TW201408018A - System, apparatus and method for collaborative file downloading - Google Patents

Abstract

A system, an apparatus and a method for collaborative file downloading are provided. The system includes at least one peripheral device and a master device. The at least one peripheral device and the master device are connected with a server through a network. The master device allocates a segment of a file to itself and each of the at least one peripheral device according to a downloading bandwidth of the master device and each of the at least one peripheral device so as to collaboratively download the file. The master device receives the segment downloaded by each of the at least one peripheral device and combines the same with the segment downloaded by the master device to obtain the file.

Description

File collaborative downloading system, device and method

The present invention relates to a file downloading system, apparatus and method, and more particularly to a system, apparatus and method for collaboratively downloading files using peripheral devices.

The development of the Internet provides a faster and more convenient way for modern people to access a variety of information and files. In general, users can connect to the Internet through electronic devices such as computers or mobile phones that have Internet connectivity to share information or files on the Internet.

However, when a user wants to download a larger file (such as a high-definition movie) on the network through a device having a smaller bandwidth such as a smart phone, it takes a long time to complete the file. Download, resulting in lower download efficiency.

In view of this, the present invention provides a file collaborative downloading system, apparatus and method, which can improve the efficiency of downloading files by an electronic device.

The invention provides a file collaborative downloading system, comprising at least one peripheral device and a main control device. The at least one peripheral device connects to the server through a network. The main control device connects to the server through the network, and respectively establishes a connection with at least one peripheral device, and according to the download bandwidth of the main control device and each of the peripheral devices, the distribution main control device and each of the peripheral devices are downloaded from the server. file The segments are downloaded in cooperation, and the segments downloaded by each of the peripheral devices are received and merged with the segments downloaded by the master device to obtain files.

In an embodiment of the invention, the main control device establishes a connection with at least one peripheral device by using a wireless communication technology, and the wireless communication technology includes Near Field Communication (NFC) and Wireless Fidelity (Wireless Fidelity). , Wi-Fi) or Bluetooth.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the main control device transmits connection information to each of the peripheral devices by using near field communication, so that each of the peripheral devices establishes a wireless compatible authentication connection with the main control device by using the connection information. .

In an embodiment of the invention, the master control device includes transmitting, by the connection, the information of the allocated segment to each of the peripheral devices, so that each of the peripheral devices downloads a segment of the file from the server according to the information of the segment.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the main control device includes dividing a file into a plurality of segments according to a ratio of a download bandwidth of the main control device and each of the peripheral devices, to allocate the main control device and each of the peripheral devices. The downloaded clip.

In an embodiment of the invention, each of the peripheral devices includes transmitting a notification to the main control device via the connection when the download of the segment is completed, and transmitting the downloaded segment to the main control device.

The invention provides a file collaborative downloading device, which comprises a wireless communication module, a network module, a download distribution module and a file merge module. The wireless communication module is configured to establish a connection with at least one peripheral device. The network module is used to connect to the server through the network. The download distribution module allocates the network module and each of the peripheral devices to download a segment of the file from the server according to the download bandwidth of the network module and each of the peripheral devices to cooperatively download the file. File merge mode The group receives the segments downloaded by each of the peripheral devices through the connection, and merges with the segments downloaded by the network module to obtain the files.

In an embodiment of the invention, the wireless communication module establishes a connection with at least one peripheral device by using a wireless communication technology, and the wireless communication technology includes near field communication, wireless compatible authentication, or Bluetooth.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the wireless communication module transmits connection information to each of the peripheral devices by using near field communication, so that each of the peripheral devices establishes wireless compatible authentication by using the connection information and the wireless communication module. Connection.

In an embodiment of the invention, the wireless communication module includes transmitting, by the connection, the information of the allocated segment to each of the peripheral devices, so that each of the peripheral devices downloads a segment of the file from the server according to the information of the segment.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the download distribution module includes dividing a file into a plurality of segments according to a ratio of a download bandwidth of the network module and each of the peripheral devices, to allocate a network module and each of the devices. The segment downloaded by the peripheral device.

In an embodiment of the invention, each of the peripheral devices includes transmitting a notification to the wireless communication module via the connection when the download of the segment is completed, and transmitting the downloaded segment to the file merge module.

The invention provides a file collaborative downloading method, which is suitable for a master control device to cooperate with at least one peripheral device to download a file on a server, and the method comprises the following steps. First, the server is connected through the network, and the connection is established with at least one peripheral device. Then, according to the download bandwidth of the main control device and each of the peripheral devices, the main control device and each of the peripheral devices are dispatched from the servo Download a snippet of the file to collaboratively download the file. Thereafter, the segments downloaded by each of the peripheral devices are received and merged with the segments downloaded by the master device to obtain an archive.

In an embodiment of the invention, the step of establishing a connection between the main control device and the at least one peripheral device includes establishing a connection with at least one peripheral device by using a wireless communication technology, and the wireless communication technology includes near field communication and wireless compatibility. Certification or Bluetooth.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the step of establishing a connection with at least one peripheral device by using a wireless communication technology includes transmitting connection information to each of the peripheral devices by using near field communication, so that each of the peripheral devices utilizes connection information. Establish a wireless compatible authentication connection with the master device.

In an embodiment of the present invention, according to the download bandwidth of the main control device and each of the peripheral devices, the step of distributing the main control device and each of the peripheral devices to download a segment of the file from the server to jointly download the file includes: The information of the allocated segments is transmitted to each of the peripheral devices, so that each of the peripheral devices downloads a segment of the file from the server according to the information of the segment.

In an embodiment of the present invention, according to the download bandwidth of the main control device and each of the peripheral devices, the step of distributing the main control device and each of the peripheral devices to download a segment of the file from the server to collaboratively download the file includes: The proportion of the download bandwidth of the master device and each of the peripheral devices is divided into a plurality of segments to allocate the master device and the segments downloaded by each of the peripheral devices.

In an embodiment of the present invention, before the step of receiving the segments downloaded by each of the peripheral devices, the method further includes receiving, by the connection, each of the The notification of the peripheral device receives the segments downloaded by each of the peripheral devices, wherein the notification is issued by each of the peripheral devices when the download of the segment is completed.

Based on the above, the file collaborative downloading system, device and method of the present invention allocates segments of the file to be downloaded by the master device to the peripheral device, so that each peripheral device can cooperate with the master device to download different segments of the same file. While the download is complete or during the download, the master device can receive the file segments that have been downloaded by each peripheral device, and merge the file segments to obtain the desired file. Thereby, the present invention can make full use of the transmission resources of other peripheral devices, so that the main control device can achieve better efficiency when downloading the file, thereby improving the convenience in use.

The above described features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a file collaborative download system downloading a file from a server according to an embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the file collaborative download system 100 includes a master device 110 and peripheral devices 120_1~120_3. The main control device 110 and the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 can respectively connect to the server 130 via the network 140 to download files (such as audio, video, video, etc.) on the server 130. The main control device 110 and the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 may be networked links such as a smart phone, a laptop, a tablet, a personal computer or a personal digital assistant (PDA). And electronic devices with wireless communication functions, but are not limited thereto.

When receiving the file download task, the master device 110 may first evaluate its own download bandwidth and the time required to download the file. If it takes a long time to download the file, the master device 110 may utilize the wireless communication technology. The connection is established with the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3, and the information exchange with the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 is used to coordinate the download of the files by using the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3. The wireless communication technology may be Near Field Communication (NFC), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), or Bluetooth, but the embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto.

2 is a flowchart of a file collaborative downloading method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The file cooperative downloading system 100 of FIG. 1 is used in conjunction with the flowchart of FIG. 2 to illustrate that the master device 110 cooperates with peripheral devices 120_1~120_3. Detailed steps for downloading files on server 130.

First, the main control device 110 connects to the server 130 via the network 140 (step S201), and establishes a connection with the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3, respectively (step S202). The main control device 110 and the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 can establish a connection through the above-mentioned near field communication, wireless compatible authentication or Bluetooth.

For example, in an embodiment, if the master device 110 and the peripheral device 120_1 have the same function of Bluetooth transmission, the master device 110 can search for nearby peripheral devices by searching for nearby Bluetooth devices (also That is, the peripheral device 120_1) is paired with the peripheral device 120_1, and information such as the download bandwidth of the data downloaded from the server 130 by the peripheral device 120_1 is obtained. And, the master device 110, for example, establishes a collaborative download A list of peripheral devices in which information about the peripheral devices (such as download bandwidth) is recorded.

In another embodiment, when the main control device 110 and the peripheral device 120_2 have the function of near field communication, the main control device 110 can obtain the download of the data downloaded from the server 130 by the peripheral device 120_2 by, for example, touching the peripheral device 120_2. Information such as bandwidth, and then update the information in the list of peripheral devices. In addition, if the main control device 110 has the same Wi-Fi function as the peripheral device 120_1, the main control device 110 can also find the peripheral device 120_3 and obtain its information by searching for the Wi-Fi device, and update the device accordingly. A list of peripheral devices.

In another embodiment, the master device 110 may first use the near field communication to connect the network information (for example, the network address of the file, the file segment to which the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 are allocated, and the size of the file segment). The transmission to the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 enables the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 to establish a Wi-Fi connection with the main control device 110 by using the connection information.

After obtaining the related data of the surrounding devices (for example, the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3) of the files on the server 130, the main control device 110 displays, for example, a list of peripheral devices for the user to select the peripheral devices participating in the collaborative download. Alternatively, the master device 110 may select a peripheral device that has previously obtained authorization to cooperate with the download. If the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 are selected to participate in the cooperative download operation, the main control device 110 can allocate the master control device 110 and the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 from the server according to the download bandwidth of the self device and the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3. 130 downloads a fragment of the archive to collaboratively download the archive (step S203).

It should be noted that, in an embodiment, the determination of the download bandwidth of the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 is, for example, a comparison between the transmission bandwidth between the peripheral devices 120_1 and 120_3 and the transmission bandwidth between the peripheral device 110 and the server 130. The younger decides. For example, if the peripheral device 120_1 downloads the file from the server 130 through a Wi-Fi protocol such as IEEE 802.11b (with a bandwidth of 54 Mbps), it communicates with the host device 110 through the Bluetooth (the bandwidth is When transmitting in a 3 Mbps mode, the download bandwidth of the peripheral device 120_1 must be calculated at 3 Mbps. For another example, if the peripheral device 120_2 downloads the file from the server 130 through a Wi-Fi protocol such as IEEE 802.11b (with a bandwidth of 54 Mbps), it is directly connected to the host device 110 via Wi-Fi. When transmitting in a Wi-Fi direct mode (bandwidth of 250 Mbps), the download bandwidth of the peripheral device 120_2 must be calculated at 54 Mbps. On the other hand, the download bandwidth of the master device 110 itself only needs to be determined according to the transmission protocol between the master device 110 and the server 130.

In another embodiment, the determination of the download bandwidth of the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 may also be determined according to the actual transmission rate between the peripheral device 110 or the server 130. In detail, since the transmission rate will fluctuate depending on the transmission environment, even if a high-speed transmission protocol is adopted, the transmission rate may vary due to environmental factors. For example, when the peripheral device 120_2 downloads the file through a Wi-Fi protocol such as IEEE 802.11b (with a bandwidth of 54 Mbps), and the main control device 110 is through Wi-Fi direct (the bandwidth is 250 Mbps). Mode of transmission, if the master device 110 and the peripheral device 120_2 because of the environment The factor is such that the transmission rate between them is only 40 Mbps, and the download bandwidth of the peripheral device 120_2 is calculated at 40 Mbps. On the other hand, the download bandwidth of the master device 110 is also determined in accordance with the actual transmission rate between it and the server 130.

If the file size to be downloaded is 200 MB, and the download bandwidths of the master device 110 and the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 are 40 Mbps, 30 Mbps, 20 Mbps, and 10 Mbps, respectively, the master device 110 allocates each The ratio at which the device downloads the file. That is, the master device 110 can allocate itself to download 40% of the file (ie, 200×40/(40+30+20+10)=80 MB), and the peripheral device 120_1 allocates the file. 30% (ie 200×30/(40+30+20+10)=60 MB), and the proportion of downloaded files allocated by peripheral devices 120_2 and 120_3 can be analogized to 20% (40 MB) and 10 in this way. % (20 MB). Thereafter, the master device 110 divides the file into a plurality of corresponding segments according to the download bandwidth ratio, and allocates segments of the files to itself and the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3.

After the master device 110 determines the file download segment allocated by itself and the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3, the segment information can be transmitted through the connection between the host device 110 and the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 (for example, the network address of the file) The address, the allocated file segment, and the size of the file segment are transmitted to the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3. Thereafter, the master device 110 and the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 can download the segments from the server 130 according to the assigned segments.

The assigned files are completed in the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 respectively. After the segment download, a notification can be transmitted to the master device 110 through the connection with the master device 110, and the downloaded file segment can be transmitted to the master device 110. In contrast, the master device 110 receives the file segments transmitted from the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3, and merges with the file segments downloaded by itself to obtain the files (step S204).

In another embodiment, the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 can immediately transmit the downloaded partial file segments to the host device 110 during the download of the file segment, thereby providing the possibility for the master device 110 to open or play the file instantly. In addition, the order of the file segments downloaded by each device may also be determined according to the download bandwidth of each device. For example, if the download bandwidth of the peripheral device 120_1 is large, and when the main control device 110 needs to use the file (for example, playing a movie or music) in an instant, the main control device 110 can timely allocate the segment in front of the file to the periphery. The device 120_1 performs downloading. While downloading the file segment, the peripheral device 120_1 also transmits the downloaded partial file segment to the main control device 110, so that the user of the main control device 110 can watch the movie or listen to the music in real time. In other words, the peripheral device 120_1 can transmit the downloaded file segment to the main control device 110 without waiting for the download of the entire file segment to be completed, so that the main control device 110 can receive the peripheral device immediately when performing, for example, an operation of playing a movie. 120_1 The downloaded file segment plays the movie.

In short, when downloading the file from the server 130, the main control device 110 can allocate a part of the file to the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 through the connection with the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3, so that the main control device The device 110 and the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 can simultaneously access the file Different pieces of the case are downloaded. Thereafter, the master device 110 can receive the segments downloaded by the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 and combine the segments to complete the download of the file. In this way, the manner of the embodiment of the present invention can more fully utilize the transmission resources of the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3, so that the file download can achieve better efficiency than the manner in which the file is downloaded by the master device 110 alone.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a file collaborative downloading apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the file collaborative downloading device 300 may be the specific implementing device of the master device 110 in the embodiment of FIG. 1. Hereinafter, the components in the file collaborative downloading device 300 are described with the respective devices in FIG. The corresponding action. The file collaborative downloading device 300 includes a wireless communication module 312, a network module 314, a download distribution module 316, and a file merge module 318. The wireless communication module 312 is configured to establish a connection with the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3, respectively. The network module 314 is configured to connect to the server 130 via the network 140. The download distribution module 316 is configured to download the segments of the file from the server 130 according to the download bandwidth of the network module 314 and the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3, and download the segments of the file in cooperation with the network module 314 and the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3. file. The file merge module 318 is configured to receive the segments downloaded by the peripheral devices 120_1~120_3 through the connection, and merge with the segments downloaded by the network module 314 to obtain the files.

In summary, the present invention provides a file collaborative downloading system, apparatus, and method thereof, such that when the main control device downloads a file, a part of the file may be distributed to other peripheral devices for collaborative downloading. In addition, the master device can merge the file segments downloaded by each peripheral device to obtain a complete file. case. By making full use of the transmission resources of other peripheral devices, the main control device can achieve better efficiency when downloading the file, thereby improving the convenience of use.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention, and any one of ordinary skill in the art can make some modifications and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

100‧‧‧File Collaborative Download System

110‧‧‧Master control unit

120_1~120_3‧‧‧ peripheral devices

130‧‧‧Server

140‧‧‧Network

300‧‧‧File Collaborative Download Device

312‧‧‧Wireless communication module

314‧‧‧Network Module

316‧‧‧Download distribution module

318‧‧‧File merge module

S201~S204‧‧‧Steps

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a file collaborative download system downloading a file from a server according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a file collaborative downloading method according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a file collaborative downloading apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.

100‧‧‧File Collaborative Download System

110‧‧‧Master control unit

120_1~120_3‧‧‧ peripheral devices

130‧‧‧Server

140‧‧‧Network

Claims (18)

A file collaborative downloading system includes: at least one peripheral device connecting a server through a network; and a master device connecting the server through the network and establishing a connection with the at least one peripheral device respectively. And according to a download bandwidth of the main control device and each of the peripheral devices, the main control device and each of the peripheral devices are allocated to download a segment of a file from the server to jointly download the file, and receive each of the peripherals. The segment downloaded by the device is merged with the segment downloaded by the master device to obtain the file. The file collaborative downloading system of claim 1, wherein the master device establishes the connection with the at least one peripheral device by using a wireless communication technology, and the wireless communication technology includes near field communication (Near Field Communication, NFC), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) or Bluetooth. The file collaborative downloading system of claim 2, wherein the master device transmits the connection information to each of the peripheral devices by using the near field communication, so that each of the peripheral devices utilizes the connection information and The master device establishes a connection for the wireless compatible authentication. The file collaborative downloading system of claim 1, wherein the master device comprises transmitting, by the connection, the information of the segment to the peripheral devices, such that each of the peripheral devices is based on the segment Information downloads the fragment of the file from the server. The file collaborative downloading system of claim 1, wherein the main control device comprises: according to the main control device and each of the peripheral devices A ratio of the download bandwidth is set, and the file is divided into a plurality of segments to allocate the segment downloaded by the master device and each of the peripheral devices. The file collaborative downloading system of claim 1, wherein each of the peripheral devices includes transmitting a notification to the master device via the connection when the download of the segment is completed, and transmitting the downloaded segment To the master device. A file collaborative downloading device includes: a network module for connecting a server through a network; a wireless communication module respectively establishing a connection with at least one peripheral device; and a download distribution module according to the network a download bandwidth of the module and each of the peripheral devices, assigning the network module and each of the peripheral devices to download a segment of a file from the server to jointly download the file; and a file merge module The connection receives the segment downloaded by each of the peripheral devices and merges with the segment downloaded by the network module to obtain the file. The file collaborative downloading device of claim 7, wherein the wireless communication module establishes the connection with the at least one peripheral device by using a wireless communication technology, the wireless communication technology including near field communication and wireless compatibility. Certification or Bluetooth. The file collaborative downloading device of claim 8, wherein the wireless communication module transmits the connection information to each of the peripheral devices by using the near field communication, so that each of the peripheral devices utilizes the connection information. Establishing the connection of the wireless compatible authentication with the wireless communication module. The file collaborative downloading device of claim 7, wherein the wireless communication module includes transmitting, by the connection, the information of the segment to the peripheral devices, so that each of the peripheral devices according to the segment The information from the server downloads the fragment of the file. The file collaborative downloading device of claim 7, wherein the downloading and distributing module comprises: dividing the file into a plurality of proportions according to the downloading bandwidth of the network module and each of the peripheral devices; Fragment to allocate the network module and the segment downloaded by each of the peripheral devices. The file collaborative downloading device of claim 7, wherein each of the peripheral devices includes transmitting a notification to the wireless communication module through the connection when the download of the segment is completed, and transmitting the downloaded Fragment to the file merge module. A file collaborative downloading method, wherein a master device and a at least one peripheral device cooperate to download a file on a server, the method comprising the steps of: connecting the server through a network; respectively, and the at least one peripheral device Establishing a connection; according to a download bandwidth of the main control device and each of the peripheral devices, allocating the master device and each of the peripheral devices to download a segment of the file from the server to jointly download the file; The segment downloaded by each of the peripheral devices is received and merged with the segment downloaded by the master device to obtain the file. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of establishing the connection with the at least one peripheral device comprises using a wireless communication The technology establishes the connection with the at least one peripheral device, the wireless communication technology including near field communication, wireless compatible authentication or Bluetooth. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of establishing the connection with the at least one peripheral device by using the wireless communication technology comprises: transmitting the connection information to each of the peripheral devices by using the near field communication, so that Each of the peripheral devices establishes the connection of the wireless compatible authentication with the master device by using the connection information. The method of claim 13, wherein the main control device and each of the peripheral devices are configured to download the file from the server according to the download bandwidth of the main control device and each of the peripheral devices. The step of cooperatively downloading the file includes: transmitting, by the connection, the information of the allocated segment to each of the peripheral devices, so that each of the peripheral devices downloads the segment of the file from the server according to the information of the segment. . The method of claim 13, wherein the main control device and each of the peripheral devices are configured to download the file from the server according to the download bandwidth of the main control device and each of the peripheral devices. The step of cooperatively downloading the file includes: dividing the file into a plurality of segments according to a ratio of the download bandwidth of the master device and each of the peripheral devices, to allocate the master device and each of the perimeters The clip downloaded by the device. The method of claim 13, wherein before the step of receiving the segment downloaded by each of the peripheral devices, the method further comprises: Receiving, by the connection, a notification from each of the peripheral devices, the segment downloaded by each of the peripheral devices is received, wherein the notification is sent by each of the peripheral devices when the download of the segment is completed.