JP2009284007A - Streaming playback apparatus and streaming playback device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a streaming playback apparatus which is hardly influenced by a network throughput performance, and enables stable streaming playback. <P>SOLUTION: The streaming playback apparatus connected to a server via a network for acquiring a playback file from the server and playing it back is provided with: an acquiring means for acquiring a playback file which should be obtained at a designated timing according to an instruction form a playback control file from the server via the network at a timing earlier than the designated timing; a storage means for storing the playback file obtained by the acquiring means; and a playback control means for controlling the playback operation based on the playback control file. The playback control means provides the playback file stored in the storage means in accordance with the instruction of acquiring the playback file at the designated timing based on the playback control file. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a streaming playback technique for sequentially playing back downloaded playback files while sequentially downloading one or more playback files from a network server or the like based on a playback control file read from an optical disc or the like.

In recent years, with the improvement of the network environment in general homes and the like, content distribution such as movies using streaming playback technology has been proposed. In distributing contents such as movies, a streaming reproduction technique for displaying moving images without interruption is required. Therefore, a technique has been proposed for selecting a file corresponding to the network throughput of the information reproducing apparatus when the file on the network server is downloaded by the information reproducing apparatus (see Patent Document 1).
JP2007-65928

  However, according to the above technique, for example, the lower the network throughput is, the lower the quality of the downloaded file is expected.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a streaming playback apparatus and a streaming playback method that are not easily affected by network throughput performance and enable stable streaming playback.

  A streaming playback device according to an embodiment of the present invention is a streaming playback device that connects to a server via a network, acquires a playback file from the server, and plays back the playback file. An acquisition means for acquiring a reproduction file instructed to be acquired at a specified timing from the server via a network at a timing earlier than the specified timing; and a storage means for storing the reproduction file acquired by the acquisition means; Reproduction control means for controlling a reproduction operation based on the reproduction control file, wherein the reproduction control means corresponds to an instruction to acquire the reproduction file at the designated timing based on the reproduction control file, and the storage means The playback file stored in the file is provided.

  A streaming playback method according to an embodiment of the present invention is a streaming playback method of connecting to a server via a network, acquiring a playback file from the server, and playing back the playback file. A playback file instructed to be acquired at a specified timing is acquired from the server via a network at a timing earlier than the specified timing, the acquired playback file is stored, and the specification based on the playback control file The playback file stored in the storage means is provided in response to an instruction to acquire the playback file at the timing.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a streaming playback apparatus and a streaming playback method that are not easily affected by network throughput performance and enable stable streaming playback.

  Hereinafter, first and second embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The outline of the streaming playback apparatus (streaming playback method) according to the first embodiment is as follows.

  1. The streaming playback device downloads a playback file necessary for streaming playback instructed to be acquired at a specified timing by the playback control file from the server via a network at a timing earlier than the specified timing.

  2. Furthermore, the streaming playback apparatus determines the priority order of downloading at a prior timing according to the type of the playback file, and downloads the playback file from the server via the network at the prior timing based on the priority order.

  As described above, the following effects can be obtained.

  1. Since the streaming playback device downloads the playback file at a pre-timing, that is, the playback file is downloaded at a timing with some time margin, streaming playback can be performed with stable quality even in an environment where the network throughput is narrow.

  2. Streaming playback devices can preferentially download playback files that require high network throughput (for example, high-quality image files or high-quality audio files), improving the success rate of streaming playback that requires high network throughput. Can be planned.

  The outline of the streaming playback apparatus (streaming playback method) according to the second embodiment is as follows. The second embodiment is premised on the first embodiment. That is, the second embodiment has the following outline in addition to the outline of the first embodiment.

  1. The streaming playback apparatus notifies the server of a network throughput higher than its actual network throughput (hereinafter referred to as a first dummy network throughput).

  2. Further, the streaming playback apparatus notifies the server of the first dummy network throughput according to the type of streaming playback (type of playback file). For example, the streaming playback device notifies the server of the first dummy network throughput when requesting a high-quality image file or a high-quality sound file.

  3. Also, the streaming playback apparatus notifies the server of a network throughput lower than its actual network throughput (hereinafter referred to as a second dummy network throughput) according to the remaining capacity of the recording area.

  As described above, the following effects can be obtained.

  1. When the streaming playback device downloads the playback file at the prior timing, the server notifies the server of the first dummy network throughput, so that the playback file for the playback device having a high network throughput (for example, a high-quality image file, or High-quality sound files). Therefore, even if the actual network throughput of the streaming playback device is low, this streaming playback device can perform high-quality streaming playback.

  2. For example, when the streaming playback device downloads a playback file corresponding to the main video at a pre-time, the server notifies the server of the first dummy network throughput and downloads another playback file at the pre-time. Is notified of the actual network throughput. As a result, the streaming playback apparatus can acquire a high-quality main video playback file, and can suppress an increase in communication traffic due to other playback files and consumption of storage resources due to other playback files. That is, communication bandwidth and storage resources can be effectively used.

  Hereinafter, details of the first and second embodiments will be described in order. First, the first embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of a streaming playback system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The streaming playback system includes a playback file server 1, a streaming playback device 2, and a playback device 3. The streaming playback device 2 is connected to the playback file server 1 via a network, requests a playback file from the playback file server 1, and downloads the playback file from the playback file server 1 via the network.

  The streaming playback device 2 includes a playback file acquisition unit 21, a storage unit 22, a streaming pre-download control unit 23, a streaming management unit 24, a playback control unit 25, and a playback unit 26. Furthermore, the playback file acquisition unit 21 includes a network access unit 211 and a disk access unit 212.

  The playback control unit 25 analyzes the input playback control file immediately after the start of playback, notifies the playback unit 26 of a streaming playback instruction based on the analysis result, and controls playback by the playback unit 26. The reproduction control file is a file that contains information necessary for controlling reproduction, including the reproduction main control file. The playback main control file is a file in which information necessary for playback (hereinafter referred to as playback file), playback file acquisition timing, playback start and end, and the like are described.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the playback main control file. Preload in FIG. 2 means a reproduction file acquisition start time. When there is no preload, acquisition of the playback file is started from titleTimeBegin. titleTimeBegin means the playback start time. titleTimeEnd means the playback end time. src means a playback file name. dataSource = “Network” means that a reproduction file is acquired from a server on the network by streaming. onEnd describes which title is executed after the title ends. The title of titleNumber = 1 is played first.

  The title structure and playback flow by the playback main control file shown in FIG. 2 will be described.

  First, this title is composed of three titles, MainTitle, Streaming 1 and Streaming 2. After playback, the MainTitle is played back first. Streaming1 is played when MainTitle ends. When Streaming1 ends, Streaming2 is played back. When Streaming2 finishes, return to MainTitle. Both Streaming 1 and Streaming 2 are played by streaming. Streaming1 starts to acquire and play the playback file immediately after the title starts, and playback continues for 10 minutes. In Streaming2, the playback file is acquired immediately after the title starts. Playback starts 5 seconds after the title starts and continues for 5 minutes.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a reproduction main control file different from the reproduction main control file shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the Streaming1 title has a NetworkSource tag. In such a case, if the actual throughput of the streaming playback device is larger than the throughput described in the networkSource tag networkThroughput, the streaming playback device is specified after src = of the NetworkSource tag instead of the playback file described in FIG. Use the recorded file as a playback file. For example, when the throughput of the streaming playback device is 5000 Kbps or more, “http://www.example.com/SEVOB1-High.MAP” is used as the playback file. In the case of 1000 Kbps or more, “http://www.example.com/SEVOB1-Mid.MAP” is used as a playback file. If it is smaller than 1000 Kbps, “http://www.example.com/SEVOB.MAP” is used as a playback file as in FIG.

  When receiving the streaming reproduction instruction from the reproduction control unit 25, the reproduction unit 26 issues an acquisition instruction to the streaming management unit 24, and outputs video and audio to the reproduction device 3 using the obtained reproduction data. When receiving playback control from the playback control unit 25, the playback file acquisition unit 21 is instructed to acquire playback data, and similarly, video and audio are output to the playback device 3.

  The streaming management unit 24 controls a playback data flow for streaming playback. The streaming management unit 24 acquires playback data from the playback file acquisition unit 21 in accordance with an instruction from the playback unit 26, and passes the acquired playback data to the playback unit 26 as appropriate.

  The streaming pre-download control unit 23 first extracts a playback file name for streaming from the playback main control file immediately after the start of playback. In the case of the reproduction main control file shown in FIG. 2, it can be acquired by extracting a character string specified after src = in the tag described as dataSource = "Network". Alternatively, the reproduction main control file shown in FIG. 3 is obtained by extracting a character string designated after src = of the NetworkSource tag according to the throughput of the streaming reproduction apparatus.

  Next, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 issues a reproduction file acquisition instruction to the reproduction file acquisition unit 21. The reproduction file acquisition instruction includes acquisition source information and provision destination information. The acquisition source information corresponds to the extracted reproduction file name, and the location of the reproduction file is determined by the acquisition source information. The provision destination information is information indicating a storage area of the storage unit 22. Here, there are cases where not all necessary playback file names are described in the playback main control file.

  For example, in the example of the playback main control file shown in FIG. 2, http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP is specified as the playback file for Sample1, but SEVOB1.MAP is used to play Sample1. The video file specified in is also required.

  In such a case, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 analyzes SEVOB1.MAP after downloading SEVOB1.MAP, obtains the video file name specified therein, uses the obtained information as acquisition source information, and provides destination information. As a storage area of the storage unit 22, the playback file acquisition unit 21 is instructed to acquire the playback file again.

  If there are a plurality of playback file names obtained from the playback main control file, the same processing is performed. The instructions to the reproduction file acquisition unit 21 when there are a plurality may be performed one by one in order or a plurality may be performed simultaneously.

  In addition, a combination of URLs with different host names may be issued simultaneously. Here, the host name is a name for identifying a device connected to the network. For example, the host name of http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP is www.example.com.

  When receiving the reproduction file acquisition instruction including the acquisition source information (file name or URL with path) and the provision destination information, the reproduction file acquisition unit 21 acquires the reproduction file according to the acquisition source information and the reproduction acquired according to the provision destination information. Pass the file.

  In addition, the result (acquisition success / failure) is returned to the acquisition instruction source. The reproduction file acquisition unit 21 has an access unit for each piece of reproduction file acquisition source information, and performs processing by the access unit corresponding to the acquisition source information.

For example, if the playback file acquisition source means Network, the Network access unit 211 performs processing. If the playback file acquisition source is a file on the playback disk, the disk access unit 212 performs processing.

  The network access unit 211 acquires a playback file from the playback file server 1 on the network according to the URL passed as acquisition source information. If the provision destination information is a storage area of the storage unit 22, the Network access unit 211 stores the acquired reproduction file in the storage area. URL information should be included in the file name to be saved.

  In addition, the Network access unit 211 receives a playback file acquisition request from the Streaming management unit 24 or downloads a playback file to the Streaming management unit 24 while downloading by the request from the Streaming pre-download control unit 23. If a request from the Streaming pre-download control unit 23 is received during acquisition, the download by the request of the Streaming pre-download control unit 23 is canceled and a result is returned to the Streaming pre-download control unit 23 as a reproduction file acquisition failure. You can also

  When the network access unit 211 receives a reproduction data acquisition instruction from the streaming management unit 24, the network access unit 211 checks whether the reproduction file is already in the storage area of the storage unit 22, and if it is in the storage area, does not download it. A file in the storage area is transferred to the streaming management unit 24 as an acquired file. If it is not in the storage area, it is downloaded from the playback file server on the network as usual.

  Hereinafter, the flow of the pre-play file acquisition process will be described with reference to FIG. Here, it is assumed that the reproduction main control file shown in FIG. 2 is applied.

  When the reproduction is started, the reproduction control file is processed by the reproduction control unit 25, and the reproduction of the MainTitle is first started.

  In parallel with the processing by the playback control unit 25, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 extracts the streaming playback URL from the playback main control file (ST101, ST102, ST103). FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a URL list (hereinafter referred to as a Streaming URL list) necessary for streaming playback.

  Next, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 instructs the playback file acquisition unit 21 to save http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP in the storage area based on the extracted StreamingURL list (ST104). , ST105, ST106).

  The reproduction file acquisition unit 21 recognizes that the acquisition source of the reproduction file is on the network, and instructs the network access unit 211 to acquire the reproduction file.

  The network access unit 211 downloads a playback file using http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP specified by the streaming pre-download control unit 23 as a URL, and stores the downloaded playback file in a storage area.

  After downloading www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 analyzes the contents of the downloaded www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP, and the video file specified in the file is analyzed. Get the file name. Here, it is assumed that the file name is SEVOB1.EVO. From this information, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 instructs the reproduction file acquisition unit 21 to save http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.EVO in the storage area.

  Upon receiving the result report from the playback file acquisition unit 21, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 performs the process of http://www.sample.com/SEVOB2.MAP. The same applies hereinafter.

  The storage area is finally www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP, www.example.com/SEVOB1.EVO, www.sample.com/SEVOB2.MAP, www.sample.com/SEVOB2.EVO (/ is a directory Indicating the hierarchy).

  Next, with reference to FIG. 6, the flow of a playback file acquisition process at the time of streaming playback will be described.

  When the playback progresses and the playback order of the Streaming 1 title comes, the playback control unit 25 issues a playback instruction for Streaming 1 to the playback unit 26. The playback unit 26 instructs the streaming management unit 24 to acquire playback data (http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP).

  The streaming management unit 24 issues a reproduction file acquisition instruction to the reproduction file acquisition unit 21 with the acquisition source file as http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP and the provision destination information as the streaming management unit 24.

  The reproduction file acquisition unit 21 recognizes that the acquisition source of the reproduction file is on the network, and instructs the network access unit 211 to acquire the reproduction file.

  Network access unit 211 refers to the storage area, and since the playback file that has been instructed to be acquired is already in the storage area (ST201, YES), Streaming www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP in the storage area without downloading The data is transferred to the management unit 24 (ST202). Also, the Network access unit 211 refers to the storage area, and if there is no playback file that has already been instructed to be acquired in the storage area (ST201, NO), the Streaming management unit obtains www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP acquired by downloading. 24 (ST203).

  Next, the reproducing unit 26 obtains a corresponding video file name (SEVOB1.EVO) by analyzing www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP.

  The playback unit 26 instructs the streaming management unit 24 to obtain playback data (http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.EVO).

  The streaming management unit 24 issues a reproduction file acquisition instruction to the reproduction file acquisition unit 21 with the acquisition source file as http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.EVO and the provision destination information as the streaming management unit 24. Since there is a file already downloaded in the storage area (ST201, YES), downloading is not performed as in SEVOB1.MAP (ST202). The same applies hereinafter.

  As described above, files necessary for reproduction are downloaded in advance before streaming reproduction. Thereby, the streaming playback apparatus can perform streaming playback with stable quality even in an environment where the network throughput is narrow.

  In the above description, the prior download has been described. However, for example, the prior download may fail. In such a case, for example, the streaming playback device retries the prior download of the playback file to be pre-downloaded.

  Therefore, even if the download to the storage area is not in time for the first reproduction, there is a possibility that the reproduction file in the storage area can be referred to in the second and subsequent reproductions. Depending on the content, streaming playback may be performed many times depending on user selection. In such a case, even if the streaming playback device cannot perform stable playback in the first streaming playback, if the pre-download retry is successful, it can perform stable quality playback in subsequent playback. it can.

  Hereinafter, retry of the prior download will be described.

  As already described, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 stores the content of the result report obtained as a result of the reproduction file acquisition instruction issued to the reproduction file acquisition unit 21, that is, the result of successful / unsuccessful download.

  If the result of the reproduction file acquisition instruction to the reproduction file acquisition unit 21 is unsuccessful, that is, if the download is unsuccessful, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 stores the information as a download result. The reason for the failure may be that the download was canceled due to some reason, such as the reproduction data acquisition by the streaming management unit 24 being started during the download, or the network download failed due to some network trouble. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a download result. As shown in FIG. 7, 1 represents download success and 0 represents download failure. FIG. 7 shows that only http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.EVO failed to download.

  The streaming pre-download control unit 23 refers to the download result and tries to download again. If the download is successful, change the download result from 0 to 1. This process is repeated until all download results are 1 in the download result.

  Next, pre-downloading according to the type of playback file will be described.

  The streaming playback device can perform streaming with a plurality of types of playback. For example, one title is composed of a main video and a sub video, and the streaming playback device can stream the main video and the sub video. In general, the main video often requires higher network throughput. That is, the data amount of the main video is larger than the data amount of the sub video.

  The streaming playback device determines priorities of prior download of each playback file according to the types of the plurality of playback files, and downloads each playback file in advance based on the priority. Thereby, it is possible to preferentially download a reproduction file (high image quality or high sound quality) that requires high network throughput. Therefore, the possibility of successful streaming playback that requires high network throughput can be increased.

  Details of pre-downloading according to the type of playback file are as follows.

  The streaming pre-download control unit 23 determines the download order according to the type of streaming playback (main video or sub video) described in the playback main control file. In the case of the playback main control file shown in FIG. 2, the Streaming pre-download control unit 23 obtains the type of streaming playback from the first character string (SubstituteAudioVideoClip or SecondaryAudioVideoClip) of the tag described as download = Network in the playback main control file. . The streaming pre-download control unit 23 determines the download priority based on the character string, and describes the result in the Streaming URL list as information of a reproduction file name pair.

  The streaming pre-download control unit 23 performs acquisition by the reproduction file acquisition unit 21 in order from the reproduction file having the highest priority described in the Streaming URL list. In addition, the Streaming pre-download control unit 23 marks whether the priority is high when recording the download result. When re-acquiring a playback file that has failed to be acquired, the Streaming pre-download control unit 23 re-acquires in order from the one with the highest acquisition priority.

  The flow of pre-downloading according to the type of playback file is as follows. Here, pre-downloading based on the reproduction main control file shown in FIG. 2 will be described.

  The streaming pre-download control unit 23 extracts http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP as a streaming playback file name from the playback main control file immediately after the start of playback. In addition, the first character of the tag extracted from http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP is SubstituteAudioVideoClip, which means that the SubstituteAudioVideoClip is a streaming that contains the main video, so it means that it will be preferentially downloaded. Mark High. Similarly, http://www.sample.com/SEVOB2.MAP is SecondaryAudioVideoClip, and SecondaryAudioVideoClip is a stream that does not include the main video, so it is marked with Low indicating that preferential download is not performed. . FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a StreamingURL list in which priorities are set.

  When the streaming pre-download control unit 23 issues a playback file acquisition instruction to the playback file acquisition unit 21, the playback file acquisition unit 21 refers to the download priority mark in the Streaming URL list and preferentially selects a playback file name that is High. To pass. For a playback file with the extension .MAP, the corresponding video file is also given a playback file acquisition instruction with the same priority.

  When storing the download result, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 marks “High” for preferential downloads and “Low” for non-preferential downloads. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a download result with priority. As shown in FIG. 9, the acquisition of http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.EVO has failed, and the priority is high. Similarly, it can be seen that http://www.sample.com/SEVOB2.EVO has failed to be acquired and its priority is not high.

  Then, the playback file that failed to be acquired is acquired again. When re-acquiring a playback file that has failed to be acquired, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 preferentially downloads the playback file name described in the download result with a high download priority.

  As described above, when a playback file is acquired at a pre-timing, the playback file acquisition may be retried if the playback file acquisition fails, and an upper limit is set for the number of retries or the retry time. You may make it not to retry. When the upper limit of the number of retries has been reached, when the upper limit of the retry time has been reached, or when retrying is not performed, the playback file is acquired at the specified timing specified in the playback control file. By limiting the retry according to the processing capability of the CPU of the streaming playback device, the playback file can be downloaded efficiently.

  The effects of the first embodiment described above are summarized below.

  Streaming playback often requires high network throughput. On the other hand, the network environment of ordinary households is not necessarily high. For this reason, when streaming playback is performed with a conventional streaming playback device, there are problems that playback cannot be performed, the video does not flow smoothly, or the video is cut off in the middle.

  The streaming playback apparatus according to the first embodiment described above downloads a file necessary for playback before streaming playback. Therefore, the streaming playback device can perform streaming playback with stable quality even in an environment where the network throughput is narrow.

  Also, the streaming playback device tries to download in advance until all the downloads are successful. Therefore, even if the streaming cannot be performed in advance during the first playback and smooth streaming playback cannot be performed, stable playback can be performed in subsequent playback.

  Also, the streaming playback device determines the order of downloading the playback file according to the type of playback. As a result, a playback file that requires high network throughput can be preferentially downloaded. Therefore, the possibility of successful streaming playback that requires high network throughput can be increased.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described. Note that the second embodiment is based on the first embodiment, and a description common to the first embodiment is omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of a streaming playback system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The streaming playback device 2 has a function of notifying the playback file server 1 of its own actual network throughput, the above-described first dummy network throughput, or the above-described second dummy network throughput at the time of downloading. The reproduction file server 1 returns a reproduction file corresponding to the notified network throughput.

  That is, the playback file server 1 can return a small file size file to a streaming playback device with a low network throughput, and return a large file size file to a streaming playback device with a high network throughput. As a result, a streaming playback device with a low network throughput can play without interruption even if the playback quality drops, and a streaming playback device with a high network throughput can play back with high quality.

  The streaming playback device according to the second embodiment, using the characteristics of the playback file server 1 described above, has its own actual network throughput, the above-described first dummy network throughput, or the above-mentioned first network throughput according to the situation. 2 is notified to the reproduction file server 1.

  For example, the streaming playback device can notify the playback file server 1 of the first dummy network throughput described above before the prior download, and can acquire a playback file for a playback device having a high network throughput. As a result, even in an environment where the network throughput is low and only low-quality streaming playback can be performed, the streaming playback device can perform high-quality streaming playback.

  Specifically, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 instructs the reproduction file acquisition unit 21 to notify the first dummy network throughput together with a reproduction file acquisition instruction for pre-download based on the reproduction main control file. The network access unit 211 of the playback file acquisition unit 21 notifies the playback file server 1 of the first dummy network throughput and requests a playback file at the time of pre-downloading. In other words, the network throughput of a value larger than the actual network throughput is notified and a reproduction file is requested.

  The flow of the first dummy network throughput notification process will be described below with reference to FIG.

  When the reproduction is started, the reproduction control file is processed by the reproduction control unit 25, and the reproduction of the MainTitle is first started.

  In parallel with the processing by the playback control unit 25, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 extracts the streaming playback URL from the playback main control file (ST301, ST302, ST303).

  Next, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 instructs the playback file acquisition unit 21 to save http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP in the storage area based on the extracted StreamingURL list, Further, the reproduction file acquisition unit 21 is instructed to notify the first dummy network throughput (ST304, ST305, ST306).

  When the network access unit 211 downloads the playback file designated by the streaming pre-download control unit 23 from the server based on the first dummy network throughput notification instruction from the streaming pre-download control unit 23, the playback file server 1 For the first dummy network throughput. In the case of a streaming playback device that notifies its own bandwidth using an HTTP header, the value notified using the HTTP header is set larger than the actual value.

  FIG. 11 is an example of an HTTP Request message that the streaming playback device transmits to the server. As shown in FIG. 11, X-Player-Throughput represents the network throughput of the streaming playback device. Originally, the actual network throughput of the streaming playback device is set in X-Player-Throughput, but in response to the first dummy network throughput notification instruction, X-Player-Throughput has a first dummy Network throughput is set. That is, a higher network throughput than the actual network throughput is set in X-Player-Throughput.

  The playback file server 1 refers to the value of X-Player-Throughput, and returns a playback file for the streaming playback device having a high network throughput to the streaming playback device that is the download request destination.

  The streaming playback device 2 receives the playback file provided from the playback file server 1 and stores it in the storage area. The reproduction file stored in the storage area is processed as shown in FIG.

  Next, a case will be described in which the streaming playback device 2 controls the network throughput notified to the playback file server 1 in accordance with the type of streaming playback. For example, the streaming playback device 2 notifies the playback file server 1 of the first dummy network throughput when the playback file corresponding to the main video is pre-downloaded. Also, when the streaming playback device 2 pre-downloads a playback file corresponding to the sub video, it notifies the playback file server 1 of the actual dummy network throughput.

  Accordingly, the streaming playback device 2 can acquire a high-quality main video playback file, and can suppress an increase in communication traffic and storage resource consumption due to sub-video download.

  Specifically, when the streaming pre-download control unit 23 extracts the streaming playback file name from the playback main control file, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 looks at the type of streaming playback and wants to set the network throughput higher according to the type. Marks the Streaming URL list.

  When the streaming pre-download control unit 23 issues a playback file acquisition instruction to the playback file acquisition unit 21, only the playback files that are marked to set the network throughput high in the Streaming URL list are set to increase the network throughput. An instruction is given to the reproduction file acquisition unit 215. If the downloaded playback file includes a file name necessary for playback, the download of the described playback file also instructs the same network throughput designation.

  If the download fails, the Streaming pre-download control unit 23 also stores a specification related to the network throughput.

  In addition, the Streaming pre-download control unit 23 refers to the specification of the network throughput described in the download result when re-downloading the failed download, and if it is specified to increase the network throughput, it follows that. An instruction is given to the reproduction file acquisition unit 21.

  To explain in more detail with reference to FIG. 14, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 extracts http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP as a streaming playback file name from the playback main control file immediately after the start of playback. (ST401, ST402). In addition, since the first character of the tag extracted from http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP is SubstituteAudioVideoClip, the StreamingURL list is marked High to increase network throughput (ST403, ST404) . Next, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 extracts http://www.sample.com/SEVOB2.MAP (ST401, ST402), and since the first character of the extraction source tag is SecondaryAudioVideoClip, the actual network throughput is reduced. Mark Normal in the Streaming URL list for use (ST403, ST404). FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the StreamingURL list.

  The Streaming pre-download control unit 23 refers to the throughput designation value in the StreamingURL list when issuing the acquisition instruction of http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP to the playback file acquisition unit 21 and is High. The reproduction fill acquisition unit 21 is notified to increase the network throughput (ST405). Subsequently, the network throughput is also increased when the acquisition instruction of http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.EVO described in www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP is issued to the playback file acquisition unit 21. (ST406). Since http://www.sample.com/SEVOB2.MAP designates network throughput as Normal, it instructs the playback file acquisition unit 21 to use the normal network throughput (ST407). Similarly, http://www.sample.com/SEVOB2.EVO instructs the playback file acquisition unit 21 to use the normal network throughput (ST407).

  The streaming playback device 2 can also execute the processing based on the acquisition priority described in the first embodiment in parallel. That is, the streaming playback device 2 determines the acquisition priority and the network throughput according to the type of the playback file, acquires the playback file based on the acquisition priority, and notifies the network throughput according to the playback file to be acquired. To do.

  When the download result is received from the reproduction file acquisition unit 21 and the download result is described, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 also describes the designation of the network throughput. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a download result. In the example of the download result shown in FIG. 13, the fourth in the list means designation of the network throughput. If it is High, it means that the network throughput is set higher, and if it is Normal, it means that the setting is normal.

  When acquiring a playback file that has failed to be acquired again, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 refers to the fourth item described in the download result, and designates the network throughput to the playback file acquisition unit 21 accordingly. http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.EVO shows that the download failed because the second item in the list is 0. Also, since the third item in the list is High, you can see that priority download is required. Therefore, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 first instructs the playback file acquisition unit 21 to acquire http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.EVO. At this time, since the fourth item in the download result list is High, the reproduction file acquisition unit 21 is instructed to specify a high network throughput. Similarly, since http://www.sample.com/SEVOB2.EVO is the fourth item in the download result list, Normal, when sending a playback file acquisition notification to the playback file acquisition unit 21, specify the normal network throughput. Instruct them to do so.

  Next, a case where the streaming playback device 2 controls the network throughput notified to the playback file server 1 according to the remaining capacity of the storage area will be described. For example, the streaming playback device 2 notifies the playback file server 1 of the second dummy network throughput according to the remaining capacity of the storage area. That is, the streaming playback device 2 notifies the playback file server 1 of a network throughput lower than the actual network throughput. Thereby, it is possible to prevent download failure due to insufficient storage area.

  Upon receiving the reproduction file acquisition instruction from the streaming pre-download control unit 23, the network access unit 211 checks the remaining capacity of the storage area. Further, when downloading the file designated immediately before, the size of the file to be downloaded is obtained in advance by transmitting an HTTP request by the HEAD method. The obtained size is compared with the remaining capacity, and if the obtained size is larger, the reproduction file is not acquired and a notification indicating that the storage area is insufficient is returned to the streaming pre-download control unit 23.

  Upon receiving the storage area shortage notification from the playback file acquisition unit 21, the streaming pre-download control unit 23 instructs the playback file acquisition unit 21 to set a low network throughput. If the failed playback file is a video file, the process starts again from the acquisition of the file with the video file name.

  Specifically, when the network access unit 211 receives an acquisition request for http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.EVO from the streaming pre-download control unit 23, the network access unit 211 stores the remaining capacity of the storage area ( 250000000), and an HTTP message is sent to http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.EVO using the HEAD method, and the response message (see FIG. 15) obtained as a result is shown as Content-Langth: 300000000 Get. Content-Langth means the size of the playback file to be acquired. The network access unit 211 compares the remaining capacity of the storage area (250000000) with the size of the playback file (300000000), and returns the storage area shortage notification to the streaming pre-download control unit 23 because the size of the playback file is larger. .

  When the streaming pre-download control unit 23 receives the storage shortage notification, the network pre-download control unit 23 obtains http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP corresponding to http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.EVO. A request to set the throughput low is notified to the reproduction file acquisition unit 21. As a result, the network throughput when acquiring http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP is notified at a low value.

  Assume that http://www.example.com/SEVOB1-LOW.EVO is obtained as a video file name by acquiring http://www.example.com/SEVOB1.MAP. The streaming pre-download control unit 23 notifies the reproduction file acquisition unit 21 of the acquisition of http://www.example.com/SEVOB1-LOW.EVO together with a request to set the network throughput low.

  The network access unit 211 acquires http://www.example.com/SEVOB1-LOW.EVO by the same processing as described above. As a result, Content-Langth: 200000000 is obtained. This time, since the remaining capacity of the storage area is smaller than 300000000, the file is acquired as usual.

  The effects of the second embodiment described above are summarized below.

  Streaming playback often requires high network throughput. On the other hand, the network environment of ordinary households is not necessarily high. For this reason, when streaming playback is performed with a conventional streaming playback device, there are problems that playback cannot be performed, the video does not flow smoothly, or the video is cut off in the middle.

  The streaming playback apparatus according to the second embodiment described above downloads a file necessary for playback before streaming playback. Therefore, the streaming playback device can perform streaming playback with stable quality even in an environment where the network throughput is narrow.

  Also, the streaming playback apparatus notifies the playback file server of a network throughput higher than the actual network throughput. As a result, when downloading in advance, it is possible to obtain a file for a playback device having a high network throughput. As a result, the streaming playback device can perform high-quality streaming playback even when the network throughput performance is low.

  In addition, the streaming playback apparatus notifies the playback file server of a network throughput higher than the actual network throughput according to the type of streaming playback. For example, when a playback file corresponding to the main video is pre-downloaded, the streaming playback device notifies the playback file server of a network throughput higher than the actual network throughput, and when the other playback files are pre-downloaded, The actual network throughput is notified to the file server as it is, or the network throughput lower than the actual network throughput is notified. As a result, a high-quality main video can be acquired, and an increase in communication traffic and storage resource consumption due to downloading of other playback files can be suppressed.

  Further, the streaming playback apparatus notifies the playback file server of a network throughput lower than the actual network throughput according to the remaining capacity of the storage area in which the playback file is downloaded in advance. Thereby, it is possible to prevent a download failure due to a shortage of remaining capacity.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, the embodiments may be appropriately combined as much as possible, and in that case, the combined effect can be obtained. Further, the above embodiments include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements. For example, even if some constituent requirements are deleted from all the constituent requirements shown in the embodiment, the problem described in the column of the problem to be solved by the invention can be solved, and the effect described in the column of the effect of the invention Can be obtained as an invention.

It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the streaming reproduction system which concerns on the 1st and 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the reproduction | regeneration main control file. It is a figure which shows another example of a reproduction | regeneration main control file. It is a figure which shows an example of URL list required for streaming reproduction. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a prior reproduction file acquisition process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the reproduction | regeneration file acquisition process at the time of streaming reproduction | regeneration. It is a figure which shows an example of a download result. It is a figure which shows an example of the StreamingURL list | wrist with which the priority was set. It is a figure which shows an example of the download result with a priority. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a notification process of the network throughput higher than an actual dummy network throughput. It is a figure which shows an example of an HTTP Request message. It is a figure which shows an example of the StreamingURL list | wrist in which the priority and the designated throughput were set. It is a figure which shows an example of a download result with a priority and designated throughput. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the acquisition process (throughput specification) of the pre-reproduction file based on a priority. It is a figure which shows an example of the server response of a HEAD method.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Playback file server, 2 ... Streaming playback apparatus, 3 ... Playback apparatus, 21 ... Playback file acquisition part, 22 ... Memory | storage part, 23 ... Streaming pre-download control part, 24 ... Streaming management part, 25 ... Playback control part, 26 ... Playback unit 211 ... Network access unit 212 ... Disk access unit

Claims (9)

Connect to a server that provides a playback file corresponding to the network throughput notified from the other device via the network, notify the server of the network throughput, obtain the playback file from the server, and A streaming playback device for playing
The first dummy network throughput higher than the actual network throughput is notified to the server via the network, and the playback file instructed to be acquired at the specified timing by the playback control file is earlier than the specified timing. Acquisition means for acquiring from the server via the network;
Storage means for storing the reproduction file acquired by the acquisition means;
Reproduction control means for controlling a reproduction operation based on the reproduction control file;
With
The reproduction control means provides the reproduction file stored in the storage means in response to an instruction to acquire the reproduction file at the designated timing based on the reproduction control file;
A streaming playback apparatus comprising:   2. The streaming according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit notifies the server of the first dummy network throughput before acquiring the reproduction file of a specific type at the advance timing. Playback device.   The acquisition means notifies the server of the first dummy network throughput before acquiring the playback file corresponding to the main video of the main video and sub-video constituting the title at the prior timing. The streaming playback apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:   The streaming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit notifies a second dummy network throughput lower than the actual network throughput according to a remaining capacity of the storage unit. Connect to a server that provides a playback file corresponding to the network throughput notified from the other device via the network, notify the server of the network throughput, obtain the playback file from the server, and A streaming playback method for playing
The first dummy network throughput higher than the actual network throughput is notified to the server via the network, and the playback file instructed to be acquired at the specified timing by the playback control file is earlier than the specified timing. From the server via the network,
Storing the acquired playback file;
In response to an instruction to acquire the playback file at the specified timing based on the playback control file, the stored playback file is provided.
A streaming playback method characterized by the above. A streaming playback device that connects to a server via a network, acquires a playback file from the server, and plays the playback file,
An acquisition means for acquiring a reproduction file instructed to be acquired at a specified timing by a reproduction control file from the server via a network at a timing earlier than the specified timing;
Storage means for storing the reproduction file acquired by the acquisition means;
Reproduction control means for controlling a reproduction operation based on the reproduction control file;
With
The reproduction control means provides the reproduction file stored in the storage means in response to an instruction to acquire the reproduction file at the designated timing based on the reproduction control file;
A streaming playback apparatus comprising:   7. The streaming reproduction according to claim 6, wherein the acquisition unit tries to acquire the reproduction file again at the prior timing in response to the acquisition failure of the reproduction file at the preliminary timing. apparatus. The acquisition means determines an acquisition priority of each reproduction file based on a plurality of types of reproduction files instructed to acquire at a specified timing by the reproduction control file, and acquires the acquisition within a predetermined time at the prior timing. Obtain each playback file in turn from the server via the network based on priority,
The streaming playback apparatus according to claim 6. A streaming playback method of connecting to a server via a network, acquiring a playback file from the server, and playing back the playback file,
A playback file instructed to be acquired at a specified timing by a playback control file is acquired from the server via the network at a timing earlier than the specified timing,
Storing the acquired playback file;
In response to an instruction to acquire the reproduction file at the designated timing based on the reproduction control file, the reproduction file stored in the storage unit is provided.
A streaming playback method characterized by the above.

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