KR101146938B1 - Apparatus and method for providing video on-demand service on cloud-computing environment applies in the digital cable broadcasting and storage media having program thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are an apparatus and method for providing video-on-demand service in a digital cable broadcasting using a cloud computing environment, and a computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for performing the method. The present invention uses a low-cost set-top box (STB) but uses virtualized caching servers for load balancing of virtualized storage, and monitors the current state of such storage and caching servers to monitor the load caused by the increase in users. By implementing the virtualization to provide a smooth VOD service, by applying the cloud computing computing environment to digital cable broadcasting has the effect that can provide a VOD service in digital cable broadcasting.

Description

Apparatus and method for providing video-on-demand service in digital cable broadcasting using cloud computing environment and a computer-readable recording medium recording a program for performing the method ENVIRONMENT APPLIES IN THE DIGITAL CABLE BROADCASTING AND STORAGE MEDIA HAVING PROGRAM THEREOF}

The present invention relates to an on-demand video service, and more particularly, to a method and system for providing on-demand video (VOD) service in digital cable broadcasting applying a cloud computing environment.

Currently, wireless data networks are growing faster than other broadcasting media (radio, TV, cable broadcasting, etc.) due to the increasing number of users using wireless communication. In recent years, wireless Internet services have provided various high quality multimedia VOD contents to wireless terminals according to the development of advanced technologies such as real time video transmission technology, location tracking, and voice recognition.

The Video On Demand (hereinafter referred to as "VOD") service refers to a new concept of video service business that provides a video-based service such as a movie or news through a network according to a subscriber's request. In general, the VOD service compresses and stores a video program in a digital compression method, for example, MPEG-2, in a VOD server.

After that, when the subscriber requests the VOD, the VOD server provides the program selected by the subscriber using an IP (Internet Protocol) network or a digital cable TV network.

1 is a view showing an information exchange system between a server and a terminal for a wireless Internet multimedia service according to the prior art. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional system includes a VOD terminal 10, a wireless data network 20, a WAP server 30, a VOD server 40, and a database 50 storing compressed multimedia content. The converter 60 converts the multimedia V90 contents of the real-time broadcasting / audio / video recorder to the VOD server 40, and converts the existing internet VOD contents 80 to be compatible. It further comprises 70.

The operation of the information exchange system between the server and the terminal for the conventional wireless Internet multimedia service, first, when the user selects the VOD service menu of the WAP browser in the VOD terminal 10, the VOD terminal 10 is a wireless data network 20 Is connected to the WAP server 30 having the VOD content menu page.

The WAP server 30 delivers the VOD content menu page to the WAP browser of the connected VOD terminal 10. The user searches the VOD content menu displayed in the WAP browser and selects a certain content.

Then, the VOD terminal 10 stores the selected content URL address and requests the selected content URL. In response, the WAP server 30 transmits the detailed information of the corresponding content to the WAP browser of the VOD terminal 10 in a script manner such as designated WML (Wireless Markup Language). The WAP browser of the VOD terminal 10 receiving the script such as WML receives a high speed channel by changing a mux option according to the MO (Mux Option) value received from the WAP server 30.

The VOD terminal 10 disconnects the WAP session with the WAP server 30 and disconnects the connection. The VOD player in the VOD terminal 10 receives a script such as WML received from the WAP server 30 through the WAP browser. The VOD server 40 is connected to the VOD server 40 through the wireless data network 20 using the URL having the location and file name of the content in the detailed information.

Then, when the VOD terminal 10 requests the download of the content selected by the user to the connected VOD server 40 using a protocol such as Delivery Multimedia Integration Framework (DMIF), which is a transport protocol, DMIF (Delivery Multimedia Integration Framework: ISO / IEC 14496-6 protocol), At this time, the display of the VOD terminal 10 indicates that various content-related information (such as the title of the content) and the VOD server 40 are currently connected through a script such as WML received from the WAP server 30.

Then, when ready to download / play in the VOD player of the VOD terminal 10, using a protocol such as DMIF sends a download / play command to the VOD server 40 via the wireless data network 20. The VOD server 40 sends a command for recognizing a protocol such as DMIF and converts the VOD content for multimedia 90 of the real-time broadcast / audio / video recorder compressed by the encoder 60 and the VOD content converted through the converter 70. 80 or the content 50 stored in the database 50 is transmitted.

Then, the VOD player of the VOD terminal 10 receives the recognition command and downloads and stores the content or plays the content simultaneously.

The multimedia contents service supports VOD terminals capable of playing MPEG4 contents. However, when the specifications of the VOD terminals are diversified in the future, a problem arises in that the information of contents cannot be modified and reproduced according to the specifications of these terminals.

Recently, as a phenomenon, cloud computing based on virtualization technology has been mentioned a lot.

Cloud Computing is not a PC, but if you present the necessary tasks (Word, Excel, etc.) (throw into the cloud), the computing resources that are needed are allocated to execute the tasks and give results (falling clouds). In other words, cloud computing is based on virtualization technology that enables individual users' desktop environments, enterprise large data processing, and Internet company Web 2.0 services without a PC.

Cloud computing is about consolidating multiple huge data centers and virtualizing them as a single computer, giving users the computing power they need on the Internet as needed. These include Google's Gmail, Calendar, Dax and Spreadsheets, and Amazon's EC2 and S3 Web services.

Therefore, in order to cope with the changing environment as well as when the VOD server and the set-top box are directly connected, a complex concept of VOD service applying the VOD service through the network and the VOD service through the terminal to the cloud computing environment is required.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for providing a video service on demand in a digital cable broadcasting employing a cloud computing environment that can cope with such an environment.

In addition, the present invention, if the number of the set-top box reaches a certain amount of load generated on-demand video load in the digital cable broadcasting applied cloud computing environment that can smoothly distribute the load by dynamically increasing the number of caching server to provide a smooth service Another object is to provide a service providing device and a method thereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for performing a method of providing an on-demand video service in a digital cable broadcasting applying the cloud computing environment.

In order to achieve the above object, an apparatus for providing video-on-demand service in a digital cable broadcasting employing a cloud computing environment of the present invention includes a media cloud including a virtualized server in which a program provider stores video content, and video content information related to the video content. And receiving the video content information from the management server and the management server configured to increase the server to virtualization when the load of the media cloud is recognized and requesting the selected video content to the media cloud. It can be configured to include a set-top box to play.

The media cloud is configured to include virtualized storage in which a program provider stores video content, and a caching server for load balancing of the storage, and the management server calculates a load when the caching server recognizes an increase in load. The server is increased to virtualization and the set top box is operated to play the video content provided by the caching server.

In addition, the management server, if the video content requested from the set-top box does not exist in the caching server, the monitoring server for monitoring the status of the storage to search and copy the storage to use the caching server, and A load balancing server that performs virtualization of caching servers, and an information management server for user authentication, user information management, and content information management. The monitoring server includes the storage, the caching server, the information management server, and the Monitor the resources of the load balancing server and notify the load balancing server or administrator when an exception occurs.

In addition, the method for providing on-demand video service in a digital cable broadcasting applying the cloud computing environment of the present invention to achieve the above object (a) executing a program for managing video content (VOD) information in the set-top box (STB) And (b) receiving the requested VOD information from the information management server through the set-top box, (c) searching for the requested VOD in a caching server, and if the requested VOD exists, the set-top VOD. Transmitting to the box, (d) if the caching server does not have the requested VOD, retrieving the requested VOD from storage and storing the requested VOD in the caching server, (e) stored in the caching server Transmitting the requested VOD to the low cost set top box, and (f) reproducing the transmitted VOD to the low cost set top box. have.

And (g) monitoring resources of the storage, caching server, and information management server at a monitoring server, and (h) notifying the load balancing server or administrator if an exception occurs during the step (g). It is preferable to further include.

In addition, when the number of set-top boxes requesting video content reaches a certain amount as an exception, the load balancing server dynamically virtualizes the number of caching servers and increases the number so that the service can be smoothly provided. .

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for providing an on-demand video service in a digital cable broadcasting applying a cloud computing environment to a computer readable recording medium recording a program that can be executed by a computer to manage a program. Can be distributed.

Therefore, according to the apparatus and method for providing a video service on demand in a digital cable broadcasting to which the cloud computing environment of the present invention is applied, the cloud computing environment may be applied to the digital cable broadcasting to provide a VOD service in digital cable broadcasting.

And even if the number of set-top boxes requesting video content reaches a certain amount, there is an effect that the VOD service can be smoothly provided by dynamically increasing the number of caching servers by increasing the number of caching servers.

1 is a view showing an information exchange system between a server and a terminal for a wireless Internet multimedia service according to the prior art;
2 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for providing video-on-demand service in digital cable broadcasting to which the cloud computing environment of the present invention is applied;
3 is a flowchart illustrating a service providing method of the present invention;
And,
4 is a flowchart illustrating a load balancing method in detail when an overload occurs in the present invention.

It is to be understood that the words or words used in the present specification and claims are not to be construed in a conventional or dictionary sense and that the inventor can properly define the concept of a term in order to describe its invention in the best possible way And should be construed in light of the meanings and concepts consistent with the technical idea of the present invention.

Throughout the specification, when a part is said to "include" a certain component, it means that it can further include other components, without excluding other components unless specifically stated otherwise. Also, the terms " part, "" module," and " module ", etc. in the specification mean a unit for processing at least one function or operation and may be implemented by hardware or software or a combination of hardware and software have.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an apparatus for providing video-on-demand service in digital cable broadcasting applying the cloud computing environment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus for providing VOD service 100 of the present invention is a set-top box (STB). top box) 110, a system operator (SO) 120, a program provider (PP) 150, and a program provider 150 as a virtualized server storing video content (VOD). It may be configured to include a management server 130 configured to manage the configured media cloud 140, and video content information and increase the server to virtualization when the load of the media cloud 140 is recognized.

A set top box (STB) 110 is a hardware device that is usually required for watching satellite or cable broadcasts in a home. The satellite or cable broadcast is transmitted as a digital signal to a home TV. It performs the role of restoring the signal so that the signal can be seen by the terminal, and converts the subscriber's request into the control signal and transmits it to the corresponding module.

The present invention is configured to receive the video content (VOD) information from the management server 130 through the video transmission path to request the selected video content to the media cloud 140 and to play the video content received from the media cloud 140. .

Therefore, the set-top box 110 has a program for receiving and playing video content (VOD) information.

In addition, the VOD video transmission network uses a high-speed broadband network such as a fiber optic network or a cable TV network of a telecommunications carrier.

A cable broadcasting company (SO; 120) refers to a company that operates lines and channels as operators operating systems such as cable satellite broadcasting, and a program provider (PP; 150) refers to a cable broadcasting company (SO; 120). A company that contracts to and supplies broadcast programs to circuits or channels.

The cable broadcasting service provider (SO; 120) and the program provider (PP; 150) are separated from each other in the cable TV in Korea because the platform and the content is separated from the cable broadcasting service provider 120 and the program provider 150 to each other Because it is configured to depend on it, it is possible that either service provider can manage both the platform and the content currently divided.

The media cloud 140 is configured as a server virtualized to store video content (VOD) provided by the program provider 150. To this end, the media cloud 140 includes a virtualized storage 142 in which the program provider 150 stores video content, and a caching server 144 for load balancing the storage 142.

The storage 142 operates as a virtual memory for storing video content (VOD) provided by the program provider 150, and the caching server 144 accumulates a copy of data managed by the storage 142, that is, video content. It is configured to provide data to the server quickly when the user accesses it.

In other words, the caching server 144 is configured so that temporarily accumulated data passes through the server. One way to realize this caching server 144 is to use a caching-only server that allows one web server to become a caching server for another web server.

Therefore, when it is determined that a load is generated in the communication network, the caching server 144 virtually increases the number for load balancing of the storage 142 to prevent the load.

The management server 130 is configured to perform user authentication, user information management, and content information management. To this end, the management server 130 calculates the load when the load is recognized by the caching server 144 to increase the caching server 144 to virtualization, and the set-top box 110 is copied to the virtualized caching server 144 Manages to receive and play video content.

Also, if the video content requested from the set-top box 110 does not exist in the caching server 144, the management server 130 controls the copying to the caching server 144 by searching the storage 142 to provide a smooth video content. Be sure to

To this end, the management server 130 is a monitoring server 132 for monitoring the status of the storage 142 and load balancing server 134 for performing the virtualization of the caching server 134 and user authentication and user information management and content information It can be configured to include an information management server 136 for management.

The monitoring server 132 is configured to monitor the server's resources and to manage whether an exception occurs. To this end, the monitoring server 132 collects the status of resources such as CPU, network, storage in the storage 142, caching server 144, information management server 136, load balancing server 134. This collection method may be such that the storage 142, caching server 144, information management server 136, load balancing server 134 to periodically transmit the status of the resource to the monitoring server 132.

At this time, the resources monitored by the monitoring server 132 is used for each CPU usage, network usage, memory usage, storage usage of the storage 142, caching server 144, information management server 136, and load balancing server 134 It is desirable to include and monitor.

The monitoring server 132 monitors the resources of the storage 142, the caching server 144, the information management server 136, and the load balancing server 134, and if an exception occurs, the load balancing server 134 and the manager. It makes the system easy to manage.

The load balancing server 134 is configured to dynamically virtualize the number of caching servers 144 when notified that an exception occurs from the monitoring server 132 so that a smooth service is provided.

In addition, the load balancing server 134 determines that an exception occurs when the number of connected set-top boxes 110 reaches a certain amount, and analyzes the load to dynamically virtualize the number of caching servers 144 as necessary. It is operated to increase the number.

The apparatus for providing on-demand video (VOD) service in digital cable broadcasting applying the cloud computing environment according to the present invention having such a configuration operates as follows.

First, the program providers 150 store the VOD in the virtualized storage 142, and the user receives the VOD information by using the low-cost set-top box 110 having a minimum function through the cable broadcaster 120. By running the program to play the VOD to watch the program, by using the virtualized storage 144 and the caching server 144 it is operated to distribute the load properly to provide a smooth service.

This operation relationship will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing an on-demand video service in a digital cable broadcasting applying the cloud computing environment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, a user first executes the set-top box 110 to watch a VOD ( S210).

When the set top box 110 is executed in step S210, the set top box 110 executes a program for managing video content (VOD) information (S211).

When a program capable of receiving VOD information is executed, the VOD information stored in the information management server 136 is received through the transmission network and displayed to the user.

That is, when the VOD information management program is executed in step S211, information on a program to be viewed normally is received (S212), and the corresponding information is displayed on the related display window.

When the user requests a program to be viewed through the input network from the displayed VOD information through the transmission network, the set-top box 110 transmits the requested VOD information to the information management server 132 of the management server 130 (S213).

When the information management server 132 receives the requested VOD information, the information management server 132 searches for the requested VOD in the caching server S144 and determines whether the requested VOD exists (S214).

If there is a VOD requested by the set-top box 110 in step S214, the management server 130 transmits the requested VOD to the set-top box 110 is operated to play the corresponding VOD (S215 ~ S216).

In step S214, if the management server 130 searches for the caching server 144 and there is no requested VOD, the management server 130 searches for the requested VOD in the storage 142 (S217), if there is a requested VOD, the caching server 144. To store the corresponding VOD (S218).

Thereafter, the management server 130 transmits the VOD stored in the caching server 144 to the set-top box 110 so that the corresponding VOD is reproduced (S215 to S216).

If there is no VOD requested by the set-top box 110 in the storage 142 in step S217, it is preferable to transmit a message indicating that there is no corresponding program to the set-top box 110 for display.

More preferably, in the VOD information received in step S212, a program that is not present in the storage 142 is not displayed.

Therefore, the storage 142 stores the video content provided by the program provider 150 as much as possible.

While operating as described above, if the set-top box 110 is connected to a predetermined number or more and the overload occurs in the transmission network, the management server 130 operates to increase the number of caching servers 144 to adjust the load.

A load balancing method will be described with reference to the drawings.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a load balancing method in detail when an overload occurs in the present invention. As illustrated, the monitoring server 132 may include a storage 142, a caching server 144, and an information management server 136. Monitor the resources of (S220).

At this time, the monitoring resource is preferably to monitor each CPU usage, network usage, memory usage, storage usage of the storage 142, caching server 144, information management server 136, load balancing server 134.

If it is determined in step S220 that an exception occurs in a module (S221), the information management server 136 notifies the load balancing server 134 or the administrator and calculates the load (S222).

In the present invention, the exception is described as an exception when the number of set-top boxes 110 requesting video content reaches a predetermined amount.

The calculation of the load sends a signal to the load balancer server 134 when the load of the caching server 144 is recognized through the monitoring server 132. The load balancing server 134 receiving such a signal calculates a load and increases the caching server 144 to virtualization so that it can continuously provide a smooth service.

Therefore, when the load is calculated in step S222, the load balancing server 134 dynamically virtualizes the number of caching servers 144 to provide a service (S223).

As described above, according to the apparatus and method for providing video-on-demand video service in digital cable broadcasting using cloud computing environment, the VOD resources can be flexibly expanded or reduced in the cloud by using virtualization technology, so that the idle service has to be prepared for a temporary increase in service access. It also has the effect of eliminating resources.

The on-demand video service providing method (steps S210 to S223) in the digital cable broadcasting to which the cloud computing environment of the present invention is applied can be implemented as computer readable codes on a computer readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium is a recording device that stores data that can be read by a computer system, and includes a ROM, a RAM, a cache, a hard disk, an optical disk, a floppy disk, and a magnetic tape. In addition, the carrier wave may be implemented in the form of a carrier wave, for example, transmission through the Internet. The computer readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

110: set-top box (STB) 120: cable broadcasting provider (SO)
130: management server 132: monitoring server
134: load balancing server 136: information management server
140: Media Cloud 144: Caching Bus
142: storage 150: program provider (PP)

Claims (14)

A media cloud configured as a virtualized server in which a program provider stores video content;
A management server configured to manage video content information related to the video content and increase the server to virtualization when the load of the media cloud is recognized; and
A set-top box receiving the video content information from the management server to request the selected video content to the media cloud and to play the received video content;
Apparatus for providing on-demand video service in digital cable broadcasting applying a cloud computing environment configured to include.
The method of claim 1,
The media cloud is
Virtualized storage in which a program provider stores video content;
A caching server for load balancing of the storage;
And the management server calculates a load when the load is detected by the caching server, increases the caching server to virtualization, and the set-top box plays the video content provided by the caching server. Apparatus for providing on-demand video service in digital cable broadcasting applying cloud computing environment.
The method of claim 2,
The management server
If the video content requested from the set-top box does not exist in the caching server, the on-demand video service providing apparatus for a digital cable broadcast applied to the cloud computing environment, characterized in that the storage is controlled to copy to the caching server.
The method of claim 2,
The management server
A monitoring server for monitoring a state of the storage;
A load balancing server that performs virtualization of the caching servers;
An information management server for user authentication, user information management, and content information management; and the monitoring server monitors resources of the storage, the caching server, the information management server, and the load balancing server, Apparatus for providing on-demand video services in a digital cable broadcasting applied to the cloud computing environment, characterized in that it is operable to notify the load balancing server or the administrator when it occurs.
The method of claim 4, wherein
The load balancing server
And a notification server from the monitoring server, wherein the caching server is dynamically virtualized.
6. The method of claim 5,
The load balancing server
Apparatus for providing an on-demand video service in a digital cable broadcasting using a cloud computing environment, characterized in that the number of the caching server is dynamically virtualized when the number of the set-top box reaches a certain amount.
The method of claim 4, wherein
Resources monitored by the monitoring server
Providing on-demand video services in digital cable broadcasting applying cloud computing environment, characterized in that for monitoring the CPU usage, network usage, memory usage, storage usage of the storage, the caching server, the information management server and the load balancing server Device.
(a) executing a program for managing video content VOD information in the set-top box STB;
(b) receiving VOD information requested through the set-top box at an information management server;
(c) retrieving the requested VOD from a caching server and transmitting the requested VOD to the set-top box when the requested VOD exists;
(d) if the caching server does not have the requested VOD, retrieving the requested VOD from storage and storing the requested VOD in the caching server;
(e) transmitting the requested VOD stored in the caching server to the set top box; and
(f) playing the transmitted VOD with the set top box;
Method for providing on-demand video service in digital cable broadcasting applying a cloud computing environment comprising a.
The method of claim 8,
The storage
Method for providing on-demand video service in digital cable broadcasting applying a cloud computing environment, characterized in that for storing the video content provided by the program provider.
The method of claim 9,
(g) monitoring resources of the storage, the caching server, and the information management server at a monitoring server; and
(h) notifying the load balancing server or the administrator if an exception occurs during the step (g);
The on-demand video service providing method in a digital cable broadcasting applying a cloud computing environment, characterized in that it further comprises.
The method of claim 10,
Step (h) is
(h-1) determining an exception situation;
(h-2) dynamically virtualizing the number of caching servers in the load balancing server when it is determined that an exception is detected;
The on-demand video service providing method in a digital cable broadcasting applying a cloud computing environment, characterized in that it further comprises.
12. The method of claim 11,
Step (h-1)
When the number of the set-top box requesting the video content reaches a predetermined amount, the on-demand video service providing method in a digital cable broadcasting applying a cloud computing environment, characterized in that it is determined as an exception.
The method of claim 10,
Resources monitored by the monitoring server
Providing on-demand video services in digital cable broadcasting applying cloud computing environment, characterized in that for monitoring the CPU usage, network usage, memory usage, storage usage of the storage, the caching server, the information management server and the load balancing server Way.
A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for performing a method for providing an on-demand video service in a digital cable broadcasting using the cloud computing environment of claim 8.

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