JPH08204734A - Multimedia data reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To avoid the intermission of data reproduction by setting a transfer rate and a transfer start time with respect to non-stream data based on a total transfer rate, a transfer rate of stream data, the reproduction start time of the non-stream data and its data size. CONSTITUTION: A reproduction control means 11 acquires a total transfer rate permitted for a client 1 by a server 2 through a total transfer rate acquisition means 12. Then the means 11 acquires a data transfer rate/data size through data transfer rate/data size acquisition means 13, 14. Then the means 11 allows a transfer rate/transfer start time calculation means 17 to calculate a transfer rate and a pre-fetch start time with respect to non-stream data within a remaining transfer rate being the subtraction of the transfer rate of stream data from the total transfer rate and a transfer rate/transfer start time setting means 18 sets them. Thus, data written by reproduction information ID are reproduced without intermission.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multimedia data reproducing apparatus for reproducing multimedia data such as moving image data, audio data and still image data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional server-client type multimedia reproducing method will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, the multimedia data reproducing apparatus acquires data used for information retrieval, various simulations, presentations, etc. from a server installed in a center by a terminal in an exhibition site such as a remote place or various stores, etc. Used for.

In FIG. 3, the reproduction control means 11 acquires multimedia data from the server 2 via the network 3 based on the reproduction information 1D1 in the hard disk 1D, and reproduces the multimedia data on the display 1A and the speaker 1B. It is a block diagram which shows a media data reproducing | regenerating apparatus. The reproduction control means 11 is activated by receiving a trigger from the keyboard 1C and reads the reproduction information 1D1 in the hard disk 1D. The reproduction control means 11 uses the reproduction information 1D1.
Based on the information indicating which multimedia data should be reproduced from which time entered in, the data transfer request means 16 is requested to match the reproduction start time of each multimedia data, and the multimedia data is It is acquired from the server 2 via the network interface 1F and the data acquisition means 19, and sent to the display 1A and the speaker 1B for reproduction.

[0004]

However, in the conventional reproducing method as described above, since the server 2 is requested to transfer the multimedia data in accordance with the reproduction start time of the multimedia data, a plurality of multimedia data is required. When the reproduction of the media data is duplicated, the transfer rate of the network 3 becomes a bottleneck and the reproduction of the multimedia data may be interrupted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the conventional method for reproducing multimedia data, and an object thereof is to provide a multimedia data reproducing apparatus in which reproduction of multimedia data is not interrupted. .

[0006]

The present invention has a server for storing stream data and non-stream data, and reproduction information for reproducing the data stored in the server, and the server is based on the reproduction information. In a multimedia data reproducing device provided with a user terminal for reproducing each stored data, the user terminal includes a total transfer rate acquisition unit for acquiring a total transfer rate permitted by the server for the user terminal, and a stream data of the stream data. Data transfer rate acquisition means for acquiring the transfer rate, data size acquisition means for acquiring the data size of non-stream data, and non-stream within the range of the remaining transfer rate obtained by subtracting the transfer rate of stream data from the total transfer rate. So that the data can be acquired by the playback start time, the total transfer rate Apparatus for reproducing multimedia data, comprising a transfer rate of non-stream data, a transfer start time of non-stream data, and a transfer information setting means for setting the transfer start time of non-stream data based on the data size of non-stream data Is.

[0007]

The present invention has a server for storing stream data and non-stream data, and reproduction information for reproducing the data stored in the server, and stores each data stored in the server based on the reproduction information. In the multimedia data reproducing apparatus provided with the user terminal for reproducing, the total transfer rate acquisition means acquires the total transfer rate allowed by the server for the user terminal, and the transfer rate acquisition means determines the transfer rate of the stream data. The data size acquisition means acquires the data size of the non-stream data, and the transfer information setting means acquires the non-stream data within the range of the remaining transfer rate obtained by subtracting the transfer rate of the stream data from the total transfer rate. The total transfer rate and the transfer rate of the stream data acquired so that it can be acquired by the playback start time. DOO, playback start time of the non-stream data, and based on the data size of the non-stream data, setting the transfer rate and transfer start time for the non-stream data.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings showing its embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a multimedia data reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the data reproduction information and prefetch information in the same embodiment. Here, the prefetch means that the client acquires data from the server before the reproduction start time. The stream data is temporally continuous data such as moving image data and audio data, and the non-stream data is data not related to time such as still image data and text data.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a client which is a user terminal, 2 is a server for storing multimedia data, 11 is a reproduction control means for controlling reproduction of data, and the like, 1
Reference numeral 2 is a total transfer rate acquisition means for acquiring an allowed total transfer rate between the client 1 and the server 2, 13 is a data transfer rate acquisition means for acquiring a transfer rate for stream data, and 14 is a data size of non-stream data. Data size acquisition means, 15 data transfer rate setting request means for receiving a request for setting the transfer rate of prefetched data, 16 data transfer request means for receiving a data transfer request, 17 a non-stream data transfer rate and transfer Transfer rate / transfer start time calculating means for calculating the start time, 18 is transfer rate / transfer start time setting means for setting the transfer rate and transfer start time calculated by the transfer rate / transfer time calculating means 17, and 19 is the server 2 Data acquisition means for acquiring data from the device, 1
A is a display, 1B is a speaker, 1C is a keyboard, 1D is a hard disk, 1D1 is reproduction information such as reproduction start time, 1D2 is prefetch information, 1E is main memory,
1E1 is a prefetch data storage unit, and 1F is a network interface for inputting / outputting data to / from the network 3. The transfer rate / transfer start time calculating means 17 and the transfer rate / transfer start time setting means 18 constitute transfer information setting means.

In FIG. 2, 41 is a reproduction time zone of the moving picture 1, 42 is a reproduction time zone of the audio 1, 43 is a time zone for prefetching the still picture 1, 44 is a reproduction time zone of the still picture 1, 45 is still. Time zone for prefetching image 2 4
6 is a reproduction time zone of the still picture 2, 47 is a time zone for prefetching the still picture 3, and 48 is a reproduction time zone of the still picture 3.

Next, the operation of the multimedia data reproducing apparatus of the above embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, the reproduction control means 11 is the keyboard 1C.
It receives input from and starts. The reproduction control means 11 acquires the total transfer rate allowed by the server 2 for the client 1 through the total transfer rate acquisition means 12.

Next, the reproduction control means 11 controls the reproduction information 1D1.
Among the data described in, the transfer rate is acquired from the server 2 through the data transfer rate acquisition means 13 for moving image data and audio data which are stream data, and still image data and text which are non-stream data. The size of the data is acquired from the server 2 by the data size acquisition means 14. Then, the reproduction control means 1
1 is described in the reproduction information 1D1 within the range of the remaining transfer rate of the data described in the reproduction information 1D1 from the total transfer rate permitted by the server 2 to the client 1 minus the transfer rate of the stream data. The non-streamed data that has been transferred from the client 1
Causes the transfer rate / transfer start time calculation means 17 to calculate whether or not to prefetch. The transfer rate / transfer start time calculation means 17 calculates the transfer rate and prefetch start time for non-stream data as follows.

First, the transfer rate / transfer start time calculation means 17 calculates the remaining transfer rate that can be assigned to non-stream data in all reproduction time zones, based on the acquired total transfer rate and the transfer rate of stream data. To do.

Next, from 0 seconds, the remaining transfer rate is assigned from the non-stream data whose reproduction start time is earlier, and the number of seconds for which transfer should be performed is calculated. When the calculation of the prefetch information for the first non-stream data is completed, the number of seconds of prefetch to be performed for the non-stream data having the next shortest reproduction start time from the prefetch end time of the previous data is calculated.

In this way, the prefetch information for the last non-stream data is sequentially calculated. For non-stream data having the same playback start time, the allocation for the larger data size is calculated first. Therefore,
The non-stream data with the larger data size is read earlier in time.

How the transfer rate / transfer start time calculation means 17 calculates will be described with reference to FIG. In this description, the total transfer rate from the server 2 to the client 1 is 1.8 Mbps (Mega bits / se).
c). The transfer rates of the moving image 1 and the audio 1 are 1.5 Mbps and 0.1 Mbps, respectively, and the data size of the still image 1 and the still image 2 is 0.6 Mbits (Mega).
data size of still image 3 is 0.45 Mbi
ts.

In FIG. 2, the transfer rate / transfer start time calculating means 17 first calculates the remaining transfer rates of 0 to 5 seconds, 5 to 7 seconds and 7 to 10 seconds, respectively, at 0.3 Mbps,
Calculated as 0.2 Mbps and 0.3 Mbps. The transfer rate / transfer start time calculation means 17 first calculates the prefetch of the still image 1 which is the earliest data of the reproduction start time among the non-stream data. The transfer rate / transfer start time calculating means 17 reads the still image 1 from 0 seconds at the remaining transfer rate of 0.3 Mbps in the time zone of 0 to 2 seconds in order to obtain it before the reproduction start time of the still image 1. At 2 seconds, it is determined that the still image 1 can be acquired, and the prefetch information 1D2 is set through the transfer rate / transfer start time setting means 18.
Write in.

Next, the still image 2 and the still image 3 have the same reproduction start time, but since the still image 2 has a larger data size, the prefetch for the still image 2 is calculated first. The prefetch start time of the still image 2 is 2 seconds since the remaining transfer rates between 0 and 2 seconds are all assigned to the transfer of the still image 2. The remaining transfer rate in 2-4 seconds is 0.3 Mbps, so 0.3M in 2-4 seconds
The transfer rate / transfer start time calculation means 17 calculates that the still picture 2 can be prefetched by reading the still picture 2 at bps, and writes it in the prefetch information 1D2 through the transfer rate / transfer start time setting means 18.

Next, when calculating the prefetch of the still image 3, all the remaining transfer rates for 2 to 4 seconds are assigned to the transfer rate of the still image 2, so the prefetch should be started from 4 seconds. become. The remaining transfer rate for 4-5 seconds is 0.3 Mbps and the remaining transfer rate between 5-6 is 0.2 Mbps. At this time, 4-5
Even if prefetching at 0.3 Mbps for 1 second per second, only 0.3 Mbits can transfer the still image 3,
Furthermore, from the 5th second to 0.75 second, the prefetch of the still image 3 should be performed at 0.2 Mbps.
The transfer start time calculation means 17 makes a judgment, and the transfer rate / transfer start time setting means 18 makes the prefetch information 1D2.
Write in.

Then, when the data is reproduced according to the reproduction information 1D1, the reproduction control means 11 reads the prefetch information 1D2 and checks whether it is necessary to prefetch the data from the server 2 to the client 1. If the reproduction control means 11 needs to prefetch the data from the server 2, the data transfer rate setting request means 1 determines the transfer rate of the prefetched data.
The data transfer requesting means 1 is set at 5 when the prefetch start time of the data is reached.
Request data transfer to the server 2 through 6,
The data sent by the server 2 is placed in the prefetch data storage unit 1E1 through the data acquisition means 19. At this time, since the transfer rate for the same data may change during the transfer, the data transfer rate setting requesting means 15 can specify the transfer rate and its valid time period to the server 2 as a pair. Has become. Then, the reproduction control means 11
When the reproduction start time of the data placed in the prefetch data storage unit 1E1 comes, the data is acquired and sent to the display 1A and the speaker 1B. Then, the data is reproduced on the display 1A and the speaker 1B.

Further, the reproduction control means 11 requests the server 2 to send the data to the server 2 through the data transfer request means 16 when the reproduction start time comes, and receives the data directly from the data acquisition means 19 at the reproduction start time. The data directly received from the server 2 is sent to the display 1A and the speaker 1B and reproduced there.
In this way, the client 1 acquires the data from the server 2 within the total transfer rate range with the server 2, so that the data written in the reproduction information 1D1 can be reproduced without interruption.

As described above, the server 2 and the client 1
By comparing the total transfer rate between the data and the transfer rate of the data to be played with the playback start time, the data that does not relate to the time within the data to be played is played back so that the data transfer exceeding the total transfer rate does not occur. By guaranteeing that the client 1 obtains from the server 2 before the start time, the reproduction of data in the client 1 will not be interrupted.

In the above embodiment, each of the client 1 and server 2 connected to the network 3 is 1
Although explained as one by one, the client 1 and the server 2
Is not limited to this.

Further, in the above embodiment, the number of data types was described as two types of stream data and two types of non-stream data, but the number of types of data is not limited to this. Further, the type of data may of course be other types of data such as text data.

Further, in the above embodiment, an example in which pre-fetching of non-stream data is performed in different time zones has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the remaining transfer rate of the total transfer rate minus the transfer rate of stream data is subtracted. If the non-stream data is set so that it can be acquired by the playback start time within the range, prefetching of multiple types of data may be performed in a state where some or all of them are temporally overlapped. .

[0028]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the total transfer rate acquisition means for acquiring the total transfer rate allowed by the server for the user terminal, and the data transfer for acquiring the transfer rate of the stream data. Within the range of the rate acquisition means, the data size acquisition means for acquiring the data size of the non-stream data, and the remaining transfer rate obtained by subtracting the transfer rate of the stream data from the total transfer rate,
Based on the acquired total transfer rate, stream data transfer rate, non-stream data playback start time, and non-stream data data size, the non-stream data can be acquired by the playback start time. Since the transfer information setting means for setting the transfer rate and the transfer start time for the data is provided, there is an advantage that the reproduction of the multimedia data is not interrupted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a multimedia data reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating data reproduction information and prefetch information in the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram of a conventional multimedia data reproducing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Client 2 Server 3 Network 11 Playback Control Means 12 Total Transfer Rate Acquisition Means 13 Data Transfer Rate Acquisition Means 14 Data Size Acquisition Means 15 Data Transfer Rate Setting Request Means 16 Data Transfer Request Means 17 Transfer Rate / Transfer Start Time Calculation Means 18 Transfers Rate / transfer start time setting means 19 Data acquisition means

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Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A server that stores stream data and non-stream data, and reproduction information for reproducing the data stored in the server, and reproduces each data stored in the server based on the reproduction information. In the multimedia data reproducing apparatus including a user terminal that performs the above, the user terminal is configured to acquire a total transfer rate acquisition unit that acquires a total transfer rate allowed by the server for the user terminal, and a transfer rate of the stream data. Data transfer rate acquisition means for acquiring, data size acquisition means for acquiring the data size of the non-stream data,
Within the range of the remaining transfer rate obtained by subtracting the transfer rate of the stream data from the total transfer rate, the acquired total transfer rate, the acquired total transfer rate, so that the non-stream data can be acquired by the reproduction start time. Transfer information setting means for setting a transfer rate and a transfer start time for the non-stream data based on a transfer rate of the stream data, a reproduction start time of the non-stream data, and a data size of the non-stream data. A multimedia data reproducing device characterized by.