JPH07262102A - Method and device for data recording - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform the data service to start the processing at intervals of a time corresponding to the priority level of a user by momentarily preserving retrieval requests from terminals and discriminating the priority at each point of time to execute data read and data transfer to a network. CONSTITUTION:A client 200 issues a picture data ID, which specifies a requested picture, from a data transfer request part 220. The request from each client 200 is stacked in a transfer request temporary storage part 20 in a server 100. A picture data management part 30 reads out attribute information of requested data from a data attribute storage part 40 and sends it to a transfer order discriminating part 60. Information related to each client 200 connected to the server 100 is preliminarily registered in a client information storage part 80, and the priority level of each client 200 is registered also. The transfer order discriminating part 60 uses information sent from these parts to discriminate the priorities of requests stacked in the transfer request temporary storage part 20 and determines the transfer order.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to data recording and transfer means used in a system for transferring data between a plurality of information processing devices, and particularly when a monochrome document image and a full-color still image are mixed. When the lengths of individual data recorded in are significantly different, and multiple terminals are requested to transfer data simultaneously or continuously, depending on the priority of the requesting side and the data attributes. The present invention relates to an information processing device capable of finely adjusting a response time for each user without burdening the user.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are several types of devices on the market for storing a large amount of data such as images and transferring the corresponding data in response to a search from a personal computer or the like via a network. The first type is called the optical disk file system, which is used to convert monochrome binary images into MM.
It is encoded by the R method or the like, accumulated on an optical disk or the like in image units, and transferred in image units. This technology is described in IEICE Transactions DI Vol. J76-D-I
No. 7 pp 339-346 (issued in July 1993)
It is described in detail in the above-mentioned "performance improvement method of jukebox type optical disk file system".

On the other hand, a system for providing moving image data such as video through a network is called a video server or a video on demand system. The technical report of IEICE (IE92-13)
2, PRU 92-155 1993-03 89-95
For more details, see "Hierarchical storage method and evaluation of moving image files" in the page.

In this case, in order to provide a moving image, it is necessary to constantly send out each data on the network at a speed commensurate with the synchronous transfer.

[0005]

When data is provided in response to a search from a large number of terminals, the response time depends on the number of terminals connected at the same time and the amount of requested data. However, when actually used in an office or the like, it is necessary to change the priority order depending on each terminal or to change the priority order depending on the usage of the data. In addition, since the transferred data is often post-processed by the user, such as being displayed for reference and editing, it is very important for practical use to reduce the response time until the first image is displayed. .

Further, when a large amount of image data is stored, the difference in data amount between images becomes very large. For example, a monochrome black-and-white binary document image sent by facsimile or the like is about 30 KB (30 kilobytes) in the case of A version 4 with 200 dpi.

On the other hand, 40 full-color still images of the same size
When scanned at a resolution of 0 dpi, the accumulated data is 48
It becomes MB (48 megabytes). Even if this is encoded to 1/20 by the JPEG method which is widely used at present, it is 2.4M.
It becomes B (2.4 megabytes). This corresponds to 80 times the case of the monochrome binary image described above.

In the case of the above electronic filing system,
Since the target image is specialized in a monochrome binary image, the difference in the length of the main data is often relatively small, and changes in transfer conditions due to the difference in the data amount are not particularly considered. Data transfer is performed in image units in the order requested. Therefore, problems such as a long waiting time required for transferring extremely small amount of data and a lack of a function for adjusting the priority order according to the purpose of use arise.

On the other hand, since the video server transfers moving images, it is the highest priority that the transfer speed for each terminal is always above a certain level so that the moving images are not interrupted. Absent. Further, since the difference in the length of each data is the difference in the projection time as it is, the amount of data that needs to be processed in a unit time becomes constant. Therefore, the difference in the amount of individual data is not considered at all.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, a means for registering a priority order for each search terminal, a means for temporarily storing a transfer request, and a transfer for accumulated data are performed. A means for recording the presence or absence of matters to be considered in determining the order, a means for dividing the data into several blocks, and a method for referring to the above-mentioned conditions for the data requested to be transferred at each time point. It has means for momentarily determining the transfer order in block units, and means for sending data according to the result of the determination.

[0011]

[Operation] The search request from the terminal is saved in the device every moment,
At each point of time, the priority of transfer is determined, and data is read and transfer to the network is executed according to the priority.

The determination of priority is performed in the following order.

The device internally has means for managing the priority of each terminal. From the transfer requests that are stacked at each point in time, code information that represents the priority of the transfer destination terminal and the priority order for each purpose of use that is sent at the same time as the search request is read. On the other hand, the length of the corresponding data and the constraint condition regarding the transfer are read from the stored attribute information about each data. From the data length, it is possible to calculate how many blocks to divide when transferring each data.

Based on the information obtained from each section, the transfer priority at that time is judged in block units, and the data transfer is executed according to the judgment.

By registering each parameter relating to the priority order in the form of data, even if the system is changed, it can be easily corrected.

As a result, it is possible to construct a system in which the responsiveness at the time of data request can be freely adjusted according to the operation of each user.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An example of means for realizing the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the basic configuration of the device according to the present invention. Although the execution part of each process is described as a device and described as a device here, it can be realized by software of a computer in an actual configuration. Further, in the present embodiment, for simplicity, the target data will be described using image data as an example, but this does not particularly limit the scope of application, and the same applies to the case of voice, moving images, or code data, for example. It goes without saying that it can be realized by using the method or apparatus described in 1.

In the figure, (100) is a device for storing and managing data, which is the core of the present invention, and (200) corresponds to a search terminal. In this specification, (100) will be referred to as a server and (200) will be referred to as a client hereinafter. Although only one client is shown in the figure for simplicity, a plurality of terminals are actually connected.

The image data is stored in the image data storage unit (45) connected to the server using, for example, a magnetic disk, and is transferred via the communication line (90) in response to a request from the client and transferred to the client. Is sent to the data temporary storage unit (230).

Each part will be described in order with reference to the drawings.

The client (200) issues an image data ID for specifying the requested image from the data transfer request section (220).

The request from each client is sent to the server (10
It is stacked in the transfer request temporary storage unit (20) in (0). The image data management unit (30) reads out the attribute information of the requested data from the data attribute storage unit (40) and sends it to the transfer order determination unit (60). In this figure, the actual image data is stored in the image data storage unit (45), but in the actual system the data attribute storage unit (4)
0) and the image data storage unit (45) may be the same device.

The internal structure and the like of the read attribute information will be described in detail later, but the constraint conditions for determining the priority order of transfer are described inside.

Information relating to each client connected to the server is registered in the client information storage section (80). The details of registration will be described later, but the priority order for each client is also registered. Transfer order determination unit (6
0) uses the information sent from these parts to determine the priority of the requests stacked in the transfer request temporary storage unit (20) and determine the transfer order.

Transfer is performed in block units by dividing each data into blocks of a fixed length.

The data transfer is executed by designating each block to the communication control unit (10) by a known procedure. As a known technique, for example, TCP defined by CCITT
/ There is an IP standard.

The client side that receives the data transfer also has a similar communication control unit (210), and both are connected via a communication line (90).

The client (200) is replaced by the server (10
This communication system is also used when making a transfer request to 0). Data is input / output according to a predetermined procedure through the communication line (90) by a known means using the communication control units (210) and (10). The data input to the server side is the client identifier that identifies the connected client and the image data ID of the image necessary to identify the image.

Next, the operation of each part will be described.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the flow of the entire processing according to an example of the present invention. Refer to FIG. 1 for the parts that actually operate at each time point.

In the figure, the part surrounded by the dotted line (310) is the process inside the server, and the outside is the process concerning the client.

The client issues (311) a data transfer request for the requested data. The issued request is sent to the server, and the transfer request temporary storage unit (20) in the server
Is stuck in. This can be performed in the same way as a process called queuing in the general computer field.

The transfer request includes a terminal ID for specifying the transfer destination and a data ID for specifying the image data. With this ID, the corresponding attribute information in the data attribute storage unit (40) is read (313). This attribute information also includes the data length. When data is transferred via a network, the data is generally divided into units each having a predetermined length, which is called a packet, and then executed. The length of this packet can be arbitrarily set by the user on the system. In the present invention, the data to be transferred is divided into blocks having the same packet length.

By reading the length of data to be transferred from the data attribute information, the number of blocks required for transfer can be calculated (314). In addition, if there is a constraint condition for transfer depending on the type of data, for example, if it is known in advance that the efficiency of post-processing on the client side will be improved by continuously transmitting a specific block, that condition also has an attribute. Describe it as information. Further, it may be possible to describe the man-hour required for the post-processing on the client side. This means, for example, when sending data that requires complicated decoding processing, if the other priority is the same, sending complicated data with priority over simple post-processing data,
This is because the processing capacity of the entire system can be effectively utilized by starting the processing on the client side at an early timing.

On the other hand, by transmitting a control code for controlling the priority from the client side at the time of a transfer request, it is used not only for ranking in units of terminals but also for the purpose of use by the user, for example, in an application where real-time property is important. The difference in the conditions can be taken into consideration in the determination of the transfer order when one image is required for each image and when a larger amount of data than the response time is obtained in a total time as short as possible.

The transfer order determination unit (60) determines the transfer order of the data to be transferred for each block from the above information. The procedure at the time of determination will be described later.

A transfer control unit (70) according to the determination of the priority order.
The data is transferred by passing the data to the communication control unit (10) for each block.

The image data is read (360) from a data storage unit (45) such as a magnetic disk device, temporarily held in a data temporary storage unit (50) composed of a memory, and then the communication control unit ( It is sent to 10).

Data transfer between server and client (3
62) is performed by a known procedure. The data sent to the client is temporarily held in the data temporary storage unit (230) (365), and then processed (370) such as displaying and processing on the client side.

Next, the method of determining the transfer request and transfer order used in the description of this procedure will be described.

[0041]

[Table 1]

Table 1 shows an example of the contents of the transfer requests stacked in the transfer request temporary storage unit (20). The ID of the requesting terminal, its priority code, the image data ID of the data to be transferred, and the correction value of the priority added as necessary are recorded. Here, the terminal priority level can be sent from the client side, but it can be easily modified as necessary by registering it as data in the client information storage unit (80) in the server. On the other hand, the number of continuous transfer blocks is a value indicating the number of blocks to be continuously sent in one transfer. By making a difference in this value, it becomes possible to adjust the priority among terminals having the same priority.

In this embodiment, the terminal priority code is "0",
There are three stages of "1" and "2", "0" represents unconditionally prioritized transfer of the entire image, and 1 represents prioritization in block units.

On the other hand, of the contents of the data attribute, the part relating to the determination of the priority will be described with reference to Table 2.

[0045]

[Table 2]

The data attribute is retrieved from the requested image data ID. Read out the data length, the above-mentioned transfer constraint and post-processing level. In this example, the block unit is 8092 bytes. As a result, the number of blocks required to transfer each data is 4,306,4,
It will be 10 blocks.

The information obtained from Tables 1 and 2 is input to the transfer order determination unit (60) to determine the transfer order. This is the portion corresponding to (320) in FIG. 2, and the processing contents will be described next with reference to FIG.

First, image-by-image sorting (321) is performed at the "terminal priority level".

Next, the blocks are combined for the images whose "number of continuous transfer blocks" is "2" or more (322).

Further, the priority between blocks is determined by the "priority correction value" and the "constraint condition" and "post-processing level" obtained from the data attribute information (323). At this stage, prioritization of attributes is set in advance so that no contradiction occurs in each attribute information.

Data scheduling is performed according to the determined priority order in block units (324). At this time, the unit of sorting is the number of blocks determined by the "number of continuous transfer blocks", so there is a difference depending on the image.

A concrete sorting process will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the sorting procedure according to the terminal priority level. The values described in Table 1 and Table 2 are used for each information. This figure also shows the passage of time from left to right.

The four transfer requests are sent from the client in the order shown in (a). First, the image of data ID = 100124 is requested from the client of terminal ID = 2 (411). It is shown that the subsequent four data requests are made at the time points (412), (413), and (414), respectively.

Four of these transfer requests are stacked in the transfer request temporary storage unit (20) shown in FIG. 1 for replacement. The priority code of each terminal is obtained from the client information management unit (80) from each terminal ID. Sort by image according to this code. As a result, the transfer sequence is as shown in FIG.

Next, the judgment is made by dividing the data into blocks on the basis of the attribute information of each data. Figure 4 in this example
Each data is divided as shown in (c). In addition, in the following figures, each data is identified by referring to FIG. 4C instead of the data ID.
The data names a, b, c and d shown in are used.

Since the data a is 28322 bytes as shown in Table 2, it can be transferred in 4 blocks. Similarly, each data is also divided into the number of blocks required for transfer.

Next, the procedure of sorting in blocks will be described.

FIG. 5A shows a form in which blocks are combined according to the number of continuous transfer blocks. In the data d, since the number of continuous transfer blocks is 2, it is necessary to sort two blocks at a time. This means that if the transfer is performed the same number of times, the data having a length twice that of the data a and the data b is sent in one transfer.

On the other hand, the data c, which is instructed to be preferentially transferred in image units by the terminal priority code, transfers all four blocks continuously.

As a procedure for exchanging the data transfer order, next, the data is rearranged according to the priority order in block units (b) and further sorted for each transfer unit (c). The processes (b) and (c) are actually executed at the same time.

The transfer can be performed by first transferring one image of the data c (421) (422) (423) (424), and then executing the data d, b, a in the order of each transfer. That is, only the data d is continuously transferred for two blocks, and b,
a is executed for each block.

The transfer of the data c, a, d is completed at each time point (424) (454) (440) in the figure.

The intermediate point (401) in the figure will be described later.

In an actual information retrieval system, it is normal for another client to make a transfer request during data transfer. In that case, the transfer order needs to be repeatedly corrected.

Next, a procedure for correcting the transfer order during data transfer will be described. This is an application example of the method described above, and can be realized by using interrupt processing or the like.

The flow of processing during data transfer will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the processing content represented by each routine is the same as the processing with the same number shown in FIG.

The difference from FIG. 2 is that each time a transfer unit is sent, it is checked whether or not a new transfer request is added to the stack (525), and if there is a new request, the transfer procedure is determined. Repeat (313) (314) (315)
Especially. Therefore, it is necessary to record the intermediate process of transfer for each data in the transfer request judgment unit (60).

An operation example when a new transfer request is added during data transfer will be described.

It is assumed that a new request is sent to the transfer request temporary storage unit (20) when the transfer is performed up to the time (401) in FIG.

At this time, the information shown in Table 3 is input inside the transfer order determination unit (60).

[0072]

[Table 3]

This table shows the case where the data ID = 1119723 is newly requested from the terminal ID = 7.

In the table, the next transfer block number is an item for recording the intermediate process of transfer for each data described above. At the time of (401) in FIG. 5 as an example, the transfer of the data c is completed, the data a is 3 blocks in 3 blocks, the data b is 4 locks, and the data d is 4 blocks in 8 blocks.
This is the time when the block transfer is completed.

In the present embodiment, the confirmation of the presence or absence of a new transfer request is made every time each transfer unit is completed, so that the processing is not changed at the time when an odd number of data are transferred in the case of the data d. However, it is self-evident that changes can be made in the middle by applying this example.

Since the newly added request in this example is from the terminal 7, the terminal priority code is transferred with the highest priority in image units. In this case, the transfer order determination unit (6
In 0), the transfer order is determined by the same method as described above.

FIG. 7 shows the determined transfer order. The transfer of the newly added data e is the first (601) (60
2) It is executed at the time of (603) and (604), and after the end, the data a, d, and b are transferred again.

Next, the order of transfer from the image data storage unit (45) to the communication control unit will be described. The data specified by the image data ID from the image data storage unit (45) shown in FIG. 1 is once read out to the data temporary storage unit (50). If the reading unit is the same as the transfer unit, high processing efficiency can be obtained. Further, the data storage unit is usually a file such as a magnetic disk, and the data temporary storage unit uses, for example, a semiconductor memory or the like having a higher response speed.

Next, the data in the temporary data storage unit is sent to the communication control unit (10) by the transfer control unit (70), thereby completing the processing of the data transfer portion related to the present invention in the server.

At this time, the data temporary storage unit (50) has two independent memory configurations, and by sequentially switching between them, the processing speed can be increased. This is particularly effective when it is necessary to perform specific data processing inside the server rather than when the server only performs transfer.

For the sake of explanation, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the timing of data movement when only transfer is performed. Here, the temporary data storage unit is divided into two, buffer A and buffer B.
An example is shown in which one memory is used to transfer data a and data b.

Data a is read from the data storage unit,
While being written in the buffer A (722), the data b is sent from the buffer B to the communication control unit (75).
1).

Next, a case where it is necessary to perform data processing on the data transferred inside the server will be described. This corresponds to, for example, a case where the server has a means for executing high-speed encoding / decoding of image data, and using this to process and transfer the stored data.

In this example, the flow of processing will be described by taking as an example a mode in which an independent data processing unit is provided in the server, but it is obvious that it can also be realized by software using the CPU of the server.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a case where a data conversion unit (65) is provided in the server. The data temporary storage unit (50) includes a buffer A (52) and a buffer B (5
3). The timing of data movement in this case will be described with reference to FIG.

This figure shows a case where the data a and the data b are respectively transferred to the client. The transfer priority for the two locations is the same, and each block transfers one block of data at a time. A case will be described in which of the two data, the data a is subjected to a certain process by the data conversion unit and the data b is sent as it is.

At the timing shown in (a), the data a is sent from the data storage section to the buffer A (721). The data a is transferred from the next-like buffer A to the data conversion unit for conversion (761), and at the same time, the data b is read from the data storage unit and written in the other buffer B (74).
1). Next, the data of the buffer B is sent from the communication control unit to the client (751), and at the same time, the conversion result data a ′ is written from the conversion unit to the buffer A (771).
When this data a'is transmitted (731), at the same time, the next block of the data b is read from the data storage unit and written into the buffer B (742). As a result, the data b is transferred twice while the data a is transferred once.

In this figure, it is assumed that a certain amount of time is required for the conversion process, but in the case where data is output in real time, or when the process starts after all data has been input, Parallel processing is possible by similarly decomposing.

The bus or the like used for moving the data inside the server may have a structure capable of simultaneously and independently accessing two buffers by a known technique.

[0090]

According to the present invention, in a system in which a large amount of large variable length data such as an image is stored and the corresponding data is transferred in response to a request from a plurality of clients, the user can set the priority of the transfer. It is possible to realize a system having a function of arbitrarily and easily controlling and changing the priority order according to a specific application.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the flow of the entire processing in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the content of processing for determining a transfer order in the server part.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating sorting of image units according to terminal priority levels.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a process of determining the order of data transfer.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a flow of processing when a new transfer request is received during data transfer.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a time table in the case of responding to a newly added transfer request.

[FIG. 8] Two data read from a file at the time of transfer
It is a figure explaining the movement of the data at the time of temporarily storing in the buffer of a part.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration in which conversion processing is performed on data to be transferred in the server.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of the movement of each data when the conversion processing is performed on the data inside the server.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 ... Server, 10 ... Communication control unit, 20 ... Transfer request temporary storage unit, 30 ... Stored data management unit, 40 ... Data attribute storage unit, 45 ... Data storage unit, 50 ... Data temporary storage unit, 60 ... Transfer procedure determination Reference numeral 70 ... Transfer control unit, 80 ... Client information storage unit, 90 ... Communication line, 200 ... Client, 210 ... Communication control unit, 220 ... Data transfer request unit, 230 ... Data temporary storage unit, 240 ... Data processing unit, 311 ... Issuance of data transfer request, 312 ... Temporary storage of data request in transfer request temporary storage section, 313 ... Read data attribute from accumulated data management section, 320 ... Data transfer loop, 321 ... Depends on client priority Sorting by image, 324 ... Sorting by block, 360 ... Reading target data from data storage unit, 362 Data transfer from the server to the client.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yasuo Kurosu 1099 Ozenji, Aso-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Hitachi Systems Development Laboratory Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Jun Nishiyama 2880 Kozu, Odawara-shi, Kanagawa Hitachi Storage Systems Division (72) Inventor Eiichi Hatano 1099 Ozenji, Aso-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Hitachi Systems Development Research Co., Ltd. In-house

Claims (17)

[Claims] 1. As a method of accumulating data and transferring it in response to a request from another external device, information about a device to which the data is transferred is accumulated, and the content of the external request is temporarily accumulated. A data recording method characterized by switching the order of data transfer based on the accumulated information. 2. As a method of accumulating data and transferring it in response to a request from another external device, the contents of an external request are temporarily stored, and when the data is transferred in response to the request, the order thereof is transferred. A data recording method characterized in that the data is switched by an external instruction. 3. As a method of accumulating data and transferring it in response to a request from another external device, information about characteristics of the data itself and information about a device to which the data is transferred are accumulated, and a request from the outside is stored. A data recording method characterized in that the contents are temporarily accumulated and the order of data transfer is switched according to the accumulated information. 4. The data recording method according to claim 1,
A data recording method characterized in that a priority order is determined for each terminal connected to the device, and the priority order is registered as a condition for switching the data transfer order. 5. The data recording method according to claim 1, wherein a parameter relating to the purpose of use at the transfer destination is received together with the transfer request in order to determine the transfer order of the data. 6. The data recording method according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not a new transfer request is added each time data transfer is completed,
When added, the data recording method is characterized in that the transfer order is determined again between the untransferred data and the transfer is continued based on the result. 7. A data recording method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that target data is divided and data is transferred at a plurality of times of communication. 8. The data recording method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least image data for which a transfer request has been issued is transmitted.
A data recording method characterized by accumulating data by transferring the sheets with the highest priority. 9. As a method of accumulating data and transferring the corresponding data using a communication line in response to a request from another external device, classification is performed for each device to which the data is transferred. A data recording method characterized by switching the order of data transfer according to a class. 10. A device for accumulating data and transferring it in response to a request from another external device, means for accumulating information on a device to which the data is transferred, and a request content from the outside. A data recording device comprising means for storing and means for switching the order of data transfer according to the stored information. 11. An apparatus for accumulating data and transferring it in response to a request from another external apparatus, means for temporarily accumulating the content of an external request, and means for transferring data in response to the request. A data recording device comprising means for switching the transfer order according to an external instruction. 12. A device for accumulating data and transferring it in response to a request from another external device, means for accumulating information about characteristics of the data itself and information about a device to which the data is transferred. A data recording device comprising: a means for temporarily storing the content of a request from the outside; and a means for switching the order of data transfer according to the stored information. 13. A data recording apparatus according to claim 10, wherein a priority order is set for each terminal connected to the apparatus, and the means for registering the priority order and the switching of the data transfer order according to the damage registration order. A data recording device comprising means for performing. 14. The data recording apparatus according to claim 10 or 12, further comprising means for receiving a parameter regarding a purpose of use at a transfer destination together with a transfer request in order to determine a transfer order of data. . 15. The data recording device according to claim 11 or 14, further comprising means for determining whether or not a new transfer request is added each time data transfer is completed, and the remaining transfer if added. A data recording device comprising means for re-determining the transfer order among the existing data and means for executing the transfer based on the result. 16. A data recording apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising means for dividing target data and means for transferring data at a plurality of times of communication. Recording device. 17. A data recording apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, further comprising means for transferring the image data requested to be transferred, at least one image having the highest priority.