message with a node having a node ID having the same value as the calculated content ID as a destination (regardless of whether or not the node having the node ID actually exists). This registration message includes the title indicating the content, the attribute information, the IP address of the node as the content holder, and the like, and is sent to the node as the destination of each level via each routing destination according to the description of the DHT. Sequentially transferred.

  When the node having the closest node ID is reached, the node recognizes that the node to which the registration message is to be transferred thereafter does not exist in the ID space. Recognizing that the node to be transferred is itself), the node to which the registration message arrives at this point becomes the root node for managing new content. Thereby, the node that becomes the root node records the content ID included in the registration message, the IP address indicating the content holder, the attribute information, and the like as index information EX illustrated in FIG. 1B.

  Next, the concept of “cache node” in the distribution system according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, the root node is indicated by a double circle, the content holder is indicated by a circle marked with X, the requester is indicated by a circle marked with |, and a cache node to be described later is set inside. + Indicates a circle, and other general nodes indicate a circle.

  When the distribution source inquiry message Qr from the requesters RQ1 to RQ3 is transferred to the root node RN (or content holder CH) by the routing using the DHT described above, the transfer route (in FIGS. 2A and 2B) 2 (a) is similar to the path followed by the registration message Qp (shown by the solid line in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b)) as shown in FIG. If the index information EX exemplified in FIG. 1B is also recorded in each node on the path (indicated by reference numeral CN in FIG. 2A), it corresponds to the distribution source inquiry message Qr passing through the path. Before the delivery source inquiry message Qr reaches the destination route node RN or the content holder CH. The reply information RT (see FIG. 2B) as an answer corresponding to the request message Qr can be sent back to the requesters RQ1 to RQ3.

  That is, the requesters RQ1 to RQ3 that request distribution of the content published in the distribution system transmit the distribution source inquiry message Qr that requests the IP address of the node (that is, the content holder CH) in which the content is recorded. To do. Then, the transmitted distribution source inquiry message Qr is transferred to the routing destination described in the DHT in each node and approaches the root node RN. Thereafter, the route finally joins the route of the registration message Qp from the content holder CH and reaches the root node RN.

  Here, when the path on the ring Rc shown in FIG. 2A is replaced with a tree structure, the result is as shown in FIG. 2B, which is hereinafter referred to as “spanning tree”.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the route of the distribution source inquiry message Qr transmitted from each requester RQ and the route of the registration message Qp transmitted from the content holder CH are in any node on these routes. It will eventually cross. Accordingly, the index information EX included in the registration message Qp is recorded in a temporarily recordable temporary recording area at each node on the route for reaching the root registration message Qp to the root node RN ( That is, the registration message Qp is transferred (temporarily cached). Then, a reply to the distribution source inquiry message Qr from the requester RQ is made before the distribution source inquiry message Qr reaches the root node RN from the node where the distribution source inquiry message Qr on the route to the root node RN has arrived. It can be done. A node that is a node other than the root node RN and temporarily stores the index information EX in this manner is hereinafter referred to as a “cache node” CN.

  Then, by referring to the index information EX recorded in the root node RN and the cache node CN, as shown in FIG. 2B, the distribution source inquiry message Qr from the requester RQ reaches the root node RN. Even without this, the reply information RT corresponding to the distribution source inquiry message Qr can be returned from the cache node CN to each requester RQ.

(B) Principle of the present invention Next, the principle of the present invention based on the distribution system described above will be described.

  Conventionally, the requester RQ that has received the reply information RT described above selects one of the content holders CH corresponding to the index information EX included in the received reply information RT. Then, a download request message including a content ID indicating the content desired to be distributed is transmitted to the selected content holder CH. In response to the transmitted download request message, the content holder CH that has received the download request message transmits the necessary content to the requester RQ.

  On the other hand, in the present invention, the requester RQ that has received the reply information RT first relates to each of the content holders CH corresponding to the index information EX included in the received reply information RT. An index request message for requesting transmission of index information (hereinafter, index information according to the present invention is simply referred to as additional index information) is transmitted.

  Then, each content holder CH that has received the index request message receives, as additional index information for reply, the conventional index information EX (index information EX including the IP address of the corresponding content holder CH and the like (FIG. 1B). In addition to the content of the reference)), the distribution status information indicating the distribution status of other content in the content holder CH is included and returned to the requester RQ. At this time, the distribution state information includes distribution start time information, predicted end time information, distributable number information, and current distribution number information.

  Here, the distribution start time information is information indicating the distribution start time of each content currently distributed from the content holder CH corresponding to the index information EX.

  The predicted end time information is information indicating the predicted end time of distribution in each content being distributed. At this time, the estimated end time is calculated using the distribution start time indicated by the corresponding distribution start time information and the data amount of the content to be distributed, and the calculated distribution required time is started. This is the time obtained by adding to the time.

  Furthermore, the distributable number information is information indicating the number of contents that can be further distributed from the corresponding content holder CH in addition to the currently distributed contents.

  Furthermore, the current distribution number information is information indicating the total number of contents currently distributed from the content holder CH.

  The “currently distributed contents” in the distribution start time information and the distributable number information and the “currently distributed contents” in the current distribution number information are the contents that have received the index request message, respectively. This refers to all the content that the holder CH is currently delivering to any requester RQ.

  Then, the requester RQ according to the present invention that has received one or a plurality of additional index information selects the content holder CH with the latest predicted end time from among the content holders CH corresponding to the additional index information.

  Thereafter, the download request message is transmitted again to the selected content holder CH, thereby receiving the desired content distribution from the selected content holder CH.

In this way, by receiving the distribution of the desired content in parallel from the content holder CH having the latest estimated end time of distribution to the other requester RQ, other content holders CH other than the content holder CH currently performing distribution are received. Will not start operations for new content distribution. Then, by receiving the distribution of any content in parallel from the content holder CH, as a result, the number of content holders CH that are operating as a whole distribution system is reduced (in other words, not increased), Therefore, it is possible to reduce power consumption and noise.
(II) Embodiment Next, an embodiment according to the present invention based on the above-described principle will be specifically described with reference to FIGS.

  First, a schematic configuration of a node according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the node according to the embodiment. In the present embodiment, the content holder CH, the requester RQ, the root node RN, the cache node CN and the other nodes N basically have the same hardware configuration, and thus represent them. An outline of the configuration of a general node N will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the node N included in the distribution system according to the embodiment includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, a buffer memory 13, a decoder unit 14, a video processing unit 15, a CRT ( Cathode Ray Tube) or a display unit 16 including a liquid crystal display, an audio processing unit 17, a speaker 18, a communication unit 20, and an input unit 21 including, for example, a keyboard and a mouse or an operation panel. .

  In this configuration, the control unit 11 includes a CPU having a calculation function, a working RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory) for recording various data and programs, and the like.

  The storage unit 12 includes an HDD or the like for recording / saving (storing) content data as the content itself, the index information EX, the DHT, and other necessary programs. The content data is recorded only in the storage unit 12 in the node N as the content holder CH before the distribution.

  Further, the buffer memory 13 temporarily stores the received content data. Then, the decoder unit 14 decodes (data expansion, decoding, etc.) encoded video data (video information), audio data (audio information), and the like included in the content data. Thereafter, the video processing unit 15 performs a predetermined drawing process on the decoded video data and the like, and outputs it as a video signal. The display unit 16 displays video based on the video signal output from the video processing unit 15.

  On the other hand, the audio processing unit 17 performs D / A (Digital / Analog) conversion of the decoded audio data into an analog audio signal, and then amplifies the analog audio signal with an amplifier or the like and outputs it. The speaker 18 outputs the audio signal output from the sound processing unit 17 as a sound wave.

  On the other hand, the communication unit 20 is used to control communication of information with other node devices 1 through the network 8.

  Further, the input unit 21 receives an instruction from each user and outputs an instruction signal corresponding to the instruction to the control unit 11.

  Furthermore, the control unit 11, the storage unit 12, the buffer memory 13, the decoder unit 14, and the communication unit 20 are connected to each other via a bus 22 so as to be able to exchange data.

  Then, when the CPU in the control unit 11 executes various programs recorded in the storage unit 12 or the like, the control unit 11 can execute the requester RQ, the cache node CN, the root node RN, the content holder CH, or other general items. Overall control of the entire operation as the node N is performed.

  When the node N is a requester RQ as an information processing apparatus according to the present invention, the control unit 11 functions as a search unit and a distribution information acquisition unit according to the present invention, and the communication unit 20 is located according to the present invention. It functions as information acquisition means, first transmission means, second transmission means, and reception means.

  Next, the operation of each node N according to the embodiment will be described separately for the content holder CH and the requester RQ. Note that the operation of the node N as the root node RN and the cache node CN according to the embodiment is basically the same as that of the conventional one, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

(A) Operation in Content Holder First, the operation in the content holder CH according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4A is a flowchart showing an operation in the content holder CH according to the embodiment.

  Further, among the operations in the content holder CH according to the embodiment, the new content registration operation is the same as the conventional one, and the description thereof is omitted. The operation shown in FIG. 4A shows only the operation of the content holder CH according to the embodiment after receiving the index request message from any requester RQ.

  First, the operation of the content holder CH according to the embodiment is started when any message is received.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4A, the control unit 11 in the content holder CH confirms whether the received message is the index request message or the download request message (step S1).

  If the received message is an index request message (step S1; index request message), the control unit 11 in addition to the conventional index information EX, the distribution start time information at that time, the end prediction The additional index information including time information, distributable number information, and current distribution number information is generated.

  Thereafter, the control unit 11 transmits the generated additional index information to the requester RQ that has transmitted the index request message (step S2), and ends the operation as the content holder CH according to the embodiment.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1 that the received message is a download request message (step S1; download request message), the control unit 11 transmits the download request message with the content indicated by the download request message. The requester RQ is transmitted via the network (step S3), and the operation as the content holder CH according to the embodiment is terminated.

(B) Operation in Requester Next, the operation in the requester RQ according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4B is a flowchart showing the operation in the requester RQ according to the embodiment.

  The operation of the requester RQ according to the embodiment is started when an operation for requesting delivery of desired content by the user is executed in the input unit 21 in the requester RQ.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 4B, the control unit 11 in the requester RQ calculates a content ID indicating the content requested for distribution, and generates a distribution source inquiry message Qr (step S11).

  Next, the control unit 11 transmits the generated distribution source inquiry message Qr to the root node RN on the spanning tree in the network in the distribution system according to the embodiment (step S12), and as a transmission result thereof The desired index information EX is acquired in one or a plurality of list formats (step S13).

  Next, when receiving the index information EX, the control unit 11 transmits the index request message to each of the content holders CH corresponding to the received index information EX (step S14).

  Thereafter, the control unit 11 waits for a reply of the additional index information to the index request message. During this time, for the content holder CH for which additional index information is not returned even after the preset waiting time T has elapsed, it is impossible to distribute the content due to, for example, the power being turned off. If so, the control unit 11 deletes it from the list received in step S13 (step S15).

  Next, when additional index information is returned from each content holder CH that has transmitted the index request message, the control unit 11 determines that the distribution start time included in each additional index information that has been returned. The contents of the information, predicted end time information, distributable number information, and current distribution number information are confirmed.

  Then, for the content holder CH whose distributable number information is zero, the control unit 11 deletes it from the list received in step S13, assuming that further distribution of additional content is impossible (step S16). .

  Then, the control unit 11 connects to the content holder CH with the latest predicted end time of content delivery indicated by the end predicted time information from among the content holder CHs remaining in the list (step S17), The content to be received is received (step S18). With the above operation, the processing as the requester RQ according to the embodiment is completed.

  As described above, according to the operation of the content holder CH as the node N and the requester RQ according to the embodiment, a new content holder CH is expected to be delivered until the latest time. Since the distribution of a new content is received, the possibility that a new distribution can be received from the currently distributed content holder CH at the same time is increased, and the distribution process is started in the new content holder CH. It is possible to suppress an increase in power consumption caused by the above. In particular, since additional index information is transmitted for content other than the content desired to be distributed in the requester RQ, the content holder CH that is currently being distributed and has the latest predicted end time is targeted for all content. You can search.

  Therefore, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the entire distribution system.

  In addition, based on the predicted end time information transmitted from each content holder CH as additional index information, the content holder CH that distributes the content with the latest predicted end time of distribution is searched and a download request message is transmitted. The download request message can be transmitted by accurately grasping the distribution state in each content holder CH.

  Furthermore, since the search is executed from the additional index information received during the preset waiting time T, the necessary content holder CH can be searched quickly and the content can be acquired without requiring a wasteful waiting time. Can do.

  Furthermore, since the search is performed from the content holder CH that can be additionally distributed, for example, it can be quickly performed without wasteful processing such as transmitting a download request message to the content holder CH that cannot be further distributed. The content can be acquired by searching for the necessary content holder CH.

  In the above-described embodiment, when there are a plurality of content holders CH having the latest predicted end time, the next distribution is desired from the content holder CH having the largest number of deliverables indicated by the deliverable number information. The distribution information may be distributed.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to further suppress an increase in power consumption and the like due to the start of distribution processing in a new content holder CH.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the additional index information including the distribution start time information, the predicted end time information, the number of distributable numbers, and the current number of distributions as the distribution state information has been described. Information indicating the cumulative operating time of the storage unit 12 in the content holder CH, information indicating the number of hops in the network between the content holder CH and the requester RQ or the frequency band (line speed) of the line, and turning on the power switch in the content holder CH Information indicating the frequency of / off may be included in the additional index information.

  The control unit 11 of the requester RQ performs distribution including other contents including the accumulated operating time information to the latest, and the content holder that can receive the distribution of contents most quickly and stably. It is possible to select a CH and transmit the download request message.

  In determining whether it is “fast and stable”, for example, the cumulative operation time is less, the number of hops is smaller, the frequency band of the line is wider, or the frequency of turning on / off the power switch By selecting a content holder CH with less content, it is possible to receive high-speed and stable content distribution.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to more reliably suppress an increase in power consumption.

  Note that the programs corresponding to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B are recorded on an information recording medium such as a flexible disk or a hard disk, or acquired and recorded via the Internet or the like. In addition, by reading and executing these by a general-purpose computer, it is possible to cause the computer to function as the control unit 11 according to the embodiment.

  As described above, the present invention can be used in the field of content distribution via a network, and particularly when applied to the field of content distribution in a download format, a particularly remarkable effect can be obtained.

It is a schematic diagram (I) which shows the outline | summary of the delivery system which concerns on each embodiment, (a) is a schematic diagram which shows ID space in the said delivery system, (b) is a figure which illustrates index information. It is the schematic diagram (II) which shows the outline | summary of the delivery system which concerns on each embodiment, (a) is a schematic diagram which shows the transmission state of the message in the said delivery system, (b) is the message of this message represented as a spanning tree. It is a figure which shows a transmission state. It is a block diagram which shows the outline structure of the node which concerns on embodiment common about a content holder etc. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement in the content holder and requester which concerns on embodiment, (a) is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement in the said content holder, (b) is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement in the said requester.

Explanation of symbols

11 Control unit 12 Storage unit 13 Buffer memory 14 Decoder unit 15 Video processing unit 16 Display unit 17 Audio processing unit 18 Speaker 20 Communication unit 21 Input unit 22 Bus Rc, RN Ring EX Index information CH Content holder RQ, RQ1, RQ2, RQ3 Requester RN Root node CN Cache node Qp Registration message Qr Distributor inquiry message N Node RT Reply information

Claims (6)

In the information processing apparatus included in a network system in which a plurality of information processing apparatuses are connected via a network,
Location information acquisition means for acquiring location information indicating the location of the storage device that is the information processing device that stores the distribution information for distribution;
First transmission means for transmitting inquiry information for inquiring the distribution status to each of the storage devices corresponding to the acquired location information;
Receiving means for receiving distribution status information transmitted from each of the storage devices corresponding to the transmitted inquiry information, the distribution status information indicating the distribution status in each of the storage devices;
Search means for searching for the storage device that is predicted to deliver the distribution information stored in each storage device to the latest time based on the received distribution status information;
Second transmission means for transmitting distribution request information for requesting distribution of the distribution information to the searched storage device;
Distribution information acquisition means for acquiring the distribution information transmitted corresponding to the distribution request information from the storage device that has received the transmitted distribution request information;
An information processing apparatus comprising: The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The delivery status information includes scheduled time information indicating a scheduled delivery completion time for each of the delivery information stored in the storage device corresponding to the delivery status information,
The information processing apparatus, wherein the search means searches for the storage apparatus that has transmitted the scheduled time information with the latest scheduled delivery completion time from among the plurality of storage apparatuses. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the search unit executes a search for the distribution status information received by the receiving unit during a preset standby time. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The distribution status information includes distributable number information indicating the number of distribution information that can be additionally distributed in the storage device corresponding to the distribution status information,
The search means is configured to execute a search for the storage device that has transmitted the distributable number information indicating the distributable number in which the number of distribution information that can be additionally distributed is greater than zero. Information processing device. In an information recording method executed in the information processing apparatus included in a network system in which a plurality of information processing apparatuses are connected via a network,
A location information acquisition step of acquiring location information indicating the location of the storage device that is the information processing device that stores the distribution information for distribution;
A first transmission step of transmitting inquiry information for inquiring about the distribution status to each of the storage devices corresponding to the acquired location information;
A receiving step of receiving distribution status information transmitted from each of the storage devices in response to the transmitted inquiry information, which is distribution status information indicating the distribution status in each of the storage devices;
Based on the received distribution status information, a search step for searching for the storage device that is predicted to distribute the distribution information stored in each storage device to the latest time;
A second transmission step of transmitting distribution request information for requesting distribution of the distribution information to the searched storage device;
A distribution information acquisition step of acquiring the distribution information transmitted corresponding to the distribution request information from the storage device that has received the transmitted distribution request information;
An information processing method comprising:   An information processing program for causing a computer to function as the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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