JPH1132297A - Video server - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a video server which can realize an arrangement of resolution data having different temporal resolutions and spatial resolutions by means of a single management mechanism and which can execute data management at recording and reproducing time with the same procedure as that used by a video server for single resolution data. SOLUTION: At the time of recording, a transfer control section 104 records high-resolution data in a high-resolution data storing section 111 by obtaining vacant area information on the data-storing section 111 from a file arrangement managing section 101. At the same time, the section extracts low-resolution data by means of a low-resolution data extracting section by obtaining the vacant area information on a low-resolution data storing section 119, based on the relevant information of a low-resolution file arrangement relevant managing section 113 and records the extracted low-resolution data in the storing section 119. At the time of reproduction, on the other hand, the control section 104 fetches the low-resolution data from the storing section 119 by obtaining the storing area of the low-resolution data from the storing area of the managing section 101 and the relevant information of the managing section 113, and outputs the data from a low-resolution data outputting section 117.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video server used in a video-on-demand system for providing video as required by a plurality of users.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various video-on-demand systems for immediately providing video stored in a video server in response to a request from a plurality of users have been developed and have begun to be used in various fields. This video-on-demand system includes a video server that compresses and encodes video data having time continuity, such as moving images and audio, and stores the video data. The video server is connected to the video server via a communication line, and receives data from the video server. And a terminal device for decompressing and decoding the data as video data of moving images and audio. In the production of a program by a broadcasting station, especially in the production of a news program, the broadcast of the produced program competes for a moment, so that a plurality of editors need to edit the same recorded material at the same time. Therefore, in such program production, a video server system having the above-described video server has begun to be used.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional video server system. In FIG. 8, thick arrows indicate the flow of data, and thin arrows indicate the flow of control signals. As shown in FIG. 8, a conventional video server 1 is connected to a recording device 5 such as a VTR (video tape recorder) or a satellite line terminal via a communication network 2, and a broadcast control terminal via a communication network 4. 7 is connected. The video server 1 is connected to a plurality of editing terminals 6a and 6b via communication networks 3a and 3b, respectively. During recording, video data from the recording device 5 is transferred to the video server 1 via the communication network 2 at real time or at a speed higher than the real time. At the time of editing, the editing terminals 6a, 6
b reproduces the video data stored in the video server 1 and logically edits the video data in a desired order by specifying the position of a necessary part in the video data. At the time of the broadcast, the edited video data stored in the video server 1 is transmitted from the video server 1 to the broadcast control terminal 7 in response to a request from the broadcast control terminal 7.

[0004] In video data broadcasted by a broadcasting station,
Since high-resolution images are required, 20 Mbps to 60
Video data with a low bit rate of about Mbps and a high bit rate is used. Magnetic disks are generally used as storage media in video servers, but the bit rate per magnetic disk is 20 Mbps to 3 Mbps.
It is about 0 Mbps. Therefore, in order to provide video data to a plurality of users, it is necessary to provide a plurality of magnetic disks in order to obtain a high bit rate of about 60 Mbps, and there is a problem that a video server becomes expensive. Therefore, a video server system as shown in FIG. 9 has been considered. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a conventional video server system for reproducing videos of different resolutions.

The conventional video server system shown in FIG. 9 comprises a material video server 10 capable of storing high-resolution video used for recording and broadcasting, and an editing video server 11 capable of storing low-resolution video. Is provided. The editing video server 11 is configured to accumulate the same material at a low resolution reduced to the minimum necessary resolution enough to withstand the editing work, for example, at a bit rate of about 1.5 Mbps to 6 Mbps. As shown in FIG. 9, the material video server 10 and the editing video server 11
2 are connected. After the material video server 10 records the high-resolution video data, the low-resolution video data is transmitted to the editing video server 11 via the communication network 12 and recorded. The low-resolution video data is edited in the editing terminals 6a and 6b, and the editing result is transmitted to the communication network 1
It is sent to the material video server 10 via 3a and 13b.

Further, in a video-on-demand system for providing information such as an exhibition exposition and sales promotion in a company, when video data to be edited is distributed to the Internet or a portable terminal in the same building premises, As video data to be distributed, video data having a lower resolution than high-resolution video data provided to each terminal via a wired communication network on the premises may be used. The resolution of the video data includes a spatial resolution (the number of pixels in one frame) and a time resolution (the number of frames per unit time). As described above, even when the purpose is to provide information in a company, the same configuration of the video server system as in the production of a news program in a broadcasting station may be used.

[0007]

However, such a conventional video server system requires two video servers, a material video server 10 and an editing video server 11. As a result, each video server needs an extra band and a storage area for the transfer from the material video server 10 to the editing video server 11. For example, the size of a video server varies depending on the size of a broadcasting station. In addition to one channel for recording and one channel for broadcasting, five simultaneous editors, 30 Mbps for high resolution and 3 Mbps for low resolution, a single video server can be used. In the case of the configuration of the video server system having the same, the total bandwidth is 210 Mbps for seven channels. In the case of a video server system having the material video server 10 and the editing video server 11, the total bandwidth is 90 Mbps + 45 Mbps = 135.
Mbps. Of these total bandwidths, 60 Mbps is an increase due to having two video servers.
It reaches just under 0%. Further, in the case of a video server system having the material video server 10 and the editing video server 11, since the video data is stored at a plurality of locations, the number of processings for performing data management increases, and There is a drawback that data management becomes complicated, such as the addition of a consistency maintaining mechanism for keeping the management information of the portions common. The present invention solves such a conventional problem, and has a simple structure, easy data management, and a video server capable of reproducing videos of the same content at different spatial and temporal resolutions. It is intended to provide.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a video server according to the present invention comprises a high-resolution data input / output means for inputting / outputting high-resolution data, and a temporary storage means for temporarily storing the high-resolution data. Low-resolution data extraction means for extracting low-resolution data from high-resolution data in the temporary storage means; high-resolution data storage means for storing high-resolution data; low-resolution data storage means for storing low-resolution data; A file allocation management unit that has free space information of the storage unit and manages the file allocation of the high resolution data; and a file of the low resolution data that has information related to the file allocation of the high resolution data and the file allocation of the low resolution data. File arrangement related management means for managing the arrangement, the high resolution As well as output control accumulates the high-resolution data to degrees data storage means comprises a transfer control means for outputting control accumulates the low resolution data, the low-resolution data storage means. The video server of the present invention configured as described above has a simple configuration, facilitates data management, and can reproduce videos of the same content at different spatial and temporal resolutions.

In the video server of the present invention, at the time of recording, the transfer control means transfers the high-resolution data to the high-resolution data storage means via the data path based on the free area information from the high-resolution data file arrangement management means. Simultaneously with the recording, the low spatial resolution data is extracted by the low spatial resolution extracting unit of the low resolution data extracting means based on the relevant information of the low resolution data file arrangement relation managing means, and the low spatial resolution data is passed through the data path. The low-resolution data storage means records the low-resolution data in the low-resolution data storage means based on the storage area information of the file layout management means and the relevant information of the file layout related management means. Of the low-resolution data via the data path from the low-resolution data storage means. And it is configured to output. The video server of the present invention configured as described above realizes the arrangement of different resolution data by a single management mechanism, and can be implemented by the same simple procedure as registration and deletion to a single video server. Easy to manage.

In the video server according to the present invention, at the time of recording, the transfer control means transfers the high-resolution data to the high-resolution data storage means via the data path based on the free area information from the high-resolution data file arrangement management means. At the same time as recording, the low-time resolution data is extracted by the low-time resolution extraction unit of the low-resolution data extraction unit based on the relevant information of the low-resolution data file allocation association management unit, and the low-time resolution data is transferred via the data path. The low-resolution data storage means records the low-resolution data in the low-resolution data storage means based on the storage area information of the file layout management means and the relevant information of the file layout related management means. Of the low-resolution data via the data path from the low-resolution data storage means. And it is configured to output. The video server of the present invention configured as described above realizes the arrangement of different resolution data by a single management mechanism, and can be implemented by the same simple procedure as registration and deletion to a single video server. Easy to manage.

In the video server according to the present invention, the data path is connected to the high-resolution data storage means and the low-resolution data storage means by a storage section communication path with a broadcasting function. Obtain free area information, broadcast low spatial resolution data by the low spatial resolution extraction unit to the high resolution data storage unit and the low resolution data storage unit, and simultaneously store data other than the low spatial resolution data in the high resolution data storage unit. Is configured to be transmitted. The video server of the present invention configured as described above can provide video to a plurality of users by using low-resolution data.

In the video server according to the present invention, the data path is connected to the high-resolution data storage means and the low-resolution data storage means by a storage section communication path with a broadcast function, and during recording, the transfer control means operates from the file arrangement management means. Obtain free area information, broadcast low-resolution data by the low-resolution extraction unit to the high-resolution data storage unit and the low-resolution data storage unit, and simultaneously store data other than the low-resolution data in the high-resolution data storage unit. Is configured to be transmitted. The video server of the present invention configured as described above can provide video to a plurality of users by using low-resolution data.

A video server according to the present invention includes a high-resolution data input / output unit for inputting / outputting high-resolution data, a storage unit for temporarily storing the high-resolution data, and extracting low-resolution data from the high-resolution data in the storage unit. Low-resolution data extracting means for storing the extracted low-resolution data in the storage means, high-resolution data storing means for storing high-resolution data, and free space information of the high-resolution data storing means; File layout management means for managing file layout; file layout related management means for managing file layout of low resolution data, having information relating to file layout of high resolution data and file layout of low resolution data; The high-resolution data is stored in the high-resolution data storage unit based on the free area information of the storage unit, and input / output is performed. With Gosuru, which comprises a transfer control means for outputting control low resolution data of the storage means. As described above, the video server of the present invention has a small number of simultaneous users, but stores large-capacity high-resolution data in a large-capacity, narrow-band, and inexpensive recording medium. Since the low-resolution data is stored in the semiconductor memory, it has good cost performance.

In the video server of the present invention, at the time of recording, the transfer control means obtains the free area information of the high resolution data storage means from the file arrangement management means and records the information in the high resolution data storage means via a data path. At the same time, the low-spatial-resolution data by the low-spatial-resolution extracting unit of the low-resolution data extracting unit is stored in the storage unit configured by the semiconductor memory,
The transfer control means is configured to obtain a low-resolution data storage area in the storage means from the storage area information of the file arrangement management means, and to output the low-resolution data from the storage means via a data path. The video server of the present invention configured as described above realizes the arrangement of different resolution data by a single management mechanism, and can be implemented by the same simple procedure as registration and deletion to a single video server. Easy to manage.

In the video server of the present invention, at the time of recording, the transfer control means obtains the free area information of the high resolution data storage means from the file arrangement management means and records the information in the high resolution data storage means via a data path. At the same time, the low-time resolution data by the low-time resolution extraction unit of the low-resolution data extraction unit is stored in the storage unit configured by the semiconductor memory, and when the low-resolution data is reproduced,
The transfer control means is configured to obtain a low-resolution data storage area in the storage means from the storage area information of the file arrangement management means, and to output the low-resolution data from the storage means via a data path. The video server of the present invention configured as described above realizes the arrangement of different resolution data by a single management mechanism, and can be implemented by the same simple procedure as registration and deletion to a single video server. Easy to manage.

In the video server according to the present invention, at the time of recording, after the transfer control means obtains the free area information of the high resolution data storage means from the file arrangement management means and stores all the data in the storage means via the data path. Transferred to the high-resolution data storage means, and only low-spatial-resolution data by the low-spatial-resolution extracting unit of the low-resolution data extracting means is used as valid data in the storage means, and data other than the low-spatial resolution data is stored. The area of the storage means is configured to be an empty area. The video server of the present invention configured as described above is an inexpensive video server with simple data management.

According to the video server of the present invention, at the time of recording, after the transfer control means obtains the free area information of the high resolution data storage means from the file arrangement management means and stores all the data in the storage means via the data path. The low-resolution data is transferred to the high-resolution data storage means, and only the low-resolution data by the low-resolution data extraction unit of the low-resolution data extraction means is used as valid data in the storage means, and data other than the low-resolution data is stored. The area of the storage means is configured to be an empty area. The video server of the present invention configured as described above is an inexpensive video server with simple data management.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a first embodiment which is an embodiment of the video server of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. << First Embodiment >> FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a video server system having a video server according to a first embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the video server 100 of the first embodiment
, The recording device 5, the broadcast control terminal 7, the editing terminal 6, and the operation terminal 123 are connected. In addition, the video server 10
0, high resolution data from the recording device 5 is input,
A high-resolution data input / output unit 108 for outputting high-resolution data to the broadcast control terminal 7 is provided. The high-resolution data from the recording device 5 is temporarily stored in a buffer memory 106 as a temporary storage unit. The low resolution data is extracted from the high resolution data in the buffer memory 106 based on a predetermined attribute of the low resolution data. The high-resolution data is stored in the high-resolution data storage unit 111, and the low-resolution data is stored in the low-resolution data storage unit 119. The file arrangement in the high-resolution data accumulation unit 111 and the low-resolution data accumulation unit 119 is determined by the file arrangement management unit 10 provided in the video server 100.
1 is controlled. High-resolution data storage unit 111
The file allocation management data, which is information on the file allocation to the server, is stored in the file allocation management data storage unit 103 via the storage unit interface 102.

The transfer control unit 104 in FIG. 1 controls various data transfers on the data bus 105. The data bus 105 is connected to a buffer memory 106, a control data input / output unit 107 for high-resolution data, a high-resolution data input / output unit 108, and the like. The high-resolution data storage section 111 and the low-resolution data storage section 119 are connected to the data bus 105 via storage section interfaces 109 and 118 and a storage section communication path 110. Furthermore, a low-resolution data control data input / output unit 116 and a low-resolution data output unit 117 are connected to the data bus 105, and the low-resolution data is output to the editing terminal 6 connected to the video server 100. The editing terminal 6 is configured to perform editing work using low-resolution data.
The low-resolution file parameter setting unit 112 connected to the operation terminal 123 determines the attributes of the resolution file such as the spatial resolution (the number of pixels in one frame) and the time resolution (the number of frames per unit time). The low temporal resolution data extracting unit 114 extracts a low temporal resolution component from a high resolution data file, and the low spatial resolution data extracting unit 115 extracts a low spatial resolution component from a high resolution data file. The low-resolution file layout related management unit 113 manages related information between the file layout of high-resolution data and the file layout of low-resolution data. That is, the low-resolution file arrangement relation management unit 113 manages information indicating the relation between the file arrangement of the high-resolution data and the low-resolution data.

In the video server 100 of the first embodiment configured as described above, prior to the recording / reproducing process, the user transmits the attribute of the low resolution data to the low resolution file parameter setting unit 112 from the operation terminal 123. Set.
The set attribute of the low-resolution data is transmitted to the low-resolution file arrangement relation management unit 113 and the low-time resolution data extraction unit 114 and the low-spatial resolution data extraction unit 115, which are low-resolution data extraction means, and the processing parameters in each are processed. Used as The attributes that can be set vary depending on the compression method. In the case of the non-compression method, an arbitrary spatial resolution and time resolution are set. In the case of the compression method that does not use inter-frame correlation, the spatial resolution corresponding to the spatial frequency component is used. And the time resolution corresponding to the thinning interval can be set. In the case of a compression method using inter-frame correlation such as MPEG, a spatial resolution corresponding to a spatial frequency component and a time resolution corresponding to a thinning interval in a unit used for inter-frame correlation are set.

Next, the video server 100 of the first embodiment
Will be described. In the following description of the operation, for simplicity of description, a description will be given assuming a compression method capable of separating into two-stage spatial frequency components without using inter-frame correlation. When recording video data, the video server 100 of the first embodiment operates as follows. The transfer control unit 104 transfers the input data to the buffer memory 106 in response to a request from the high-resolution data control data input / output unit 107 in accordance with a command from the recording device 5. After the transfer of the input data to the buffer memory 106, the transfer control unit 104 obtains the free area information of the high resolution data storage unit 111 from the file arrangement management unit 101. The free area information of the high resolution data storage unit 111 is stored in the file arrangement management data storage unit 103 through the storage unit interface 102. The file arrangement management unit 101 is configured to access the free area information of the high resolution data storage unit 111.

The transfer control unit 104 sequentially records high-resolution data from the buffer memory 106 to the high-resolution data storage unit 111 via the data path 105, the storage unit interface 109, and the storage unit communication path 110 according to the free area information. At this time, for each new file to be recorded, the file arrangement information describing the recording location is updated each time high-resolution data is recorded. When the recording of the file is completed, the transfer control unit 104 accumulates the file arrangement information in the file arrangement management data accumulation unit 103 via the file arrangement management unit 101. On the other hand, for the low-resolution data, the low-time resolution data extraction unit 114 and the low-spatial resolution data extraction unit 115 perform a thinning operation based on a preset attribute from the high-resolution data transferred to the buffer memory 106 to extract desired data. It is obtained by doing. The low-resolution file arrangement relation management unit 113 obtains free area information of the low resolution data storage unit 119 based on related information indicating a relationship with the free area information of the high resolution data storage unit 111 based on a preset attribute. Based on the free area information of the low resolution data storage section 119, the transfer control section 104
Transmits the low-resolution data obtained by the preset attribute to the low-resolution data storage unit 11 via the data path 105, the storage unit interface 118, and the storage unit communication path 110.
Record in 9. At this time, the file arrangement information of the low-resolution data can be obtained from the file arrangement information of the high-resolution data by using a preset attribute held by the low-resolution file arrangement relation management unit 113.

At the time of reproduction, the video server 100 of the first embodiment operates as follows. For the high-resolution data, the transfer control unit 104 receives a request from the high-resolution data control data input / output unit 107 in accordance with a command from the broadcast control terminal 7, and the transfer control unit 104 sends the file generated by the file allocation management unit 101 during recording. After obtaining the arrangement information, the high-resolution data is transferred from the high-resolution data storage unit 111 to the storage unit communication path 110,
The data is transferred to the buffer memory 106 via the storage unit interface 109 and the data path 105. After the high-resolution data is transferred to the buffer memory 106, the high-resolution data is transferred to the high-resolution data input / output unit 1 via the data path 105.
08 is output. For the low-resolution data, the low-resolution data control data input / output unit 116 requests the transfer control unit 104 to output the low-resolution data in accordance with a command from the editing terminal 6. Upon receiving the request from the low-resolution data control data input / output unit 116, the transfer control unit 104
The low-resolution data is extracted from the low-resolution data storage unit 119 based on the file allocation information of the high-resolution data generated at the time of recording obtained from the file allocation management unit 101 and the associated information obtained from the low-resolution file allocation association management unit 113. The extracted low-resolution data is stored in the storage section communication path 11.
0, the data is transferred to the buffer memory 106 via the storage unit interface 118 and the data path 105. After the low-resolution data is transferred to the buffer memory 106, the low-resolution data is output from the low-resolution data output unit 117 via the data path 105.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a structure of file allocation management information for managing free area information and each file allocation information. In the first embodiment, the low-resolution data storage unit 1
The 19 storage areas are managed in cluster units in which a plurality of fixed-length blocks are collected in order to reduce the data amount of the file arrangement management information. The storage area of the low-resolution data storage unit 119 includes free space information 200 for managing unused clusters in all storage units, file allocation information 210 indicating the allocation of each file, and low-resolution file allocation related information 220. ing. The free area information 200 is
Number of free clusters 201 and unused clusters 202 and 20
It consists of 3,204 one-dimensional arrays, and the end information 209 is described at the end of the array. The file arrangement information 210 indicates the data length 211 and the location of the cluster where the data is stored in a one-dimensional array in order from the top.
In the example shown in FIG. 2, five clusters 21 are sequentially arranged from the top.
2, 213, 214, 215, and 216. For accessing high-resolution data, the file arrangement information 210 is used as it is. To access the low resolution data, low resolution file layout information 230 obtained by calculating the file layout information 210 with the low resolution file layout related information 220 is used.

In FIG. 2, the low-resolution file arrangement information 230 is dynamically generated as needed.
The low-resolution file arrangement information 230 in FIG. 2 represents a virtual image, and does not exist as an entity.
Like the file arrangement information 210, the low-resolution file arrangement information 230 indicates the data length 231 and the location of the cluster where the data is stored in a one-dimensional array from the top in order. In this example, two clusters 23 are sequentially arranged from the top.
2,233. In the first embodiment, the low-resolution file layout information 230 is described as a virtual structure. However, the low-resolution file layout related information 220 is configured as a one-dimensional array associated with the file layout information 210. File allocation related information 220
There is also a method of directly managing.

FIG. 3 is an example showing the arrangement of high-resolution data and low-resolution data in the first embodiment of the present invention.
In this example, the spatial resolution ratio RS of low-resolution data to high-resolution data is RS = ＲＳ, and the temporal resolution ratio RT of low-resolution data to high-resolution data is RT = 1.
/ 2. The spatial resolution ratio RS and the temporal resolution ratio RT are represented by positive numbers. The spatial resolution ratio RS and the temporal resolution ratio RT are set as attributes in the low-resolution file parameter setting unit 112, and are managed as low-resolution file layout related information 220 (FIG. 2) in the low-resolution file layout related management unit 113. Further, a large data band is required for the storage area in the video server 100, and in most cases, the magnetic disk is striped and used. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the striping number SH of the high-resolution data is SH = 8, and the eight magnetic disks 300, 301, 302, 303, 30
4, 305, 306, and 307 are used as recording media for high-resolution data. The striping number SL of the low-resolution data is SL = 2, and two magnetic disks 308 and 309 are used as recording media.
When the magnetic disk of high-resolution data and the magnetic disk of low-resolution data that are striped are viewed as one block, the high-resolution data and the low-resolution data are one-dimensional arrays, 310, 311, 312, and 31, respectively.
3, 314, 315, 316, 317 and a one-dimensional array, 320, 321. For this reason, the striping number of the magnetic disk is not directly related to the file arrangement relationship indicating the relationship between the high-resolution data and the low-resolution data.

In the first embodiment, the position of the low-resolution data corresponding to the i-th cluster from the head of the high-resolution data is the position of the offset k in the j-th cluster from the head of the low-resolution data. Here, j is a quotient obtained by dividing (i-1) by 1 / (RS * RT), and k is (i-1)
Is divided by 1 / (RS * RT). The above (RS * RT) indicates multiplication of each value of RS and RT. FIG.
In the example shown in FIG.
12 corresponds to offset 3 of the first low-resolution cluster 320. As described above, the low-resolution file position can be obtained from the file arrangement information of the high-resolution data without explicitly having the file arrangement information of the low-resolution data separately from the file arrangement information of the high-resolution data. Therefore, based only on the file arrangement information of the high-resolution data,
At the time of recording, the extracted low-resolution data is written into the corresponding cluster, and at the time of reproduction, the file position of the low-resolution data is determined from the file position of the high-resolution data designated by the user and read. Although there are various structures in the management structure of the file arrangement information, they do not affect the present invention.

As described above, according to the configuration of the first embodiment, upon recording, upon receiving a request from the control data input / output unit 107 for high-resolution data, the transfer control unit 104 Resolution data storage unit 11
1 is obtained and recorded in the high-resolution data storage unit 111 via the data path 105. At this time, at the same time, based on the relevant information of the low-resolution file arrangement relation management unit 113, the transfer control unit 104
After obtaining the 19 free area information, the low spatial resolution extracting unit 115
The low spatial resolution data is extracted by
5, and is recorded in the low-resolution data storage unit 119.
At the time of reproducing low-resolution data, in response to a request from the low-resolution data control data input / output unit 116, the transfer control unit 104 determines the relationship between the storage area of the file allocation management unit 101 and the low-resolution file allocation-related management unit 113. From the information,
The storage area of the low-resolution data in the low-resolution data storage unit 119 is obtained, and is transferred from the low-resolution data storage unit 119 to the low-resolution data output unit 117 via the data path 105.

For this reason, the video server 1 of the first embodiment
00, as described above, the conventional video server has the drawback of increasing the number of data management procedures and complicating data management such as adding a consistency maintaining mechanism. This is a video server that realizes data arrangement with different resolution data arrangement by a single management mechanism. Also, assuming that the data management function is usually provided as a database outside the video server, the video server of the first embodiment can minimize the change of the existing database due to the installation. In addition, the video server of the first embodiment is capable of transferring extra data between conventional video servers, that is,
While the conventional video server required a data transfer area, without increasing the write load on the host side,
This can be realized only by adding low-resolution data to the storage medium.

Further, in the video server of the first embodiment, compared to the case of using only the high-resolution video server without using the low-resolution video server, the production of news programs and the provision of information by the broadcasting station are more difficult. Low-resolution data is about 1/10 of high-resolution data, and the main addition is to add a storage medium equivalent to low-resolution data. Therefore, the first
In the video server of the embodiment, the increase in manufacturing cost can be minimized, and the effect of providing video to multiple users by using low-resolution data can be minimized compared to a slight increase in price. The degree is large. In addition, the low-resolution video server function in the first embodiment can be realized by additional extension to a conventional video server that provides single-resolution video reproduction. Also, the first
The video server of this embodiment is excellent in terms of system maintenance scalability since the change of the existing data management mechanism is minimized. In the video server according to the first embodiment, high-resolution data having a small number of simultaneous users but large capacity is stored on a large-capacity, narrow-band, inexpensive magnetic disk. Since the low-resolution data is stored in the semiconductor memory, good cost performance can be obtained in consideration of the performance-to-price ratio of the semiconductor memory and the magnetic disk.

Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment which is an embodiment of the video server of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a video server system having a video server 300 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The same reference numerals denote the same components and functions as those in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. As shown in FIG. 4, the video server 300 of the second embodiment is the same as the storage interfaces 109 and 11 in the video server 100 of the first embodiment.
8 and the storage section communication path 110 are changed to storage section interfaces 401 and 402 with broadcast function and storage section communication path 403. Storage unit interface 40 with broadcast function
Reference numerals 1 and 402 have a function of simultaneously transmitting the same information to a plurality of terminals. A storage unit communication path 403 includes storage unit interfaces 401 and 402 with a broadcast function, a high-resolution data storage unit 111, and a low-resolution data storage unit. 119 is connected to enable data transmission. As shown in FIG. 4, a recording device 5, a broadcast control terminal 7, an editing terminal 6, and an operation terminal 123 are connected to the video server 300 of the second embodiment. In the video server 300, the high-resolution data storage unit 111 and the low-resolution data storage unit 119 are connected to the data bus 105 via storage unit interfaces 401 and 402 with broadcast function and a storage unit communication path 403. The file allocation management unit 101 controls the file allocation of the high-resolution data storage unit 111 and the low-resolution data storage unit 119.

Next, the video server 300 of the second embodiment
Will be described. The video server 300 of the second embodiment at the time of recording operates as follows. The transfer control unit 104 transfers the input data to the buffer memory 106 in response to a request from the high-resolution data control data input / output unit 107 in accordance with a command from the recording device 5. After the input data is transferred to the buffer memory 106, the transfer control unit 104 obtains the free area information of the high resolution data storage unit 111 from the file arrangement management unit 101. This free area information is stored in the file allocation management data storage unit 103. For the free space information, the file allocation management unit 1
01 accesses through the storage unit interface 102. The low resolution data is obtained by the low time resolution data extraction unit 114 and the low spatial resolution data extraction unit 115 extracting desired data from the data transferred to the buffer memory 106 according to the preset attributes. Since the low-resolution data in the buffer memory 106 constitutes a part of the high-resolution data, the low-resolution data is
05, a low-resolution data storage unit 119 and a high-resolution data storage unit via a storage unit interface 402 with a broadcast function that can access the storage unit by broadcast communication and a storage unit communication path 403 that enables broadcast communication. The broadcast is transmitted to the address 111 and stored in each. On the other hand, the high-resolution data excluding the low-resolution component is transmitted to the high-resolution data storage unit 111 via the storage unit interface 401 with the broadcast function and the storage unit communication path 402, and is recorded in the high-resolution data storage unit 111. You.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of high-resolution data and low-resolution data in the second embodiment. In FIG. 5, (a) shows the case of low spatial resolution, and (b) shows the case of low temporal resolution. In the case of a low spatial resolution video frame shown in FIG. 5A, all data of video frames that are continuous in the time series direction correspond to the high resolution component 410, and a specific region in each video frame becomes the low resolution component 411. . Low resolution component 411 in high resolution component 410
It is necessary to match at the time of transfer to the storage medium depending on the physical position and size of the file. The size of the low-resolution component 411 is a recording unit of the storage medium, for example, an integral multiple of the block length on a magnetic disk, and the position in the high-resolution component is
Transfer efficiency is good when the offset can be represented by an integer multiple of the same block length. In the configuration example shown in FIG. 5A, the low-resolution component 411 is arranged at the head of the high-resolution component 410, and the low-resolution component 411 is stored in the low-resolution data storage unit 119.
After that, the remaining data may be transferred to the high-resolution data storage unit 111.

In the case of a low-resolution video frame shown in FIG. 5B, all data of a video frame that is continuous in a time-series direction corresponds to the high-resolution component 420, and a specific video frame corresponds to the low-resolution component 421. Become. If the data lengths of the respective video frames are substantially the same, there is little problem of matching at the time of transfer to the storage medium. In the configuration example shown in FIG.
The low-resolution component 421 is arranged every two frames of the high-resolution component 420. After broadcasting the low-resolution component 421 to the low-resolution data storage unit 119 and the high-resolution data storage unit 111, the remaining data is converted to the high-resolution data. What is necessary is just to transfer to the accumulation | storage part 111. As described above, since the high-resolution data and the low-resolution data in the second embodiment are configured, the load when recording the low-resolution data and the high-resolution data can be reduced.

Next, the video server 300 of the second embodiment
The operation at the time of reproduction will be described. In FIG. 4, in the case of reproducing high-resolution data, in response to a request from the high-resolution data control data input / output unit 107, the transfer control unit 104 obtains file arrangement information generated at the time of recording from the file arrangement management unit 101. Then, the high-resolution data is read from the high-resolution data storage unit 111. The read high-resolution data is transferred to the buffer memory 106 via the storage unit communication path 403, the storage unit interface with broadcast function 401, and the data path 105. After the high-resolution data is transferred to the buffer memory 106, the high-resolution data is transferred via the data path 105 to the high-resolution data input / output unit 10.
8 is output. On the other hand, in the case of reproducing low-resolution data, in response to a request from the control data input / output unit 116 for low-resolution data, the transfer control unit 104 transmits the file arrangement information of the high-resolution data generated at the time of recording from the file arrangement management unit 101. And the related information obtained from the low-resolution file arrangement related management unit 113, based on the low-resolution data storage unit 11
Read low resolution data from 9. The read low-resolution data is transferred to the buffer memory 106 via the storage unit communication path 402, the storage unit interface with broadcast function 401, and the data path 105. After the low-resolution data is transferred to the buffer memory 106, the low-resolution data is transferred to the low-resolution data output unit 117 via the data path 105.
Output from

As described above, the video server 300 of the second embodiment receives the request from the high-resolution data control data input / output unit 107 during recording, and
04 obtains an empty area of the high-resolution data storage unit 111 from the file arrangement management unit 101 and records it in the high-resolution data storage unit 111 via the data path 105. At the same time, the transfer control unit 104 obtains the free space information of the low-resolution data storage unit 119 based on the relevant information of the low-resolution file arrangement relation management unit 113, and
14, low-time resolution data is extracted, and data path 1
05, and is recorded in the low resolution data storage unit 119. On the other hand, at the time of reproducing low-resolution data, in response to a request from the low-resolution data control data input / output unit 116, the transfer control unit 104 sets the storage area of the file allocation management unit 101 and the low-resolution file allocation-related management unit 113. The storage area of the low-resolution data is obtained from the related information, and is transferred from the low-resolution data storage unit 119 to the low-resolution data output unit 117 via the data path 105. Therefore, the second
The video server 300 of this embodiment realizes the arrangement of different resolution data by a single management mechanism, can provide the same procedure as registration and deletion to a single video server, and is an apparatus that facilitates data management. .

Third Embodiment Next, a third embodiment, which is one embodiment of the video server of the present invention, will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a video server system having a video server 600 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The same reference numerals denote the same components and functions as those in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. As shown in FIG. 6, the video server 600 according to the third embodiment includes a buffer memory 50 having a different configuration from the buffer memory 106 according to the first embodiment.
0, and the low-resolution data storage unit 119 and the storage unit interface 118 in the first embodiment are not provided.

Next, the video server 600 of the third embodiment.
Will be described. The video server 600 of the third embodiment at the time of recording operates as follows. The transfer control unit 104 receives a request from the control data input / output unit 107 for high-resolution data and transfers the input data to the buffer memory 500 according to a command from the recording device 5. After the input data is transferred to the buffer memory 500, the transfer control unit 104 obtains the free area information of the high resolution data storage unit 111 from the file arrangement management unit 101. This free area information is stored in the file allocation management data storage unit 103.
The file arrangement management unit 101 accesses the free area information through the storage unit interface 102.

The low-resolution data is stored in a buffer memory 500
Low-resolution data extraction unit 1
14 and the low-spatial-resolution data extraction unit 115 extract desired data according to the set attributes. The high-resolution data in the buffer memory 500 is stored in the data path 1
05, storage unit interface 109, storage unit communication path 11
0, and is transferred to the high-resolution data storage unit 111 and recorded. On the other hand, the low resolution data is recorded as it is in a buffer memory 500 which is a semiconductor memory. In the third embodiment, the buffer memory 500 has a function as a low-resolution data storage unit. Therefore, the low-resolution data in the third embodiment does not need to be transferred to the storage unit constituted by the magnetic disk as in the above-described embodiment. The arrangement in the buffer memory 500 is reflected in the low-resolution file arrangement relation management unit 113, and associates the high-resolution data file arrangement with the low-resolution data file arrangement. Buffer memory 50
0 is used not only as a function as a storage unit for low-resolution data but also as a buffer at the time of transfer to the high-resolution data storage unit. For this reason, statically associating the position spaces of the high-resolution storage unit and the low-resolution storage unit in the buffer memory 500 reduces the use efficiency of the buffer memory 500. Therefore, the use efficiency of the buffer memory can be improved by associating the position of the low-resolution data on the buffer memory 500 with each management unit of the file arrangement information.

FIG. 7 is a structural diagram showing the file arrangement of high-resolution data and low-resolution data on the buffer memory 500 in the third embodiment. FIG. 7A is a data structure diagram showing a case of low spatial resolution, and FIG. 7B is a data structure diagram showing a case of low temporal resolution. First, a case in which low spatial resolution data is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 500 will be described. As shown in FIG. 7A, the buffer memory 500 manages low-resolution data in units of blocks that can store the data. When the high-resolution data is transferred to the buffer memory 500, the buffer memory 50
0 indicates that a plurality of blocks are logically grouped into a frame unit (a logical frame is denoted by reference numeral 510 in FIG. 7A).
). At this time, the low-resolution data that is a part of the high-resolution data is stored in one block, and the block 511 including the low-resolution data is used as it is as a storage unit. The address of the block 511 is managed by the low-resolution file allocation relation management unit 113 as the relevant information of the low-resolution data file allocation information. After the high-resolution data is transferred to the high-resolution data storage unit 111, the blocks in the frame in which the high-resolution data has been stored are reused as the empty area 512.

In the buffer memory 500 of the third embodiment, it is necessary to match the area management of the buffer memory 500 with the physical position and size of the low-resolution component in the high-resolution component. When the size of the low-resolution component is an integral multiple of the block that is the management unit of the buffer memory 500, and the position of the low-resolution component in the high-resolution component can be represented by an offset that is an integral multiple of the block length of the buffer memory 500 Has good transfer efficiency. In FIG. 7, the low resolution component is arranged at the head of the high resolution component, and the end is a block boundary.

Next, the case of the low time resolution shown in FIG. 7B will be described. Similar to the case where the low spatial resolution data is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 500, the buffer memory 500 manages the low resolution data in units of blocks that can store the low resolution data. In the case of the low-time resolution, frame thinning is performed, and by matching a block with a frame, the physical position and size of the low-resolution component in the high-resolution component and the matching problem in management on the buffer memory 500 are solved. In FIG. 7B, a logical frame is indicated by reference numeral 520. The buffer memory 500 stores a frame 520 including a plurality of blocks as one unit. In the buffer memory 500, a block 521 including low-resolution data, which is a specific frame portion in high-resolution data, is used as it is as a storage unit. The address of the block 521 is managed by the low-resolution file layout related management unit 113 as the related information of the file layout information of the low-resolution data. After the high-resolution data is transferred to the high-resolution data storage unit 111, the block in the frame in which the high-resolution data that does not overlap with the low-resolution data is stored is reused as the empty area 522. As described above, the buffer memory 50
By using 0 as a storage unit for low-resolution data, the load at the time of recording low-resolution data and high-resolution data can be reduced.

Next, the video server 600 of the third embodiment
The operation at the time of reproduction will be described. 6, in the case of reproducing high-resolution data, in response to a request from the control data input / output unit 107 for high-resolution data, the transfer control unit 104 obtains file arrangement information generated during recording from the file arrangement management unit 101. . The transfer control unit 104
Based on the file arrangement information, the high-resolution data storage unit 11
1 to transfer the high-resolution data to the buffer memory 500 via the storage unit communication path 110, the storage unit interface 109, and the data path 105. After the high-resolution data is transferred to the buffer memory 500, the data path 105
Is output from the high-resolution data input / output unit 108 via

In the case of low-resolution data, in response to a request from the low-resolution data control data input / output unit 116, the transfer control unit 104 transmits the high-resolution data file arrangement information generated at the time of recording from the file arrangement management unit 101. The related information is obtained from the low resolution file arrangement related management unit 113. The transfer control unit 104 outputs the low-resolution data from the low-resolution data input / output unit 117 via the data path 105 as it is from the buffer memory 500 based on the related information. As described above, in the third embodiment, the buffer memory 500 using a semiconductor memory is used as a storage unit for low-resolution data, and the magnetic disk is used as a storage unit for high-resolution data. The semiconductor memory has a high price per recording capacity with respect to the magnetic disk, but has a wide access band and enables random access in units of bits, and is particularly useful for video editing by a large number of users. As in the third embodiment, a video server that is satisfactory in terms of economy can be provided by storing large-capacity high-resolution data on a magnetic disk and storing small-capacity low-resolution data in a semiconductor memory. Obtainable.

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a video server having an easy data management and a simple configuration capable of reproducing the same video content at different resolutions of a spatial resolution and a time resolution. Can be. In addition, the video server of the present invention has the disadvantage that the conventional configuration leads to an increase in the number of data management procedures and the complexity of data management such as the addition of a consistency maintaining mechanism. And can be implemented by the same simple procedure as registration and deletion to a single video server, and has an effect that data management is easy. Further, when the data management function is provided as a database outside the video server, it is possible to minimize the change in the specifications of the existing database due to the installation of the video server of the present invention.

The low-resolution video server function of the video server of the present invention can be realized by additional extension to a conventional video server that provides single-resolution video playback.
Further, when the video server of the present invention is incorporated in a video server system, the video server of the present invention can cope with the minimum change of the existing data management mechanism. Useful. Further, in the video server of the present invention, the number of simultaneous users is small, but large-capacity high-resolution data is stored on a large-capacity, narrow-band, and inexpensive magnetic disk. Since it is configured to store data in the semiconductor memory, it has excellent cost performance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram showing a structure of file allocation management information in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing an arrangement of high-resolution data and low-resolution data in the first embodiment of the present invention.

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

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of high-resolution data and low-resolution data in a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a video server according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a structural diagram showing an arrangement of high-resolution data and low-resolution data on a buffer memory according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional video server system.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional video server system that provides video reproduction of different resolutions.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Video server 101 File allocation management unit 104 Transfer control unit 105 Data path 106 Buffer memory 107 High-resolution data control data input / output unit 108 High-resolution data input / output unit 111 High-resolution data storage unit 113 Low-resolution file allocation related management unit 114 Low time resolution data extraction unit 115 Low spatial resolution data extraction unit 116 Control data input / output unit for low resolution data 117 Low resolution data input / output unit 119 Low resolution data storage unit

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. High-resolution data input / output means for inputting / outputting high-resolution data; temporary storage means for temporarily storing the high-resolution data; low-resolution data for extracting low-resolution data from the high-resolution data in the temporary storage means. Extraction means; high-resolution data storage means for storing high-resolution data; low-resolution data storage means for storing low-resolution data; and free space information of the high-resolution data storage means, which manages the file arrangement of high-resolution data. File arrangement management means, file arrangement related management means having information relating to the file arrangement of high resolution data and file arrangement of low resolution data, and managing the file arrangement of low resolution data, free space of the high resolution data storage means Based on the information, high-resolution data is stored in the high-resolution data storage unit and input / output control is performed. A video server, further comprising: transfer control means for storing low-resolution data in the low-resolution data storage means and controlling the output. 2. At the time of recording, the transfer control means records the high-resolution data to the high-resolution data storage means via the data path based on the free area information from the high-resolution data file arrangement management means. The low spatial resolution data is extracted by the low spatial resolution extracting section of the low resolution data extracting means based on the relevant information of the resolution data file arrangement relation managing means, and the low spatial resolution data is stored in the low resolution data via a data path. When the low-resolution data is reproduced, the transfer control means obtains the low-resolution data storage area information in the low-resolution data storage means from the storage area information of the file arrangement management means and the related information of the file arrangement relation management means. And outputting the low-resolution data from the low-resolution data storage means via the data path. The video server of claim 1, wherein. 3. At the time of recording, the transfer control means records the high-resolution data to the high-resolution data storage means via the data path based on the free area information from the file arrangement management means for the high-resolution data, The low-time resolution data is extracted by the low-time resolution extraction unit of the low-resolution data extraction means based on the relevant information of the resolution data file arrangement relation management means, and the low-time resolution data is stored in the low-resolution data via a data path. When the low-resolution data is reproduced, the transfer control means obtains the low-resolution data storage area information in the low-resolution data storage means from the storage area information of the file arrangement management means and the related information of the file arrangement relation management means. And outputting the low-resolution data from the low-resolution data storage means via the data path. The video server of claim 1, wherein. 4. A data path and a high-resolution data storage means and a low-resolution data storage means are connected by a storage part communication path with a broadcasting function, and during recording, the transfer control means obtains free space information from the file arrangement management means. The low spatial resolution extracting unit transmits the low spatial resolution data to the high resolution data storing unit and the low resolution data storing unit at the same time, and simultaneously transmits data other than the low spatial resolution data to the high resolution data storing unit. 3. The video server according to claim 2, wherein: 5. A data path and a high-resolution data storage means and a low-resolution data storage means are connected by a storage part communication path with a broadcasting function, and at the time of recording, the transfer control means obtains free space information from the file arrangement management means. The low-time resolution extracting unit broadcasts the low-time resolution data to the high-resolution data storage unit and the low-resolution data storage unit, and simultaneously transmits data other than the low-time resolution data to the high-resolution data storage unit. The video server according to claim 3, wherein 6. High-resolution data input / output means for inputting / outputting high-resolution data; storage means for temporarily storing the high-resolution data; low-resolution data extracted from the high-resolution data in the storage means; Low-resolution data extraction means for storing resolution data in the storage means; high-resolution data storage means for storing high-resolution data; and free space information of the high-resolution data storage means, which manages the file arrangement of high-resolution data. File location management means, file location related management means having information relating to the file location of high resolution data and file location of low resolution data, and managing the file location of low resolution data, free space of the high resolution data storage means Based on the information,
A video server, comprising: transfer control means for accumulating high-resolution data in the high-resolution data accumulating means and controlling input / output and controlling output of low-resolution data in the storage means. 7. At the time of recording, the transfer control means obtains the free area information of the high resolution data storage means from the file arrangement management means and records it in the high resolution data storage means via a data path, The low spatial resolution data by the low spatial resolution extracting unit of the data extracting unit is stored in a storage unit constituted by a semiconductor memory, and at the time of reproducing the low resolution data, the transfer control unit reads the low spatial resolution data from the storage area information of the file arrangement management unit. 7. The video server according to claim 6, wherein a storage area of the low-resolution data in the storage unit is obtained, and the low-resolution data is output from the storage unit via a data path. 8. At the time of recording, the transfer control means obtains free space information of the high-resolution data storage means from the file arrangement management means and records the information in the high-resolution data storage means via a data path, and simultaneously transfers the low-resolution data to the low-resolution data storage means. The low-time resolution data by the low-time resolution extraction unit of the data extraction unit is stored in a storage unit constituted by a semiconductor memory, and at the time of reproduction of the low-resolution data, the transfer control unit reads the low-resolution data from the storage area information of the file arrangement management unit. 7. The video server according to claim 6, wherein a storage area of the low-resolution data in the storage unit is obtained, and the low-resolution data is output from the storage unit via a data path. 9. At the time of recording, the transfer control means obtains free area information of the high resolution data storage means from the file arrangement management means and stores all data in the storage means via the data path. Means, and only the low spatial resolution data by the low spatial resolution extracting unit of the low resolution data extracting means is used as valid data in the storing means, and the area of the storing means in which data other than the low spatial resolution data is stored is stored. 7. The video server according to claim 6, wherein the video server is a free area. 10. At the time of recording, the transfer control means obtains the free area information of the high resolution data storage means from the file arrangement management means and stores all the data in the storage means via the data path. Means, and only the low-time resolution data by the low-time resolution extraction unit of the low-resolution data extraction means is used as valid data in the storage means, and the area of the storage means in which data other than the low-time resolution data is stored is stored. 7. The video server according to claim 6, wherein the video server is a free area.