JPH09266492A - Video server system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the video server system which economically actualizes a multilingual speech selecting function in a proper response time in consideration of storage capacity and a process load. SOLUTION: The video server system is provided with a multiplexed stream discriminating and separating means 102 which discriminates and separates a multiplexed stream into a plurality of streams, a stream discarding means 101 which selectively discards separated streams, a stream multiplexing and switching means, a stream storage structure managing means which manages the structure of the streams, and a stream synchronous multiplexing means which synchronously multiplexes video streams and speech streams in proper combination. Consequently, unnecessary streams are discharged after the multiplexed stream is discriminated and separated to lighten the synchronous multiplexing process load of multilingual speech selective reproduction and the need to start another program is eliminated to shorten the response time. Further, the storage capacity of a storage means is reducible.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video server system or A for providing AV information to a terminal device through a communication network.
The present invention relates to a video server system such as a V library, and particularly makes it possible to economically realize multilingual voice selection.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a server device that compresses and encodes information having time continuity such as moving images and audio (referred to as "stream information") and stores it, and a C device in the server device
2. Description of the Related Art A video server system has been developed which includes a terminal device that is connected via an ATV or a communication line and expands and decodes a stream received from a server device to reproduce a moving image or sound.

In such a video server system, a user who wants to view a video, from a terminal device, operates the video device and operates the video device in the same manner as the reproduction position (start position and end position) of the program desired to be reproduced. Specify the speed (normal playback or double speed playback, forward or backward). On the other hand, the server device uses the international standard MPE for disks and semiconductor memories.
The video information with audio of a large number of programs compressed and encoded according to standards such as G (Motion Picture Experts Group) is stored. From among these, the specified position of the specified program according to the command sent from the terminal device. The video information from is transmitted at the specified speed. The terminal device decompresses and decodes the video signal transmitted via the communication network, and reproduces the video on the display unit.

By the way, in amusement systems in museums, museums and airplanes, it is necessary to assume users of multiple languages, and such a system is required to have a function of selecting multilingual speech.

Next, the implementation of the multilingual voice selection function in the conventional video server system will be described. FIG. 11 shows an example of the configuration of a conventional video server system. As shown in FIG. 11, this video server system is connected to a plurality of terminal devices 1 owned by a user and issuing a read command, and a control information communication path 3 and a stream information communication path 4 which are communication networks to the terminal device 1. And a server device 2 for providing a video signal. The server device 2 is connected to a plurality of stream storage units 10 that store stream information such as video and audio, and is connected to the stream storage unit 10 by a data bus 16 and a control signal line 15, and stores the stream information read from the stream storage unit 10. Stream communication unit 11 for communicating with the terminal device 1
A control information communication unit 12 that receives control information from the terminal device 1, and a stream access control unit 13 that accesses the stream storage unit 10 based on the control information received from the terminal device 1 and performs a read process of the stream information. Is equipped with.

FIG. 12 shows a communication procedure for stream reproduction between the server device 2 and the terminal device 1 in this video server system. Prior to the stream communication, a reproduction session corresponding to the call establishment of the telephone device is established. When the terminal device 1 transmits the reproduction session establishment request (20), the reproduction session establishment request is received by the control information communication unit 12 of the server device 2 and transmitted to the stream access control unit (21). After securing the bandwidth inside the server, the playback session establishment response (22) (23) is returned,
A reproduction session is established between the server device 2 and the terminal device 1.

After the reproduction session is established, when the user on the terminal side inputs a reproduction request to the terminal device 1, a reproduction request (24) is output. The reproduction request input to the server device 2 is transmitted to the stream access control unit 13 via the control information processing unit 12 (25). Stream access control unit 13
Reads stream information from the stream storage unit 10 (26) and sends it to the stream communication unit 11 (2
7). The terminal device 1 receives the stream information and reproduces video and audio. Conventionally, stream information is generally converted into data by multiplexing moving images and sounds as one set. In other words, considering the story of a movie, for example, even if the movie has the same title, the Japanese version of the movie constitutes one set of moving images and audio, and constitutes one information body. In the English version, moving images (the same as those in the Japanese version above), audio, etc., make up one set and another information body is formed, and the stream information of each program is completed.

Therefore, if it is assumed that a reproduction request is made for a certain program, stream information is sent in response to the reproduction request, and the audio language switching is requested at the time when the stream information was stream-reproduced, first, the stream reproduction is ended and another is performed. Start and play another program consisting of audio and multiplexed video.

When ending the stream reproduction, the terminal device 1 transmits a reproduction session release request (28), and after this reproduction session release request (28) is received by the server device 2, the communication control of the server device 2 is performed. It is transmitted to the stream access control unit 13 via the unit 12 (29). The stream access control unit 13 releases the secured band, transmits a reproduction session release response (30) (31) to the terminal device 1, and the session is released. Normally, a time on the order of seconds is required for the reproduction session establishment process and the reproduction session release process.

[0010]

However, in such a conventional video server system, as described above, the stream information is treated as different programs if the moving images are the same but the audio languages are different. Since it is registered and stored in the stream storage unit 10, assuming that a reproduction request is made for a certain program, stream information is sent in response to the reproduction request, and the audio language switching is requested when the stream is reproduced. It is necessary to end the stream reproduction once and start another program composed of video multiplexed with another audio. When ending the stream reproduction, the terminal device 1 first transmits a reproduction session release request (28) in the first stage, and the reproduction session release request (28) is transmitted to the communication control unit 12 of the server device 2.
Is transmitted to the stream access control unit 13 via (2
9) Then, the band secured by the stream access control unit 13 is released, and the session is released by transmitting the reproduction session release response (30) (31) to the terminal device 1. Next, in the second stage, the session establishment procedure (3
2, 33, 34, 35) and reproduction request procedure (36, 37,
38, 39) and finally the program can be switched to the program in the desired language. In order to go through the above operation procedure, since the session establishment and release processing require time on the order of seconds, a response time of 2-3 seconds or more is required at the time of voice switching.

As described above, in the conventional video server system, it takes a lot of time to switch multilingual audio. Further, when focusing on the accumulated stream, stream information in which video and audio are multiplexed is created for each language, and the storage capacity corresponding to the video information is wasted. This amount is enormous in proportion to the total number of programs and the number of languages and occupies the area of the stream storage unit 10, which causes a problem of increasing cost.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides a video server system which realizes a multilingual voice selection function economically by considering a storage capacity and a processing load with an appropriate response time. It is intended to be provided.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, the first invention of the present application comprises stream storage means for storing stream information, control information communication means, stream communication means, and stream access control means. To the video server system, only the stream selected and selected from the terminal device is sent out among the multiple stream identification / separation means for identifying and separating the multiplexed stream into a plurality of streams, and the separated streams identified and separated by the multiple stream identification / separation means. However, the gist is that a stream discarding means for discarding another stream is provided.

The second invention of the present application is a video server system comprising stream storage means for storing stream information, control information communication means, stream communication means, and stream access control means, multiple stream identification / separation means, and stream discarding. The gist is that the means and the stream multiplex exchange means for multiplexing the audio stream are provided at the position of the separated stream where the stream discard means discards.

A third aspect of the present invention is a stream storage structure for managing a stream structure in a video server system including stream storage means for storing stream information, control information communication means, stream communication means, and stream access control means. The gist is that the management means and the stream synchronous multiplexing means for synchronously multiplexing the video and audio streams are provided.

According to the first invention of the present application, the multiple stream accumulated in the stream accumulation means is read by the above-mentioned configuration, the multiple stream identification / separation means subsequently identifies and separates the multiplex stream into a plurality of streams, and further,
The stream access control means controls so that the stream discarding means sends out only the stream selected from the terminal among the separated streams and discards the other streams.

According to the second invention of the present application, with the above configuration, the multiplexed stream of video and audio stored in the stream storage means is read out, and subsequently, the multiple stream identification / separation means identifies and separates the multiplexed stream into a plurality of streams. The stream discarding means extracts only the stream selected by the terminal from the separated streams, discards the other streams, and reads the separated stream from the stream accumulating means at the position where the stream discarding means discards it. The stream access control means controls so that the stream multiplex exchange means multiplexes the audio stream and sends it to the terminal.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, with the above configuration, the video stored in the stream storage means is read, and according to the synchronization information of the video stream and the audio stream held by the stream storage structure management means, the corresponding audio stream read and stream synchronization are performed. The stream access control means controls so that the multiplexing means synchronously multiplexes the video and audio streams and sends them to the terminal.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention communicates stream storage means for storing stream information having time continuity such as moving images and audio, and communication of access control information of stream information with a terminal. Control information communication means, stream communication means for controlling communication of stream information to a terminal, stream storage means, control information communication means, and stream communication means, and stream transmission according to a request from the terminal. In the video server system including the stream access control means for
Of the streams identified and separated by the multiple stream identification / separation means for identifying and separating the multiplexed stream into a plurality of streams, only the stream selected by the terminal is transmitted, and the other streams are discarded. And a stream discarding unit for controlling the stream access control unit to read the multiplexed stream accumulated in the stream accumulating unit, and subsequently, the multiplexed stream identifying / separating unit identifies the multiplexed stream into a plurality of streams. Separated and further
The stream discarding means has the effect of transmitting only the stream selected from the terminal among the separated streams and discarding the other streams.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the stream is composed of fixed-length packets, and there is no need to calculate the synchronization of video and audio when discarding the stream. Since only the packet is discarded, the processing load is reduced.

[0021] According to a third aspect of the present invention, stream storage means for storing stream information having time continuity such as moving images and audio, and control information communication for communicating access control information of the stream information with a terminal. Means, stream communication means for controlling communication of stream information to the terminal, stream access control for controlling the stream storage means, the control information communication means, and the stream communication means, and controlling stream transmission according to a request from the terminal. In a video server system including means, only a stream selected from a terminal among multiple stream identification / separation means for identifying and separating a multiplexed stream into a plurality of streams and a stream identified and separated by the multiple stream identification / separation means Stream discard, which sends out and discards other streams Means, of the separated streams,
A stream multiplex exchange unit for multiplexing an audio stream is provided at the position where the stream discarding unit discards, and the multiplex stream of video and audio stored in the stream storage unit is controlled by the stream access control unit. Then, the multiple stream identification / separation unit identifies and separates the multiplexed stream into a plurality of streams, and the stream discarding unit extracts only the stream selected from the terminal among the separated streams. The stream multiplex exchange means multiplexes the audio stream read out from the stream storage means, and sends it to the terminal at the position where the stream discard means discards the stream.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the third aspect, the stream is composed of fixed length packets, and video and audio synchronization is calculated when discarding and switching multiplexing of the stream. There is no need to do so, and it is possible to reduce the processing load by simply discarding packets and performing switching multiplexing.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, stream information storage means for accumulating stream information having time continuity such as moving images and audio, and control information communication for communicating access control information of the stream information with a terminal. Means, stream communication means for controlling communication of stream information to the terminal, access control means for controlling the stream storage means, the control information communication means, and the stream communication means, and controlling stream transmission in accordance with a request from the terminal. A video server system comprising: a stream storage structure managing means for managing a stream structure; and a stream synchronous multiplexing means for synchronously multiplexing video and audio streams. The video stored in the stream storage means is read and According to the synchronization information of the video stream and the audio stream included in the video storage structure managing means, a corresponding audio stream is read out, and the stream synchronous multiplexing means synchronously multiplexes the video, the audio stream and the video stream and sends them to the terminal. Have.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the fifth aspect, the stream is composed of fixed length packets, and when the audio stream and the video stream are synchronously multiplexed, the video and audio Since it is not necessary to calculate the synchronization of the packet, and only the packet is synchronously multiplexed, the processing load is reduced.

(Embodiment 1) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a video server system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The video server system according to this embodiment basically has the same configuration as the conventional video server system described above, and includes the terminal device 1 and the server device 22, and the server device 22 is a moving image. A stream storage unit 10 that stores stream information having time continuity such as images and sounds, a stream communication unit 11 that controls communication of stream information to the terminal device 1, and access control information of stream information to the terminal device 1. A control information communication unit 12 for communicating between the stream storage unit 1 and the stream information storage unit 1.
0, the control information communication unit 12, and the stream communication unit 1
1, and a stream access control unit 13 that controls stream transmission according to a request from the terminal device 1.

However, unlike the prior art, in the video server system of the present embodiment, the server device 21 identifies and separates the multiplexed stream into a plurality of streams, and a multiple stream identification / separation unit 102. A stream discarding unit (packet discarding unit) 101 that selectively discards the streams separated by is provided.

Although a magnetic disk is assumed as a storage medium in the stream storage unit 10, the access speed,
Considering conditions such as capacity and price, a medium such as a semiconductor memory, a magnetic tape, an optical disc, or a storage medium in which these are combined may be appropriately used in addition to the magnetic disc.

The operation of the video server system having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 2 is a timing chart illustrating a communication procedure for stream reproduction between the server device 21 and the terminal device 1 according to this embodiment. Prior to the stream communication, a session corresponding to the call establishment of the telephone device is established. When the terminal device 1 transmits the reproduction session establishment request (120), the server device 21
It is received by the control information communication unit 12 and transmitted to the stream access control unit 13 (121). After securing the bandwidth inside the server, a playback session establishment response (122) (1
23) is returned, and a session is established between the server device 21 and the terminal device 1.

After the session is established, when the user of the terminal device 1 inputs a reproduction request, the reproduction request is output (124). The reproduction request input to the server device 21 is transmitted to the stream access control unit 13 via the control information communication unit 12 (125). The stream access control unit 13 transmits the reproduction request to the stream storage unit 10, the multiple stream identification / separation unit 102, and the stream discarding unit 101, and executes a process of reading a stream from the stream storage unit 10 (126), and stream communication is performed. Part 11
(127). The terminal device 1 receives the stream and reproduces video and audio. In the processing up to this point, when the user of the terminal device 1 inputs a reproduction request, the user inputs the command information of the language of the desired sound in the reproduction request, and therefore the sound is transmitted together with the video. To be done.

Here, it is assumed that voice language switching is requested. In this case, it is only necessary to input a reproduction request in which the selected voice is specified to the terminal device 1. The output reproduction request (128) is input to the server device 21 and transmitted to the stream access control unit 13 via the control information processing unit 12 (129). The stream access control unit 13 transmits the reproduction request to the stream storage unit 10, the multiple stream identification / separation unit 102, and the stream discarding unit 101, and executes a process of reading a stream from the stream storage unit 10 (130) to perform stream communication. Part 11
(131). At this time, the stream access control unit 13 requests the multiplex stream identification / separation unit 102 and the stream discarding unit 101 to separate the multiplex stream and discard other than the desired stream, respectively. As a result, of the stream information read from the stream storage unit 10, only the video and audio desired on the terminal device 1 side are transmitted, and the terminal device 1 receives the stream and reproduces the video and audio.

FIG. 3 is a data processing diagram showing the structure of a stream in this embodiment, and the steps of its multiple identification separation and discarding. The stream 140 accumulated in the stream accumulating section is formed by multiplexing the images 142 and 146 and the voices 143, 144 and 145 in different languages of three countries in the form of packets. In the present embodiment, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 3, the images 142 and 146 and the audios 143 to 145 are multiplexed to form a stream 140 that is one set of information body,
The stream 140 is stored in the stream storage unit 10. Here, if the user of the terminal device 1 selects voice 1, the multiple stream identification / separation unit 102 interprets the syntax of the stream, separates the multiplexed stream into different streams, and the stream discarding unit
Audio 2 (144), audio 3 from the separated streams
The part corresponding to (145) is discarded. As a result, as shown in the lower part of FIG. 3, only the above-mentioned images 142 and 146 and the audio 143 are multiplexed, and a stream 141 which is a set of information body different from the preceding stream 140 is configured.

Next, it is assumed that the voice language switching is requested, and the user of the terminal device 1 selects the voice 2 as the reproduction request in which the selected voice is clearly specified. At this time, the stream access control unit 13 performs the stream read processing operation of the same program as the above case in the multiple stream identification separation unit 102.
Requesting the separation of multiple streams and requesting the stream discarding unit 101 to discard an audio stream different from the above case. As a result, the multiple stream identification / separation unit 102 interprets the syntax of the stream, separates the multiplexed stream into different streams, and the stream discarding unit 101 extracts the audio 1 (143) and audio 3 from the separated streams. The part corresponding to (145) is discarded. As a result, only the images 142 and 146 and the audio 144, which are different from those shown in FIG. 3B, are multiplexed to form one set of information body.

In this way, multilingual voice selection can be realized without starting another program, shortening the response time, and performing a simple process without increasing the storage capacity. In particular, if the stream syntax has a fixed packet length, the stream identification / separation processing load is lightened, which is more practical. However, it is necessary to control the bit rate read from the stream storage unit 10 by two voices faster than the bit rate sent to the terminal device 1, and as a result, the access band of the stream storage unit 10 is somewhat increased.

In this example, the video and audio are limited, but the present invention can be applied as a multiplexing process for a plurality of streams regardless of the type of video and audio.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video server system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, in addition to the basic configuration of the video server system described above, the server device 22 further identifies and separates the multiplexed stream into a plurality of streams, and a multiple stream identification / separation unit 102 and a multiple stream identification / separation unit 102. A stream discarding unit 101 for selectively discarding the streams separated by and a stream multiplex exchange unit 103 for synchronously multiplexing a plurality of streams are provided.

Although a magnetic disk is assumed for the stream storage unit 10, a medium such as a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic tape or an optical disk is appropriately used in consideration of conditions such as access speed, capacity and price. You may.

The operation of the video server system having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 5 is a timing chart illustrating a communication procedure for stream reproduction between the server device 22 and the terminal device 1 according to the present embodiment. Prior to the stream communication, a session corresponding to the call establishment of the telephone device is established. When the terminal device 1 transmits the reproduction session establishment request (120), the server device 22
It is received by the control information communication unit 12 and transmitted to the stream access control unit 13 (121). After securing the bandwidth inside the server, a playback session establishment response (122) (1
23) and the session is established between the server device 22 and the terminal device 1.

After the session is established, when the user of the terminal device 1 inputs a reproduction request, the reproduction request is output (124). The reproduction request input to the server device 22 is transmitted to the stream access control unit 13 via the control information communication unit 12 (125). The stream access control unit 13 transmits the reproduction request to the stream storage unit 10, the multiplex stream identification / separation unit 102, the stream discarding unit 101, and the stream multiplex exchange unit 103, and executes a process of reading a stream from the stream storage unit 10. (1
26), and sends it to the stream communication unit 11 (127).
The terminal device 1 receives the stream and reproduces video and audio. In the processing up to this point, when the user of the terminal device 1 inputs a reproduction request, the user inputs the command information of the language of the desired sound in the reproduction request, and therefore the sound is transmitted together with the video. To be done.

Here, it is assumed that voice language switching is requested. In this case, it is only necessary to input a reproduction request in which the selected voice is specified to the terminal device 1. The output reproduction request (128) is input to the server device 22 and transmitted to the stream access control unit 13 via the control information processing unit 12 (129). The stream access control unit 13 transmits the reproduction request to the stream storage unit 10, the multiplex stream identification / separation unit 102, the stream discarding unit 101, and the stream multiplex exchange unit 103, and executes a process of reading a stream from the stream storage unit 10. (1
30), and sends it to the stream communication unit 11 (131).
At this time, the stream access control unit 13 requests the multiple stream identification / separation unit 102 to separate the multiple streams, requests the stream discard unit 101 to discard a stream other than the desired stream, and also the stream multiplex exchange unit 103. Requesting synchronous multiplexing of a plurality of streams. As a result, of the stream information read from the stream storage unit 10, only the video and audio desired on the terminal device 1 side are transmitted, and the terminal device 1 receives the stream and reproduces the video and audio.

FIG. 6 is a data processing diagram showing the structure of a stream according to the present embodiment and the respective processing steps of its multiplex identification separation, discarding and synchronous multiplexing. The stream storage unit stores a stream 160 in which video and audio (163, 164) are multiplexed and a stream 161 of only audio 2. The stream 160 corresponds to native language audio and video used in package media and the like. The stream 161 corresponds to voices other than the native language to be dubbed. Since the usual content supply is based on the mother tongue audio and video, constructing the multi-language stream 160 in this way is advantageous in the use of package media.

If the terminal selects audio 2, the multiple stream identification / separation unit 102 interprets the syntax of the stream, separates the multiplexed stream 160 into separate streams of video and audio, and discards the stream 101.
Discards the packet (163, 164) portion corresponding to voice 1 from the separated stream. Further, the stream multiplex / exchange unit 103 inserts the packets (165, 166) corresponding to the audio 2 incorporated in the new audio stream 161 at the positions discarded by the stream discarding unit 101. It should be noted that the packet corresponding to the voice 1 (163, 1
64) and packets corresponding to voice 2 (165, 166)
And are different languages but have the same meaning content. That is, the stream multiplex exchange unit 103 can realize voice selection by simply performing packet exchange processing without having to recalculate the synchronization relationship between video and voice, and the processing load is reduced. Also, the number of audio languages to be stream-accumulated can be dealt with by increasing the number of audio streams to be accumulated. At this time, the read band of the stream storage unit 10 need only be added for one audio stream to the video / audio multiplexed stream regardless of the number of audio languages.

In this way, multilingual voice selection can be realized without activating another program, shortening the response time, and performing a simple process without increasing the storage capacity. In particular, if the stream syntax has a fixed packet length, the stream identification / separation processing load is lightened, which is more practical.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a video server system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, in addition to the basic configuration of the video server system described above, the server device 23 manages the structure of the stream stored in the stream storage unit 10, a stream storage structure management unit 104, a video stream and an audio stream. And a stream synchronization / multiplexing unit 105 for synchronously multiplexing. Other configurations are the same as those of the conventional device shown in FIG.

Although a magnetic disk is assumed for the stream storage unit 10, a medium such as a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic tape or an optical disk may be used as appropriate in consideration of access speed, capacity and price. Good.

The operation of the video server system having such a configuration will be described. FIG. 8 is a timing chart illustrating a communication procedure for stream reproduction between the server device 23 and the terminal device 1 according to the present embodiment. Prior to the stream communication, a session corresponding to the call establishment of the telephone device is established. When the terminal device 1 transmits the reproduction session establishment request (170), the server device 23
It is received by the control information communication unit 12 and transmitted to the stream access control unit 13 (171). After securing the bandwidth inside the server, the stream access control unit interacts with the stream storage structure management unit 104 in order to acquire the video and audio multiplexing structure information (172, 173). Then, the reproduction session establishment responses (174) and (175) are returned, and the session is established between the server device 23 and the terminal device 1.

After the session is established, when a reproduction request is input on the terminal device 1 side, the reproduction request is output (176). The reproduction request input to the server device 23 is a control information processing unit 12
Is transmitted to the stream access control unit 13 via (1
77). The stream access control unit 13 reads out the stream from the stream storage unit 10 (178) and sends it to the stream communication unit 11 via the stream synchronization multiplexing unit 105 (179). The terminal device 1 receives the stream and reproduces video and audio. At this time, the video synchronization stream and the audio stream stored in the stream storage section are synchronously multiplexed by the stream synchronization multiplexing section 105. Therefore, when requesting multilingual voice switching (180-1
In 83), another audio stream is only selected for multiplexing.

FIG. 9 is a table configuration diagram showing an example of a synchronization information table 190 provided in the stream storage structure management unit 104 and representing a management information structure for multiplexing. In the synchronization information table 190, a sequence number 191 indicating a logical position (order of processing operations) from the beginning of the stream is set as a serial number, and a position where an audio stream should be inserted into a video stream is a video stream position 192.
Is indicated by the audio stream position 193. That is, when looking at the synchronization information table 190 from the sequence number 1, for example, in the sequence number 1, the video stream position is 5 and the audio stream position is 1. In sequence number 1, this is packet 5 of the video stream.
It indicates the content to be synchronously multiplexed with the packet No. 1 of the audio stream after the th. In the sequence number 2, the video stream position is 10 and the audio stream position is 2. This indicates that in the sequence number 2, the packet No. 2 of the audio stream is to be synchronously multiplexed after the packet No. 10 of the video stream. Hereinafter, the synchronization information table is constructed according to similar meanings.

FIG. 10 is a data processing diagram showing the structure of the stream in this embodiment, and the processing steps of stream structure identification and synchronous multiplexing. Stream storage unit 1
0 is a video stream 200 formed by connecting only packets of video information and an audio stream 20 formed by connecting only packets of information of audio 2
1 and are accumulated. When there are a plurality of audio languages, in addition to the audio stream 201, the accumulated audio streams such as audio 1 and audio 3 may be increased. According to the management information of the synchronization information table 190, the synchronization multiplexing unit 105 stores a packet 205 (audio) of audio 2 at a location 203 (corresponding to video stream position 5) and a location 204 (corresponding to video stream position 10) in the video stream. Multiplexing is performed by inserting the stream position 1) and the packet 206 (corresponding to the audio stream position 2). The stream synchronization multiplexing unit 105 can realize voice selection by simply performing packet insertion processing without having to recalculate the synchronization relationship between video and voice, and the processing load is reduced. Further, the read band of the stream storage unit 10 may be video and audio multiplex stream regardless of the number of audio languages, and the storage capacity and the storage unit access band are optimal.

In this way, multilingual voice selection can be realized without activating another program, shortening the response time, and performing a relatively simple process without increasing the storage capacity. In particular, if the stream syntax has a fixed packet length, the stream identification / separation processing load is lightened, which is more practical.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a video server system, multiple stream identification / separation means for identifying and separating a multiplexed stream into a plurality of streams, and a stream for selectively discarding the separated streams. A discarding means, a stream multiplexing / exchanging means for switching / multiplexing a plurality of streams, a stream storage structure managing means for managing the structure of streams, and a stream synchronization / multiplexing means for synchronously multiplexing a video stream and an audio stream are provided in an appropriate combination. , After separating and separating the accumulated multiple streams, by sending only the stream desired by the terminal and discarding the other streams, it is possible to reduce the load of synchronous multiplex processing for multilingual audio selective reproduction. The response time can be shortened because it is not necessary to start. Further, it is possible to reduce the storage capacity of the storage means.

Further, the video and audio multiplexed streams are identified and separated, only the stream desired by the terminal is extracted, the other streams are discarded, and the separately read audio stream is synchronously multiplexed at the discarded location, and the stream is sent to the terminal. By sending it, the load of synchronous multiplex processing of multilingual voice selection playback is reduced,
It is possible to reduce the storage capacity. In addition, it is easy to sequentially add audio to a package medium based on multiplexing video and audio, and to be shared with the package medium easily.

Further, by synchronously multiplexing the read audio stream according to the synchronization information corresponding to the read video stream and sending it to the terminal, it is possible to reduce the storage capacity of the multilingual audio selective reproduction, and the overall processing load. In terms of storage capacity, shared use with package media, multilingual voice selection can be economically realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video server system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart diagram for explaining a communication procedure for stream reproduction between the server device and the terminal device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a data processing diagram showing a stream configuration according to the first embodiment, and a process of multiple identification / separation and discard thereof.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video server system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart diagram illustrating a communication procedure for stream reproduction between the server device and the terminal device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a data processing diagram showing a stream configuration according to the second embodiment, and a process of multiplex identification separation and discard thereof.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video server system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart diagram for explaining a communication procedure of stream reproduction between the server device and the terminal device in the third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a table configuration diagram showing a synchronization information table representing a management information structure for multiplexing, which is provided in the stream storage structure management unit in the third embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a data processing diagram showing a stream structure in the third embodiment, the stream structure identification, and a process of synchronous multiplexing.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional video server system.

FIG. 12 is a timing chart illustrating a communication procedure for stream reproduction between the server device and the terminal device in the conventional example.

[Description of Reference Signs] 1 terminal device 21, 22, 23 server device 3 control information communication path 4 stream information communication path 10 stream storage unit 11 stream communication unit 12 control information communication unit 13 stream access control unit 14 stream communication unit 101 stream discard Unit 102 Multiple stream identification / separation unit 103 Stream multiplex / exchange unit 104 Stream storage structure management unit 105 Stream synchronous multiplexing unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A stream storage means for storing stream information having time continuity such as moving images and audio, a control information communication means for communicating access control information of stream information with a terminal, and communication of stream information to a terminal. In the video server system, there is provided a stream communication means for controlling a stream access control means, a stream access control means for controlling the stream storage means, the control information communication means, and the stream communication means, and a stream access control means for controlling stream transmission in accordance with a request from a terminal. A multiple stream identification / separation unit that identifies and separates a stream into a plurality of streams, and a stream that sends only the stream selected from the terminal among the streams that are identified and separated by the multiple stream identification / separation unit and discards the other streams. A means for discarding the The access control means reads the multiple streams stored in the stream storage means,
Subsequently, the multiple stream identification / separation unit identifies and separates the multiplexed stream into a plurality of streams, and further,
A video server system, wherein the stream discarding means controls only the stream selected by the terminal out of the separated streams and discards other streams. 2. The video server system according to claim 1, wherein the stream is composed of fixed length packets. 3. Stream accumulation means for accumulating stream information having time continuity such as moving images and audio, control information communication means for communicating access control information of stream information with a terminal, and communication of stream information to a terminal. In the video server system, there is provided a stream communication means for controlling a stream access control means, a stream access control means for controlling the stream storage means, the control information communication means, and the stream communication means, and a stream access control means for controlling stream transmission in accordance with a request from a terminal. A multiple stream identification / separation unit that identifies and separates a stream into a plurality of streams, and a stream that sends only the stream selected from the terminal among the streams that are identified and separated by the multiple stream identification / separation unit and discards the other streams. Disposal means,
Stream separation / exchange means for multiplexing the audio stream is provided at the position of the separated stream where the stream discard means discards the stream access control means, and the stream access control means multiplexes the video and audio stored in the stream storage means. Read continuously, the multiplex stream identification / separation unit identifies and separates the multiplexed stream into a plurality of streams, and the stream discarding unit extracts only the stream selected from the terminal among the separated streams, Another stream is discarded, and further, at the position where the stream discarding means discards, the audio stream read from the stream storing means is controlled by the stream multiplexing / exchange means to multiplex the audio stream and send it to the terminal. Video server system. 4. The video server system according to claim 3, wherein the stream is composed of fixed length packets. 5. Stream accumulation means for accumulating stream information having time continuity such as moving images and audio, control information communication means for communicating access control information of stream information with a terminal, and communication of stream information to a terminal. In the video server system, there is provided a stream structure including a stream communication unit for controlling a stream, an access control unit for controlling the stream storage unit, the control information communication unit, and the stream communication unit, and controlling a stream transmission according to a request from a terminal. Stream storage structure management means for managing the stream and stream synchronous multiplexing means for synchronously multiplexing the video and audio streams. The stream access control means reads out the video stored in the stream storage means, Video stream and audio stream of management means A video server system, wherein a corresponding audio stream is read in accordance with stream synchronization information, and the stream synchronous multiplexing means controls the video, the audio stream and the video stream to be synchronously multiplexed and sent to a terminal. 6. The video server system according to claim 5, wherein the stream is composed of fixed length packets.