JP3618120B2 - Information delivery device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial application fields]
The present invention relates to an information delivery apparatus that delivers information in response to a request, and more particularly to an information delivery apparatus that delivers information that requires an enormous amount of data such as a movie.
The information delivery apparatus of the present invention is applicable to delivery of multi-media information such as movies, music, game software delivery, karaoke, and databases.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Recently, a VOD (Video On Demand) system that provides a program requested by a user in real time is being realized, unlike a general television broadcast that broadcasts a program unilaterally from a broadcasting station. Normally, in this VOD system, it is considered that a station providing a program must accumulate all information contents (contents) to be delivered in response to a user request.
[0003]
In addition, since the information requires a large amount of data such as video data, the amount of data to be stored is enormous, and each VOD station prepares a computer system having a capacity about 100 times that of a normal one. It is considered necessary.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In such a computer system with a large amount of data to be stored, it takes time until the desired data is accessed. Therefore, after a request is received from the user, it takes time to retrieve and retrieve the information content and deliver it to the user. This will cause the user to wait. For this reason, the service with respect to a user becomes inadequate.
[0005]
In addition, storing all the information contents to be delivered inside the own station increases the burden on the delivery station. Instead, each station accumulates information by connecting multiple stations via a network. It is possible. However, when the information content requested by the user is not stored in the own station and the information content is obtained from another station, it takes more time until the information content is delivered to the user.
[0006]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an information delivery apparatus that can quickly deliver information content requested by a user.
In addition, the present invention provides an information delivery system in which information is distributed and stored in each information delivery device, and information content requested by a user can be delivered quickly in an information delivery system comprising a plurality of information delivery devices. For the purpose.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in an information delivery apparatus for delivering requested information, a primary memory storing an initial service portion of information to be delivered, and a directory recording a list of data recorded in the primary memory , When there is a temporary memory for storing information contents and information delivery request, first, the delivery of the initial service part in the primary memory corresponding to the request information is started by referring to the directory, At the same time , it requests the outside to deliver the information content to be delivered next to the initial service portion, stores the information content obtained from the outside in the temporary memory, and subsequently delivers the initial service portion to the temporary memory. Control means for delivering the accumulated information content is provided.
[0008]
The initial service part stored in the primary memory is prepared for all deliverable information, for example, and the content is, for example, the first 5 minutes of the information content or the information The contents are summarized in 5 minutes.
[0009]
[Action]
The information delivery apparatus of the present invention constructs an information delivery system in cooperation with other information delivery apparatuses, and delivers information to the user.
For reference, the operation in the case where the information delivery apparatus delivers information alone will be described . A secondary memory that stores all information contents to be delivered is provided. When the information delivery request is received from the user, the control means of the information delivery apparatus refers to the directory, first extracts the initial service portion corresponding to the request information from the primary memory, and starts the delivery. Since the primary memory is a small-capacity memory compared to the secondary memory that stores all information contents, the time required to access the desired information is short, and the user provides the information contents promptly after the request. Can receive.
[0010]
At the same time, the control means takes out the information content to be delivered following the initial service part from the secondary memory and stores it in the temporary memory. The process of accumulating information contents in the temporary memory is performed during delivery of the initial service portion described above. The location of the information content in the secondary memory can be obtained from information in the directory or initial service part.
[0011]
Note that the information content stored in the temporary memory is the information content excluding the initial service portion if the initial service portion is the first part of the information content, and if the initial service portion is a summary. , The whole information content.
Then, after the delivery of the initial service portion stored in the primary memory is completed, the information content stored in the temporary memory is subsequently delivered. Since this switching is performed quickly, the user can receive a continuous delivery of information content for the requested information.
[0012]
Next, the operation of an information delivery system in which a plurality of information delivery apparatuses are connected by a network will be described. Information contents to be delivered are distributed and stored in secondary memories in the plurality of information delivery apparatuses. In this case, if the requested information contents are stored in the secondary memory of the information delivery apparatus that has received the request, the same operation as that of the single information delivery apparatus described above is performed, and the information contents are quickly delivered to the user. Is called.
[0013]
On the other hand, when the requested information content is stored in another external information delivery device, the control means delivers the information content to the external information delivery device during delivery of the initial service part. The contents of information delivered from an external information delivery apparatus are stored in a temporary memory. Then, after the delivery of the initial service portion stored in the primary memory is completed, the information content stored in the temporary memory is subsequently delivered. Since this switching is performed quickly, the user can receive a continuous delivery of information content for the requested information.
[0014]
Note that in the information delivery device requested to deliver information from other information delivery devices, the requesting information delivery device issues the request after starting delivery of the initial service part. The received information delivery apparatus can immediately deliver the information content to another information delivery apparatus without delivering the initial service part.
In the information delivery system described above, it is possible to obtain an effect of being able to receive a prompt delivery in the same manner whether the information content to be delivered is stored in the secondary memory or stored in another information delivery apparatus. Can do. Accordingly, it is possible to distribute and accumulate information contents to be distributed among a plurality of information delivery apparatuses connected to the network, thereby reducing the burden on each information delivery apparatus.
[0015]
In the present invention, in the network of the information delivery system, when there is a margin in the amount of information stored in other stations, the information delivery device that does not have the secondary memory is connected to the network, and the information content requested by the user Can all be information delivery devices that receive transfers from other stations via a network.
In addition, when adding the stored information of the information delivery system, it is possible to use an information delivery apparatus that accepts only requests from other stations via a network without accepting requests from users.
[0016]
【Example】
Embodiments of the information delivery apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an information delivery system constructed by connecting information delivery devices 1, 2, 3 constituting a plurality of service stations to a network 4. One or a plurality of territory users are connected to each of the information delivery apparatuses 1, 2, and 3. In the figure, one user 5, 6, and 7 is shown as a representative.
[0017]
In the following description, one information delivery apparatus 1 that has received a request from the user 5 is called its own station, and the other information delivery apparatuses 2 and 3 are called other stations.
Next, the configuration of the own station 1 will be described. In this embodiment, the other stations 2 and 3 have the same configuration.
In the own station 1, the network 4 and the user 5 are connected to the CPU 11 via the interface 12. Further, a primary memory 13, a directory 14, a temporary memory 15, and a main memory 16 are connected to the CPU 11.
[0018]
In the primary memory 13, not only information stored in the local station 1 but also information stored in other stations 2 and 3, an initial service portion of all information that can be provided to the user from the local station 1 Is accumulated. In the present embodiment, this initial service portion is the first five minutes of the information content.
In the directory 14, a list of addresses of the initial service part stored in the primary memory 13 is recorded. In this embodiment, a list of addresses in the own station and other stations having the corresponding information contents is also recorded.
[0019]
In the temporary memory 15, nothing is normally recorded.
Information content is stored in the secondary memory 16. In this embodiment, all stations 1, 2, and 3 connected to the network have secondary memories, and information contents that can be delivered by the information delivery system are distributed and stored in each station.
The CPU 11 controls each unit described above as a control unit.
[0020]
Next, a schematic operation of the own station 1 will be described.
When receiving a request from the user 5, the CPU 11 of the local station 1 refers to the directory 14 and first extracts the initial service portion of the request information from the primary memory 13 and delivers it to the user. Since the primary memory 13 only stores a part of all the information, its capacity is small and its access time is short. Therefore, the user can receive information delivery promptly after making a request.
[0021]
At the same time, the CPU 11 reads the location address of the requested information content from the directory 14. The requested information content is stored in the secondary memory 16 of the own station 1 or the other stations 2 and 3 as described above. The location address of the requested information content can be recorded together with the initial service portion in the primary memory instead of being recorded in the directory 14.
[0022]
If the requested information content is stored in the local station 1, the corresponding information content is read from the secondary memory 16 and stored in the temporary memory 15. At this time, the temporary memory 15 stores the information content excluding the first 5 minutes. This can be easily performed by using a time mark such as a time code attached to each information content stored in the memory 16.
[0023]
For example, when the requested information content is stored in the other station 3, the delivery of the information content is requested to the other station 3. The information content sent from the other station 3 is stored in the temporary memory 15. At this time, the other station 3 is requested to deliver the portion excluding the first 5 minutes .
[0024]
The accumulation in the temporary memory 15 described above is performed while the initial service part is delivered to the user 5 (5 minutes). Then, when the own station 1 finishes delivering the initial service part to the user 5, it subsequently delivers the information stored in the temporary memory 15. Arbitrary methods can be adopted as a technique for delivering these two parts without a seam.
[0025]
Therefore, from the viewpoint of the user 5, all information contents of the information requested by the user 5 are promptly serviced after the request.
Further, the other station 3 requested to deliver information from the own station 1 performs substantially the same operation as the operation of the own station 1 described above. However, since the initial service part has already been delivered in the own station 1 that requests delivery, the other station 3 delivers information content directly from the secondary memory to the own station 1.
[0026]
The delivery of the information content from the own station 1 to the user 5 is performed at a speed of, for example, 1.5 to 16 MBPS, and the transmission speed between the stations via the network is at a high speed of, for example, 156 MBPS to 2.4 GBPS. Done. Further, the transfer of information content from the secondary memory 16 to the temporary memory 15 can be performed at high speed or can be performed at low speed by queuing.
[0027]
Next, details of the operation of the CPU 11 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. The operation of the CPU 11 differs depending on whether the request is made from a territory user or from another station, and whether the requested information content is stored in the own station or in another station. The following description will be given separately for each case.
First, a case where a request is issued from the user and the requested information content is stored in the secondary memory of the own station will be described.
[0028]
The flow in FIG. 2 starts by accepting an information delivery request, and in step S1, it is determined whether the request source is a user or another station. In this case, since the request source is the user, 0 is set in the demand flag (step S2). Next, looking at the directory (step S4), it is determined whether or not the requested information content is stored in the own station (step S5).
[0029]
In this case, since it is stored in the own station, the process proceeds to step S6, and it is determined by the demand flag whether the request source is a user or another station. In this case, since the user is a user, delivery of the first five minutes of the request information content is started from the primary memory 13 as the initial service portion (step S7). Since the primary memory 13 has a small capacity as described above, the period from when a request is issued to when the delivery of the initial service portion is started is short. Service becomes possible.
[0030]
Next, the portion excluding the first 5 minutes from the request information content is taken out from the secondary memory 16 in its own station and transferred to the primary memory 13 (step S8). Then, when the delivery of the initial service portion is completed, the information content stored seamlessly in the secondary memory is delivered (step S9), and the operation is finished.
Next, a case where the request source is a user and the request information content is stored in another station will be described.
[0031]
In this case, the steps up to step S4 are as described above. Next, when it is determined in step S5 that the request information body is stored in another station, it is next determined by a demand flag whether the request source is a user or another station (step S11). In this case, since the user is the user, the process proceeds to step S12, and delivery of the first five minutes of the request information content is started from the primary memory 13 as the initial service part.
[0032]
Next, the delivery of the corresponding information content is requested to the other station 3 (step S13), and the information content received from the other station 3 is transferred to the temporary memory 13 (step S14). When the delivery of the initial service portion is completed, the information content stored in the temporary memory is delivered seamlessly (step S15), and the operation is finished.
[0033]
Next, a case where the request source is another station and the request information body is stored in the own station will be described.
In this case, if it is determined in step S1 that the request source is another station, 1 is set in the demand flag (step S3). Next, looking at the directory (step S4), it is determined that the request information body is stored in the own station (step S5), and the request source is determined to be a user or another station based on the demand flag (step S6).
[0034]
In this case, the request source is the other station, and the other station has delivered the initial service part and then made a request to the own station. Therefore, the own station 1 does not deliver the initial service part, but directly The request information body is delivered from the next memory 13 to another station (step S10), and the operation is terminated.
Next, a case where the request source is another station and the request information content is stored in the other station will be described.
[0035]
Normally, such a case does not occur, but if it occurs, the own station 1 is irrelevant, so the operation is terminated via “other station” in step S11. In this case, it may be possible to notify the requesting other station that the request is incorrect.
Regardless of which is the request source, when the directory is viewed in step S4, if the information is not found in either the local station or the other station, the operation is terminated from "other" in step S5. . In this case, the requester may be notified that the request is incorrect.
[0036]
In the embodiment described above, when there is a request for delivery of information from the user, the initial service part is delivered from the small-capacity primary memory first, so the search goes directly to the large-capacity memory that stores the information content, Delivery of information can be started more quickly than desired information information content can be extracted. Therefore, the user can receive the information delivery service without waiting. Then, while the initial service part is being delivered, the information content is stored in a temporary memory, and this information content is seamlessly delivered following the initial service part. It has been delivered quickly.
[0037]
Further, since the information content requested by the user can be distributed and stored in each station connected to the network, the memory capacity of each station can be reduced.
[0038]
[Other Examples]
As described above, in the information delivery system described above, all the information delivery devices have a secondary memory, and the user is connected to all the information delivery devices. If there is an information delivery device, an information delivery device that does not have a secondary memory is connected to the local station, and the information delivery device receives all of the information content requested by the user from another station via the network. be able to.
[0039]
The operation of the information delivery apparatus in this example may be the operation shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2 described above, or unnecessary operations may be deleted as appropriate. This also applies to the following examples.
In addition, when adding stored information to the information delivery system, an information delivery apparatus that accepts only requests from other stations via a network may be connected without accepting requests from users.
[0041]
【The invention's effect】
ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the information delivery apparatus which can deliver the information which a user requests | requires rapidly can be provided. Further, in an information delivery system constituted by a plurality of information delivery devices, it is possible to obtain an information delivery system capable of distributing and accumulating information in each information delivery device and further delivering information content requested by a user quickly.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an information delivery apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the information delivery apparatus in FIG. 1;
[Explanation of symbols]
1 ... Information delivery device (own station)
2, 3 ... Information delivery device (other stations)
4 ... Network 5, 6, 7 ... User 11 ... CPU
12 ... Interface 13 ... Primary memory 14 ... Directory 15 ... Temporary memory 16 ... Secondary memory

Claims (3)

A primary memory that stores an initial service portion of information to be delivered in an information delivery device for delivering requested information;
Directory that records the list of data recorded in this primary memory,
Temporary memory for temporarily storing information contents ; and
When there is a request for information delivery, first, the delivery of the initial service part in the primary memory corresponding to the request information is started with reference to the directory, and at the same time, the information content to be delivered next to the initial service part Control means for requesting delivery to the outside , storing information content obtained from the outside in the temporary memory, and subsequently delivering the information content stored in the temporary memory after delivery of the initial service portion ;
An information delivery apparatus comprising: A secondary memory for storing information contents of information to be delivered is provided in the information delivery apparatus, and the control means stores information contents to be delivered following the initial service portion in the secondary memory. Stores the information content read from the secondary memory in the temporary memory, and when the information content to be delivered subsequent to the initial service portion is not accumulated in the secondary memory, sends a delivery request to the outside. information delivery apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that. 3. An information delivery system comprising a plurality of arbitrary information delivery devices of the information delivery device according to claim 1 connected to a common network.

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