JPH11215176A - Repeater - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a repeater which can reduce the transferring amount of data of a whole network when the data are transmitted to a host computer from a plurality of terminals. SOLUTION: When, for example, such data as pictures, etc., are transmitted to a repeater A from each terminal A1-An, a receiving means 1 receives the data and temporarily stores the data in a storing means 2. A plural-data compressing means 3 fetches a plurality of picture data held in the storing means 2 and compresses the picture data by a highly efficient method by utilizing the correlation, etc., among the picture. A transmitting means collectively transmits the compressed data to a host computer 10. When the repeater is constituted in the above-mentioned way, the transferring amount of data on a network is reduced, because the amount of transmitted data becomes smaller.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a relay device on a communication network, and more particularly to a relay device configured to reduce the amount of data flowing through the network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a communication system for transmitting data from a plurality of terminals to a single host computer via a network, a relay device for relaying data has been used. Conventional relay devices generally have a configuration shown in FIG.
In many cases, the configuration shown in FIG. That is, the relay apparatus includes a receiving unit 211 for receiving data, a storage unit 212 for storing the received data, and a transmitting unit 213 for reading and transmitting data in the storage unit 212. A plurality of such relay devices are provided, and one relay device A
Receives data from a plurality of terminals A1 to An and transmits it to the host computer 210.

In such relay apparatuses A and B, when data is received from a plurality of terminals by the receiving means 211, the received data is stored in the storage means 212. Then, the transmission unit 213 reads out the data stored in the storage unit 212 in order, and transmits the data to the host computer 210. For this reason, there is an advantage that the load required for the host computer to receive data can be reduced as compared with the case where there is no relay device and each terminal is directly connected to the host computer.

[0004]

However, since the above-mentioned conventional relay device only stores the data received from the terminal once in the storage means and transmits the stored data, the total amount of data flowing on the network is: There is a drawback that there is almost no difference between the case where the relay device is provided and the case where the relay device is not provided. In a system in which the host computer 210 is located at a broadcasting station and each terminal is located at each home, a questionnaire survey is conducted from the broadcasting station to each home, and the viewer responds to the questionnaire with images or text data. When sending,
Data temporarily concentrates on the host computer 210. In this case, there is a problem that the number of active terminals temporarily increases, and individual data cannot be collected at the same time.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and is a relay apparatus capable of reducing the data transfer amount of the entire network in accordance with the content of data output from each terminal. The purpose is to realize.

[0006]

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a receiving means for receiving data from a plurality of terminals, and a plurality of sets of data received by the receiving means. Storage means for storing data, a plurality of data compression means for collectively compressing a plurality of sets of data stored in the storage means, and a transmission means for transmitting data compressed by the plurality of data compression means. It is characterized by the following.

[0007] The invention according to claim 2 of the present application is a receiving means for receiving compressed data from a plurality of terminals, a storage means for storing a plurality of sets of compressed data received by the receiving means, and a storage means for storing in the storage means. Receiving data decompressing means for decompressing compressed data, a plurality of data compressing means for collectively compressing a plurality of sets of data decompressed by the receiving data decompressing means, and a transmission for transmitting data compressed by the plurality of data compressing means. And means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a receiving means for receiving data from a plurality of terminals, a storing means for storing a plurality of sets of data received by the receiving means, and a plurality of data stored in the storing means. Received data classifying means for classifying sets of data by type, a plurality of data compressing means for collectively compressing the same type of data sorted by the received data classifying means, and transmitting data compressed by the plurality of data compressing means. And transmitting means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a receiving means for receiving data from a plurality of terminals, a storing means for storing a plurality of sets of data received by the receiving means, and a plurality of data stored in the storing means. Receiving data sorting means for sorting a set of data based on similarity, a plurality of data compressing means for collectively compressing a plurality of sets of data sorted by the receiving data sorting means, and a plurality of data compressed by the plurality of data compressing means; Transmitting means for transmitting data.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a receiving means for receiving data from a plurality of terminals, a storing means for storing a plurality of sets of data received by the receiving means, and a plurality of data stored in the storing means. Destination classifying means for classifying sets of data based on destinations; a plurality of data compression means for compressing a plurality of sets of data classified by the destination classification means for each destination; and a plurality of data compression means. And transmitting means for transmitting the obtained data.

[0011] The invention according to claim 6 of the present application is a receiving means for receiving data from a plurality of terminals, a storing means for storing a plurality of sets of data received by the receiving means, and a plurality of data stored in the storing means. Compression time management means for managing a compression time of a set of data; a plurality of data compression means for compressing a plurality of sets of data held in the storage means based on an instruction of the compression time management means; Transmitting means for transmitting the data compressed by the means.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a receiving means for receiving data from a plurality of terminals, a storing means for storing a plurality of sets of data received by the receiving means, and a transmitting means for transmitting the data via a network. A compression request management unit for instructing compression of a plurality of sets of data stored in the storage unit based on the request; and a plurality of sets of data held in the storage unit are compressed based on an instruction of the compression request management unit. And a transmitting means for transmitting data compressed by the plural data compressing means.

[0013] The invention according to claim 8 of the present application is a receiving means for receiving data from a plurality of terminals, a storing means for storing a plurality of sets of data received by the receiving means, and a plurality of data stored in the storing means. A plurality of data compression means for collectively compressing a set of data; a transmission means for transmitting data compressed by the plurality of data compression means; and a transmission management means for controlling a transmission time of the transmission means based on time information. , Are provided.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a receiving means for receiving data from a plurality of terminals, a storing means for storing a plurality of sets of data received by the receiving means, and a plurality of data stored in the storing means. A plurality of data compression means for compressing a set of data together; a transmission means for transmitting data compressed by the plurality of data compression means; and a transmission time of the transmission means based on a transmission request transmitted via a network. And transmission request management means for controlling the transmission request.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a receiving means for receiving data from a plurality of terminals, a storing means for storing a plurality of sets of data received by the receiving means, and a plurality of data stored in the storing means. It is characterized by comprising a statistical processing means for performing statistical processing of a set of data, and a transmitting means for transmitting a statistical processing result obtained by the statistical processing means.

[0016] The eleventh aspect of the present invention provides the first aspect.
0, the statistical processing means outputs the number of received data and an average value as statistical processing.

The twelfth aspect of the present invention provides the first aspect.
0, wherein the statistical processing means outputs a histogram of the received data as statistical processing.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a receiving means for receiving compressed data, a storing means for storing the compressed data received by the receiving means, and a receiving means for expanding the compressed data stored in the storing means. It is characterized by comprising a data decompression means and a transmission means for transmitting data decompressed by the reception data decompression means to each terminal.

[0019]

(Embodiment 1) A relay apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of the relay device of the present embodiment.
The relay device includes a receiving unit 1 for receiving data, a storage unit 2 for storing data, and a plurality of data compression units 3 for collectively compressing a plurality of data stored in the storage unit 2.
And transmission means 4 for transmitting data compressed by the plural data compression means.

The relay apparatus A and the relay apparatus B shown in FIG. 1 have the same configuration. The relay device A includes n terminals A1, A2,.
-Data is received from An, and the relay terminal B has m terminals B
, B2,... Bm are received. And
Both devices transmit data to the host computer 10. The difference between the terminal and the host computer is only the source or destination of the data, and there is no particular difference other than that. This is the same in the following embodiments.

The relay device A is connected to each of the terminals A1, A2,.
The data received from n is, for example, an image belonging to the same genre as shown in FIG. The image 21 is received from the terminal A1, the image 22 is received from the terminal A2, and the image 2n is received from the terminal An. However, the data transmitted from each terminal is
It does not need to be an image, and may be any type of data that can be communicated, such as text, sound, programs, computer graphics, and game scores.

The receiving means 1 asynchronously or synchronously transmits the image 2
1 to 2n. Then, the received images are stored in the storage unit 2 one after another. Thereafter, the multiple data compression unit 3 compresses all of these images (images 21 to 2n) collectively. Note that the multiple data compression unit 3 does not necessarily need to compress all the data in the storage unit 2 collectively, and may compress the data in some groups. For example, compression can be performed when the number of data stored in the storage unit 2 reaches a certain number Ld. When compressed data is received, a plurality of pieces of compressed data may be collectively subjected to further compression, or only uncompressed data may be compressed.

When the received data is an image, for example, MPEG compression is performed. In the MPEG compression, not only spatial compression from one image but also compression using a difference image between images is performed. Therefore, a higher compression ratio can be obtained than when spatial compression is performed independently for each image. For example, the image 21, the image 22, and the image 2n shown in FIG. 2 are all images of a jar defined by the same profile, and the difference image between the image 22 and the image 21 is as shown in an image 31 in FIG. 2 is an image of only the handle portion. Further, the difference image between the image 2n and the image 22 is an image having only a pattern like the image 32 shown in FIG. By compressing a plurality of images collectively in this manner, a high compression rate can be obtained.

The multiple data compression means 3 compresses the received data in the storage means 2 and stores the compressed data in the storage means 2 again. Thereafter, the transmitting unit 4 transmits the compressed data obtained by the multiple data compressing unit 3 to the host computer 10. The data compressed by the multiple data compression unit 3 may be provided in another storage unit instead of the storage unit 2 and stored in the storage unit.

The relay device A is connected to each terminal A1, A2,.
It is assumed that the data received from An is a similar message, for example, as shown in FIG. Similar processing is performed for such text data. Receiving means 1
Receives the text 41 from the terminal A1, the text 42 from the terminal A2, and the text 4n from the terminal An asynchronously or synchronously. Then, all the received texts are stored in the storage means 2. Thereafter, the plurality of data compressing means 3 transmits all of these text data (text 41 to text 4
n) are compressed together. For the compression, for example, compression using a “moving window” is used. This compression procedure is described in "Data Compression Handbook Revised Second Edition" published by Toppan Co., Ltd., co-authored by Mark Nelson and Jean-Laup Gary, translated by Takeshi Ogiwara and Eiji Yamaguchi.

In the texts 41, 42, and 4n shown in FIG. 4, all three types of text include character strings such as "happy new year,""thisyear," and "good morning." When a greeting of New Year's greeting is transmitted from each terminal, such a message often occurs. In such a case, a high compression ratio can be obtained. Then, the transmitting means 4
Transmits the compressed data obtained by the multiple data compression unit 3 to the host computer 10. As described above, the relay device of the present embodiment can perform highly efficient compression by collectively compressing a plurality of pieces of received data. Therefore, the amount of data on the network can be reduced.

(Embodiment 2) Next, a relay apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of the relay device of the present embodiment. This relay device includes a receiving unit 51, a storage unit 52, a multiple data compression unit 53,
In addition to the transmission means 54, a reception data decompression means 55 for decompressing the reception data stored in the storage means 52 is provided. Other configurations are the same as those of the relay device of the first embodiment.

In FIG. 5, a relay device A, a relay device B,
The relay device C has the same configuration. The relay device A receives data from n terminals A1 to An, and the relay device B
Data is received from the terminals B1 to Bm. The relay device C receives data from the relay devices A and B, and transmits the data to the host computer 50.

In this device, first, the receiving means 51 receives the compressed data from the terminal or another relay device, and stores the data in the storage means 52. After that, the received data decompression means 55 decompresses the data stored in the storage means 52 and stores the data in the storage means 52 again. In this case, the decompressed data is stored separately from the non-decompressed data. afterwards,
The multiple data compressing means 53 collectively compresses the decompressed data held in the storage means 52 and stores it again in the storage means 52. Then, the compressed data is transmitted to another relay device or the host computer 50.

As described above, in the relay device of the present embodiment,
By receiving the compressed data, decompressing it, and then compressing the plurality of decompressed data collectively, the compression rate can be further increased compared to the received compressed data.
Therefore, the amount of data on the network can be further reduced.

(Embodiment 3) Next, a relay apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of the relay device of the present embodiment. This relay device is provided with a reception data classification unit 65 for classifying the reception data stored in the storage unit 62 by type, in addition to the reception unit 61, the storage unit 62, the multiple data compression unit 63, and the transmission unit 64. The connection relationship between the relay device, the terminal, and the host computer is the same as in the first embodiment.

This relay device receives various types of data from each terminal. For example, the order (image 71, text 72, text 73, image 74, image 74,
It is assumed that image data or text data is received as the image 75 and the text 76). First, the receiving means 61
And the storage means 62 stores the data. Thereafter, the received data classifying unit 65 determines the type of each data, and classifies the data into image data and text data, for example, as shown in FIG. After that, the plural data compressing means 63 separately compresses the classified plural image data and plural text data. Then, the transmitting means 64 transmits the compressed image data and the compressed text data.

As described above, in the relay device of the present embodiment, the received data classifying means 65 for classifying received data.
, Various types of data can be efficiently processed.

(Embodiment 4) Next, a relay apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of the relay device of the present embodiment. This relay device is provided with a reception data sorting unit 95 for sorting received data stored in the storage unit 92, in addition to a reception unit 91, a storage unit 92, a multiple data compression unit 93, and a transmission unit 94. The connection relationship between the relay device, the terminal, and the host computer is the same as in the first embodiment.

In this relay apparatus, the receiving means 91 receives image data in the order (image 101, image 102, image 103) as shown in FIG. 10, and the storage means 92 stores these data. After that, the reception data sorting means 95 rearranges the reception data. For example, in the order of the images shown in FIG. 10, the difference image between the image 101 and the image 102 is an image of a handle and a picture. Images 102 and 10
The difference image of No. 3 is a picture image. On the other hand, in the order of the images shown in FIG. 11, the difference image between the image 111 and the image 112 is an image of only the handle, and the difference image of the image 112 and the image 113 is an image of only the pattern. Such a rearrangement operation is performed according to the procedure shown in FIG.

When image sorting is started, step 12
In step 1, the first received image is taken out and set as the first image after sorting. Proceeding to step 122, an image having the smallest difference from the previously extracted image is found. Then, the process proceeds to step 123, and the image with the smallest difference is set as the next comparison source image. In the next step 124, if an image still remains, the same processing is repeated from step 122. Otherwise, the process ends. By this processing, the order of the images shown in FIG.
1 can be obtained.

As described above, the received data sorting unit 95 rearranges the received data, and stores the rearranged data in the storage unit 92 again. Then, the multiple data compression means 9
3 compresses the rearranged data and stores it in the storage means 92 again. Data compression is performed by, for example, M
Perform PEG compression. Then, the transmitting means 94 transmits the compressed data.

As described above, in the relay apparatus of the present embodiment, by providing the received data sorting means 95 for sorting received data, more efficient compression can be performed. For this reason, the data transfer amount on the network can be further reduced.

(Embodiment 5) Next, a relay apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of the relay device of the present embodiment. This relay device includes a receiving unit 131, a storage unit 132, a multiple data compression unit 1
33, in addition to the transmission means 134, the destination classification means 135
Is provided. The destination classification means 135 is the storage means 1
This is a means for classifying the received data based on the transmission destination of the received data stored in 32 and instructing the plural data compression means 133 to compress each classified data. The connection relationship between the relay device, the terminal, and the host computer is the same as in the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 13, the relay apparatus A receives data from n terminals A1,... An and transmits data to m host computers 1301,. In FIG. 13, the data transmission destination is the host computer, but if no special processing is required, the data transmission destination may be a terminal.

In this relay device, as in the first embodiment,
The receiving means 131 receives data from the terminals A1,... An, and the storage means 132 stores the received data. Here, a transmission destination is added to the reception data. For example, the network address of the destination terminal is used as the destination. Then, the destination classifying unit 135 classifies the received data in the storage unit 132 based on the destination of the data. Then, the destination classifying unit 135 instructs the multiple data compressing unit 133 to compress each classified data. The destination classifying unit 135 instructs the transmitting unit 134 to transmit the compressed data to the destination. Thus, the transmitting means 134 transmits the compressed data to any of the host computers 1301 to 130m which are the destination terminals.

As described above, in the relay apparatus of the present embodiment, by providing the destination classifying means 135, the received data is classified based on the destination of the received data, and compression is performed for each classified data. To the destination. For this reason,
Data can be sent to multiple destinations.

(Embodiment 6) Next, a relay apparatus according to Embodiment 6 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 14 is a configuration diagram of the relay device of the present embodiment. This relay device includes a receiving unit 141, a storage unit 142, a multiple data compression unit 1
43, in addition to the transmission means 144, the compression time management means 14
5 are provided. The compression time management means 145 is means for instructing the multiple data compression means 143 to compress a plurality of data based on the time information 146. Relay devices A and B,
Terminals A1 to An, terminals B1 to Bm, host computer 140
Is the same as in the first embodiment. Relay device A
Receives data from n terminals A1 to An, and relay terminal B receives data from m terminals B1 to Bm. Then, both devices transmit data to the host computer 140.

In this relay apparatus A, as in the first embodiment, the receiving means 141 receives data, and the storage means 142 stores the received data. On the other hand, the compression time management means 1
45 indicates a plurality of data compression means 14 based on the time information 146.
3 is controlled. The time information 146 may be given to the relay device in advance, or may be dynamically transmitted from the host computer 140. And this time information 1
46 is, for example, i times Ta1, Ta2,... Ta
i. In this case, the compression time management unit 145 instructs the multiple data compression unit 143 to compress data at times Ta1, Ta2,... Tai. Then, the multiple data compression unit 145 compresses the data stored in the storage unit 142 based on the instruction of the compression time management unit 145. Then, the transmitting unit 144 sequentially transmits the compressed data to the host computer 140.

The time information of the relay device B includes time Tb1, Tb2,... Tbj different from the time of the relay device A.
have. As a result, data compression is performed at a different time from that of the relay device A, and the compressed data is transferred to the host computer 14.
Send to 0. Therefore, transmission of compressed data to the host computer 140 can be prevented from being concentrated in a specific time zone.

As described above, in the relay apparatus of the present embodiment, the compression time management means 145 controls the multiple data compression means 143 based on the time information 146, thereby reducing the concentration of data transmission to the host computer 140. be able to.

(Embodiment 7) Next, a relay apparatus according to Embodiment 7 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 15 is a configuration diagram of the relay device of the present embodiment. This relay device includes a receiving unit 151, a storage unit 152, a multiple data compression unit 1
53, in addition to the transmission means 154, the compression request management means 15
5 are provided. The compression request management unit 155 is a unit that controls the multiple data compression unit 153 based on a compression request transmitted via a network. Relay device A,
B, terminals A1 to An, terminals B1 to Bm, host computer 1
The connection relationship with 50 is the same as in the first embodiment. The relay device A receives data from n terminals A1 to An, and the relay terminal B receives data from m terminals B1 to Bm.
Then, both devices transmit data to the host computer 150 and receive a compression request from the host computer 150.

In this relay apparatus A, as in the first embodiment, the receiving means 151 receives the data and the storage means 152
Stores the received data. The compression request management means 155
In response to a compression request 156 from the host computer 150, it instructs the multiple data compression unit 153 to compress the received data in the storage unit 152. And the transmitting means 15
4 transmits the compressed data to the host computer 150. The host computer 150 transmits a compression request to the relay devices A and B, but shifts the time for transmitting the compression request to both devices. As a result, the data is compressed at different times by both relay devices,
Compressed data can be transmitted.

As described above, in the relay apparatus of the present embodiment, the compression request management unit 155 instructs the multiple data compression unit 153 to perform data compression in response to a compression request. Therefore, similarly to the sixth embodiment, concentration of data transmission to the host computer 150 can be reduced.

(Embodiment 8) Next, a relay apparatus according to Embodiment 8 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram of the relay device of the present embodiment. This relay device includes a receiving unit 161, a storage unit 162, a multiple data compression unit 1
63, in addition to the transmission means 164, the transmission time management means 16
5 are provided. The transmission time management unit 165 is a unit that controls the transmission unit 164 based on the time information 166. Relay devices A and B, terminals A1 to An, terminals B1 to B
The connection relationship with the host computer 150 is the same as in the first embodiment. The relay device A receives data from n terminals A1 to An, and the relay terminal B receives data from m terminals B1 to Bm. And both devices are host computer 1
The data is transmitted to 60.

In relay apparatus A, as in the first embodiment, receiving means 161 receives data, and storage means 162 stores the received data. Then, the multiple data compression means 163
Compresses a plurality of pieces of reception data stored in the storage unit 162 collectively. For example, compression is performed for each fixed number of data Ld. Then, the multiple data compression unit 163 stores the compressed data in the storage unit 162 one after another. On the other hand, the transmission time management unit 165 controls the transmission unit 164 based on the time information 166. The time information 166 includes, for example, the time information Ta1, Ta2,... T described in the sixth embodiment.
Same as ai. The transmission time management unit 165 instructs the transmission unit 164 to transmit the compressed data based on the time information 166. Then, the transmitting unit 164 transmits the compressed data to the host computer 160 at the corresponding time.

The relay apparatus B has time information Tb1, Tb2,... Different from the relay apparatus A as in the sixth embodiment.
Tbj. Then, the relay device B transmits the compressed data based on the time information.

As described above, in the relay apparatus according to the present embodiment, the transmission time management means 165 controls the transmission means 164, so that the host computer 1 in the same manner as in the sixth embodiment.
Concentration of data transmission to 60 can be reduced.

Embodiment 9 Next, a relay apparatus according to Embodiment 9 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram of the relay device of the present embodiment. This relay device includes a receiving unit 171, a storage unit 172, a multiple data compression unit 1
73, transmission request management means 17 in addition to transmission means 174
5 are provided. The transmission request management unit 175 is a unit that controls the transmission unit 174 based on the transmission request 176 transmitted via the network. The connection relationship between the relay devices A and B, the terminals A1 to An, the terminals B1 to Bm, and the host computer 170 is the same as in the first embodiment. The relay device A receives data from the n terminals A1 to An, and
Receives data from m terminals B1 to Bm. Then, both devices transmit data to the host computer 170.

The receiving means 171 in the relay apparatus A,
The storage unit 172, the multiple data compression unit 173, and the transmission unit 174 operate almost the same as in the eighth embodiment. The difference is that the transmission means 174 transmits the compressed data according to the instruction of the transmission request management means 175. The transmission request management unit 175 instructs the transmission unit 174 to transmit in response to the transmission request 176 from the host computer 170 via the network. Then, the host computer 170 shifts the time of the transmission request to the relay devices A and B by
The transmission of compressed data can be performed at different times by both relay devices.

As described above, in the relay device of the present embodiment, the transmission request management unit 175 instructs the transmission unit 174 to transmit in response to the transmission request, so that the transmission to the host computer 170 is performed in the same manner as in the sixth embodiment. The concentration of data transmission can be reduced.

(Embodiment 10) Next, a relay apparatus according to Embodiment 10 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 18 is a configuration diagram of the relay device of the present embodiment. This relay device includes a receiving unit 181, a storage unit 182, a statistical processing unit 1
83, transmission means 184 are provided. The statistical processing means 183 is means for performing statistical processing based on a plurality of data stored in the storage means 182. Relay devices A and B, terminal A
The connection relations between 1 to An, terminals B1 to Bm, and the host computer 180 are the same as in the first embodiment. The relay device A receives data from n terminals A1 to An, and the relay terminal B
Data is received from the terminals B1 to Bm. Then, both devices transmit data to the host computer 180.

In this relay device, first, receiving means 181 receives data, and storage means 182 stores the data.
The received data is, for example, score data in a game or the like. The statistical processing means 183 performs statistical calculation based on the score data obtained from each terminal. In one example, the average value of the score data and the number of the data are calculated. In another example, a histogram of the received score data is obtained. As shown in FIG. 19, this histogram is obtained by calculating the number of score data present in a certain range for the entire range.

The result of such a statistical calculation is considerably smaller than the total data amount of the score data received from each terminal. In the case of calculating the average value of the score data and the number of the data, even if the number of received data increases, the data transmitted to the host computer 180 is only the average value of the score data and the number of data. Also, in the case of the histogram, not the score data itself, but the number of data existing in a certain range, the transmission data amount is extremely small as compared with the individual score data.

The statistical processing means 183 obtains the statistical result as described above and stores it in the storage means 182. And
The transmitting unit 184 transmits the statistical result to the host computer 180.

Further, other relay devices also perform statistical calculations based on data received from each terminal, and transmit the statistical data to the host computer 180. As a result, the host computer 180 can collect statistical results from the respective relay devices, and can obtain statistical results for all terminals based on the collected results. For example, when the average value of the score data and the number of data are received from each relay device, the average value of all terminals can be calculated. Further, when the histogram of the score data is received from each relay device, the histogram of all terminals can be obtained.

As described above, in the relay apparatus of this embodiment, the statistical processing means 183 performs statistical processing on the received data, and the transmitting means 184 transmits only the statistical result to the host computer 180. Host computer 1
It is possible to reduce the amount of data transferred to the 80.

(Embodiment 11) Next, a relay apparatus according to Embodiment 11 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 20 is a configuration diagram of the relay device of the present embodiment. This relay device includes a receiving unit 201, a storing unit 202, a received data expanding unit 203, and a transmitting unit 204. The receiving unit 201 is a unit that receives the compressed data from the host computer 200 and gives the compressed data to the storage unit 202. The received data decompression means 203 is means for extracting the compressed data held in the storage means 202, performing decompression processing, and storing the decompressed data in the storage means 202 as necessary. Transmission means 204 is means for transmitting the decompressed data to a specific terminal.

Relay devices A and B, terminals A1 to An, terminal B
1 to Bm and the connection relationship with the host computer 200 are the same as in the first embodiment, but here the data transmission direction is the down direction. The relay device A transmits data to n terminals A1 to An, and the relay terminal B transmits data to m terminals B1 to Bm. Then, both relay apparatuses receive the compressed data from the host computer 200.

In this relay apparatus A, first, the receiving means 201
Receives the compressed data from the host computer 200, and the storage unit 202 stores the compressed data. This compressed data is
For example, a plurality of data to which a transmission destination address is added are collectively compressed, and the transmission destination address of each data is the network address of the terminal A1 to the terminal An. After such compressed data is stored in the storage means 202, the received data decompression means 203 decompresses the compressed data and stores it again in the storage means 202. Then, the transmitting means 204 transmits the data to the terminals A1, A2,... An based on the destination address of the decompressed data.

As described above, in the relay apparatus of the present embodiment, the received data decompression means 203 decompresses the compressed data,
By transmitting the decompressed data by the transmitting means 204,
Even when data is transmitted from the host computer 200 to each terminal, the amount of data transmitted on the network can be reduced.

[0067]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, high-efficiency compression can be performed by collectively compressing a plurality of received data. Therefore, the amount of data on the network can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, compressed data is received from each terminal, decompressed, and then a plurality of decompressed data are collectively compressed. The compression ratio can be further increased.
Therefore, the amount of data on the network can be further reduced.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the received data can be classified, various types of data can be received and compressed.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the received data can be sorted, more efficient compression can be performed. For this reason, the data transfer amount on the network can be further reduced.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the received data can be classified based on the destination of the received data, compressed for each classified data, and the compressed data can be sent to the destination. Therefore, data can be efficiently transmitted to a plurality of transmission destinations.

According to the present invention, by controlling the compression of the received data using the time information, the concentration of data transmission to the host computer can be reduced.

According to the seventh aspect of the invention, the concentration of data transmission to the host computer can be reduced by compressing the received data according to the compression request.

According to the eighth aspect of the invention, by controlling transmission of compressed data using time information, concentration of data transmission to the host computer can be reduced.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, by transmitting compressed data in response to a transmission request, the concentration of data transmission to the host computer can be reduced.

According to the tenth to twelfth aspects of the present invention, when the host computer performs statistical processing of data from the terminal, the relay apparatus performs statistical processing instead of compression, so that the relay apparatus performs statistical processing instead of compression. The amount of data transferred to the server can be reduced.

According to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, by receiving compressed data, decompressing the data, and transmitting the decompressed data, the data can be transmitted from the host computer to each terminal. The amount of data on the network can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a relay device and a network connection according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of image data according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a differential image of image data according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing text data according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a relay device and a network connection according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a relay device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the order of received data in the third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram in which received data is classified by type in the third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a relay device according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the order of image data received in the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a result of sorting received image data in the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an operation of sorting received data in the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a relay device and a network connection according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a relay device and a network connection according to Embodiment 6 of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a relay device and a network connection according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a relay device and a network connection according to Embodiment 8 of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing a relay device and a network connection according to Embodiment 9 of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a relay device and a network connection according to Embodiment 10 of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram showing a histogram of score data in the tenth embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing a relay device and a network connection according to Embodiment 11 of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing a conventional relay device and a network connection.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,51,61,91,131,141,151,16
1,171,181,201,211 receiving means 2,52,62,92,132,142,152,16
2,172,182,202,212 Storage means 3,53,63,93,133,143,153,16
3,173 Multiple data compression means 4,54,64,94,134,144,154,16
4,174,184,204,213 Transmission means 55,203 Receive data decompression means 65 Receive data classification means 95 Receive data sort means 135 Destination classification means 145 Compression time management means 155 Compression request management means 165 Transmission time management means 175 Transmission Request management means 183 Statistical processing means 10, 50, 1301, 1302, 130m, 140,
150, 160, 170, 180, 200, 210 Host computers A1 to An, B1 to Bm Terminal

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI // H03M 7/40 (72) Inventor Satoshi Nagamine 1006 Odakadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (13)

[Claims] A receiving unit for receiving data from a plurality of terminals; a storing unit for storing a plurality of sets of data received by the receiving unit; and a plurality of sets of data stored in the storing unit. A relay device comprising: a plurality of data compression units; and a transmission unit that transmits data compressed by the plurality of data compression units. 2. A receiving means for receiving compressed data from a plurality of terminals, a storing means for storing a plurality of sets of compressed data received by the receiving means, and a receiving data for expanding compressed data stored in the storing means. Decompressing means, a plurality of data compressing means for collectively compressing a plurality of sets of data decompressed by the received data decompressing means, and a transmitting means for transmitting data compressed by the plurality of data compressing means. Characteristic relay device. 3. A receiving means for receiving data from a plurality of terminals, a storing means for storing a plurality of sets of data received by the receiving means, and a receiving means for classifying the plurality of sets of data stored in the storing means by type. Data classification means; a plurality of data compression means for collectively compressing the same type of data sorted by the reception data classification means; and a transmission means for transmitting the data compressed by the plurality of data compression means. A relay device. 4. A receiving means for receiving data from a plurality of terminals, a storing means for storing a plurality of sets of data received by the receiving means, and a plurality of sets of data stored in the storing means based on similarity. Receiving data sorting means for sorting data, a plurality of data compressing means for collectively compressing a plurality of sets of data sorted by the receiving data sorting means, a transmitting means for transmitting data compressed by the plurality of data compressing means, A relay device comprising: 5. A receiving means for receiving data from a plurality of terminals, a storing means for storing a plurality of sets of data received by the receiving means, and a plurality of sets of data stored in the storing means based on a transmission destination. Destination classifying means; a plurality of data compressing means for compressing a plurality of sets of data classified by the destination classifying means for each destination; and a transmitting means for transmitting data compressed by the plurality of data compressing means. And a relay device. 6. A receiving unit for receiving data from a plurality of terminals, a storing unit for storing a plurality of sets of data received by the receiving unit, and managing a compression time of the plurality of sets of data stored in the storing unit. Compression time management means, a plurality of data compression means for compressing a plurality of sets of data held in the storage means based on an instruction of the compression time management means, and transmitting data compressed by the plurality of data compression means. And a transmission unit that performs the transmission. 7. A receiving unit for receiving data from a plurality of terminals, a storing unit for storing a plurality of sets of data received by the receiving unit, and a storing unit based on a transmission request transmitted via a network. Compression request management means for instructing compression of a plurality of sets of stored data; a plurality of data compression means for compressing a plurality of sets of data held in the storage means based on an instruction of the compression request management means; A transmission unit for transmitting data compressed by the multiple data compression unit. 8. A receiving means for receiving data from a plurality of terminals, a storing means for storing a plurality of sets of data received by the receiving means, and a plurality of sets of data held in the storing means are compressed collectively. A plurality of data compression means, a transmission means for transmitting data compressed by the plurality of data compression means, and a transmission management means for controlling a transmission time of the transmission means based on time information. Relay device. 9. A receiving means for receiving data from a plurality of terminals, a storing means for storing a plurality of sets of data received by the receiving means, and a plurality of sets of data held in the storing means are collectively compressed. A plurality of data compression means; a transmission means for transmitting data compressed by the plurality of data compression means; a transmission request management means for controlling a transmission time of the transmission means based on a transmission request transmitted via a network;
A relay device comprising: 10. A receiving unit for receiving data from a plurality of terminals, a storing unit for storing a plurality of sets of data received by the receiving unit, and performing statistical processing on the plurality of sets of data stored in the storing unit. A relay device comprising: a statistical processing unit; and a transmitting unit that transmits a statistical processing result obtained by the statistical processing unit. 11. The relay device according to claim 10, wherein said statistical processing means outputs the number of received data and an average value as statistical processing. 12. The relay device according to claim 10, wherein the statistical processing means outputs a histogram of the received data as a statistical process. 13. Receiving means for receiving compressed data; storage means for storing compressed data received by said receiving means; received data decompression means for decompressing compressed data stored in said storage means; A transmitting unit for transmitting data decompressed by the decompressing unit to each terminal.