JP4879815B2 - Multimedia information transfer and storage method, distributed multimedia server device, distributed multimedia server system, program for realizing multimedia information transfer and storage method, and recording medium recording the program - Google Patents

Description

  According to the present invention, a plurality of storage server modules for storing each segment generated by dividing multimedia data of one program into a plurality of storage devices distributed in the respective storage devices, and received from the storage server module A distributed multimedia server device configured by connecting a communication server module that transmits a segment to another external device and transmitting a segment received from the other external device to the storage server module in a state in which communication is possible over a network. A multimedia information transfer and storage method for controlling transmission and reception and storage of multimedia data, a distributed multimedia server device having a function for realizing the method, a distributed multimedia system including the server device, Realization of multimedia information transfer and storage method That a program, and a recording medium recording the program.

  Conventionally, for the purpose of storing and distributing multimedia information such as audio and video, in a system in which a plurality of hardware modules are connected in a cluster, the multimedia data of each program is divided into each program. There is a distributed RAID type multimedia server device that stores data in a distributed manner.

  A conventional distributed RAID type multimedia server device (hereinafter referred to as “distributed RAID type multimedia server device” as appropriate) will be briefly described below. As illustrated in FIG. 45, a conventional distributed RAID type multimedia server device connects a plurality of communication server modules and a plurality of storage server modules each having a storage device via a server module network. Configured. Further, as shown in the figure, this distributed RAID type multimedia server device is connected to a terminal and a multimedia information input device via a terminal side network.

  Here, the terminal issues a multimedia information distribution request to the distributed RAID type multimedia server device, and reproduces the multimedia information distributed from the distributed RAID type multimedia server device. The multimedia information input device issues a request for storing multimedia information to the distributed RAID type multimedia server device, and when the storage permission is issued from the distributed RAID type multimedia server device, the multimedia information to be stored is distributed RAID type. It has a function to transmit to the multimedia server device.

  The distributed RAID type multimedia server device having such a configuration stores multimedia information of one program as described below. In other words, when the multimedia information input device receives a storage permission for the storage request for multimedia information issued to the distributed RAID type multimedia server device, the communication server module j in the distributed RAID type multimedia server device (where 1 ≦ j ≦ M), transmission of multimedia information to be stored is started.

  The communication server module j that has received the multimedia information from the multimedia information input device sequentially divides the received multimedia information into fixed-length segments as shown in FIG. Then, the first “segment 0” composed of the top data of the multimedia information is accumulated in the accumulation device 1 of the accumulation server module 1, and the “segment 1” composed of the subsequent data of the “segment 0” data is accumulated in the accumulation server module 2. Each segment is distributed and accumulated while circulating through the accumulation devices 1 to N, such as accumulation in the accumulation device 2. The communication server module j continues the above-described processing until the reception of all the multimedia information data in the program is completed.

  On the other hand, the distributed RAID type multimedia server device distributes multimedia information to the terminal as described below. When a multimedia information read request is received from one of the terminals via the terminal-side network, the distributed RAID type multimedia server device uses one of the communication server modules to respond to the request corresponding to the read request from the terminal. Distribute media information.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 47, the communication server module j that is the transmission source of multimedia information sends the segment information to the storage server module 1 that stores the segment composed of the top data of the multimedia information in response to the read request. Send a read request. Receiving this read request, the storage server module 1 reads “segment 0” consisting of the top data of the requested multimedia information from the storage device 1 and transmits it to the communication server module j via the inter-server module network. Upon receiving “Segment 0”, the communication server module j converts the “Segment 0” into multimedia information that can be transferred to the terminal-side network, and transmits it to the terminal that is the transmission source of the multimedia information read request. Subsequently, the communication server module j transmits a read request for “segment 1” to the storage server module 2 in the same manner as “segment 0”, and receives “segment 1” received from the storage server module 2 as multimedia information. Is converted to and sent to the terminal. The communication server module j repeats the process described above until transmission of all the multimedia information data corresponding to the read request to the terminal is completed.

  As described above, the conventional distributed server selects one communication server module in charge of transmission / reception of multimedia information from among the communication server modules provided by itself, and all the multimedia information data related to one program is selected. Or the distribution of all data of multimedia information related to a certain program (see, for example, FIG. 48). And even if the conventional distributed server increases the number of connected terminals and multimedia information input devices, the communication server module and the storage server module are added or the communication server module and the storage server module are installed. By adding either one, it is possible to flexibly cope with an increasing processing load.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-146014

  By the way, the above-mentioned conventional distributed RAID type multimedia server device transfers multimedia information of a program to an external device (for example, a terminal or multimedia information) at a speed exceeding the hardware performance limit of one communication server module. There is a problem that transmission / reception to / from the input device cannot be performed.

  That is, the conventional distributed RAID type multimedia server device transmits / receives all the multimedia information related to a certain program to / from the terminal-side network via one communication server module. Therefore, the maximum speed at which all the data of multimedia information related to a certain program can be transmitted to the terminal-side network, or the maximum speed that can be received from the terminal-side network when all the data of multimedia information related to a certain program is stored. The speed cannot exceed the maximum communication speed when the communication server module in charge of transmission / reception of all data of the multimedia information related to the program transmits / receives data via the terminal-side network. In other words, the conventional distributed RAID type multimedia server device cannot transmit / receive multimedia information of one program to / from an external device at a speed exceeding the hardware performance limit of the communication server module. There was a point.

  However, with regard to the communication speed required when a conventional distributed RAID type multimedia server apparatus transmits / receives multimedia information to / from an external apparatus, the real-time playback speed of the program is not the upper limit. It is no exaggeration to say that there is no upper limit to the requested speed depending on the situation. For example, between two server devices installed at two broadcasting stations that are geographically separated from each other, program material video and CM (Commercial Message) material video are transmitted from the program production station to the broadcasting station. Obviously, in such a case, it is desirable that the transfer be completed as soon as possible.

  Even in view of such an example, there is no limit to the speed required when transmitting / receiving multimedia information of a certain program. However, the conventional distributed RAID type multimedia server apparatus satisfies such a request. It is difficult.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and transmits / receives multimedia information of a program at a speed exceeding the hardware performance limit of one communication server module. It is an object of the present invention to provide a multimedia information transfer and storage method, a distributed multimedia server device, a distributed multimedia server system, a program that realizes a multimedia information transfer and storage method, and a recording medium that records the program To do.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides a plurality of segments in which each segment generated by dividing multimedia data of one program is distributed and stored in storage devices included in each segment. The network server can communicate with the storage server module and the communication server module that transmits the segment received from the storage server module to another external device and the segment received from the other external device to the storage server module. A multimedia information transfer storage method for controlling transmission and storage of multimedia data, wherein the multimedia data transfer request is received together with a communication speed request value, Multimedia of one program between distributed multimedia servers Used to transmit each segment distributed and stored in each storage device by each storage server module by the distributed multimedia server that functions as the sender when transferring each segment divided into several parts If the number of communication server modules to be temporarily set according to the communication speed request value received together with the data transfer request and the number of communication server modules temporarily set is available, the temporary setting Using the specified number of communication server modules, each segment is sent in parallel to the distributed multimedia server functioning as the receiving side, and the temporarily set number of communication server modules are not available. In this case, use the maximum number of communication server modules within the usable range to function as a receiver. A transmission step of transmitting each segment in parallel to the distributed multimedia server, and a distributed multimedia server functioning as a receiving side used to transmit each segment in the distributed multimedia server functioning as a transmitting side A receiving step for receiving each segment using the same number of communication server modules as the received communication server module, and a distributed multimedia server functioning as a receiving side used to receive each segment in the receiving step. A storage step of storing each segment received in each storage device in a distributed manner by the number of storage server modules equal to or greater than the number of communication server modules.

Further, the present invention provides the communication server module for each of a plurality of storage server modules that are distributed and stored in the storage devices provided in the respective segments in the distributed multimedia server functioning as the transmission side in the above invention. And a step of reading a segment to be transmitted from only the storage server module to which each communication server module is assigned.

Further, the present invention provides the communication server module for each of a plurality of storage server modules that are distributed and stored in the storage devices provided in the respective segments in the distributed multimedia server functioning as the receiving side in the above invention. And a step of writing the received segment only to the storage server module to which each communication server module is assigned.

Further, the present invention provides the communication server module of the distributed multimedia server in which the communication server module that transmits each segment functions as the receiving side in the distributed multimedia server that functions as the transmitting side in the above invention. The method further includes a step of changing the value for each segment.

In addition, the present invention provides a plurality of storage server modules that store each segment generated by dividing multimedia data of one program in a plurality of storage devices, respectively, and the storage server modules. Distributed multimedia configured to connect a communication server module that transmits a received segment to another external device and transmits a segment received from the other external device to the storage server module in a state where communication is possible over a network. A server device that receives a multimedia data transfer request together with a communication speed request value and transfers each segment obtained by dividing the multimedia data of one program into several parts to another distributed multimedia server In addition, each storage server module distributed and stored in each storage device The number of communication server modules used to transmit the segment is provisionally set according to the communication speed request value received together with the data transfer request, and the provisionally set number of communication server modules exists in a usable state. In this case, the temporarily set number of communication server modules are used to transmit each segment in parallel to the distributed multimedia server functioning as the receiving side. Transmitting means for transmitting each segment in parallel to a distributed multimedia server functioning as a receiving side by using the maximum number of communication server modules within the usable range when it does not exist in a usable state It is provided with.

Further, according to the present invention , in the above invention, a communication server module is uniquely assigned to each of a plurality of storage server modules distributedly stored in the storage device provided for each segment, and each communication server module is assigned to each of the storage server modules. It is further characterized by further comprising means for reading a segment to be transmitted from only the stored storage server module.

Further, the present invention , in the above invention, further comprises means for the communication server module transmitting each segment to change the communication server module of another distributed multimedia server device functioning as a receiving side for each segment. It is characterized by that.

In addition, the present invention provides a plurality of storage server modules that store each segment generated by dividing multimedia data of one program in a plurality of storage devices, respectively, and the storage server modules. Distributed multimedia configured to connect a communication server module that transmits a received segment to another external device and transmits a segment received from the other external device to the storage server module in a state where communication is possible over a network. A distributed multimedia server system that transfers each segment obtained by dividing the multimedia data of one program into several pieces between server devices, and the distributed multimedia server device functioning as a transmission side Accepts multimedia data transfer request along with speed request value The number of communication server modules used to transmit each segment distributed and stored in each storage device by each storage server module according to the communication speed request value received together with the data transfer request, When the provisionally set number of communication server modules exist in a usable state, each segment is assigned to the distributed multimedia server functioning as a receiving side using the provisionally set number of communication server modules. If the number of communication server modules that are temporarily set does not exist in a usable state, use the maximum number of communication server modules within the usable range as the receiving side. Transmitting means for transmitting each segment in parallel to a functioning distributed multimedia server; and A communication server module is uniquely assigned to each of a plurality of storage server modules distributedly stored in the storage device, and each communication server module reads a segment to be transmitted from only the storage server module assigned to each communication server module. And a communication server module that transmits each segment, the communication server module of another distributed multimedia server device that functions as a receiving side, for each segment, and the function as a receiving side When the distributed multimedia server apparatus receives each segment obtained by dividing the multimedia data of one program from the distributed multimedia server on the transmission side, the distributed multimedia server on the transmission side Used to send segments Receiving means for receiving each segment using the same number of communication server modules as the received communication server modules, and storage server modules having a number equal to or greater than the number of communication server modules used when receiving each segment by the receiving means The storage means for distributing and storing each received segment in each storage device, and the communication server module is uniquely assigned to each of a plurality of storage server modules distributed and stored in the storage devices provided for each segment, Means for writing the received segment only to the storage server modules to which the communication server modules are assigned.

According to another aspect of the present invention , there is provided a program which is realized by causing a computer to execute the multimedia information transfer storage method according to claim 1, claim 2, claim 3 and claim 4.

Further, the present invention is realized by causing a computer to execute the multimedia information transfer and storage method according to claim 1, claim 2, claim 3 and claim 4, and recording medium on which a program is recorded It is.

[Basic concept of the present invention]
Subsequently, referring to the drawings, the multimedia information transfer and storage method, the distributed multimedia server device, the distributed multimedia server system, the program for realizing the multimedia information transfer and storage method, and the program according to the present invention The basic concept of the recorded recording medium will be described. In the following, when data related to multimedia information is transferred between so-called distributed RAID multimedia server devices, the configuration of the distributed RAID multimedia server device is limited, and the configuration of the distributed RAID multimedia server device. Each of the basic concepts of the present invention in the case of generalization will be described.

[When the configuration of the distributed RAID type multimedia server device is limited]
First, the basic concept of the present invention when the configuration of the distributed RAID type multimedia server device is limited will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the multimedia data transmission side server transmits multimedia information constituting one program in parallel using a plurality of communication server modules in the server at the same time. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the receiving server also uses a plurality of communication server modules in the server for multimedia data constituting one program transmitted from the communication server module of the transmitting server. While receiving in parallel, it stores in the storage device.

  In this way, the present invention speeds up the transfer of multimedia information between servers by performing multimedia data transfer of one program using a plurality of communication server modules.

  1 and 2 show the following conditions (1) to (4) when multimedia data is transmitted and received between two distributed RAID multimedia server apparatuses. That is, (1) both the transmission side server and the reception side server are configured to include the same number of communication server modules and storage server modules. (2) The size of the sending server and the receiving server is the same (both communication server modules and storage server modules of both servers are N). (3) The multimedia information constituting one program is distributed and stored in storage devices on all N storage server modules. (4) All N communication server modules are used to transfer multimedia data constituting one program.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, among the segments constituting the multimedia information of one program, “Segment 0” is stored in the storage device 1, “Segment 1” is stored in the storage device 2, and so on. When the storage devices 1 to N are circulated and stored for each segment, assuming that the configuration satisfying the above conditions (1) to (4) is provided, the communication server module j (1 ≦ j of the transmitting server) ≦ N) is a multimedia information segment j−1, N + j−1, 2N + j−1,... Of the corresponding program stored in the storage device j in its own server. . . Is transmitted from the storage server module j, the communication server module j of the receiving server is designated as the transmission destination, and is transmitted to the external network. On the other hand, the communication server module j of the receiving server segments the received multimedia information and stores the segments in the storage device j in the storage server module j in its own server. In this way, multimedia data of one program can be transferred in parallel using a plurality of communication server modules, and segments can be stored in the receiving server in the correct order.

[When the configuration of the distributed RAID type multimedia server device is generalized]
Next, the basic concept of the present invention when the configuration of the distributed RAID type multimedia server device is generalized will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the transmission-side server is composed of P storage server modules and Q communication server modules, and the reception-side server is composed of T storage server modules and R communication server modules. The It is assumed that identifiers of integer values in ascending order starting from 1 are assigned to the storage server module and the communication server module of both servers.

  Unlike the case where the server configuration is limited as described above, the above conditions (1) and (2) are eliminated, the number of storage server modules and communication server modules is different for both servers, and the configurations of both servers are also mutually different. Is different. Further, by eliminating the condition (3), the multimedia data to be transmitted is not necessarily distributed and stored in all of the storage server modules 1 to P in the transmission side server. It is also targeted if it is stored only in the set.

  For this reason, the storage server module group storing the multimedia data to be transmitted can be expressed as the following equation (1).

However, S ₁ shown in formula (1) is an integer representing viewed the following equation (2), each element of the set N is 1 or more to take the value of the aforementioned identifier assigned to each storage server module Of S ₁ or less.

At this time, multimedia data of one program is stored so as to straddle the S ₁ storage server modules from the storage server modules n ₁ to n _S1 and to circulate for each segment of the multimedia data in this order. Assuming that. That, t, when the integer of 1 or more represented by the formula (3) shown below w, sequence number q of (q is an integer of 0 or more) segments, in storage device of the storage server module n _t It is assumed that the wth segment is stored. However, xdivy and xmody respectively represent a quotient and a remainder when an integer x greater than or equal to 0 is divided by a positive integer y.

  Further, in the data transfer between distributed RAID type multimedia server devices targeted by the present invention, the above condition (4) is eliminated and the number of communication server modules used for multimedia data transfer is also freely set. It shall be possible. At this time, a set N ′ of communication server modules used for transferring multimedia data of one program in the transmitting server can be defined as shown in the following equation (4).

However, the set N ′ is a set in which identifiers of all communication server modules of the sending server are arranged, and is a subset of the following formula (5), the number of elements is S ₂ , and each element has an identifier value in ascending order It shall be arranged in That is, the conditions shown in the following formulas (6) and (7) are satisfied.

However, the condition shown in the following equation (8) is satisfied between S ₂ and S ₁ .

  In many cases, even if more communication server modules are used than the number of storage server modules, multimedia data cannot be transmitted at a speed exceeding the total transfer performance of the storage server modules. Because it is meaningless.

Next, the receiving server will be described. The receiving server, the same number as the communication server module transmitting server uses to transmit multimedia data, i.e., by using the communication server module of _two S, multimedia data transmitted from the transmitting server It shall be received. In the receiving server, a set M ′ of communication server modules used for receiving multimedia data of one program is defined as shown in the following equation (9).

However, the set M ′ is a set in which identifiers of all the communication server modules of the receiving server are arranged, and is a subset of the following formula (10). The number of elements is S ₂ , and each element has an identifier value in ascending order. It shall be arranged in That is, the conditions shown in the following expressions (11) and (12) are satisfied.

  All multimedia data of one program received using the communication server module set M ′ is finally stored in the storage device in the storage server module consisting of a set of identifiers shown in the following equation (13). It is assumed that the data is stored in a cycle for each segment in order.

That, p, when the integer of 1 or more represented by the formula (14) below the y, sequence number q of (q is an integer of 0 or more) segments, in storage device of the storage server module m _p It is assumed that the yth segment is stored.

However, the set M is a set in which the identifiers of all storage server modules of the receiving server are arranged, and is a subset of the following formula (15). The number of elements is S ₃ , and each element has an identifier value in ascending order. They are arranged. That is, the conditions shown in the following equations (16) and (17) are satisfied.

Further, between and S2 bets S ₃ shall conditions shown in the following equation (18) holds.

This is because, if less than the number S ₂ of the communication server module the number of storage server module, in order to transfer rate of the multimedia data to the storage server module side is not catch up to the receiving rate from the terminal-side network, a problem arises is there. Therefore, when the above formulas (6), (8) and (11) are combined with the above formula (18), S ₂ must satisfy the following formula (19).

In summary, when the configuration of the distributed RAID type multimedia server device is generalized, the present invention relates to the transmission side server and the reception side server as shown in FIG. to S ₁ single storage server module represented by), S ₂ that multimedia data of one program being stored in the order represented by the above formula (3) is defined by formula (4) Transmission using two communication server modules, and the receiving server receives S using _two communication server modules defined by the above equation (9), and S defined by the above equation (13). _The basic concept is a transfer operation of storing in the order expressed by the above equation (14) on the storage devices of the _three storage server modules. This basic concept is summarized in FIG. In the following, this transfer operation is represented as T (S ₁ , S ₃ : S ₂ ).

Further, the conventional technique in which the transfer of multimedia data constituting one program is realized via one communication server module responsible for transmission / reception of the data is performed when S ₂ = 1 in the present invention. It will be returned.

  Here, the above equation (3) is equivalent to the following equation (20), and by substituting this into the above equation (14), the following equation (21) P) and y in 14) can be represented by t and w in formula (3).

Here, when the right sides of the expressions representing p and q in the above expression (21) are written as h (t, w, S ₁ , S ₃ ) and k (t, w, S ₁ , S ₃ ), respectively, Since T (S ₁ , S ₃ : S ₂ ) is a one-to-one reversible transfer for each segment, it is obvious that the following equation (22) holds.

  By the way, about the part other than having demonstrated the basic concept of this invention so far, the three types of different systems 1-3 based on the following three ways of thinking are provided.

  In other words, method 1 is a transmission server, in which all segments of one program in the storage device of the same storage server module are transmitted from the same communication server module.

  Method 2 is a receiving server in which all segments of one program stored in the storage device of the same storage server module are received by the same communication server module.

  Method 3 is a method that satisfies both method 1 and method 2 described above.

  Hereinafter, each of the methods 1 to 3 will be described in detail.

[About Method 1]
First, system 1 of the present invention will be described. In the method 1, when the above T (S ₁ , S ₃ : S ₂ ) is realized, all the segments of the transmission target program stored in the storage device of the same storage server module are the same communication server module. The communication server module for transmitting the segment is allocated so as to be transmitted from the network.

  In other words, each communication server module exclusively accesses each storage server module of the transmitting server and a program file to be transmitted in each storage device. Also, read access to the file of the transmission target program in each storage device can be performed by always starting from the beginning position of the file and incrementing the read position of the file by one segment size for each read operation. There is no need for random access to the file. For this reason, this method 1 can facilitate the implementation of the transmission side server.

That is, as a mapping Ψ that associates each element of the set N with each element of the set N ′, the elements N _i ′ (1 ≦ i ≦ S ₂ ) of the set N ′ at this time are mapped. When the set is N _i , a mapping Ψ satisfying the following equation (23) is determined, and the multimedia data in the storage device of the storage server module having the identifier of the set N _i as an identifier is represented by the identifier n _i ′. It is transmitted from the communication server module represented (hereinafter abbreviated as communication server module n _i ′).

  Further, the mapping Ψ satisfies the following expressions (24) and (25) in addition to the above expression (23).

  Expression (24) represents that all communication server modules belonging to the set N ′ are actually used for transferring multimedia information, and Expression (25) represents accumulation of accumulation server modules that are not transmitted by the communication server module. Indicates that multimedia data in the device should not exist.

  At this time, the following equation (26) is established by the above equations (23) and (25).

  FIG. 5 shows how elements of the set N correspond to elements of the set N ′ by such a mapping Ψ.

Next, an operation in which the communication server module n _i ′ assigned with the set N _i of storage server modules receives the multimedia data segment of the program to be transmitted from these storage server modules and transmits it to the terminal-side network. Will be described. First, the elements of the set N _i are represented by the following expression (27).

However, notation of the above formula (27), n _{i_k} = n _u, when _n i_l = n _v, and that arranged elements of the set N _i so as to satisfy the condition of Equation (28) below To do. At this time, the communication server module n _i 'circulates the storage server modules n _{i_1} to n _{i_ | Ni |} in this order, receives one segment of multimedia data from each storage server module, and receives it from the receiving server. The operation of transmitting to the opposite communication server module m _i ′ is repeated. FIG. 6 shows how the communication server module n _i ′ operates.

Further, the communication server module n _i ′ of the transmission side server arranges the multimedia data related to the transmission target program transmitted by itself so that the segments received by the reception side server can be rearranged in the correct order and stored in the storage device. For each segment, in addition to the data constituting the program content, a sequence number representing the position of the segment in this program is given as additional information. For this, the communication server module n _i ′ determines the sequence determined by the above equation (20) for the wth (1 ≦ w) segment received from the storage server module n _t (1 ≦ t ≦ S ₁ ). The number q is assigned (this formula is rewritten in the formula (29) shown below).

  Here, in the present system 1, the above equation (29) can also be expressed as the following equation (30).

The above is the description of the operation of the transmitting server. Next, the operation of the receiving server will be described. The multimedia data segment transmitted from the transmitting server is received using the communication server module m _i ′, and finally all segments are received from the M elements. Are stored in the storage device of the storage server module group as shown in FIG.

In order to realize this operation, the communication server module m _i ′ determines the segment of the sequential number q transmitted from the communication server module n _i ′ opposite to the transmission side server as determined by the above equation (14). It repeats the operation to be transferred to the storage server module m _p of the server. Further, the storage server module m _p having received this stores the y-th segment defined by the formula in this segment own storage device (14). The above is the description of method 1 of the present invention. In method 1, only the conditions that should be satisfied for the mapping Ψ are defined, and the mapping Ψ itself is not specifically defined.

[About Method 2]
Next, system 2 of the present invention will be described. In method 2, in the realization of T (S ₁ , S ₃ : S ₂ ), the multimedia data segments stored in the storage device of the same storage server module are all the same communication on the receiving server. This is a method of receiving by the server module.

  In other words, each communication server module exclusively accesses each storage server module of the receiving server and the target program file in each storage device. In addition, write access to the target program file in each storage device can be performed by always starting from the beginning of the file and incrementing the file write position by one segment size for each write operation. There is no need to perform random access to the file. For this reason, this method 2 can facilitate the implementation of the receiving server.

That is, the mapping that maps each element of the set M to each element of the set M ′ is Ω, and at this time, the set of elements of the set M that is mapped to the elements m _i ′ (1 ≦ i ≦ S ₂ ) of the set M ′. And M _i satisfying the following equation (31) is determined, and multimedia data in the storage device of the storage server module having the identifier of the set M _i as an identifier is represented by an identifier m _i ′. Received from a communication server module (hereinafter abbreviated as communication server module m _i ′).

  Further, the mapping Ω satisfies the following expressions (32) and (33) in addition to the above expression (31).

  Expression (32) represents that all communication server modules belonging to the set M ′ are actually used for receiving multimedia information, and Expression (33) represents the multi-number in the storage device in the storage server module of the set M. It indicates that the media data is always received by any communication server module in the set M ′.

In addition, the elements of the set M _{i at} this time are expressed as in the following Expression (34).

  In method 2, the communication server module and storage server module of the receiving server perform exactly the same operations as in method 1 described above. That is, the process of storing the segment in a place determined by the sequence number of the received segment and the above equation (14) is repeated.

On the other hand, the operation of the communication server module n _i ′ of the transmitting server is different from that in the method 1. That is, in the method 2, the communication server module n _i ′ of the transmission side server, when the reception side server performs the above operation, as a result, the communication server module m _i ′ is changed from the storage server modules m _{i_1} to m _{i_ | Mi |} The appropriate segments are transmitted in the appropriate order so that the segments are stored while rotating in this order.

When the receiving server performs the cyclic operation as described above, the communication server module m _i ′ transfers the x th (0 ≦ x) to the storage server module side as the y th (1 ≦ 1) of the storage server module _{mi_p.} y).

  However, p and y are values determined by the following equation (35).

As a result of storing the segments in this way on the reception side, if the segments are finally stored correctly in the order of the sequence numbers in the storage device of the reception side server, the xth segment is stored in the transmission side server. a segment that was stored in the w-th storage device of the server module n _t. However, t and w are values represented by the following formulas (36) and (37) obtained by formulas (22) and (35).

Therefore, the communication server module n _i of the sending server 'includes a communication server module of the opposing receiving server of m _i' as a segment x (0 ≦ x) th to be transmitted to, the above equation (36) and (37) The segment stored in the position represented by is selected and read from the storage server module. Then, a sequence number q determined by the following equation (38) obtained by substituting the value of equation (36) for t in the above equation (20) and the value of equation (37) for w is assigned to the same segment. Thereafter, the operation of transmitting to the communication server module m _i ′ of the receiving server may be repeated. The above is the description of method 2 of the present invention. In the method 2, only the conditions that the map Ω should satisfy are defined, and the map Ω itself is not specifically defined.

[About method 3]
Next, method 3 will be described. In method 3, the above-described T (S ₁ , S ₃ : S ₂ ) is realized, and all segments of multimedia data stored in the storage device of the same storage server module are the same communication in the transmission side server. Both the method 1 of transmitting from the server module and the method 2 of receiving all the segments of multimedia data stored in the storage device of the same storage server module at the receiving server by the same communication server module. It is a method that satisfies the conditions.

  In other words, each communication server module of each server exclusively accesses each storage server module of the transmission / reception server and a program file to be transmitted / received in each storage device. Also, the read / write access to the program file in each storage device is always performed by starting from the beginning position of the file and incrementing the read / write position of the file by one segment size for each read / write operation. Yes, there is no need to perform random access to the file. For this reason, this method 3 can facilitate the implementation of the transmission / reception server.

  In method 3, the same mapping Ψ as in method 1 is defined at the transmitting server, and the mapping Ω as in method 2 is defined at the receiving server.

That is, in the method 3, the communication server module n _i ′ of the transmission side server goes through the storage server modules n _{i_1} to n _{i_ | Ni |} Each segment is received one by one, the sequence number determined by the above equation (29) (or equation (30)) is given, and the operation of transmitting to the receiving server is repeated.

  Also, the communication server module of the receiving server repeats the process of storing the segment in the location determined by the sequence number of the received segment and the above equation (14), as in the method 1 (or method 2). However, the communication server module of the transmission / reception server in method 3 differs from method 1 in two operations described below.

That is, the first operation different from the method 1 is that the communication server module n _i ′ of the transmission side server has the set M as a result when each communication server module m _k ′ of the reception side server performs the above operation. _The point is that the transmission operation is performed while changing the communication server module of the segment transmission destination so that only the storage server module of the element _k is accessed.

Specifically, the communication server module n _i ′ of the sending server _calculates the above equation (21) for the storage server module n _{i_t} , that is, the _wth segment read from the storage server module n _{fi (t).} The number p of the storage device that is the storage destination in the receiving server of this segment is obtained by the following equation (39).

Further, with respect to the value of p, a value of j that satisfies the following expression (40) is obtained, and the transmission destination of this segment is determined to be the communication server module m _j ′ of the receiving server (the above expression ( 31) and (33) always have such a j, and its value is uniquely determined.

  When the communication server module of the sending server performs such an operation, a segment of multimedia data is asynchronously transmitted from a plurality of different communication server modules of the sending server to one communication server module of the receiving server. , Will be sent out of order.

Accordingly, the communication server module m _i ′ of the receiving server stores the segments while circulating the storage server modules m _{i — 1} to m _{i — | Mi |} in this order in the same manner as in the method 2, and stores the segments in the program files in each storage device. In order to avoid changing the writing position at random, the communication server module m _i ′ uses y (1 ≦ y) of the program file in the storage device m _{1_p} (1 ≦ p ≦ | M _i |). The segment to be stored in the) th position needs to be transferred to the storage server module side x (0 ≦ x) th regardless of the arrival order of the segments. However, x is determined by the following equation (41). The above is the second operation different from the method 1.

  The above is the description of the method 3 of the present invention. In the method 3, only the conditions to be satisfied for the mappings Ψ and Ω are defined, and the mappings Ψ and Ω themselves are not specifically defined.

  The basic concept and methods 1 to 3 of the present invention described above solve the problems of the conventional method as follows. That is, in the conventional method, all multimedia data constituting one program is transmitted / received to / from an external device via one communication server module in charge of transmission / reception of the data. All multimedia data constituting one program cannot be transmitted / received to / from an external device at a speed exceeding the hardware performance limit of the communication server module. On the other hand, in the basic concept and methods 1 to 3 of the present invention, all multimedia data constituting one program is transmitted and received simultaneously using a plurality of communication server modules. For this reason, the upper limit of the transfer rate of multimedia data constituting one program can be improved in accordance with the number of communication server modules respectively used in the server on the transmission / reception side.

  According to the present invention, a multimedia data transfer request is received together with a communication speed request value, and transmission is performed when each segment in which multimedia data of one program is divided into several segments is distributed between distributed multimedia servers. The communication speed request value received by the distributed multimedia server functioning as the communication server module together with the data transfer request for the number of communication server modules used for transmitting each segment distributed and stored in each storage device by each storage server module If the provisionally set number of communication server modules exist in a usable state, the distributed multi-function functioning as the receiving side using the provisionally set number of communication server modules is present. Each server is sent to the media server in parallel, and the temporarily set number of communication server modules If not available, send each segment in parallel to the distributed multimedia server that functions as the receiver using the largest number of communication server modules within the usable range. The distributed multimedia server functioning as the receiving side receives each segment using the same number of communication server modules as the communication server module used by the distributed multimedia server functioning as the transmitting side to transmit each segment. Since the distributed multimedia server functioning as the receiving side stores each segment received in each storage device in a distributed manner by the number of storage server modules equal to or greater than the number of communication server modules used when receiving each segment. A speed exceeding the hardware performance limit of one communication server module It is possible to send and receive multimedia information of the program between distributed multimedia server.

  Further, according to the present invention, in the distributed multimedia server that functions as a transmission side, a communication server module is uniquely assigned to each of a plurality of storage server modules that are distributed and stored in storage devices that each segment includes, Since each communication server module reads the segment to be transmitted from only the storage server module assigned to each communication server module, it is possible to guarantee exclusive read access between the storage server module and the communication server module. In addition, it is possible to transmit and receive multimedia information of a certain program between distributed multimedia servers at high speed, and it is possible to facilitate the implementation of a transmitting server.

  Further, according to the present invention, in the distributed multimedia server functioning as the receiving side, a communication server module is uniquely assigned to each of a plurality of storage server modules distributedly stored in storage devices provided for each segment, Since each communication server module writes the received segment only to the storage server module assigned to each communication server module, it is possible to guarantee exclusive write access between the storage server module and the communication server module. It is possible to transmit and receive multimedia information of one program between distributed multimedia servers at a high speed and to easily implement a receiving server.

  Further, according to the present invention, in the distributed multimedia server that functions as a transmission side, the communication server module that transmits each segment changes the communication server module of the distributed multimedia server that functions as a reception side for each segment. Therefore, it is possible to realize a flexible response when multimedia information of a certain program is transmitted and received between distributed multimedia servers at high speed.

  Further, according to the present invention, even when data is transmitted / received between distributed multimedia servers, the multimedia information of a program at a speed exceeding the hardware performance limit of one communication server module. Can be transmitted and received between distributed multimedia servers.

  Further, according to the present invention, a program capable of transmitting and receiving multimedia information of one program between distributed multimedia servers at a speed exceeding the hardware performance limit of one communication server module, and this It is possible to obtain a recording medium on which the program is recorded.

  With reference to the accompanying drawings, a multimedia information transfer and storage method, a distributed multimedia server device, a distributed multimedia server system, a program for realizing a multimedia information transfer and storage method according to the present invention, and the program recorded therein An embodiment of the recording medium will be described in detail. In the following, a system to which the multimedia information transfer and storage method according to the present invention is applied will be described as a first embodiment which is an embodiment of the present invention, and then another embodiment included in the present invention will be described.

[System Configuration (Example 1)]
First, the system configuration according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The system according to the first embodiment connects a distributed RAID multimedia server device 1, a distributed RAID multimedia server device 2, a control terminal, and a management DB in a communicable state via a terminal-side network. Composed.

  The distributed RAID multimedia server device 1 includes communication server modules 1 to 8, storage server modules 1 to 8, and storage devices 1 to 8. The communication server modules 1 to 8 and the storage server modules 1 to 8 are configured. 8 are connected in a communicable state via the server module network.

  The distributed RAID type multimedia server device 2 includes communication server modules 1 to 5, storage server modules 1 to 5, and storage devices 1 to 5. The communication server modules 1 to 5 and the storage server modules 1 to 5 are configured. 5 are connected in a communicable state via the server module network.

  The control terminal has a function of issuing a transfer request for multimedia data of a predetermined program stored in the distributed RAID multimedia server apparatus to the management DB.

  The management DB has a DB for managing information related to various resources of the distributed RAID type multimedia server device, and is necessary for realizing a transfer request from the control terminal based on the information managed in the DB. A function of issuing a simple instruction to the distributed RAID multimedia server device.

  Any network between server modules may be used as long as it can realize a function of transferring information between arbitrary server modules, and various existing technologies such as a high-speed LAN and InfiniBand can be used as they are. . For the terminal-side network, existing technologies such as an IP (Internet Protocol) network widely used as a wide area communication network can be used as they are.

  The distributed RAID type multimedia server device transfers multimedia information according to the conventional method described in the prior art, that is, a terminal on the terminal side network using one communication server module per program, and multimedia information input It also has a function of transmitting and receiving multimedia data to and from the device.

[Operations of Various Components (Example 1)]
Subsequently, the distributed RAID type multimedia server device 1 is used as a transmission side server, and the distributed RAID type multimedia server device 2 is used as a reception side server, so that multimedia data constituting one program is transferred at high speed between these two servers. The operation of each component in the case will be described.

  Each server device handles multimedia data in units of one video frame determined for each type of multimedia information. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, in the storage device in each server device, each multimedia data is stored as an independent file for each program, and each program file includes a plurality of segments. To do.

[Operation of Control Terminal (Example 1)]
First, the operation of the control terminal, which is one of the components, will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 10, when a transfer request for multimedia data of a program is generated from the distributed RAID multimedia server device 1 to the distributed RAID multimedia server device 2 (Yes in step S1001), the control terminal Then, a transfer request for the multimedia data of the program is issued to the management DB (step S1002).

  Here, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the transfer request includes an identifier indicating a transmitting server storing multimedia data of a program to be transferred, an identifier indicating a receiving server as a transfer destination, and a program to be transferred. And a communication speed request value for transferring the program on the terminal side network.

  After issuing the transfer request, the control terminal waits for reception of a normal reception notification from the management DB (step S1003). When a normal reception notification is received from the management DB (Yes at Step S1003), the process waits for the transfer process to be completed (Step S1004). On the other hand, if a normal reception notification cannot be received from the management DB (No at step S1003), all the processes are terminated. The case where the normal acceptance notification cannot be received corresponds to the case where a transfer request acceptance impossibility notification which will be described later is received.

By the way, as illustrated in FIG. 12, multimedia data of a predetermined program stored in the form of circulating the storage devices 3 to 8 of the distributed RAID type multimedia server device 1 for each segment is included in the above transfer request. The set N and S ₁ defined by the above formulas (1) and (2) are as shown in the following formula (42).

[Operation of Management DB (Example 1)]
Next, the operation of the management DB that is one of the components will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As illustrated in FIG. 15, the management DB includes a database for resource management of each distributed RAID multimedia server device. This database is configured by storing server data storing information for each managed distributed RAID type multimedia server device. Each server data is composed of server attributes describing server attributes and in-server program data storing program information stored in the server.

  Here, the server attribute includes information on a set of communication server modules and storage server modules constituting the server, performance values of the communication server modules and storage server modules, and communication server modules in use for transferring multimedia data. Contains set information. In the following description, a communication / accumulation server module set refers to a set that also considers the order of the identifiers.

  The program data in the server stores the program attribute describing the program attribute, the program name, the program length represented by the number of segments, the type of video media, the size of one segment, and the multimedia data of the program. A set N of storage server modules is included.

  The operation of the management DB will be described using FIG. When the management DB receives the transfer request from the control terminal (Yes at step S1301), it refers to the identifiers of the transmitting side and the receiving side server included in the transfer request and specifies server data to be referred to in its own database ( In step S1302, the program name in the server to be referred to in the server data is specified with reference to the program name included in the transfer request (step S1303).

Then, the management DB uses the communication speed request value included in the transfer request and the performance value data of the communication / accumulation server module in the server data to realize a desired communication speed request value. module calculates how many modules required, further taking into account the constraints in (19) above, temporarily sets the number S ₂ of the communication server module to be used in the transfer process between transmitting and receiving server (step S1304 ).

The management DB refers to the set of communication server module in use in the server data, present in the unused state in the communication server module both servers receiving side of number equal to _two S was temporarily set It is inspected whether or not to perform (step S1305). Result of the test, if the communication server module number equal to _two S is present in an unused state in both the server transmission and reception side (step S1305: Yes), determines a communication server module that is actually used (step In step S1306, the elements N ′ and M ′ of the determined communication server module are newly added to the list of communication server modules in use in the server data (step S1307).

On the other hand, results of the inspection, if the communication server module number equal to _two S does not exist in the unused state in both the server transmission and reception side (step S1305: No), the management DB is one value of S ₂ by gradually decreasing (step S1308), it determines whether the value of S ₂ is "0" (step S1309). As a result of the determination, if the value of S ₂ is not “0” (No at Step S1309), the inspection described in Step S1305 is executed again, so that the maximum communication server module in the usable range can be obtained. the number is determined as the value of S _2. On the other hand, if the result of determination is that the value of S ₂ is “0” (Yes at step S1309), the management DB determines that the multimedia data transfer process of the program is impossible, A transfer request unacceptable notification is transmitted to the control terminal (step S1310), and all the processes are terminated.

Here, suppose that S ₂ = 4 communication server modules are used and the final decision is made to execute the multimedia data transfer process of the program, and transmission and reception corresponding to the above equations (4) and (9) It is assumed that a set (N ′, M ′) of communication server modules used for transfer processing in the server is determined as shown in Expression (43) below.

In the receiving server, which is the transfer destination of the multimedia data of the program, all transferred data is stored on the storage server module in a form that circulates the storage device. At this time, the set represented by the above equation (13) and the value of S _{3 in} the above equation (16) are as shown in the following equation (44).

  FIG. 16 illustrates various setting states by the management DB described above.

  Subsequently, the operation of the management DB will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the management DB that determines the set (N ′, M ′) of communication server modules used for the transfer process in the transmission / reception server is included in all the communication server modules of the transmission side server indicated by N ′. On the other hand, a new program transmission request is transmitted (step S1401), and a new program reception request is transmitted to all the communication server modules of the receiving server indicated by M ′ (step S1402).

  Here, as illustrated in FIGS. 17 and 18, respectively, the new program transmission request and the new program reception request are the program data in the server of the program to be transferred, and the set N ′ of communication server modules used for the transfer process. And M ′, the information of the collection server module set M in which the multimedia data of the program is stored. Note that the information of the accumulation server module set N in which the multimedia data of the program to be transferred is stored is stored in the in-server program data as illustrated in FIG.

  After transmitting the new program transmission request and the new program reception request, the management DB transmits a normal acceptance notification of the transfer request to the control terminal (step S1403), and the multi-program of the program is transmitted from the communication server modules of the set N ′ and M ′. It waits for reception of media data transfer end notification (step S1404). Upon receipt of the transfer end notification, the management DB transmits a transfer processing end notification to the control terminal (step S1405), and sets N 'and M' elements from the list of used communication server modules in the server data. Erasing is performed (step S1406).

  The management DB records the fact that the multimedia data of the program has been transferred to the receiving server, and stores the multimedia data of the program transferred to the receiving server in the server data corresponding to the receiving server. It is added as internal program data (step S1407), and all the processes for the transfer request are terminated.

[Operation of Communication Server Module of Sending Server (Example 1)]
Next, the operation of the communication server module of the transmitting server will be described with reference to the drawings. In the transmitting server, each communication server module included in the set N ′ performs an operation independently.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 19, when the communication server module receives a new program transmission request from the management DB (Yes in step S1901), the communication server module refers to the set N ′ of communication server modules included in the transmission request, and By detecting the position where the identifier of its own communication server module is written, the value of the identifier i indicating its own position in N ′ is determined (step S1902).

For example, the communication server module 1 in N ′ determines that it corresponds to n ₁ ′ (i = 1) by this process, and the communication server module 3 similarly identifies itself as n ₂ ′ (i = It is determined that it corresponds to 2).

Next, using the identifier i determined above and the sets N ′ and N, the elements of the set N _i based on the map Ψ described above, that is, the storage server module having the storage device that is responsible for transmission And the function f _i () described above are determined (step S1903).

Here, as the mapping Ψ, as illustrated in FIG. 21, the elements of the set N ′ are sequentially assigned from n ₁ to n _S1 while circulating each element of the set N ′ from n ₁ ′ to n _S2 ′. Suppose you use a mapping. Although it is a simple mapping, the number of storage server modules in charge of each communication server module can be equalized to the maximum, and is highly practical. At this time, as is apparent from FIG. 21, the following equations (45) to (47) are established for i satisfying the condition of 1 ≦ i ≦ S ₂ .

Therefore, in the mapping Ψ, each communication server module n _i ′ receives segments one by one while going around the storage server module that it is in charge of, and using the above equation (30), for a given received segment, The sequence number q determined by the following equation (48) defined by the equations (30) and (47) may be assigned and transmitted to the communication server module _mi ′ of the opposite receiving server.

When this mapping Ψ is applied to the system according to the first embodiment, as can be confirmed from FIG. 21, it can be easily confirmed that the following expression (49) holds, but the above expressions (45) and (46) are When N _i is obtained by using the equations (46) and (50), the following equation (51) is derived, and considering this, the above equation (45) yields the following equation (52). , N _i are determined.

  In addition, it can confirm easily that this mapping (psi) satisfy | fills said Formula (23)-(25).

Communication server module, the set N _i of the storage server module in charge is obtained, and issues an instruction to open the program files for all storage server module N _i (step S1904), the storage server for this instruction It waits for a response from the module (file open end notification) (step S1905).

When the program file open end notification is received from all the storage server modules of N _i , the communication server module waits for a segment reception completion notification from the communication server module m _i ′ opposite to the receiving server (step S1906). Based on the segment reception completion notification, the communication server module determines that reception preparation of the receiving server has been completed, and shifts to a segment transfer process for multimedia data of a program to be transferred.

Next, the operation of the communication server module in the segment transfer process will be described using FIG. The transfer end flags corresponding to the storage server modules of n _{i_t} are all initialized to “0” (step S2001), the subscript t indicating the storage server modules of the set N _i , and the number of times to each storage server module Both segment request notification numbers w indicating whether the request is a segment request are initialized to “1” (step S2002).

Here, when the value of the transfer end flag C [t] is “1”, it indicates that all the segments of the corresponding program in the storage device of the storage server module n _{i_t have been} transferred to m _i ′. , “0” indicates that the transfer has not been completed yet.

Next, it is determined whether or not the transfer end flag corresponding to the value of t is “1” (step S2003). As a result of the determination, when the transfer end flag corresponding to the value of t is not “1” (that is, when it is “0”) (No in step S2003), the communication server module transmits the source communication server representing itself. A segment request having additional information including the module identifier, the program data in the server included in the new program transmission request from the management DB, and the segment request notification signal w is created (step S2004), and the storage server module n _A segment request notification is issued to _{i_t} (step S2005).

When the segment transmitted in response to this segment request notification is received from the storage server module (step S2006), the program data in the server and the sequence number are assigned to the segment (step S2007), and the communication server opposite the receiving server The segment is transmitted to the module m _i ′ (step S2008).

  The segment request notification transmitted to the storage server module and the segment format transmitted in response to the segment request notification are illustrated in FIG. 22, and the segment format transmitted to the communication server module opposite to the receiving server is illustrated. This is illustrated in FIG.

  As illustrated in FIG. 22, the segment request notification includes a communication server module identifier of a transmission source, in-server program data of a corresponding program to be transferred, and a segment request notification number w. Further, as illustrated in the figure, the program segment transferred from the storage server module includes the transmission source storage server module identifier, in-server program data, segment in addition to the multimedia data constituting the program. A request notification signal w and LASTFLAG are given as additional information. LASTFLAG is a flag indicating that it is the last segment from the storage server module of the corresponding program. When the value is “1”, it indicates that it is the last segment.

The sequence number assigned when the segment is transmitted to the communication server module m _i ′ is calculated based on the above equation (48). Here, when a part of the sequence number of the segment transmitted from the storage server module of the element N ₁ by the communication server module n ₁ ′ is calculated, the following equation (53) is obtained. It turns out that it corresponds with description of 16.

Returning to the description of the operation of the transfer process again, the communication server module determines whether or not the LASTFLAG value of the segment received from the storage server module _{ni_t} is “1” (step S2009). As a result of the determination, when the value of LASTFLAG is “1” (Yes at Step S2009), the communication server module sets the value of the transfer end flag to “1” (Step S2010), and thereafter, the storage server module. Recognize that there is no need to issue a segment request notification.

  On the other hand, when the value of LASTFLAG is not “1” (No in step S2009), the communication server module increments the values of t and w (steps S2012 to S2015), and all t The above processing (steps S2004 to S2008) is repeated until the value of the transfer end flag becomes “1”.

Here, returning to the description of step S2003, when the value of the transfer end flag is set to “1” in step S2010, that is, as a result of the determination, the transfer end flag corresponding to the value of t is “ If it is 1 ”(Yes at Step S2003), it is determined whether or not the transfer end flags corresponding to all the values of t are“ 1 ”(Step S2011). As a result of the determination, when the transfer end flag corresponding to all the values of t is “1” (Yes in step S2011), a transfer end notification is transmitted to the communication server module _mi ′ ′ opposite to the receiving server. (Step S2016), a transfer end notification is also transmitted to the management DB (Step S2017), and all the processes are ended.

[Operation of Storage Server Module of Sending Server (Example 1)]
Subsequently, the operation of the storage server module of the transmission side server will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 24, when the storage server module receives an instruction to open a program file from the communication server module (for example, n _i ′) (Yes in step S2401), the storage server module executes an opening process of the instructed program file (step S2401). S2402). The storage server module 'sends a file open completion notice to (step S2403), the communication server module n _i' communication server module n _i taking standby state for receiving the segment request notification (see FIG. 22) from (step S2404).

When the segment request notification is received from the communication server module n _i ′, the storage server module reads data corresponding to the w th segment in the storage device indicated by the segment request from the corresponding program file in its storage device. (Step S2405). The data corresponding to the w-th segment is multimedia data corresponding to the length of one segment starting from the w-th segment position from the start position of the corresponding program file.

The storage server module recognizes the segment size with reference to the value written in the program attribute (see FIG. 15) of the in-server program data in the segment request notification. Then, when the storage server module completes reading of data corresponding to the w-th segment, it checks whether or not this data is data corresponding to the last segment in the storage device (step S2406). As a result of the confirmation, if the data corresponds to the last segment (Yes at step S2406), the storage server module sets the value “1” indicating the last segment in the corresponding program file in the storage device to LASTFLAG. (Step S 2407), and this LASTFLAG, the transmission source storage server module identifier representing itself, the program data in the server of the program assigned to the segment request notification, and the segment number w in the storage device are assigned to the segment. (Step S2408). Then, the storage server module transfers the segment to the communication server module n _i ′ that is the transmission source of the segment request notification (step S2409), closes the corresponding program file (step S2410), and ends all the processes.

On the other hand, as a result of checking whether or not the data corresponding to the w th segment read from the storage device is the data corresponding to the last segment, if the data does not correspond to the last segment (No in step S2406). The storage server module inserts a value “0” indicating that it is not the last segment in the corresponding program file in the storage device into the LASTFLAG (step S2411), and this LASTFLAG, a transmission source storage server module identifier representing itself, The in-server program data of the corresponding program given to the segment request notification and the segment number w in the storage device are given to the segment (step S2412). Then, the accumulation server module transfers the segment to the communication server module n _i ′ that is the transmission source of the segment request notification (step S2412).

  As described above, only one communication server module accesses one storage device on the transmission server side (see FIG. 21), and the program file in the storage device is executed by the communication server module. Read access is performed while sequentially shifting the position one segment at a time starting from the head position of the corresponding program file (that is, incrementing the value of w indicating the access position by one, see FIG. 25). For this reason, random access to the program file does not occur in the transmitting server. The above is the description of the operation of the transmitting server.

[Operation of Communication Server Module of Receiving Server (Example 1)]
Next, the operation of the communication server module of the receiving server will be described with reference to the drawings. In the receiving server, each communication server module included in the set M ′ executes an operation independently.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 26, when the communication server module of the receiving server receives a new program reception request from the management DB (Yes at step S2601), all communication server modules included in the set of storage server modules M that store program data. After instructing the storage server module to open a file for storing multimedia data of a program to be received (step S2602), it waits for a file open end notification from all of the storage server modules included in the set M. (Step S2603).

  When receiving the file open end notification from all the storage server modules, the communication server module of the receiving server transmits a segment reception preparation completion notification to the communication server module opposite to the transmitting server (step S2604). Shift to multimedia data segment reception processing.

Next, the operation of the communication server module in the segment reception process will be described using FIG. As shown in the figure, when the communication server module m _i ′ of the receiving server receives the multimedia data segment (see FIG. 23) of the new program from the opposite communication server module n _i ′ of the transmitting server (see FIG. 23) ( In step S2701, the value of the identifier p indicating the storage server module serving as the transfer destination of the segment is calculated using the above equation (14) (step S2702), and the storage device module _p of the storage server module mp serving as the transfer destination The value of the storage position identifier y of the segment is calculated (step S2703).

The communication server module m _i ', after applying the server in the program data and location identifier y in segment received (step S2704), transfer the stored segments to the server module m _p of the transfer destination has been found based on the identifier p (Step S2705). Figure 28 shows an example segment configuration which is transferred from the communication server module m _i 'to the storage server module m _p.

After transferring the segment to the storage server module m _p , the communication server module m _i ′ checks whether a transfer end notification has already arrived from the communication server module n _i ′ opposite to the transmitting server (step S2706). As a result of the inspection, if a transfer end notification has already arrived (Yes at step S2706), communication is performed with respect to all the storage server modules that are elements of the set M of storage server modules storing the multimedia data of the new program. A transfer completion notification indicating that the segment reception processing of the server module n _i ′ has been completed is transmitted (step S2707), and a similar transfer completion notification is also transmitted to the management DB (step S2708). On the other hand, when the transfer end notification has not yet arrived from the communication server module n _i ′ (No at Step S2706), the communication server module m _i ′ waits for reception of a new segment.

  Here, in order to help understanding of the calculation method of the storage server module identifier p of the segment transfer destination and the storage location identifier y of the segment, the sequence number q of the corresponding program is set to 0 to 0 using the above equation (14). When the storage server module identifier p and the segment storage location identifier y are calculated for the segments between 6, the following equation (54) is obtained, and these calculation results are the same as the results shown in FIG. You can see that you are doing it.

[Operation of Storage Server Module of Receiving Server (Example 1)]
Next, the operation of the storage server module of the receiving server will be described with reference to the drawings. Each storage server module included in the set M performs an operation independently.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 29, the storage server module of the receiving server sets all the transfer end flags indicating whether or not the segment reception processing of the corresponding program has been completed in each communication server module included in the set M ′ to “0”. To "" (step S2901).

Here, when the value of the transfer end flag C [j] is “0”, the communication server module m _j ′ receives a segment transmitted from the opposite communication server module n _j ′ of the transmitting server. This indicates that the processing has not been completed and the segment is continuously transferred from the communication server module m _j ′ to the storage server module. On the other hand, when the value of the transfer end flag C [j] is “1”, the communication server module m _j ′ receives a segment transmitted from the opposite communication server module n _j ′ of the transmitting server. This indicates that no more segments are transferred from the communication server module m _j ′ to the storage server module.

  When the initialization of the transfer end flag is completed, the storage server module of the receiving server waits for some notification from any communication server module in the set M ′ (step S <b> 2902). As this notification, there are three types of notifications, such as a program storage file open instruction notification, a segment transfer end notification, and an actual segment transfer, and the storage server module operates according to the types of these notifications. Execute.

  When a notification is received from the communication server module (Yes at step S2902), the storage server module of the receiving server checks whether the notification is a file open instruction notification (step S2903). If the result of the confirmation is a file open instruction notification (Yes at step S2903), the storage server module confirms whether or not the corresponding program storage file has been opened (step S2904). If the file has not been opened as a result of the confirmation (No at step S2904), the storage server module opens the program file in its storage device and transmits a file open end notification to the communication server module (step S2904). S2906). On the other hand, if the file has been opened (Yes at step S2904), the storage server module transmits a file open end notification to the communication server module as it is.

In this way, each storage server module may perform the process of opening the corresponding program storage file in its storage device once. However, in practice, each communication server module in the set M 'is in operation, to issue independently open instruction of a file to any storage server module, from S ₂ in total Each storage server module You will receive a file open instruction notification. Therefore, only when the file open instruction notification is received for the first time, the program storage file is opened, and the subsequent file open instruction notification is handled by sending the file open end notification as it is. do it.

Here, returning to the description of step S2903, if the result of checking the content of the notification received from the communication server module is not a file open instruction notification (No in step S2903), the storage server module is a transfer end notification. It is confirmed whether or not (step S2907). As a result of the confirmation, if it is a transfer end notification (Yes at step S2907), the storage server module sets the value of the transfer end flag corresponding to the communication server module m _i ′ that transmitted the notification to “1” ( Step S2908). At this time, the storage server module confirms whether or not the value of all transfer end flags corresponding to all communication server modules is “1” (step S2909). As a result of the confirmation, if all the transfer end flag values are all “1” (Yes at step S2909), the segment of the corresponding program is not transferred from the communication server module any more, so The file is closed (step S2910), and all processing is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the values of all transfer end flags are not all “1” (No in step S2909), the storage server module waits for a notification from the communication server module.

  Returning to the description of step S2907, if the content of the notification received from the communication server module is confirmed, and if it is not a transfer end notification (NO in step S2907), the storage server module determines that the multimedia data segment is It is determined that the data has been transferred, the value of the storage location identifier y is referred to, and the transferred multimedia data segment is stored in the y-th segment position of the program file in its storage device (step S2911). . FIG. 30 shows an outline of this storage process. When the storage process ends, the storage server module waits for a notification from the communication server module again. The above is the description of the operation of the receiving server.

[Effects of Example 1]
As described above, in the first embodiment, using the means for solving the above-described problem (method (1)), one multimedia between two distributed RAID type multimedia server apparatuses having different configurations is used. A multimedia server segment of one program distributed and stored in a storage device in the server device is transferred in parallel to the other multimedia server device using four communication server modules, and the destination multimedia server In the device, the case where the received multimedia data segments are rearranged in order and stored in the storage device in the device has been described. For this reason, according to the first embodiment, it is possible to transmit / receive multimedia information of one program between distributed multimedia servers at a speed exceeding the hardware performance limit of one communication server module. It is.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, in the distributed RAID type multimedia server device functioning as a transmission side, a communication server module is uniquely assigned to each of a plurality of storage server modules distributed and stored in storage devices each having each segment. And each communication server module reads the segment to be transmitted from only the storage server module assigned to each communication server module, thus guaranteeing exclusive read access between the storage server module and the communication server module. In addition, it is possible to transmit and receive multimedia information of a certain program between distributed multimedia servers at a high speed, and to facilitate the implementation of a transmission side server.

  Subsequently, Example 2 which is one embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In the following second embodiment, a multi-store stored across the storage devices 3 to 8 in the distributed RAID type multimedia server device 1 using the same system configuration as that of the first embodiment (see FIG. 8). An operation similar to that of the first embodiment in which media data is transferred to the distributed RAID type multimedia server device 2 and stored across the storage devices 1 to 5 in the distributed RAID type multimedia server device 2 will be described (see FIG. 16). To do.

In the second embodiment, the mapping Ω described in the above method (2) is used as the mapping Ψ used in the first embodiment, that is, each element of the set M ′ is represented by m ₁ ′ to m _S2. It is assumed that a map is used in which the elements of the set M are assigned one by one from m _{1 to} m _{S3 in} order while traveling to '. At this time, considering the same as the mapping Ψ used in the first embodiment, the following expressions (55), (56), and (57) are established for i satisfying 1 ≦ i ≦ S ₂ .

  At this time, the equations (36), (37), and (38) described in the above method (2) are expressed by the following equations (58), (59), and (38) by using the above equation (57). 60).

  In the second embodiment, the control terminal and management DB shown in FIG. 8 perform the same operations as in the first embodiment, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted. The operation of the transmission / reception server according to the second embodiment will be described below.

[Operation of Communication Server Module of Sending Server (Example 2)]
First, the operation of the communication server module of the transmitting server will be described with reference to the drawings. In the transmitting server, each communication server module included in the set N ′ independently operates as in the first embodiment, but differs from the first embodiment in the points described below.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 31, in the communication server module, each communication server module belonging to the set N ′ issues a program file open instruction to the storage server modules of all elements of the set N. point (step S3104), and the point of performing calculation for obtaining the set M _i of the receiving server (step S3103) is different from the first embodiment.

That is, in the second embodiment based on the above method (2), since each communication server module does not exclusively access the storage server module, an exclusive control framework is provided for issuing a program file open instruction. This is because there is no need to apply, and information on M _i is required to execute the operations of the above equations (58), (59), and (60). Other than these operations (steps S3101, S3102, S3105, and S3106) are the same as in the first embodiment (see FIG. 19).

Let us now specifically determined the set M _i determined in the processing in step S3103 shown in FIG. 31. That is, the following formula (62) is derived from the following formula (61) and the above formula (56).

  Further, considering the value shown in the above equation (62), the following equation (63) is derived from the above equation (55). It can be easily confirmed that the mapping Ω used here satisfies the above equations (31) to (33).

Next, the operation of the communication server module in the segment transfer process will be described using FIG. As shown in the figure, the communication server module n _i ′ initializes the value of the counter x of the segment to be transferred to the communication server module m _i ′ opposite to the receiving server to “0” (step S3201). 31. Using | M _i | and g _i () obtained in step S3103 shown in FIG. 31 and the above equations (58) and (59), the values of t and w corresponding to the current value of x are obtained. Obtained (step S3202).

After obtaining the values of t and w, the communication server module n _i ′, the transmission source communication server module identifier representing itself, the in-server program data of the corresponding program included in the new program transmission request from the management DB, and create a segment request with a segment number w in storage server module in the additional information (step S3203), and issues a segment request notification to the storage server module n _t (step S3204).

When the storage server module n _t receive the segment for the segment request notification from (step S3205), the sequence number q defined by the server in the program data, and the above equation (60) assigned to the multimedia data in the segments received (Step S3206), the segment is transmitted to the communication server module m _i ′ opposite to the receiving server (Step S3207).

After transmission of the segment, the communication server module n _i 'is the communication server module m _i of the counter of the receiving server' confirms whether received transfer end notification from (step S3208). As a result of the confirmation, if the transfer end notification has not arrived (No at Step S3208), the communication server module n _i ′ increments the value of x until the transfer end notification arrives (Step S3209), while performing the above steps. The processing from S3202 to step S3207 is repeated.

On the contrary, if the transfer end notification has arrived (Yes at step S3208), the communication server module n _i ′ transmits the transfer end notification to all the storage server modules in the set N (step S3210). Then, a transfer end notification is transmitted to the management DB (step S3211), and all the processes are ended.

Here, when the communication server module n _i ′ of the transmission side server transmits the segment to the communication server module m _i ′ of the reception side server, the calculation method of the values of t, w, q described above, To help understand the meaning, for the segment that the communication server module n ₁ ′ (= 1) sends to the opposite communication server module m ₁ ′ (= 2), the above equations (58), (59) and When the values of t, w, and q from x = 0 to 5 are calculated using (60), the following equations (64), (65), (66), (67), (68) ) And (69) (note that i = 1, | M _i | = 2, S ₁ = 6, S ₂ = 4, S ₃ = 5).

As a result of the above calculation, the communication server module n ₁ ′ (= 1) assigns the segment number q = 0 to the multimedia data at the w = 1st segment position of the storage server module n _t = n ₁ = 3. Is transmitted to m ₁ ′ = 2 as the first segment, and the storage server module n _t = n ₅ = 7 is set as the second segment to multimedia data at the first segment position w = segment number q = 4 is sent, and as the third segment, the storage server module n _t = n ₆ = 8, w = 1, the multimedia data at the first segment position with the segment number q = 5 sent and, in the multimedia data in the storage server module _{n t = n 4 = 6 w} = 2 th segment position as the fourth segment, segment Send those granted port number q = 9, the multimedia data in the storage server module n _t = n ₅ = 7 for w = 2 th segment position as the fifth segment, impart segment number q = 10 To the multimedia data in the storage server module n _t = n ₃ = 5 w = 3rd segment position with the segment number q = 14 transmitted as the sixth segment. I mean.

  On the storage device of the storage server module of the distributed RAID multimedia server device 1 shown in FIG. 16, the position where the segment of each sequence number of the corresponding program data is stored is compared with the calculation result. Thus, it can be seen that the sequence number is correctly assigned to the transmission segment by the above equation (60).

If attention is paid to the sequence numbers “0, 4, 5, 9, 10, 14” of the above six segments, these segments are received by the distributed RAID multimedia server apparatus 2 and then the same server. It can be seen that the storage server modules m ₁ and m ₅ in the apparatus are alternately stored. Here, since m ₁ = m _{1_1} , m ₅ = m _{1_2} , and | M ₁ | = 2, the communication server module m _i ′ of the distributed RAID type multimedia server apparatus 2 includes all elements of M _1. It can be confirmed that the desired operation described in the above method (2), in which the received segment is stored while going around the storage server module, is realized. The operation of other communication server modules of the distributed RAID type multimedia server devices 1 and 2 can be confirmed in the same manner.

[Operation of Storage Server Module of Sending Server (Example 2)]
Subsequently, the operation of the storage server module of the transmission side server will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 33, the storage server module initializes all the values of the transfer end flag indicating whether or not a segment transfer end notification has arrived from each communication server module included in the set N ′ to “0”. (Step S3301).

When the value of the transfer end flag C [j] is “0”, it indicates that a segment request notification from the communication server module n _j ′ will continue to be sent, and the value of the transfer end flag C [j] Is not “0” (when it is “1”), it indicates that no more segment requests are sent from the communication server module n _j ′.

  When the initialization of the transfer end flag is completed, the storage server module waits for a notification from any communication server module in the set N ′ (step S3302). There are three types of notifications: an instruction to open a program storage file, a segment transfer end notification, and a segment request notification, and the storage server module executes an operation corresponding to the type of these notifications.

  When the notification is received from the communication server module (Yes at Step S3302), the storage server module of the receiving server checks whether the notification is a file open instruction notification (Step S3303). If the result of the confirmation is a file open instruction notification (Yes at step S3303), the storage server module checks whether or not the corresponding program storage file has been opened (step S3304). If the file has not been opened as a result of the confirmation (No at step S3304), the storage server module opens the program file in its storage device and transmits a file open end notification to the communication server module (step S3304). S3305). On the other hand, if the file has been opened (Yes at step S3304), the storage server module transmits a file open end notification to the communication server module as it is (step S3306).

As described above, since each communication server module in the set N ′ issues a file open instruction to all the storage server modules independently at the start of operation, a total of S for each storage server module. open indication of _two file arrives. However, each storage server module should essentially perform the process of opening the corresponding program storage file in its storage device once. Therefore, only when the file open instruction notification is received for the first time, the program storage file is opened, and the subsequent file open instruction notification is handled by sending the file open end notification as it is. do it.

Here, returning to the description of step S3303, if the result of checking the content of the notification received from the communication server module is not a file open instruction notification (No in step S3303), the storage server module is a transfer end notification. It is confirmed whether or not (step S3307). As a result of the confirmation, if it is a transfer end notification (Yes at step S3307), the storage server module sets the value of the transfer end flag corresponding to the communication server module n _i 'that transmitted the notification to “1” ( Step S3308). At this time, the storage server module checks whether or not the value of all transfer end flags corresponding to all communication server modules is “1” (step S3309). As a result of the confirmation, if all the transfer end flag values are all “1” (Yes at step S3309), the program server segment will not be transferred any more from the communication server module. The file is closed (step S3310), and all processing is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the values of all transfer end flags C [j] are not all “1” (No at step S3309), the storage server module waits for a notification from the communication server module.

Here, returning to the description of step S3307, if the content of the notification received from the communication server module is confirmed, and if it is not a transfer end notification (No at step S3307), the storage server module requests the multimedia data segment request. Is read and the value of the storage location identifier w is referred to, and the multimedia data at the w-th segment location of the program file already opened in its storage device is read (step S3311). . Then, a transmission source storage server module identifier representing itself, in-server program data, and a number w indicating the segment position in the storage device of the read data are assigned to this data (step S3312), and then the communication server module n _i. A segment is transmitted to '(step S3313). The above is the description of the operation of the transmitting server.

[Operation of Communication Server Module of Receiving Server (Example 2)]
Next, the operation of the communication server module of the receiving server will be described with reference to the drawings. In the receiving server, each communication server module included in the set M ′ executes an operation independently.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 34, when the communication server module of the receiving server receives a new program reception request from the management DB (Yes at step S3401), the communication server module set M ′ included in the new program reception request is displayed. By referring to this position and detecting the position where its own communication server module identifier is written in this set, the value of the identifier i indicating its own position in this set M ′ is determined (step S3402).

Then, the communication server module uses the determined identifier i and the sets M ′ and M, and the elements of the set M _i based on the mapping Ω from the above formulas (55) and (56), that is, the segment itself is the segment. A set of storage server modules in charge of transfer is determined (step S3403).

Upon determining the M _i, the communication server module, the elements M _{I_j} of the set _{M i (1 ≦ j ≦ |} M i |) to calculate the total number of segments to be transferred to L _j (step S3404). This L _j is obtained by _using the function g _i () of the above equation (57 ₎ that satisfies m _i — _j = m _{gi (j)} , the program length L included in the program data in the new program reception request, and S ₃ . It is calculated as shown in equation (70) below.

This L _j is used for determination to transmit a segment storage completion notification to the communication server module n _i ′ opposite to the transmitting server.

  As described above, in the second embodiment based on the above method (2), the communication server modules belonging to the set N ′ of the transmission side servers are randomly segmented from all the storage server modules belonging to the set N in the server. Therefore, it is difficult to detect the end of program data transmission in the communication server module. For this reason, in the second embodiment, as described below, the communication server module of the receiving server determines that the segment has been received and notifies the transmitting server.

When the above step S3404 is completed, the communication server module, to the storage server module of all elements of M _i, indicating the opening of the file for the program storage by sending a file open instruction notification (step S3405). Then, the communication server module waits for reception of the file open end notification (step S3406). When the file open end notification is received from the storage server module of all elements of M _i , the communication server module n _i opposite to the transmitting server is received. A segment reception preparation completion notification is transmitted to '(step S3407), and the process proceeds to segment reception processing.

Next, the operation of the communication server module in the segment reception process will be described using FIG. As shown in the drawing, the communication server module receiving server initializes the storage completion flag corresponding to each element of M _i, and stores the segment counter all "0" (Step S3501 and Step S3502). This storage end flag C1 [j] is a flag indicating whether or not the segment transfer to M _{i_j} is completed, and the storage segment counter C2 [j] is a counter indicating the number of segments transferred to M _{i_j} . .

When the initialization of each flag and each counter is completed, it waits for the arrival of a new segment of the corresponding program from the opposite communication server module n _i ′ of the transmitting server (step S3503). When a new segment arrives, the communication server module obtains the value of p indicating the transfer destination storage server module of the segment using the value of the sequence number q of the segment and the above equation (14) (step S3504). ) And the value of the segment storage position identifier y in the corresponding program file in the storage device is obtained (step S3505). The communication server module increments the value of the storage segment counter corresponding to the destination storage server module m _p (step S3506).

The communication server module, whether the value of all received segments to determine whether complete (stores the segment counter of the relevant program to be stored in the storage server module m _p is in L _p, step S3507 ). As a result, when the reception of all segments to be stored in the storage server module m _p is not completed (step S3507: No), the transfer of the last segment of the communication server module m _i 'to the storage server module m _p Is set to a value “0” LASTFLAG indicating that it is not (step S3508), and the LASTFLAG, the in-server program data, and the position identifier y are added to the multimedia data of the segment received from the transmitting server ( step S3509), and transfers the segment to the storage server module m _p (step S3510), wait for the next segment arrival.

On the other hand, the communication server module is last when the reception of all segments to be stored in the storage server module m _p is completed from (Step S3507: Yes), the communication server module m _i 'to the storage server module m _p Is set to LASTFLAG (step S3511), and for the multimedia data of the segment received from the transmitting server, this LASTFLAG, in-server program data, and position identifier y are set. with grant (step S3512), and transfers the segment to the storage server module m _p (step S3513). Then, set to "1" the value of the storage completion flag corresponding to the storage server module m _p (step S3514).

At this time, the communication server module checks whether or not the value of the storage end flag corresponding to all the storage server modules is set to “1” (step S3515). As a result of the confirmation, when the value of the storage end flag corresponding to all the storage server modules is set to “1” (Yes in step S3515), the communication server module applies to all the storage server modules in charge of itself. Since the transfer of the segment is completed, a storage completion notification for notifying that is transmitted to the communication server module n _i ′ opposite to the transmitting server (step S3516), and also to the management DB A similar storage completion notification is transmitted (step S3517), and all the processes are terminated.

  On the other hand, if the value of the storage end flag corresponding to all the storage server modules is not set to “1” (No in step S3515), the communication server module waits for the arrival of the next segment.

[Operation of Storage Server Module of Receiving Server (Example 2)]
Next, the operation of the storage server module of the receiving server will be described with reference to the drawings. Each storage server module included in the set M performs an operation independently.

That is, as shown in FIG. 36, when the storage server module included in the set M _i receives a file open instruction for storing a program from the communication server module m _i ′ (that is, when a file open instruction notification is received, step S3601). Yes), after opening the write file of the relevant program data on its storage device (step S3602), it sends a file open completion notification to the communication server module m _i '(step S3603).

Then, the storage server module waits for a new segment of the corresponding program to arrive from the communication server module m _i ′ (step S3604). When a new segment arrives, the storage server module stores the multimedia data in the segment in the program storage file (step S3605). At this time, the multimedia data is stored at the position in the program file designated by the position identifier y in the segment.

After storing the multimedia data, the accumulation server module checks whether or not the value of LASTFLAG in the received segment is “1” (step S3606). As a result of the confirmation, when the value of LASTFLAG is "1" (step S3606: Yes), further, since the segments of the new program from the communication server module m _i 'will not arrive, closes the file for program storage (Step S3607) and all the processes are terminated. On the other hand, if the value of LASTFLAG is not “1” (No at step S3606), the next segment arrival is waited for. The above is the description of the operation of the receiving server.

[Effects of Example 2]
As described above, in the second embodiment, one multimedia is provided between two distributed RAID multimedia server apparatuses having different configurations using the means (method (2)) for solving the above-described problem. A multimedia server segment of one program distributed and stored in a storage device in the server device is transferred in parallel to the other multimedia server device using four communication server modules, and the destination multimedia server In the device, the case where the received multimedia data segments are rearranged in order and stored in the storage device in the device has been described. For this reason, according to the second embodiment, it is possible to transmit / receive multimedia information of one program between distributed multimedia servers at a speed exceeding the hardware performance limit of one communication server module. It is.

  Further, according to the second embodiment, in the distributed RAID multimedia server device functioning as the receiving side, a communication server module is uniquely assigned to each of a plurality of storage server modules distributedly stored in storage devices provided with the respective segments. Each communication server module writes the received segment only to the storage server module assigned to each communication server module, thus guaranteeing exclusive write access between the storage server module and the communication server module. In addition, it is possible to transmit and receive multimedia information of a certain program between distributed multimedia servers at high speed, and to facilitate the implementation of the receiving server.

  In the following, an embodiment of the present invention based on the method (3) described in the means for solving the above problem will be described as a third embodiment. In the following second embodiment, data is stored across the storage devices 3 to 8 in the distributed RAID type multimedia server device 1 using the same system configuration (see FIG. 8) as in the first and second embodiments. The same operations as in the first and second embodiments in which the multimedia data is transferred to the distributed RAID multimedia server device 2 and stored across the storage devices 1 to 5 in the distributed RAID multimedia server device 2 (FIG. 16). Reference) will be described.

  Further, in the third embodiment, the above-described implementation as the mapping Ψ described in the method (1) of the means for solving the problem is applied to the transmission side server, that is, the distributed RAID type multimedia server device 1 illustrated in FIG. Using the mapping similar to that in Example 1, the receiving side server, that is, the distributed RAID type multimedia server apparatus 2 uses the above-mentioned Example 2 as the mapping Ω described in the method (2) of the means for solving the problem. A similar mapping shall be used. Accordingly, also in the third embodiment, the above expressions (45) to (47) described in the first embodiment and the above expressions (55) to (57) described in the second embodiment are similarly established. Further, in the embodiment, the above equation (39) described in the above method (3) is embodied as the following equation (71) by the above equation (47).

  Moreover, in Example 3, since the control terminal and management DB which are shown in FIG. 8 perform the same operation | movement as Example 1 and 2, detailed description is abbreviate | omitted. The operation of the transmission / reception server according to the third embodiment will be described below.

[Operation of Communication Server Module of Sending Server (Example 3)]
First, the operation of the communication server module of the transmitting server will be described with reference to the drawings. In the transmitting server, each communication server module included in the set N ′ independently operates as in the first embodiment, but differs from the first embodiment in the points described below.

Specifically, the operation of step S3704 shown in FIG. 37 (the point at which calculation for obtaining M _j (1 ≦ j ≦ S ₂ ) is executed) is different from the first embodiment, and other operations are the same as those in the first embodiment. This is the same as the communication server module of the transmitting server described in (see FIG. 19). The calculation result in step S3704 is necessary for determining the destination communication server module for transmitting the segment to the receiving server in the segment transfer process shown in FIG.

Also, in the segment transfer process shown in FIG. 38, the operations in steps S3808 and S3809 are different from those in the first embodiment, and the other operations are the same as those in the communication server module of the transmitting server described in the first embodiment. Yes (see FIG. 20). In other words, in the first embodiment, the communication server module of the receiving server that is the transmission destination of the segment is fixed (opposite communication server module m _i ′), whereas in the third embodiment, the communication server module is obtained in step S3808. Send each segment to the destination. As a result, the exclusive control that the communication server module m _j ′ (1 ≦ j ≦ S ₂ ) of the receiving server does not access the storage server modules other than the storage server modules included in the receiving server set M _j is realized. ing.

Here, in order to assist in understanding the calculation for obtaining the communication server module of the receiving server that is the transmission destination of the segment, the operation of the communication server module n ₁ ′ of the transmitting server is taken as an example, and this communication server module n _The calculation result for the segment transmitted by ₁ ′ is shown in the following formula (72).

  As described above, on the storage devices of the storage server modules of the distributed RAID type multimedia server devices 1 and 2 shown in FIG. 16, the position where the segment corresponding to each sequence number of the corresponding program data is stored, and the above-mentioned By comparing each component of each set with the calculation result shown in the above equation (72), the sequence number is correctly assigned to the transmission segment by the above equation (48), and the above equation ( 40) and (71), it can be confirmed that the destination communication server module is correctly selected.

[Operation of Storage Server Module of Sending Server (Example 3)]
As shown in FIG. 39, the operation of the storage server module of the transmission server according to the third embodiment is exactly the same as the operation of the storage server module described in the first embodiment (see FIG. 24), and thus the description thereof is omitted. . The same is true in that each communication server module included in the set N executes the operation shown in FIG. 39 independently. The above is the description of the operation of the transmitting server.

[Operation of Communication Server Module of Receiving Server (Example 3)]
Next, the operation of the communication server module of the receiving server will be described with reference to the drawings. Before describing the operation, the configuration of the communication server module of the receiving server according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The communication server module of the receiving server according to the third embodiment is configured to include two operating entities, a main body and a message receiving unit.

  As shown in the figure, the message receiving unit sends a multimedia data segment of a certain program or a transfer end notification transmitted from a plurality of communication server modules of the transmitting server via the terminal side network. One by one is received in the order of arrival, and in the case of a transfer end notification, a transfer end flag operation is performed, and in the case of a segment, a process of storing in the segment buffer is performed.

  Here, in the third embodiment, the communication server modules of the transmission side server are operating asynchronously without being synchronized with each other, the delay in the transmission characteristics of the terminal side network is kept constant, etc. Since no assumption is made, it is undefined in what order the multimedia data segments of a program transmitted via the terminal-side network arrive at the communication server module. Therefore, the communication server module main body of the receiving server searches for the segments of multimedia data temporarily stored in the segment buffer in the order of arrival, and performs processing of transferring them to the storage server module in an appropriate order as will be described later.

  First, the operation of the message receiving unit will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, when the message receiving unit is activated by the main body (step S4101), all the transfer end flags corresponding to the respective communication server modules of the transmitting server are initialized to “0” (step S4102). . In the third embodiment, as in the first embodiment, each communication server module of the sending server notifies the end of the transfer of the segment, and therefore, using this flag, the transfer end notification is received from each communication server module. Record whether or not

After initialization of the transfer end flag, the message receiving unit waits for a message from one of the communication server modules of the transmitting server (step S4103). When the message receiving unit receives a message from the communication server module n _i ′ with the transmitting server (Yes at Step S4103), the message receiving unit confirms whether or not the received message is a transfer end notification (Step S4104). As a result of the confirmation, if it is not a transfer end notification (No at Step S4104), the message receiving unit recognizes that the received message is a segment, and stores the segment in the segment buffer (Step S4105). Then, the message receiving unit waits for the next message.

On the other hand, if it is a transfer end notification (Yes at step S4104), the message receiving unit sets the value of the transfer end flag corresponding to the communication server module n _i ′ to “1” (step S4106). Record that no message is transferred from the communication server module n _i ′. At this time, the message receiving unit checks whether or not each transfer flag corresponding to all the communication server modules of the transmitting server is set to “1” (step S4107). As a result of the confirmation, if all the transfer flags corresponding to the respective communication server modules are set to “1” (Yes at Step S4107), the message receiving unit ends all the processes. On the other hand, when all the transfer flags corresponding to each communication server module are not set to “1” (No in step S4107), the next message is waited for.

  Next, the operation of the main body of the receiving communication server module will be described. The operation of the main body is different from that of the second embodiment in that the operation in step S4202 shown in FIG. 42 is added and the operation in step S3104 in FIG. 31 is not required. That is, in the third embodiment, since the communication server module of the transmitting server is notified of the end of the segment transfer, the latter processing is not necessary. The other operations of the main body are the same as the operations shown in FIG.

When the process shown in FIG. 42 is finished, the main body proceeds to the segment transfer process as shown in FIG. As described in the method (3) in the means for solving the problem in the transfer process, the main body starts with _{mi_1} from the accumulation server modules of the set M _i obtained in step S4204 shown in FIG. While _{mi_ | Mi |} is cycled in this order, the segments must be transferred, and as a result, the write position to the program file in each storage device must be changed sequentially from the beginning (Note: Receiver side) The exclusive control between the communication server modules for the access to the storage server module in the server is achieved by the transfer destination control of the segment by the transmitting server).

For this reason, in this transfer process, the segment to be stored at the y (1 ≦ y) th position of the program file in the storage device m _{i_p} (1 ≦ p ≦ | M _i |) Regardless of the order, an operation of extracting and transferring from the xth segment buffer determined by the above equation (41) is performed.

This operation is based on the fact that the sequence number q determined by the equation (60) described in the second embodiment is assigned to the x-th transferred segment. It can be seen that this is realized by searching the segment buffer for the segment having the sequence number q corresponding to the value of x while incrementing and transferring the segment as the y-th segment to the storage device _{mi_p} .

The flow of this operation will be described below with reference to FIG. The main body initializes the value of the transfer segment number x to “0” (step S4301), and initializes the identifier p indicating the transfer destination storage server module of the segment and the storage location identifier y of the segment to “1”, respectively. (Step S4302). Then, using the value of i obtained in step S4203 shown in FIG. 42, the set M _i obtained in step S4204 shown in FIG. 42, and the current value of x, the sequence number q of the segment to be transferred next Is calculated by the above equation (60) (step S4303).

At this time, the main body searches the segment buffer and determines whether or not there is an unprocessed segment in the buffer (step S4304). As a result, when there is an unprocessed segment in the segment buffer (Yes in step S4304), it is determined whether or not there is a segment with the sequence number q calculated in step S4303 (step S4305). As a result, if the segment with the sequence number q exists (Yes at step S4305), the program data in the server of the program notified by the management DB and the position identifier y are assigned to the multimedia data of the segment (step S4305). In step S4306, the segment is transferred to the storage server module _{mi_p} (step S4307), and the transferred segment is deleted from the segment buffer (step S4308). Then, the main body appropriately increments the values of x, p, and y (steps S4309 to S4311), and returns to the segment buffer search again.

  On the other hand, when the segment with the sequence number q does not exist among the unprocessed segments existing in the segment buffer (No in step S4305), the main body stores the segment with the sequence number q until it is stored in the segment buffer. Repeat the search in the segment buffer.

Here, returning to the description of step S4304, when there is no unprocessed segment in the segment buffer (Yes in step S4304), the main body refers to the transfer end flag, and all the values of the transfer end flag are “ It is confirmed whether or not 1 ″ (step S4312). If the values of the transfer end flag are all “1” as a result of the confirmation (Yes at step S4312), the main unit will not send any more segments from the sending server. _A transfer end notification is transmitted to all the storage server modules _i | (step S4313), and a similar transfer end notification is also transmitted to the management DB (step S4314), and the process is terminated. On the other hand, if the values of the transfer end flags are not all “1” as a result of the confirmation (No at step S4312), the main body returns to the search for the segment buffer again. The above is the description of the operation of the receiving server.

[Operation of Storage Server Module of Receiving Server (Example 3)]
As shown in FIG. 44, the operation of the storage server module of the receiving server according to the third embodiment is the same as the operation of the storage server module described in the second embodiment described above except for the process end determination method (see step S4406). The description is omitted because it is exactly the same as that shown in FIG. The above is the description of the operation of the receiving server.

[Effects of Example 3]
As described above, according to the third embodiment, one multimedia can be used between two distributed RAID type multimedia server apparatuses having different configurations by using the means (method (3)) for solving the above-described problem. A multimedia server segment of one program distributed and stored in a storage device in the server device is transferred in parallel to the other multimedia server device using four communication server modules, and the destination multimedia server In the device, the case where the received multimedia data segments are rearranged in order and stored in the storage device in the device has been described. For this reason, according to the third embodiment, it is possible to transmit / receive multimedia information of one program among distributed multimedia servers at a speed exceeding the hardware performance limit of one communication server module. It is.

  Further, according to the third embodiment, in the distributed RAID multimedia server device functioning as the transmission side, the communication server module transmitting each segment is the communication server module of the distributed RAID multimedia server device functioning as the reception side. Since it is changed for each segment, it is possible to realize a flexible response when multimedia information of a certain program is transmitted and received at high speed between distributed multimedia servers.

  As described above, the multimedia information transfer and storage method, the distributed multimedia server device, the distributed multimedia server system, the program for realizing the multimedia information transfer and storage method according to the present invention, and the recording medium on which the program is recorded are A plurality of storage server modules that store each segment generated by dividing multimedia data of one program in a storage device included in each segment, and segments received from the storage server module as other In a distributed multimedia server device configured by connecting a communication server module that transmits to an external device and receives a segment received from another external device to the storage server module in a state where communication is possible over a network, the multimedia Data transmission / reception and storage Are useful for controlling, in particular, at a rate greater than the hardware performance limitations of a single communication server module, adapted to send and receive multimedia information of a certain program.

  Although the first to third embodiments of the present invention have been described so far, the present invention may be implemented in various different forms other than the above-described embodiments. Therefore, another embodiment included in the present invention will be described below.

(1) System Configuration, etc. Each component of the distributed RAID type multimedia server device configuring the system shown in FIG. 8 is functionally conceptual and does not necessarily need to be physically configured as illustrated. . That is, the specific form of distribution / integration of the distributed RAID type multimedia server device is not limited to the one shown in the figure, and each communication server module and each storage server module are integrated to provide a single communication server module and a single storage server. All or a part of the module, such as a module, can be configured to be functionally or physically distributed and integrated in arbitrary units according to various loads and usage conditions. Furthermore, each processing function (processing function realized by the operation of each communication server module and each storage server module) performed in the distributed RAID type multimedia server device 1 is entirely or arbitrarily part of the CPU and It can be realized by a program that is analyzed and executed by a CPU, or can be realized as hardware by wired logic.

  The operations of the communication server modules and the storage server modules described in the first to third embodiments can be realized by executing a prepared program on a computer such as a personal computer or a workstation. This program can be distributed via a network such as the Internet. The program can also be executed by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-ROM, an MO, and a DVD and being read from the recording medium by the computer.

It is a figure which shows the operation example of the transmission side server in the system of this invention when the structure of a server is limited. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the receiving side server in the system of this invention when the structure of a server is limited. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the system which consists of a some distributed RAID type | mold multimedia server apparatus by which the structure was generalized. It is a figure for demonstrating the outline of the operation | movement which the system of this invention implement | achieves. It is explanatory drawing of mapping (PSI) which matches the element of the set N to the element of the set N '. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the communication server module to which the storage server module was allocated. It is a figure for demonstrating the segment storage method when mapping Ψ is prescribed | regulated concretely. It is a system configuration figure used for explanation of Example 1 of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing of the program data file in a storage device. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the control terminal in the system of Example 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the format of the transfer request message from a control terminal to management DB. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a program data storage method in the transmission server according to the first embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of management DB in the system of Example 1. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of management DB in the system of Example 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the content of the database which management DB manages. It is a figure which shows collectively the mode of the setting of set N, N ', M, M' in the transmission / reception side server of Example 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the format of the transmission start notification transmitted to a communication server module from management DB. It is a figure which shows the format of the accumulation | storage start notification transmitted from management DB to a communication server module. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a communication server module of a transmission side server according to the first exemplary embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a communication server module of a transmission side server according to the first exemplary embodiment. It is a figure which shows concretely mapping (PSI) prescribed | regulated in Example 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the segment request notification from a communication server module, and the format of a segment. It is a figure which shows the format of the segment transmitted from the communication server module of a transmission side server. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an accumulation server module of a transmission side server according to the first exemplary embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the segment reading process from the program file in a transmission side server. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a communication server module of the receiving server according to the first exemplary embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a communication server module of the receiving server according to the first exemplary embodiment. It is a figure which shows the format of the segment in the receiving side server inside. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the storage server module of the receiving server according to the first embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the storage process to the program file of the segment in the receiving side server. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a communication server module of a transmission side server according to the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a communication server module of a transmission side server according to the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the storage server module of the transmission side server according to the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a communication server module of a receiving server according to the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a communication server module of a receiving server according to the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the storage server module of the receiving server according to the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a communication server module of a transmission side server according to the third embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a communication server module of a transmission side server according to the third embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the storage server module of the transmission side server according to the third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a communication server module of a receiving server according to a third embodiment. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a message receiving unit in a communication server module of a receiving server according to the third embodiment. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the main body in the communication server module of the receiving server according to the third embodiment. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the main body in the communication server module of the receiving server according to the third embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the storage server module of the receiving server according to the third embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the conventional distributed RAID type | mold multimedia server apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating the outline | summary of the reception process in the conventional distributed RAID type | mold multimedia server apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating the outline | summary of the transmission process in the conventional distributed RAID type | mold multimedia server apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of the multiple program process in the conventional distributed RAID type | mold multimedia server apparatus.

Claims (10)

A plurality of storage server modules that store each segment generated by dividing multimedia data of one program in a storage device included in each segment, and segments received from the storage server module as other In a distributed multimedia server device configured by connecting a communication server module that transmits to an external device and receives a segment received from another external device to the storage server module in a state where communication is possible over a network, the multimedia A multimedia information transfer storage method for controlling data transmission / reception and storage,
A distribution functioning as a transmission side when receiving a multimedia data transfer request together with a communication speed request value and transferring each segment in which the multimedia data of one program is divided into several between the distributed multimedia servers Type multimedia server temporarily sets the number of communication server modules used to transmit each segment distributed and stored in each storage device by each storage server module according to the communication speed request value received together with the data transfer request However, when the temporarily set number of communication server modules exist in a usable state, the temporary set number of communication server modules are used to establish a distributed multimedia server functioning as a receiving side. Each segment is sent in parallel, and the temporarily set number of communication server modules A transmission process in which each segment is transmitted in parallel to the distributed multimedia server functioning as a reception side using the maximum number of communication server modules within the usable range when it does not exist in a usable state. When,
The distributed multimedia server functioning as the receiving side uses the same number of communication server modules as the communication server modules used for transmitting each segment in the distributed multimedia server functioning as the transmitting side. Receiving a segment; and
The distributed multimedia server functioning as a receiving side distributes and stores each received segment in each storage device by the number of storage server modules equal to or more than the number of communication server modules used when receiving each segment in the reception process. A storing step to perform,
A multimedia information transfer and storage method comprising:   In the distributed multimedia server functioning as the transmission side, a communication server module is uniquely assigned to each of a plurality of storage server modules distributedly stored in storage devices provided in the respective segments, and each communication server module is The multimedia information transfer and storage method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of reading a segment to be transmitted from only the storage server module assigned to.   In the distributed multimedia server functioning as the receiving side, a communication server module is uniquely assigned to each of a plurality of storage server modules distributed and stored in storage devices provided in the respective segments. The multimedia information transfer and storage method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of writing the received segment only to the storage server module assigned to.   In the distributed multimedia server that functions as the transmitting side, the communication server module that transmits each segment further includes a step of changing the communication server module of the distributed multimedia server that functions as the receiving side for each segment. 3. The multimedia information transfer storage method according to claim 1, wherein the multimedia information is transferred and stored. A plurality of storage server modules that store each segment generated by dividing multimedia data of one program in a storage device included in each segment, and segments received from the storage server module as other A distributed multimedia server device configured by connecting a communication server module that transmits to an external device and receives a segment received from another external device to the storage server module so as to be able to communicate over a network,
Each storage server module receives a multimedia data transfer request together with a communication speed request value and transfers each segment obtained by dividing the multimedia data of one program into several segments to another distributed multimedia server. Tentatively set the number of communication server modules used to transmit each segment distributedly stored in each storage device according to the communication speed request value received together with the data transfer request, and the communication of the temporarily set number of communication If the server module exists in a usable state, each segment is transmitted in parallel to the distributed multimedia server functioning as the receiving side using the temporarily set number of communication server modules. Can be used if there is no provisionally set number of communication server modules available A distributed multimedia server apparatus comprising: a transmission means for transmitting each segment in parallel to a distributed multimedia server functioning as a receiving side using the maximum number of communication server modules within the range. .   A communication server module is uniquely assigned to each of a plurality of storage server modules distributedly stored in the storage device provided with each segment, and only from the storage server module to which each communication server module is assigned. 6. The distributed multimedia server device according to claim 5, further comprising means for reading a segment. Communication server module for transmitting said each segment, according to claim 5 or 6 communications server module other distributed multimedia server device functioning as a receiver and further comprising a means for changing each said segment 2. A distributed multimedia server device according to 1. A plurality of storage server modules that store each segment generated by dividing multimedia data of one program in a storage device included in each segment, and segments received from the storage server module as other Between distributed multimedia server devices configured by connecting a communication server module that transmits to an external device and transmits a segment received from another external device to the storage server module in a state in which communication is possible over a network. A distributed multimedia server system for transferring each segment obtained by dividing multimedia data of one program into several segments,
The distributed multimedia server device functioning as a transmitting side is:
When a multimedia data transfer request is received together with the communication speed request value, the number of communication server modules used for transmitting each segment distributed and stored in each storage device by each storage server module is received together with the data transfer request. Temporarily set according to the communication speed request value, and when the number of temporarily set communication server modules is available, receive using the temporarily set number of communication server modules. If each segment is sent in parallel to the distributed multimedia server functioning as a side and the provisionally set number of communication server modules are not available, the largest number within the usable range Each segment into a decentralized multimedia server that functions as a receiver using a communication server module And transmission means for transmitting parallel,
A communication server module is uniquely assigned to each of a plurality of storage server modules distributedly stored in the storage device provided with each segment, and only from the storage server module to which each communication server module is assigned. Means for reading the segment,
Means for changing the communication server module of each other distributed multimedia server device functioning as a receiving side for each segment, the communication server module transmitting each segment;
With
The distributed multimedia server device functioning as a receiving side is:
Used to transmit each segment in the distributed multimedia server on the transmitting side when receiving each segment obtained by dividing the multimedia data of one program into several from the distributed multimedia server on the transmitting side Receiving means for receiving each segment using the same number of communication server modules as the communication server modules
Storage means for distributing and storing each received segment in each storage device by the number of storage server modules equal to or greater than the number of communication server modules used when receiving each segment by the receiving means;
A communication server module is uniquely assigned to each of a plurality of storage server modules that are distributedly stored in storage devices included in the respective segments, and the received segments are only received by the storage server modules to which each communication server module is assigned. Means for writing
A distributed multimedia server system comprising:   A program realized by causing a computer to execute the multimedia information transfer and storage method according to claim 1, claim 2, claim 3, and claim 4.   A recording medium on which a program is recorded, which is realized by causing a computer to execute the multimedia information transfer and storage method according to claim 1, claim 2, claim 3, and claim 4.

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