JP3940135B2 - RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD, PROGRAM, AND RECORDING MEDIUM CONTAINING PROGRAM - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a resource management system and method for quality assurance in a video distribution service using multicast using an IP network.

  For example, in a TCP / IP network such as the Internet communication network, when data is transmitted by multicast, a destination terminal device is accommodated if data transmission is performed once by specifying a plurality of destinations (distribution destinations). The edge router automatically replicates data according to the destination. Multicast is suitable for video distribution over the Internet and the like, and can be efficiently distributed without squeezing the line, and the network bandwidth can be effectively used.

  In order to manage data receivers in multicast communication having such an effect, it is determined whether or not the client device that has issued a reception request can be permitted to receive multicast data in the reception management server device. In some cases, the routing control server device is notified when permission is allowed (see Patent Document 1).

In addition, a technique that focuses on bandwidth management for the purpose of guaranteeing service quality for IP network transmission traffic has been proposed (see Patent Document 2). In this technique, first, when the required total bandwidth is larger than the lower threshold and smaller than the upper threshold, a signal that accepts a request to set an additional delay-sensitive traffic component based on a probabilistic approximation, or an additional The traffic component sensitive to the delay is rejected.
With this technique, guarantees regarding acceptable delay and jitter are achieved without having to send signals directly to the individual IP routers that form the IP network path.

  In addition, there is a technology that enables content such as video to be distributed in a stream desired by the user (see Patent Document 3). This is because the "content request mechanism specifies and transmits the ID indicating the type of content, the desired delivery time zone, and the desired quality including the desired quality, and the content acceptance mechanism determines the optimum delivery condition according to the requested content. The resource securing mechanism secures resources necessary for distribution based on the desired condition and the distribution condition, the content transmission mechanism sends out the content according to the distribution condition in the desired distribution time zone, and the stream distribution mechanism is the content transmission mechanism. The content sent from the server is streamed to the content requesting mechanism using the resources reserved by the resource securing mechanism.

The applicant has not yet found prior art documents related to the present invention by the time of filing other than the prior art documents specified by the prior art document information described in this specification.
JP 2002-217773 A JP 2000-196664 A JP 2003-150483 A

  By the way, in IP multicast, when a distribution request is transmitted from a terminal device of a user such as a customer to an edge router, the edge router that has received the distribution request distributes the video received from the distribution server. In the IP multicast according to the above-described conventional technique, the video distribution server that distributes video content distributes the requested video to the edge router, and thus does not recognize the state of the terminal device on the customer side.

  Therefore, in the distribution by IP multicast, the viewing status management and the network usage status in the terminal device on the customer side are not grasped, and there are demands for resources more than required for distribution such as network line bandwidth and server capacity. But the video is distributed. For this reason, there is a problem in that content requiring high quality is distributed to a terminal device on the customer side and viewed in a low quality state without satisfying the high quality required by the content.

In order to solve the above problem, there is a method of pre-allocating bandwidth to an access network to which a terminal device on the customer side is connected, but the number of terminal devices accommodated in the edge router is limited. Incurs an increase in cost.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a resource management system and method in which quality in a video distribution service by multicast using an IP network is guaranteed. .

The resource management method according to the present invention is based on the bandwidth information in the access network from the edge router to the content distribution destination accommodated in the edge router, which is provided in the route information regarding the distribution route of the content requested to be distributed. Next, the allowable bandwidth of the access network is compared with the bandwidth required for content distribution, and the result of this comparison notifies the edge router of permission to distribute the content copied by the edge router to the distribution destination. It is what I did.

Accordingly, the content distributed by multicast is distributed to a distribution destination accommodated in an access network having a band necessary for content distribution.
In the resource management method, the distribution of the content copied by the edge router may be controlled based on the authentication result of the distribution destination and the comparison result.

The resource management system according to the present invention is provided with route information relating to a distribution route of content requested to be distributed, and includes bandwidth information in an access network from an edge router to a content distribution destination accommodated in the edge router. Based on the result of the comparison by the bandwidth determination unit and the band determination unit that compares the allowable bandwidth of the access network with the band required for content distribution, the content copied by the edge router to the distribution destination And a distribution control means for notifying the edge router of distribution permission .
In the resource management system, the distribution control means may control distribution of the content copied by the edge router based on the authentication result of the distribution destination and the comparison result.

The program according to the present invention provides the computer with the bandwidth information in the access network from the edge router to the distribution destination of the content accommodated in the edge router, which is provided in the route information regarding the distribution route of the content requested to be distributed. based on the allowable range of the band of the access network, and a function of comparing the bandwidth and necessary distribution of content, as a result of the comparison, the edge router to allow delivery to the destination of the copied content by the edge router And a function for notifying the user.
The program may further include a function of controlling the distribution of the content copied by the edge router based on the authentication result of the distribution destination and the comparison result.

The recording medium according to the present invention is based on the bandwidth information in the access network from the edge router to the content distribution destination accommodated in the edge router, which is provided in the route information regarding the distribution route of the content requested to be distributed. The function to compare the allowable bandwidth of the access network with the bandwidth required for content distribution and the result of the comparison notify the edge router of permission to distribute the content copied by the edge router to the distribution destination. And a computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing the computer to realize the function is recorded. On this recording medium, a program for causing a computer to realize the function of controlling the distribution of the content copied by the edge router based on the authentication result of the distribution destination and the comparison result may be recorded.

  As described above, according to the present invention, content distributed by multicast is distributed to a distribution destination accommodated in an access network having a band necessary for content distribution, so that multicast using an IP network is performed. It is possible to obtain an excellent effect that the quality in the video distribution service according to is guaranteed.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration example of a resource management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system shown in FIG. 1 includes a portal server 101, an authentication server 102, a resource management server 103, a network management server 104, a video distribution server 105, an edge router 106, and a customer terminal 107. Each server is connected to the Internet communication network 108. The customer terminal 107 is connected to the edge router 106 via an access network such as a public network, and is connected to the Internet communication network 108 via the edge router 106.

  The portal server 101 is operated by, for example, a service provider, and includes a contract information management unit 111, a customer information database 112, a content management unit 113, and a content database 114. The customer information database 112 records information related to contracts with customers who have contracted with service providers. The contract information management unit 111 manages new registration, update, and deletion of information in the customer information database 112. The content management unit 113 manages content information recorded in the content database 114. In response to the content request from the customer terminal 107, the portal server 101 returns a payment notification.

  The authentication server 102, resource management server 103, and network management server 104 are operated by, for example, a network operator. The authentication server 102 includes an authentication control unit 121, a band determination request unit 122, and a video distribution determination unit 123. The authentication control unit 121 performs authentication control in response to a connection (distribution) request from the edge router 106 to the customer terminal 107. The bandwidth determination request unit 122 requests the resource management server 103 for a determination result of the bandwidth state in the network (access network) to which the customer terminal 107 for which the connection request has been made is connected. The video distribution determination unit 123 notifies the edge router 106 of video distribution permission based on the distribution determination result requested by the band determination request unit 122 and the authentication result by the authentication control unit 121.

  The resource management server 103 includes a bandwidth determination unit 131, a session management unit 132, a usage status management unit 133, a route information database 134, a contract information database 135, a usage status database 136, and a charging control unit 137. The network management server 104 includes a network (NW) information transfer unit 141 and an NW management unit 142.

  The bandwidth determination unit 131 determines the status of the bandwidth in the access line (access network) to which the customer terminal 107 is connected. The session management unit 132 manages session information regarding the generated session. The session information includes a management ID, customer ID, edge ID, accommodation port, viewing distribution server, content ID, bandwidth used, start time, end time, management ID, and the like.

The usage status management unit 133 records the usage status (log) in the generated session in the usage status database 136 and manages information recorded in the usage status database 136. In the usage status database 136, session information is recorded as shown in FIG. Further, the usage status of the service accessed by the customer terminal 107 is accumulated in the user status database 136 by the operation by the contracted customer.
The charging control unit 137 charges the customer according to the network usage status based on the data stored in the usage status database 136.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the route information database 134 includes route information related to the delivery route of the content requested to be delivered, such as group bandwidth information, multicast route information, access line bandwidth information, and core line bandwidth information. The group band information is, for example, a content number, a multicast address, a used band, and the like. The multicast route information includes a content number, a server address, a busy route, and a link. The access line band information includes an edge number, an edge port, a physical band of the corresponding edge port, a used band, and the like. The core line band information includes a line number, a physical band of each line, a used band, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 3, the contract information database 135 records information related to contracts with customers who have contracted with service providers. The information recorded in the contract information database 135 is information recorded in the customer information database 112 and is transmitted from the contract information management unit 111 and recorded in the contract information database 135.
In the network management server 104, the NW management unit 142 collects network information, and the collected network information is transmitted to the resource management server 103 by the NW information transfer unit 141. Network information obtained from the network management server 104 is recorded in the contract information database 135.

  Also, the video distribution server 105 receives the distribution request and distributes the content corresponding to the received distribution request to the request source by multicast. The content is distributed from the video distribution server 105 to the edge router 106, the necessary number is duplicated in the edge router 106, and sent to the requesting customer terminal 107.

Hereinafter, an operation example of the resource management system shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, when a content purchase request is transmitted from the customer terminal 107 to the portal server 101 by an operation of a customer who wants to view video content (step S501), the contract information management unit 111 displays information in the customer information database 112. The customer terminal 107 is identified based on the information, and a settlement notice is sent to the customer terminal 107 (step S502).

  Upon receiving the payment notification, the customer terminal 107 displays the received notification on a display unit (not shown) so that the customer can recognize it. When a request for participation in the program is sent from the customer terminal 107 to the edge router 106 by the operation of the customer who has recognized the payment notification (step S503), the authentication information transfer unit 161 is received in the edge router 106 that has received the request for participation in the program. However, an authentication request is sent to the authentication server 102 together with customer authentication information including customer ID and password, access line information, and the like (step S504).

  In the authentication server 102 that has received the authentication request from the edge router 106, the authentication control unit 121 performs authentication based on the received information, and the bandwidth determination request unit 122 provides information necessary for network resource determination (bandwidth determination request information). At the same time, a bandwidth determination request is sent to the resource management server 103 (step S505).

  In the resource management server 103 that has received the determination request, the bandwidth determination unit 131 determines the possibility of distribution based on the received information and the information recorded in each database, and the determination result is sent to the authentication server 102. (Step S506). The authentication server 102 that has received the determination result notification determines whether or not content distribution is possible based on the received determination result and the authentication result of the authentication control unit 121, and notifies the edge router 106 of the determination result (step S507).

  In the edge router 106 that has received the determination result, if the content distribution is possible, the video distribution control unit 162 transfers the content to the customer terminal 107 (step S508). As described above, the customer terminal 107 receives the streamed video, and the customer views the distributed video.

  Further, the edge router 106 transmits a charging start notification to the authentication server 102 together with the content distribution in step S508 (step S509). The authentication server 102 that has received the billing start notification transmits a state change notification (start) to the resource management server 103 (step S510).

Next, when the program exit request sent from the customer terminal 107 by the customer's operation is received by the edge router 106 (step S511), the edge router 106 first performs a transfer stop process (step S512), and Then, the authentication server 102 is notified of the charge stoppage (step S513).
The authentication server 102 that has received the notification of the charging stop notifies the resource management server 103 of a state change notification (end) (step S514). As a result, the used bandwidth and session are released.

Next, the band determination operation by the band determination unit 131 from step S505 to step S506 described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, when a bandwidth determination request is received (step S601), the bandwidth determination unit 131 determines whether the bandwidth determination requester is a registered customer based on the customer information recorded in the contract information database 135 ( Step S602). Here, along with the bandwidth determination request from the authentication server 102, the bandwidth determination unit 131 accepts the bandwidth determination request information. The received bandwidth determination request information includes the customer ID, customer IP address, edge ID, customer accommodation port number, distribution server address, content multicast address, and content bandwidth.

Next, the bandwidth determination unit 131 determines whether or not the content bandwidth is within the allowable range of the access line bandwidth (step S603). The bandwidth determination unit 131 determines whether the access line bandwidth is within an allowable range based on the access line bandwidth information recorded in the route information database 134.
Next, the bandwidth determination unit 131 determines whether the content bandwidth is within the allowable range of the CDN contract bandwidth in the customer terminal 107 (step S604). The band determination unit 131
The above determination is performed based on the customer information recorded in the contract information database 135.

Next, the bandwidth determination unit 131 determines whether or not the content bandwidth has been transferred to the edge router 106 in which the requesting customer terminal 107 is accommodated (step S605). The bandwidth determination unit 131 performs the above determination based on the group bandwidth information and multicast route information recorded in the route information database 134.
Next, the bandwidth determination unit 131 determines whether the bandwidth of the untransferred line can be secured based on the core line bandwidth information recorded in the path information database 134 (step S606). Since the above distribution is performed by multicast, the band is secured only for the untransferred line, and when the distribution is not yet performed, the band of the line from the distribution server edge to the customer accommodation edge is secured.

  If all the determinations in steps S602 to S606 described above are possible, the band determination unit 131 determines that the band determination is OK, and notifies the authentication server 102 of the determined band determination result (step S506). As a result, the content is distributed to the customer terminal 107 whose determination result is OK. If any of steps S602 to S606 is impossible, the distribution is not performed. At this time, in the resource management server 103, the session management unit 132 records the session information in the usage status database 136.

  As described above, according to the resource management system shown in FIG. 1, first, the bandwidth determination unit 131 in the resource management server 103 starts the edge from the edge router 106 based on the path information recorded in each database. The bandwidth in the access network up to the customer terminal 107 accommodated in the router 106 is compared with the bandwidth necessary for content distribution, and the distribution of the content copied by the edge router 106 to the customer terminal 107 is controlled based on the comparison result. I tried to do it. For example, if the free bandwidth in the access network (physical bandwidth-used bandwidth) is within the allowable bandwidth required for content distribution, the content is distributed. If the free bandwidth does not satisfy the bandwidth required for distribution, the content is I tried not to deliver it.

In addition, since the video distribution determination unit 123 of the authentication server 102 determines content distribution based on the band determination result in the band determination unit 131, the content distribution service by multicast is in a state where the quality is guaranteed. Will be able to do it.
Each server is a computer that includes a CPU, a main storage device, an external storage device, a network control device, and the like. The program recorded in the external storage device is expanded in the main storage device, and is expanded in the main storage device. Each operation described above is realized by the CPU executing the above-described program.

  Hereinafter, an application example of the system shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 shows a specific application example illustrating a charging system according to the number of views, which can manage the sharing status of network resources as a log. Further, it is assumed that the number of shared users in line L1 is 20, the number of shared users in line L2 is 20, the number of shared users in line L3 is 10, the number of shared users in line L4 is 6, and the number of shared users in line L5 is 4. Also, the charge for one user on line L1 is 50 yen, the charge for one user on line L2 is 50 yen, the charge for one user on line L3 is 100 yen, and the charge for one user on line L4 Is 170 yen, and the charge for one user of the line L5 is 250 yen.

  Based on the premise described above, the billing fee of the content fee for the customer of the customer terminal 107A is 1000 yen, and the network usage fee is 50 + 50 + 100 = 200 yen, which is 1200 yen in total. The charge for charging the content fee to the customer of the customer terminal 107B is 1000 yen, and the network usage charge is 50 + 50 + 170 = 270 yen, which is 1270 yen in total. The charge of the content fee for the customer of the customer terminal 107C is 1000 yen, and the network usage fee is 50 + 50 + 250 = 350 yen, which is 1350 yen in total.

Further, since the edge router 106A is connected to the line L3 with 10 shared users, the billing fee for the customer terminal 107A is shared by 10 customers. Further, since the edge router 106B is connected to the line L4 with 6 shared users, the billing fee for the customer terminal 107B is shared by 6 customers. Further, since the edge router 106C is connected to the line L5 with the number of shared users 4, the billing fee for the customer terminal 107C is shared by four customers.
According to the system shown in FIG. 1, it is possible to collect logs in the charge form as described above. Moreover, even if the same content is viewed, it can be applied to a model in which the charge is lower if there are more shared customers on the network.

It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the resource management system in embodiment of this invention. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration example of a route information database 134. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the contract information database 135. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the utilization condition database 136. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of the resource management system of FIG. 1. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a band determination operation by a band determination unit 131. It is explanatory drawing explaining the application example of the resource management system of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Portal server, 102 ... Authentication server, 103 ... Resource management server, 104 ... Network management server, 105 ... Video distribution server, 106 ... Edge router, 107 ... Customer terminal, 108 ... Internet communication network, 111 ... Contract information management part 112 ... Customer information database 113 ... Content management unit 114 ... Content database 121 ... Authentication control unit 122 ... Bandwidth determination request unit 123 ... Video distribution determination unit 131 ... Bandwidth determination unit 132 ... Session management unit 133 ... Usage status management unit, 134 ... Route information database, 135 ... Contract information database, 136 ... Usage status database, 137 ... Billing control unit, 141 ... Network (NW) information transfer unit, 142 ... NW management unit, 161 ... Authentication Information transfer unit, 162... Video distribution control unit.

Claims (8)

Based on the bandwidth information in the access network from the edge router to the distribution destination of the content accommodated in the edge router, which is provided in the route information regarding the distribution route of the content requested to be distributed , the bandwidth of the access network Compare the acceptable range with the bandwidth required to deliver the content,
The resource management method according to claim 1, wherein the edge router is notified of permission to distribute the content copied by the edge router to the distribution destination based on a result of the comparison. The resource management method according to claim 1,
A resource management method, comprising: controlling distribution of the content copied by the edge router based on an authentication result of the distribution destination and a comparison result. Based on the bandwidth information in the access network from the edge router to the distribution destination of the content accommodated in the edge router, which is provided in the route information regarding the distribution route of the content requested to be distributed , the bandwidth of the access network Bandwidth determination means for comparing the allowable range with the bandwidth required for the distribution of the content;
Resource management system, wherein the by comparing the result of the band determination unit, and a distribution control means for notifying the permission of the delivery to the delivery destination of the replicated the content in the edge router to the edge router. The resource management system according to claim 3, wherein
The distribution control means controls distribution of the content copied by the edge router based on an authentication result of the distribution destination and a comparison result. On the computer,
Based on the bandwidth information in the access network from the edge router to the distribution destination of the content accommodated in the edge router, which is provided in the route information regarding the distribution route of the content requested to be distributed , the bandwidth of the access network A function for comparing an allowable range and a bandwidth necessary for the distribution of the content;
A program that realizes a function of notifying the edge router of permission to distribute the content copied by the edge router to the distribution destination based on the result of the comparison. In the program according to claim 5,
The program further comprises a function of controlling the distribution of the content copied by the edge router based on the authentication result of the distribution destination and the comparison result. On the computer,
Based on the bandwidth information in the access network from the edge router to the distribution destination of the content accommodated in the edge router, which is provided in the route information regarding the distribution route of the content requested to be distributed , the bandwidth of the access network A function for comparing an allowable range and a bandwidth necessary for the distribution of the content;
A computer-readable recording medium on which a program that realizes a function of notifying the edge router of permission to distribute the content copied by the edge router to the distribution destination based on the result of the comparison is recorded. The recording medium according to claim 7,
Furthermore, a recording medium on which a program for causing the computer to realize the function of controlling the distribution of the content copied by the edge router based on the authentication result of the distribution destination and the comparison result is recorded.

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