JP4579152B2 - Multicast distribution system, multicast reception information collection device, multicast reception information collection method, and computer program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a multicast distribution system, a multicast reception information collection device, a multicast reception information collection method, and a computer program.

In recent years, with the broadbandization of the Internet and mobile networks, services that distribute high-quality content such as video have been realized and have begun to spread. As a delivery method, an IP (Internet Protocol) multicast method that can efficiently deliver the same packet to a large number of clients has attracted attention. In the IP multicast system, user authentication is not performed, and multicast data is distributed to a client that transmits an “IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol) join packet (see Non-Patent Document 1)”. That is, any client can join any multicast group. However, the distribution server cannot know which clients and how many clients are participating in a certain multicast group. Thus, as multicast monitoring methods for performing control such as authentication, authorization, and accounting in consideration of service provision, for example, IGAP (Internet Group Membership Authentication Protocol) and MLDA (Multicast Listener Discovery Authentication Protocol) are known. In IGAP, access control can be performed for each multicast address and for each client.
IGMP version1, 2: RFC 1112, 2236 IGAP: Tsunemasa Hayashi et al., “Internet Group Membership Authentication Protocol,” IETF Internet draft (draft-hayahi-igap-XX), 2003

  By the way, a television broadcast program (television program) is the most noticed multicast content, and it is considered to distribute the television program in real time on an IP network (IP broadcast). When IP broadcasting is realized, the audience rating of the program is considered to be an important business factor as in the case of the current television broadcasting by terrestrial waves. Therefore, it is desired to realize a system capable of collecting information on the number of recipients of multicast content to be used for measuring the audience rating in IP broadcasting.

  However, when a new function such as IGAP described above is used, the function must be added to an existing network device (router, layer 2 switch, etc.), resulting in a problem of cost increase.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a multicast distribution system that can easily collect information on the number of recipients of multicast content in a multicast distribution system such as an IP broadcast system. An object of the present invention is to provide a multicast reception information collecting apparatus and method.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a computer program for realizing the multicast reception information collecting apparatus of the present invention using a computer.

In order to solve the above problems, a multicast distribution system according to the present invention uses a network composed of network devices having a multicast packet transfer function, and has contents associated with the multicast address having the multicast address. In a multicast distribution system for distributing by multicast packet, a communication access means for accessing the network device via a communication line, and a setting table of a transfer destination port of the multicast packet used by the access destination network device, a multicast address and a transfer destination and port information obtaining means for obtaining a port set of information, counts the number of destination ports for each multicast address from the acquired information, the reception of the content from the total result Characterized by comprising a receiver information calculation means for calculating the number, the.

  In the multicast distribution system according to the present invention, the communication access means accesses the network device arranged at the most client-side edge of the network.

  In the multicast distribution system according to the present invention, the recipient information calculating means calculates the content reception rate from the number of clients capable of receiving the content and the calculated number of recipients.

  In the multicast distribution system according to the present invention, the content is a television program, and the viewing rate of the television program is obtained from the reception rate.

  In the multicast distribution system according to the present invention, the setting table is an IGMP snooping table or a multicast routing table.

  In the multicast distribution system according to the present invention, the port information acquisition unit acquires the number of ports in the virtual local area network when a virtual local area network is entered in the multicast routing table. And

In the multicast distribution system according to the present invention, the receiver information calculation means obtains the number of recipients by time.

A multicast reception information collecting apparatus according to the present invention is a multicast reception information collecting apparatus that collects information of a recipient of content associated with a multicast address distributed by a multicast packet having a multicast address, A communication access means for accessing the network device in a network composed of network devices having a transfer function via a communication line, and a multicast packet transfer destination port setting table used by the access destination network device, a multicast address and the port information obtaining means for obtaining a set of information in the destination port, aggregates the number of transfer destination port of each multicast address from the acquired information, the reception of the content from the total result Characterized by comprising a receiver information calculation means for calculating the number, the.

A multicast reception information collecting method according to the present invention is a method in which a computer collects information on a recipient of content associated with a multicast address distributed by a multicast packet having a multicast address. A process of accessing the network device in the network composed of network devices having a packet transfer function via a communication line, and a setting table of a transfer destination port of a multicast packet used by the access destination network device In relation to the process of obtaining the information of the combination of the multicast address and the forwarding port, the computer counts the number of forwarding ports for each multicast address from the obtained information and Characterized in that it comprises a, a process of calculating the number of recipients of the content.

A computer program according to the present invention is a computer program for collecting information on a recipient of a content associated with a multicast address distributed by a multicast packet having a multicast address, and has a function of transferring the multicast packet A function of accessing a network device in a network composed of network devices via a communication line, and a setting table of a transfer destination port of a multicast packet used by the access destination network device, a set of a multicast address and a transfer destination port the function of acquiring the information, the computer functions as the aggregate the destination number of ports of each multicast address from the acquired information, to calculate the number of recipients of the content from the total result Characterized in that to realize.
As a result, the multicast reception information collecting apparatus described above can be realized using a computer.

  According to the present invention, information on a set of a multicast address and a transfer destination port is acquired from a setting table of an existing network device, the number of transfer destination ports for each multicast address is calculated from the acquired information, and the result of the calculation is calculated. Information such as the number of content recipients can be obtained. As a result, there is no need to change the network device (router, layer 2 switch, etc.) having the multicast packet transfer function, and the existing network device is used as it is, and the content is received in the multicast distribution system such as the IP broadcast system. It is possible to easily collect information on the number of people.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, a system (IP broadcast system) that distributes a television program as an example of multicast content by multicast via an IP network will be described as an example.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an IP broadcast system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The IP broadcast system shown in FIG. 1 distributes TV programs (IP broadcast) by an IP multicast method using IGMP. Television programs are associated with multicast groups. Each television program is distributed to clients (broadcasting subscribers) participating in each multicast group by a packet (multicast packet) having a multicast address of the multicast group in charge of the distribution.

  In FIG. 1, a broadcast distribution server 11 and a client device 12 of each broadcast subscriber are connected to a multicast network composed of a router 13 and a layer 2 switch (L2 switch) 14. In the multicast network, the router 13 and the L2 switch 14 arranged at the most client side edge are particularly referred to as the edge router 13 and the edge L2 switch 14. In addition, when it does not distinguish in particular what is arrange | positioned at an edge, and others, it will only call the router 13 and the L2 switch 14. FIG. Each client device 12 is connected to the edge router 13 or the edge L2 switch 14. The RP (Rendezvous Point) router 1_13 is the root of the multicast tree. The broadcast distribution server 11 is connected to the RP router 1_13.

  The broadcast distribution server 11 transmits a television program in a packet to the multicast network using the multicast address. The client device 12 receives a television program from the multicast network as a packet using the multicast address of the participating multicast group.

  The router 13 has a routing function for realizing the IP multicast method. Specifically, the router 13 has a multicast routing table, and outputs an input packet of a multicast address to a transfer destination port according to the multicast routing table. The multicast routing table represents the correspondence between the multicast address and the transfer destination port, or the correspondence between the multicast address and the transfer destination virtual local area network. FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of the multicast routing table 100. In the example of FIG. 2, the multicast address 110 and the transfer destination virtual local area network name 120 are recorded in association with each other.

  The edge L2 switch 14 has a snooping function (IGMP snooping function) in IGMP. The IGMP snooping function is a function that prevents packet flooding (multicast packets are sent to unrequested clients) in layer 2. The edge router 13 has an L2 switch function, and an IGMP snooping function is provided as a part of the L2 switch function.

  Here, the IGMP snooping function will be briefly described.

  The client device 12 transmits an IGMP Join packet related to the multicast address of the multicast group to the edge router 13 or the edge L2 switch 14 in order to participate in the multicast group that handles the television program desired to be distributed. Hereinafter, the edge router 13 and the edge L2 switch 14 are collectively referred to as “edge switch”. The edge switch that has received the IGMP Join packet snoops the IGMP Join packet by using the IGMP snooping function to grasp the multicast group (multicast address) in which the client device 12 participates. It also knows the port that received the IGMP join packet. The edge switch generates an IGMP snooping table representing the correspondence between the port and the multicast address from the grasped information. The IGMP snooping table is realized, for example, as a table in CAM (Content Addressable Memory) format in which a port and a multicast address are paired. FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of the IGMP snooping table 200. In the example of FIG. 3, a multicast address and a port name are recorded in association with each other. According to the IGMP snooping table, it is possible to grasp to which port the client device 12 participating in which multicast group is connected. The edge switch determines the transfer destination port of the multicast packet by referring to the IGMP snooping table.

On the other hand, when the client device 12 leaves the participating multicast group, the client device 12 transmits an IGMP Leave packet to the edge switch. The edge switch transmits an IGMP General Query from the port that has received the IGMP Leave packet, and checks whether there is another client device 12 participating in the multicast group to be removed at the end of the port. As a result, if the IGMP Report (Join) is not received by the port, there is no other client device 12 participating in the multicast group to be removed, so the corresponding multicast address and port from the IGMP snooping table Delete the pair. This prevents flooding of multicast packets. On the other hand, when the IGMP Report (Join) is received by the port, since the other client device 12 participating in the multicast group to be removed exists at the port, the IGMP snooping table is maintained as it is. .
The IGMP snooping table can be referred to from other devices by accessing the edge switch.
The above is a brief description of the IGMP snooping function.

  In the present embodiment, the analysis server 20 is provided in the IP broadcast system described above. The analysis server 20 is connected to the multicast network. In FIG. 1, the analysis server 20 is connected to the router 2_13. The analysis server 20 has a characteristic multicast reception information collection function according to the present embodiment, and collects information on the number of receivers of a television program by the multicast reception information collection function. Hereinafter, the multicast reception information collection function according to the present embodiment will be described in detail.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of multicast reception information collection processing according to this embodiment. With reference to FIG. 4, the operation | movement which concerns on the multicast reception information collection which the analysis server 20 of FIG. 1 performs is demonstrated.
In FIG. 4, in step S1, variables i and j are both initialized to zero. Variable i represents the number of times of information collection, and variable j represents an edge switch (edge router 13 or edge L2 switch 14). Information (address, etc.) of each edge switch in the multicast network is set in the analysis server 20 in advance. In step S2, the process starts. In step S3, when the i-th collection time (Ti) is detected by the timer, the process is started.

  In step S4, access to the j-th edge switch (Sj) is performed via a communication line. For example, the access is made by a remote operation method called telnet. In step S5, the type of the edge switch (Sj) (L2 switch or router) is determined. As a result, if it is an L2 switch, the process proceeds to step S6, and if it is a router, the process proceeds to step S8.

  In step S6, the accessing edge L2 switch 14 refers to the IGMP snooping table and acquires information indicating the correspondence between the port and the multicast address. In the acquired information, the port corresponds to the client device 12, and the multicast address corresponds to the multicast group in which the client device 12 corresponding to the port participates, that is, the television program received by the client device 12. Thereby, it can be grasped which client device 12 is receiving which television program. In step S7, access to the edge L2 switch 14 that acquired the information is disconnected.

  On the other hand, in step S8, the accessing edge router 13 refers to the multicast routing table and acquires information representing the correspondence between the ports and the multicast addresses. Also in this acquired information, as in the acquired information from the IGMP snooping table, it is possible to grasp which client device 12 is receiving which television program from the correspondence relationship between the port and the multicast address. If the port information in the acquired information indicates a VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network), the process proceeds to step S9. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S7.

  In step S9, the VLAN information is referred to and the number of ports that the VLAN has is checked. The number of ports that the VLAN has corresponds to the number of client devices 12 connected to the VLAN. Also, it is checked whether the L2 switch in the VLAN router has an IGMP snooping table. If the IGMP snooping table is included, the process proceeds to step S10. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S7.

  In step S10, the IGMP snooping table of the L2 switch in the router of the VLAN is referred to, and information indicating the correspondence relationship between the port and the multicast address is acquired. Then, it progresses to step S7.

  After disconnecting access to the edge switch (Sj) in step S7, the process proceeds to step S11.

  In step S11, the acquired information is totaled. Specifically, the information acquisition time, multicast address, and number of recipients are aggregated. As a counting method, the number of recipients for each multicast address is calculated for each information acquisition time. Here, the total number of ports is used as the number of recipients. This is because the port corresponds to the client device 12 (broadcast subscriber) as described above. Note that the number of ports and the number of recipients may be one-to-one as described above, or may be converted from the number of ports to the number of recipients using a ratio acquired from the network topology.

  In step S12, it is determined whether there is an edge switch for which information has not been collected. As a result, if there is information that has not been collected yet, 1 is added to the variable j and the process returns to step S4. On the other hand, if information collection from all edge switches is completed, the process proceeds to step S13.

  In step S13, the aggregated multicast reception information is displayed. For this display, for example, a GUI (graphical user interface) can be used. Thereafter, 1 is added to the variable i, and the process returns to step S2. Note that the processing in FIG. 4 is continuously performed until the operation related to multicast reception information collection is stopped.

  As another method of collecting multicast reception information from the edge switch, MIB (Management Information Base) information can be used. The MIB information is information provided for the network device to inform the outside of its own state. Currently, there is information (network device) that can disclose the change of the IGMP snooping table as PRIVATE MIB information unique to the network device manufacturer (3Com). The disclosed contents of the change include details of addition and deletion of a pair of a port and a multicast address (how many multicast addresses have been added or deleted). From the addition and deletion information, the number of ports associated with each multicast address can be calculated. Thereby, the number of recipients for each multicast group is obtained.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of information collection for explaining the above-described multicast reception information collection processing.
In FIG. 5, the broadcast distribution server 11 distributes a certain TV program by multicast at the time “12:00” at the multicast address 1 (multicast group name; channel 1). This channel 1 is received by the client devices 12 of a plurality of broadcast subscribers. Specifically, one client device 12 (broadcasting subscriber 1) connected to the edge L2 switch 1_14, two client devices 12 (broadcasting subscribers 4 and 5) connected to the edge L2 switch 2_14, the edge It has been received by a total of six client devices 12 of three client devices 12 (broadcasting subscribers 7, 8, 9) connected to the router 4_13.

  The analysis server 20 accesses each edge router 13 and the edge L2 switch 14 by the processing of FIG. 4 and collects the number of recipients of the channel 1 at the time “12:00”. As a result, the total number of recipients of channel 1 at time “12:00” is 6.

Next, an example of how to obtain the IP broadcast audience rating will be described.
Here, description will be made assuming that the reception rate of the television program corresponds to the audience rating. In this embodiment, the number of receivers of a certain TV program is converted from the total number of ports that transfer the TV program to the client device 12 in the edge router 13 and the edge L2 switch 14. In addition to the number of receivers, it is necessary to check the number of clients that can be received (the number of broadcast subscribers that can be received). Examples of the method for checking the number of receivable clients include the following methods 1, 2, and 3.
(Method 1) Obtained as a specified value from subscriber contract information of the IP broadcast service.
(Method 2) Calculate from the number of ports entered in each IGMP snooping table and multicast routing table.
(Method 3) Calculation is performed from the number of operating ports for which IGMP snooping is set in each edge router 13 and edge L2 switch 14. Here, the calculation target port is a port excluding the multicast upstream port. The number of ports that are excluded from the upstream port of the multicast and are in operation with IGMP snooping set is known based on multicast router information, setting information, or port status information of each edge router 13 and edge L2 switch 14. be able to.

  The number of receivable clients is preferably tabulated for each edge router 13 and edge L2 switch 14. This is because when measuring the reception rate, it is not necessary to access all the edge routers 13 and the edge L2 switches 14, and it is sufficient to access arbitrarily selected ones and collect information.

  In the case of the above methods 2 and 3, as in the case of collecting information on the number of recipients, it is possible to access each edge router 13 and edge L2 switch 14 to collect information and obtain the number of receivable clients. When a VLAN is entered in the multicast routing table of the edge router 13, it is possible to appropriately set whether the number of receivable ports corresponding to the VLAN is one or a predetermined number. Similarly, the correspondence between the number of ports and the number of receivable clients can be set as appropriate.

  FIG. 6 is a graph showing a display example of audience rating measurement results according to this embodiment. In the display example of FIG. 6, the audience rating for each time is graphed for each multicast group (channels 1, 2, 3), and the change in audience rating is displayed in an easy-to-understand manner.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, information on a combination of a multicast address and a transfer destination port is acquired from the IGMP snooping table or multicast routing table of the existing edge router 13 or edge L2 switch 14, and from the acquired information. The number of transfer destination ports for each multicast address is totaled, and the number of TV program receivers is obtained from the total result. As a result, there is no need to change the network device (router, layer 2 switch, etc.) having a multicast packet transfer function, and the existing network device is used as it is, and information on the number of TV program receivers in the IP broadcast system. Can be collected easily. As a result, the audience rating can be easily measured, and the audience rating of the program can be used as an important element in the business of IP broadcasting, as in the case of the current terrestrial television broadcasting.

Note that a program for realizing the functions of the analysis server 20 shown in FIG. 1 is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium is read into a computer system and executed to receive multicast. Information collection processing may be performed. Here, the “computer system” may include an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.
Further, the “computer system” includes a homepage providing environment (or display environment) if a WWW system is used.
The “computer-readable recording medium” means a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a writable nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory, a portable medium such as a CD-ROM, a hard disk built in a computer system, etc. This is a storage device.

Further, the “computer-readable recording medium” means a volatile memory (for example, DRAM (Dynamic DRAM) in a computer system that becomes a server or a client when a program is transmitted through a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. Random Access Memory)), etc., which hold programs for a certain period of time.
The program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line.
The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, and what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes design changes and the like within a scope not departing from the gist of the present invention.
For example, the analysis server 20 may collect information in a centralized manner with one apparatus, or may collect information with a plurality of apparatuses and integrate the collected results.

  In the above-described embodiment, a router and a layer 2 switch have been described as examples of the network device having a multicast packet transfer function. However, a layer 3 switch or the like in which a layer 3 function is further provided in the layer 2 switch is used. It is also possible to use it. Further, although the IGMP snooping table and the multicast routing table are given as examples of the setting table of the forwarding port of the multicast packet used by the network device, other various setting tables can be used. The tables in FIGS. 2 and 3 are examples in the case where a network device “Catalyst 3750” manufactured by Cisco is used.

  In the embodiment described above, the analysis server accesses the network device arranged at the most client-side edge of the network. However, the analysis server accesses the network device slightly upstream from the client, and sets the multicast address and transfer destination port. You may make it acquire the information of a group. In this case, the number of recipients and the reception rate can be obtained by appropriately weighting the total value of the number of transfer destination ports for each multicast address. As a result, the number of network devices to be accessed can be reduced and the load can be reduced. Further, when only the presence / absence of the receiver is investigated, it is only necessary to access the upstream network device.

  In the above-described embodiment, the IP broadcast system has been described as an example of the multicast distribution system according to the present invention. However, multicast contents other than television programs are distributed via the IP network by multicast. In addition, the present invention can be similarly applied, and the same effect can be obtained.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the application example to the system for measuring the audience rating from the information of the number of receivers of the TV program has been described. It is.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the IP broadcast system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a multicast routing table 100. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an IGMP snooping table 200. FIG. It is a flowchart of the multicast reception information collection process which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the information collection for demonstrating the multicast reception information collection process which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a graph showing the example of a display of the audience rating measurement result which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Broadcast distribution server, 12 ... Client device, 13 ... Router, 14 ... Layer 2 switch (L2 switch), 20 ... Analysis server (multicast reception information collecting device), 100 ... Multicast routing table, 200 ... IGMP snooping table

Claims (10)

In a multicast distribution system that uses a network composed of network devices having a multicast packet transfer function and distributes content associated with a multicast address by a multicast packet having the multicast address,
Communication access means for accessing the network device via a communication line;
Port information acquisition means for acquiring information on a set of a multicast address and a transfer destination port for a setting table of a transfer destination port of a multicast packet used by the access destination network device;
Recipient information calculation means for calculating the number of transfer destination ports for each multicast address from the acquired information, and calculating the number of recipients of the content from the total result;
A multicast distribution system comprising:   2. The multicast distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the communication access unit accesses the network device arranged at the most client-side edge of the network. 3. The multicast distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the recipient information calculation unit calculates a reception rate of the content from the number of clients capable of receiving the content and the calculated number of recipients. . 4. The multicast distribution system according to claim 3 , wherein the content is a television program, and the viewing rate of the television program is obtained from the reception rate. The multicast distribution system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the setting table is an IGMP snooping table or a multicast routing table. 6. The multicast distribution according to claim 5 , wherein the port information acquisition unit acquires the number of ports in the virtual local area network when a virtual local area network is entered in the multicast routing table. system. The multicast distribution system according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein the receiver information calculation means calculates the number of receivers according to time. A multicast reception information collecting device for collecting information of a recipient of content associated with the multicast address distributed by a multicast packet having a multicast address;
Communication access means for accessing the network device in a network composed of network devices having a function of transferring the multicast packet via a communication line;
Port information acquisition means for acquiring information on a set of a multicast address and a transfer destination port for a setting table of a transfer destination port of a multicast packet used by the access destination network device;
Recipient information calculation means for calculating the number of transfer destination ports for each multicast address from the acquired information, and calculating the number of recipients of the content from the total result;
A multicast reception information collecting apparatus comprising: A method in which a computer collects information about a recipient of content associated with a multicast address distributed by a multicast packet having a multicast address,
A process in which the computer accesses the network device in a network composed of network devices having a function of forwarding the multicast packet via a communication line;
A step of acquiring information on a set of a multicast address and a transfer destination port with respect to a setting table of a transfer destination port of a multicast packet used by the access destination network device;
The computer totalizes the number of transfer destination ports for each multicast address from the acquired information, and calculates the number of recipients of the content from the aggregation result;
A multicast reception information collection method comprising: A computer program for collecting information on a recipient of content associated with a multicast address distributed by a multicast packet having a multicast address,
A function of accessing, via a communication line, the network device in a network composed of network devices having a function of forwarding the multicast packet;
A function for acquiring information on a set of a multicast address and a transfer destination port with respect to a setting table of a transfer destination port of a multicast packet used by the access destination network device;
A function of counting the number of transfer destination ports for each multicast address from the acquired information, and calculating the number of recipients of the content from the counting result;
A computer program for causing a computer to realize the above.

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