JP2017151618A - Information delivery system, information delivery device, information delivery program, and information delivery method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information delivery system with which it is possible to avoid replication of data more than necessary and reduce a wasteful use of the bandwidth of a network.SOLUTION: The information delivery system comprises an information delivery device and a relay device, the information delivery device comprising: terminal information storage means for storing terminal information of a communication terminal; address selection information storage means for storing, for each network segment, address selection information that includes address information of the relay device; transmission address determination means for applying the address information of one of each communication terminal and the relay device in accordance with the number of transmission destinations per network segment derived on the basis of the terminal information and the address selection information; and transmission means for transmitting information using the address information determined by the transmission address determination means. The relay device has relay delivery means for transmitting the information received from the information delivery device to broadcast addresses.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an information distribution system, an information distribution apparatus, an information distribution program, and an information distribution method, and can be applied to, for example, an information distribution system that distributes multimedia data including video information and audio information to a plurality of user terminals. Is.

  In recent years, due to the development of information communication technology, technology that enables communication between remote places as if they were in the same place and collaborative work has attracted attention. In order to realize this type of technology, an information distribution device (for example, a distribution server) distributes multimedia data including a plurality of video information, audio information, and the like to a plurality of user terminals.

  For example, when distributing multimedia data to a plurality of user terminals, a distribution server having multimedia data obtained from a video source such as a video camera or an audio source such as a microphone requests a user who requests data including video and audio. A method of delivering to a terminal by unicast communication using a UDP packet or the like is used.

  In such unicast communication, when the number of user terminals that request the same data increases, the distribution server replicates and distributes the same data as many as the number of unicast communication channels according to the number of users. There is a problem of wasting.

  As a countermeasure against such a problem, Patent Document 1 discloses a method of avoiding unnecessary duplication of data using a broadcast communication path.

  In Patent Document 1, when the distribution server distributes the same data to a plurality of user terminals, if the number of users requesting the same data is larger than a predetermined threshold, the distribution server uses the broadcast communication path instead of the unicast communication path. A method of using is disclosed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the method of Patent Document 1, a distribution server 201 that holds information to be distributed distributes information to a plurality of user terminals 202 that receive the information using a unicast communication path. . For example, when distributing to user terminals 202-2 and 202-5, distribution server 201 distributes information to user terminal 202-2 using unicast communication path UC1, and distribution server 201 uses unicast communication path UC2. Information is distributed to the user terminal 202-5.

  When the number of users who request information distribution is larger than a predetermined threshold (for example, the threshold is 4), the distribution server 201 switches the information to each user terminal 202-1 to 202-5 by switching to the broadcast communication channel BC. To deliver.

Special table 2009-542117 gazette

  However, the technique described in Patent Document 1 discloses only the concept of a distribution method using unicast or broadcast, does not describe a specific distribution method using broadcast, and broadcasts separately from unicast. The disclosure assumes that there is a communication path.

  Further, it is a method that needs to identify whether the broadcast data is data requested by the user by using additional information such as using a separate marker.

  Therefore, when the information distribution device distributes data such as video and audio to multiple user terminals, it avoids duplication of data in the information distribution device, and the user terminal can receive data seamlessly by unicast and broadcast Information delivery system, information delivery apparatus, information delivery program, and information delivery method are desired.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and employs the following configuration.

  An information distribution system according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of communication terminals, an information distribution device that distributes information to the plurality of communication terminals, and information distributed from the information distribution device to the plurality of communication terminals. An information distribution system having one or a plurality of relay devices to relay, wherein the information distribution device includes (1-1) terminal information storage means for storing terminal information of the plurality of communication terminals that are information distribution destinations. (1-2) Address selection information storage means for storing address selection information for selecting a destination address including the address information of the relay device for each of one or a plurality of network segments, and (1-3 ) According to the number of transmission destinations for each network segment derived based on the terminal information in the terminal information storage means and the address selection information in the address selection information storage means A transmission address determination unit that applies address information of each of the plurality of communication terminals or the relay device; and (1-4) transmission that transmits information using the address information determined by the transmission address determination unit. The relay apparatus includes (2) relay distribution means for transmitting information received from the information distribution apparatus to a broadcast address.

  An information distribution apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is an information distribution apparatus that connects a plurality of communication terminals and one or more relay apparatuses that relay information distributed from the information distribution apparatus to the plurality of communication terminals via a network. (1) terminal information storage means for storing terminal information of the plurality of communication terminals as information distribution destinations, and (2) address information of the relay device for each of one or a plurality of network segments Address selection information storage means for storing address selection information for selecting a destination address; (3) the terminal information in the terminal information storage means; and the address selection information in the address selection information storage means. Based on the number of transmission destinations for each network segment derived based on the transmission information to which the address information of each of the plurality of communication terminals or the relay device is applied. Address determining means, characterized in that a transmission means for transmitting the information by using the address information determined by (4) the transmission address determining means.

  An information distribution program according to a third aspect of the present invention provides information distribution for connecting a plurality of communication terminals and one or a plurality of relay devices that relay information distributed from the information distribution device to the plurality of communication terminals via a network. (1) terminal information storage means for storing terminal information of the plurality of communication terminals as information distribution destinations; and (2) the address of the relay device for each one or a plurality of network segments. Address selection information storage means for storing address selection information for selecting a destination address including information; (3) the terminal information of the terminal information storage means; and the address selection information of the address selection information storage means Depending on the number of transmission destinations for each network segment derived based on the information, either of the plurality of communication terminals or the relay device A transmission address determining means for applying the dress information, characterized in that to function as transmission means for transmitting information by using the address information determined by (4) the transmission address determining means.

  An information distribution method according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is an information distribution method in which a plurality of communication terminals and one or a plurality of relay devices that relay information distributed from the information distribution device to the plurality of communication terminals are connected via a network. An apparatus information distribution method comprising terminal information storage means, address selection information storage means, transmission address determination means, and transmission means. (1) The terminal information storage means is a plurality of information distribution destinations. (2) The address selection information storage means stores address selection information for selecting a destination address including the address information of the relay device for each of one or a plurality of network segments. (3) The transmission address determination means is based on the terminal information in the terminal information storage means and the address selection information in the address selection information storage means. The address information of any of the plurality of communication terminals or the relay device is applied according to the number of transmission destinations for each network segment derived in (4), and (4) the transmission means is determined by the transmission address determination means. Information is transmitted using the determined address information.

  According to the present invention, duplication of data can be avoided more than necessary in the information distribution apparatus, and waste of network bandwidth can be reduced. In addition, it is possible to receive data seamlessly without being aware of whether the data is unicast data or broadcast data in the user terminal.

It is a whole lineblock diagram showing the whole information distribution system composition concerning an embodiment. It is explanatory drawing explaining the conventional information delivery process. It is an internal block diagram which shows the internal structure of the delivery server which concerns on embodiment. It is explanatory drawing explaining the structure of the segment list | wrist which concerns on embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process in the delivery server of the information delivery system which concerns on embodiment.

(A) Main Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of an information distribution system, an information distribution device, an information distribution program, and an information distribution method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(A-1) Configuration of Embodiment FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of an information distribution system 10 according to an embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, an information distribution system 10 according to this embodiment includes a distribution server 101 as an information distribution apparatus and a plurality of user terminals 102-1 to 102-5 as communication terminals. And a plurality of relay servers 103-1 and 103-2 as relay devices.

  In the following, when processing and configuration common to user terminals are described, they are expressed as user terminals 102. Although FIG. 1 shows five user terminals 102, the number of user terminals 102 is not limited to this.

  In addition, when the processing and configuration common to the relay server are described, the description is similarly expressed as the relay server 103. Although two relay servers 103 are shown in FIG. 1, the number of relay servers 103 is not limited in the same manner.

  Further, FIG. 1 shows only one distribution server 101, but a configuration in which a plurality of distribution servers 101 are distributed and a plurality of distribution servers 101 cooperate to distribute requested multimedia data. It may be. For example, the distribution server 101 may be arranged in each of a plurality of bases, and communication may be realized by distributing information bidirectionally between the bases. In addition, the relay server 103 does not need to be arranged for every network segment where the user terminal 102 exists, and is configured to use unicast distribution for the user terminal 102 of the network segment where the relay server 103 does not exist. Also good.

  As the communication network in the information distribution system 10, for example, an IP (Internet Protocol) network represented by the Internet, a wide area network such as a wide area LAN (trademark registration), or the like can be applied. The communication network may be a wired line or a wireless line.

  The distribution server 101 uses, for example, content data including video and audio, video data obtained from a video source such as a video camera, and sound data obtained from an audio (sound collecting) source such as a microphone (where “sound” is Multimedia information including a voice, sound, etc.) is distributed to the distribution request source user terminal 102 (or the distribution request source user terminal 102) via the relay server 103. The distribution server 101 may acquire and distribute real-time camera video and microphone sound, or may acquire content data and multimedia information from the outside and distribute them to the user terminal 102 or the relay server 103. Alternatively, content data and multimedia data may be held in a database or the like, and the data may be distributed to the user terminal 102 or the relay server 103.

  The user terminal 102 receives information distributed from the distribution server 101 or the relay server 103, and displays video, outputs sound, and the like. As the user terminal 102, for example, a personal computer, a tablet terminal, a smartphone, a mobile terminal, or the like equipped with a communication function can be applied. The user terminal 102 receives the information packet address received from the distribution server 101 or the relay server 103 without distinction, and outputs information such as video and sound. That is, the user terminal 102 receives a packet regardless of whether it is a unicast address or a broadcast address, and outputs data (for example, video data, sound data, etc.) included in the received packet. Can do.

  The relay server 103 is a relay device that relays data distributed from the distribution server 101 to the user terminal 102 that is the distribution request source. For example, when receiving the distribution data from the distribution server 101, the relay server 103 relays and distributes the received data to the user terminals 102 in the network segment using broadcast.

  FIG. 3 is an internal configuration diagram illustrating an internal configuration of the distribution server 101 according to the embodiment.

  In FIG. 3, the distribution server 101 includes a transmission address determination unit 301, a transmission unit 302, a segment list storage unit 303 as an address selection information storage unit, and a recipient list storage unit 304 as a terminal information storage unit.

  Although the hardware configuration of the distribution server 101 is not shown, it can be a configuration provided in an existing server. For example, a function realized by the distribution server 101 can be realized by including a CPU, an external storage device, a communication device, and the like, and executing the information distribution processing program stored in the storage device. It may be constructed by installing an information distribution processing program. Even in that case, the information distribution processing program can be expressed by the processing illustrated in FIG.

  The recipient list storage unit 304 stores a list of unicast addresses of the user terminal 102 that has requested information distribution. For example, when the distribution server 101 receives an information distribution request from the user terminal 102, the source address included in the packet of the information distribution request is extracted and held in the recipient list storage unit 304. Alternatively, transmission destination address information included in the protocol for signaling the distribution request is held in the recipient list storage unit 304.

  In this embodiment, for ease of explanation, the unicast address of the user terminal 102 of the transmission destination (that is, the information distribution request source) of transmission data such as certain content data and multimedia data is listed. It is assumed that there is. Of course, when there are a plurality of types of transmission data such as a plurality of content data and multimedia data, for example, for each transmission data identification information (for example, content identification information), the unicast of the user terminal 102 of the information distribution request source A list of addresses may be set.

  For each network segment in which the user terminal 102 can exist, the segment list storage unit 303 sends the network address and netmask of the target network segment, the address of the relay server 103 existing in the target network segment, and from the unicast distribution via the relay server 103. A segment list in which a threshold value for switching to broadcast distribution is associated is stored.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the configuration of the segment list according to the embodiment. 4 illustrates the case where the IP address is IPv4, but the case where the IP address is IPv6 can be set based on the same concept as in the case of IPv4.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the segment list includes “Segment No.”, “Network Address / Netmask”, “Relay Server Address”, and “Threshold” that identify network segments.

  For example, the network address and netmask of “Segment No. 1” are “xx.xx.xx.0 / 24”. Since the netmask is 24, the upper 24 bits of the 32-bit IP address are the network address (network part) indicating the network segment, and the remaining 8 bits (from the 25th bit to the 32nd bit) Is a host address (host part) for identifying the user terminals 102 belonging to the network segment.

  The “relay server address” is a unicast address of the relay server 103 existing for each network segment. For example, the relay server address of “Segment No. 1” is “xx.xx.xx.XX” (corresponding to the address of the relay server 103-1 in FIG. 1).

  The “threshold value” is a threshold value for switching from unicast delivery to the user terminal 102 to broadcast delivery via the relay server 103. This threshold value is compared with the number of user terminals 102 that have requested information distribution in the network segment. The threshold value may be arbitrarily set, may be different for each network segment, or may be the same value for all network segments. In the network segment, when the number of user terminals 102 that have requested information distribution is equal to or greater than a threshold, the corresponding “relay server address” is used. For example, the distribution server 101 distributes data to the user terminal 102 via the relay server 103 when the number of user terminals 102 that requested information distribution is three or more.

  When the transmission address determination unit 301 acquires transmission data such as content data and multimedia data to be transmitted to the user terminal 102, the transmission address determination unit 301 transmits the unicast of the user terminal 102 that is the distribution request source of the transmission data from the recipient list storage unit 304. Read the address. The transmission address determination unit 301 obtains the number of user terminals 102 for each network segment (more precisely, the number of addresses for each network segment) based on the unicast address read from the recipient list storage unit 304.

  The transmission address determination unit 301 refers to the segment list storage unit 303 and compares the number of user terminals 102 for each network segment with the threshold value of the corresponding network segment.

  When the number of user terminals 102 requesting information distribution is equal to or greater than the threshold, the transmission address determination unit 301 uses the unicast address of the relay server 103 to distribute to the user terminals 102 existing in the network segment. To decide. That is, when there are more user terminals 102 set in the segment list than the threshold of the corresponding network segment, one address addressed to the relay server 103 is used for these user terminals 102. Thus, it is possible to reduce the processing load and the number of copies related to the transmission data replication of the distribution server 101.

  On the other hand, when the number of user terminals 102 requesting information distribution is less than the threshold, the transmission address determination unit 301 determines to distribute to each user terminal 102 using a unicast address.

  When there are a plurality of types of transmission data, the transmission address determination unit 301 refers to the identification information of the transmission data, refers to the recipient list set for each identification information of the transmission data, and transmits the transmission data. The number of data transmission destinations (number of distribution destinations) may be confirmed.

  The transmission unit 302 transmits transmission data using the address determined by the transmission address determination unit 301 (the unicast address of the user terminal 102 or the relay server 103). The transmission unit 302 uses the result determined by the transmission address determination unit 301 to copy a necessary number of transmission data according to the number of distribution destinations.

(A-2) Operation | movement of embodiment Next, operation | movement of the process in the information delivery system 10 which concerns on this embodiment is demonstrated with reference to drawings.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing in the distribution server 101 of the information distribution system 10 according to the embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, user terminals 102-1 to 102-5 make a distribution request for information to the distribution server 101.

  Note that the user terminals 102-1 to 102-3 belong to the network segment 1 (network address; “xx.xx.xx.0”), and the IPv4 IP of the user terminals 102-1 to 102-3. The addresses are “xx.xx.xx.1”, “xx.xx.xx.2”, and “xx.xx.xx.3”, respectively, and the netmask is a 24-bit prefix. The relay server 103-1 also belongs to the network segment 1 (network address; “xx.xx.xx.0”), and the IPv4 IP address of the relay server 103-1 is “xx.xx. xx.XX ".

  Similarly, the user terminals 102-4 to 102-5 belong to the network segment 2 (network address; “yy.yy.yy.0”), and the IPv4 of the user terminals 102-4 to 102-5 The IP addresses are “yy.yy.yy.4” and “yy.yy.yy.5”, respectively, and the netmask is a 24-bit prefix. The relay server 103-2 also belongs to the network segment 2 (network address; “yy.yy.yy.0”), and the IPv4 IP address of the relay server 103-2 is “yy.yy.yy. YY ".

  Although the description here uses an example of using the IPv4 protocol and UDP packet, the same processing is possible when using other network layer protocols such as IPv6 or using transport layer protocols other than UDP packets. It is.

  When receiving a distribution request from the user terminals 102-1 to 102-5, the distribution server 101 distributes the requested transmission data using unicast or broadcast via the relay server 103.

  Here, the recipient list stored in the recipient list storage unit 304 of the delivery server 101 includes “xx.xx.xx.1”, “xx.xx.xx.” for the transmission data to be delivered this time. 2 ”,“ xx.xx.xx.3 ”,“ yy.yy.yy.4 ”, and“ yy.yy.yy.5 ”are set.

  Assume that the list illustrated in FIG. 4 is set in the segment list stored in the segment list storage unit 303 of the distribution server 101.

  In the distribution server 101, the transmission data requested for distribution is given to the transmission address determination unit 301 (S101).

  The transmission address determination unit 301 reads the unicast address of the user terminal 102 that is the transmission request destination of the transmission data from the recipient list storage unit 304, and confirms the number of user terminals 102 for each network segment (S102).

  For example, the recipient list stored in the recipient list storage unit 304 includes “xx.xx.xx.1”, “xx.xx.xx.2”, “xx” for the transmission data to be distributed this time. .Xx.xx.3 "," yy.yy.yy.4 ", and" yy.yy.yy.5 "are set. Therefore, the addresses belonging to the network segment 1 are “xx.xx.xx.1”, “xx.xx.xx.2”, and “xx.xx.xx.3” and belong to the network segment 2. The transmission address determination unit 301 confirms that there are two addresses, “yy.yy.yy.4” and “yy.yy.yy.5”.

  Next, the transmission address determination unit 301 refers to the segment list storage unit 303 and compares the number of user terminals for each network segment with the threshold value of the corresponding network segment (S103).

  When the number of user terminals for each network segment is equal to or greater than the threshold (S104), the unicast address of the relay server 103 is used for the user terminals 102 belonging to the network segment (S105).

  On the other hand, when the number of user terminals for each network segment is less than the threshold (S104), a unicast address is used for each user terminal 102 (S106).

  For example, as described above, the address of the transmission destination of the transmission data read from the recipient list is “xx.xx.xx.1”, “xx.xx.xx.2”. ”And“ xx.xx.xx.3 ”. It is “threshold value: 3” set in the network segment 1 of the segment list illustrated in FIG. Therefore, the number of user terminals in the network segment 1 is greater than or equal to the threshold value. Therefore, the transmission address determination unit 301 reads the unicast address “xx.xx.xx.XX” of the corresponding relay server 103-1 from the segment list of FIG. 4, and user terminals 102-1 to 102-1 belonging to the network segment 1. For 102-3, it is determined to perform distribution via the relay server 103-1.

  Further, for example, there are two addresses belonging to the network segment 2, “yy.yy.yy.4” and “yy.yy.yy.5”. It is “threshold value: 3” set in the network segment 2 in the segment list illustrated in FIG. Therefore, the number of user terminals in the network segment 2 is less than the threshold value. Therefore, the transmission address determination unit 301 sends unicast addresses “yy.yy.yy.4” and “yy.yy.yy.5” to the user terminals 102-4 to 102-5 belonging to the network segment 2. Is used.

  The transmission unit 302 duplicates the transmission data according to the number of addresses to be transmitted generated by the transmission address determination unit 301 (S107). Then, the unicast address determined by the transmission address determination unit 301 is added to the transmission data and transmitted (S108).

  For example, in S104 to S106, the transmission address determination unit 301 determines that “xx.xx.xx.XX” of the relay server 103-1, “yy.yy.yy.4” of the user terminal 102-4, and the user terminal 102- 5 unicast addresses of “yy.yy.yy.5” were determined. Therefore, the transmission unit 302 duplicates the transmission data so as to be three pieces of transmission data, and transmits the transmission data with an address to be transmitted.

  In the above description, the example in which the address is determined for each transmission data as shown in FIG. 5 has been described. However, the processing in S102 to S106 is a list of transmission addresses obtained only when the recipient list is changed. It is also possible to configure such that transmission processing is performed with reference to only the list of transmission addresses when individual data is transmitted.

  On the other hand, when the relay server 103 receives the unicast packet from the distribution server 101, the relay server 103 redistributes the received unicast packet to the broadcast address (in FIG. 1, the relay server 103-1 corresponds). As a result, the user terminals 102-1 to 102-3 that are the distribution request sources can receive the data distributed by the distribution server 101 via the relay server 103-1. When the distribution server 101 determines that the relay server 103 is not used, the relay server 103 simply waits for reception (the relay server 103-2 corresponds in FIG. 1).

(A-3) Effects of Embodiment As described above, according to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

  In the distribution server, for a network segment that has a transmission request from a user terminal exceeding the threshold, instead of sending a duplicate packet to each unicast address, send the packet to the relay server address. Therefore, duplication of data more than necessary can be avoided, and waste of network bandwidth can be reduced.

  In addition, the user terminal can receive data seamlessly without being aware of whether it is unicast data or broadcast data via a relay server.

(B) Other Embodiments Although various modified embodiments are mentioned in the above-described embodiments, the present invention can also be applied to the following modified embodiments.

  (B-1) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the relay server 103 is arranged in advance in the network segment where the user terminal 102 assumed as the distribution destination may exist is illustrated (see FIGS. 1 and 4). ).

  However, for example, when the relay server 103 cannot be arranged in advance in all network segments, it is assumed that a distribution request is made from the user terminal 102 belonging to the network segment in which the relay server 103 is not set in the segment list.

  In that case, for example, the distribution server 101 may perform distribution to the unicast address of the user terminal 102.

  (B-2) In the embodiment described above, among the user terminals 102, the user terminals 102-1 to 102-3 receive packets addressed to the broadcast address via the relay server 103, not addressed to the unicast address. Become. However, the user terminal 102 waits for a packet without specifying the reception address, and ignores the reception address of the actually received packet to process it, when receiving at the unicast address and when receiving at the broadcast address It is possible to receive data seamlessly without distinguishing between them.

  (B-3) When simultaneously distributing a plurality of data having different contents such as video and audio (that is, when receiving different media data for each application), for example, when using UDP, the items of the segment list and the recipient list For example, the type of data to be received may be specified by setting a UDP port number. Further, not only the reception port number but also the IP address and port number of the transmission source may be used for determining the data type.

  For example, the segment list entry in FIG. 4 is configured to hold the segment list using the transport layer port number information as a key in addition to the network address. The recipient list lists pairs of recipient (user terminal) unicast addresses and reception port numbers. That is, even if the user terminal has the same network address, if the port number is different, it is transmitted as another packet.

  Through the processing as described above, information is not distributed to all the recipients in the recipient list by unicasting but is selectively distributed together with broadcast via the relay server 103.

  (B-4) The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be used for various other information distribution apparatuses.

  For example, as in a multipoint conference system, it can be used for various data distribution such as distribution of information such as documents and presentations in addition to video and audio data.

  For example, the present invention is not limited to a specific protocol such as IPv4 or UDP, and can be applied to various information distribution systems such as using other network protocols such as IPv6 and transport protocols.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Information delivery system, 101 ... Delivery server, 301 ... Transmission address determination part, 302 ... Transmission part, 303 ... Segment list memory | storage part, 304 ... Recipient list memory | storage part, 102-1 to 102-5 ... User terminal, 103 −1 to 103-2... Relay server.

Claims (11)

A plurality of communication terminals; an information distribution device that distributes information to the plurality of communication terminals; and one or a plurality of relay devices that relay information distributed from the information distribution device to the plurality of communication terminals. An information distribution system,
The information distribution device
Terminal information storage means for storing terminal information of the plurality of communication terminals which are information distribution destinations;
Address selection information storage means for storing address selection information for selecting a destination address, including address information of the relay device for each of one or a plurality of network segments;
Depending on the number of transmission destinations for each network segment derived based on the terminal information in the terminal information storage means and the address selection information in the address selection information storage means, the plurality of communication terminals, or the relay A transmission address determination means for applying any address information of the device;
Transmission means for transmitting information using the address information determined by the transmission address determination means,
The relay device is
An information distribution system comprising relay distribution means for transmitting information received from the information distribution apparatus to a broadcast address. The terminal information storage means stores the unicast addresses of the plurality of communication terminals as the terminal information;
The address selection information storage means stores, as the address selection information, information including a unicast address of the relay device for each network segment,
The transmission address determination means determines each unicast address of the plurality of communication terminals or the unicast address of the relay device according to the number of transmission destinations for each network segment. Information distribution system. The address selection information storage means stores information including a port number as the address selection information.
The terminal information storage means stores information including a reception port number as the terminal information;
The information distribution system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the transmission unit transmits information using the address information and the port number determined by the transmission address determination unit.   The information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the information includes video information.   The information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the information is information including sound information. 6. Each of the plurality of communication terminals has receiving means for receiving information regardless of the type of address of information distributed via the information distribution device or the relay device. The information distribution system according to any one of the above.   7. The information distribution system according to claim 6, wherein the receiving unit receives the source address assigned to the received information while distinguishing it.   The information distribution system according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the receiving means receives the port number assigned to the received information while distinguishing it. An information distribution device connected via a network to one or more relay devices that relay a plurality of communication terminals and information distributed from the information distribution device to the plurality of communication terminals,
Terminal information storage means for storing terminal information of the plurality of communication terminals which are information distribution destinations;
Address selection information storage means for storing address selection information for selecting a destination address, including address information of the relay device for each of one or a plurality of network segments;
Depending on the number of transmission destinations for each network segment derived based on the terminal information in the terminal information storage means and the address selection information in the address selection information storage means, the plurality of communication terminals, or the relay A transmission address determination means for applying any address information of the device;
An information distribution apparatus comprising: transmission means for transmitting information using the address information determined by the transmission address determination means. A plurality of communication terminals, and one or more relay devices that relay information distributed from the information distribution device to the plurality of communication terminals, and a computer mounted on the information distribution device connected via the network,
Terminal information storage means for storing terminal information of the plurality of communication terminals which are information distribution destinations;
Address selection information storage means for storing address selection information for selecting a destination address, including address information of the relay device for each of one or a plurality of network segments;
Depending on the number of transmission destinations for each network segment derived based on the terminal information in the terminal information storage means and the address selection information in the address selection information storage means, the plurality of communication terminals, or the relay A transmission address determination means for applying any address information of the device;
An information distribution program that functions as a transmission unit that transmits information using the address information determined by the transmission address determination unit. An information distribution method for a plurality of communication terminals and one or a plurality of relay apparatuses that relay information distributed from the information distribution apparatus to the plurality of communication terminals, and an information distribution apparatus connected via a network,
Terminal information storage means, address selection information storage means, transmission address determination means, and transmission means,
The terminal information storage means stores terminal information of the plurality of communication terminals that are information delivery destinations,
The address selection information storage means stores address selection information for selecting a destination address including address information of the relay device for each of one or a plurality of network segments,
The transmission address determining means is configured to determine the number of destinations for each network segment derived based on the terminal information in the terminal information storage means and the address selection information in the address selection information storage means. Apply the address information of each communication terminal or the above relay device,
The information delivery method, wherein the transmission means transmits information using the address information determined by the transmission address determination means.

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