WO2022254730A1

WO2022254730A1 - Video-distribution control device, video-distribution control method, and program

Info

Publication number: WO2022254730A1
Application number: PCT/JP2021/021460
Authority: WO
Inventors: 裕之北田; 隆文奥山
Original assignee: 日本電信電話株式会社
Priority date: 2021-06-04
Filing date: 2021-06-04
Publication date: 2022-12-08
Also published as: JPWO2022254730A1

Abstract

A video-distribution control device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a determination unit that determines, upon receiving a request for viewing video content from a client terminal, whether or not it is possible to distribute the video content with a quality that satisfies a distribution requirement for the video content on the basis of the distribution requirement and the status of usage of a bandwidth resource of a network; an optimization unit that optimizes the status of usage of the bandwidth resource when it is not determined that it is possible to distribute the video content with the quality that satisfies the distribution requirement; and a resource allocation unit that allocates a bandwidth resource for distributing the video content with the quality that satisfies the distribution requirement when it is determined that it is possible to distribute the video content with the quality, wherein when the status of usage of the bandwidth resource has been optimized, the determination unit determines whether or not it is possible to distribute the video content with the quality that satisfies the distribution requirement on the basis of the distribution requirement and the status of usage of the bandwidth resource after the optimization.

Description

Video distribution control device, video distribution control method, and program

The present invention relates to a video distribution control device, a video distribution control method, and a program.

In recent years, there have been concerns about a decline in service levels and viewing quality due to increased demand and higher quality video distribution services, which put pressure on bandwidth.

Protocols used in streaming distribution include RTMP (Real-Time Messaging Protocol) and WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication). These protocols are often used for live distribution where low latency is required. It is difficult to control according to Therefore, the service level and viewing quality differ depending on the viewing environment and network environment of each client terminal that views the content.

In addition, HTTP Streaming, which distributes video over HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), is also widely used, and MPEG-DASH and HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) are known as representative protocols for realizing HTTP Streaming. there is A function called ABR (Adaptive Bit-Rate) is implemented in these protocols. By dynamically selecting an appropriate bit rate, it is possible to stably reproduce video with the highest possible quality. As a result, HTTP Streaming prevents the deterioration of the service level and viewing quality described above.

However, in video distribution using ABR, there is a concern that the bit rate selected by the client terminal will be changed frequently when the network is close to congested, and the service level and viewing quality will deteriorate. In addition, in ABR, the bit rate dynamically changes according to the autonomous operation of the client terminal, so the content provider cannot manage the service level. In particular, when looking at the entire client terminal, ABR is controlled so as to have a uniform throughput.

On the other hand, distributed content often does not always require uniform control. For example, even if the bit rate of content for which quality is not emphasized is lowered, the overall service level is improved by increasing the bit rate of content for which quality is emphasized. Therefore, it is desirable to control the bandwidth (assigned bandwidth) used for delivering each content based on the delivery requirements of the content provider so that the final viewing state satisfies the requirements.

An embodiment of the present invention has been made in view of the above points, and aims to control the content allocation bandwidth according to the content distribution requirements and network conditions.

To achieve the above object, when a video content viewing request is received from a client terminal, a video distribution control device according to one embodiment, based on the video content distribution requirements and the usage status of network bandwidth resources, a determining unit that determines whether the video content can be distributed with a quality that satisfies distribution requirements; an optimizing unit for optimizing usage; and a resource allocation unit for allocating band resources for distributing the video content with the quality when it is determined that the video content can be distributed with the quality that satisfies the distribution requirements. and, when the usage status of the bandwidth resources is optimized, the determination unit is configured to satisfy the distribution requirements based on the distribution requirements and the usage status of the bandwidth resources after optimization. determines whether or not the video content can be distributed.

Content distribution bandwidth can be controlled according to content distribution requirements and network conditions.

It is a figure showing an example of the whole composition of the video distribution system concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the video distribution control apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure showing an example of functional composition of a video distribution control device concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of resource contract information. It is a figure which shows an example of delivery requirement information. It is a figure which shows an example of band allocation information. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of processing when registering resource contract information and delivery requirement information; FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of calculation resource control information. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of band resource control information; 10 is a flowchart (1/2) showing an example of processing when performing distribution control; 10 is a flowchart (2/2) showing an example of processing when performing distribution control; It is a figure which shows an example of band information. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of band allocation request information; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of client control information;

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In this embodiment, when distributing video (content), it is possible to control the content allocation bandwidth (that is, the bandwidth used for distributing the content) according to the content distribution requirements and network conditions. video distribution system. At the same time, a case of controlling bandwidth resources allocated to content providers will also be described. Note that this bandwidth resource is the bandwidth that is currently allocated as a bandwidth that can be used for content distribution by the content provider, out of the bandwidth determined by the contract with the content provider (that is, the upper limit bandwidth). be.

<Overall Configuration of Video Distribution System>
FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a video distribution system according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the video distribution system according to the present embodiment is a distribution platform including a video distribution control device 10, a server control device 20, a network control device 30, a terminal control device 40, an encoding server 50, and a network 60. 70, a content provider 80, and a client terminal 90. Here, in FIG. 1, the solid line represents the transmission/reception relationship of content data (video data), and the dashed line represents the transmission/reception relationship of data other than content data (various data including control data, etc.).

The video distribution control device 10 is a computer or computer system such as a general-purpose server that controls the content allocation bandwidth according to content distribution requirement information and network conditions. The distribution requirement information is information representing content distribution requirements (for example, whether or not to use stable distribution control, bit rate, etc.).

In response to a request from the video distribution control device 10, the server control device 20 secures bandwidth resources and computational resources of the content provider, allocates bandwidth used for content distribution, and changes the allocated bandwidth. A computer or computer system such as a general-purpose server. A computational resource is a computational resource (for example, the number of CPUs (Central Processing Units), etc.) used for encoding content in the encoding server 50 .

The network control device 30 is a general-purpose server or the like that secures bandwidth resources for content providers, allocates bandwidths used for content distribution, and changes the allocated bandwidths in response to requests from the video distribution control device 10. computer or computer system.

The terminal control device 40 is a computer or computer system such as a general-purpose server that controls image quality (bit rate and resolution) on the client terminal 90 side in response to requests from the video distribution control device 10 .

The encoding server 50 is a computer or computer system such as a general-purpose server that encodes the content of the content provider 80 and distributes it to the client terminal 90 via the network 60 .

The network 60 is a communication network used to distribute content (more precisely, encoded content data). It is assumed that the network 60 is a communication network capable of guaranteeing bandwidth.

The content provider 80 is a computer or computer system such as a general-purpose server that transmits encoded and distributed content to the encoding server 50 and transmits (notifies) the video distribution control device 10 of resource contract information and distribution requirement information. be. The resource contract information is information representing the upper limit of bandwidth defined in the contract with the content provider 80 concerned.

The client terminal 90 is a terminal (for example, personal computer, smartphone, tablet terminal, etc.) that decodes the content distributed from the encoding server 50 and reproduces the content.

It should be noted that the overall configuration of the video distribution system shown in FIG. 1 is an example, and other configurations may be used. For example, the example shown in FIG. 1 shows a configuration in which both the server control device 20 and the network control device 30 have functions of securing bandwidth resources and allocating and changing bandwidth resources. The network controller 30 may be omitted if the device 20 has it.

<Hardware Configuration of Video Distribution Control Device 10>
FIG. 2 shows the hardware configuration of the video distribution control device 10 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the video distribution control device 10 according to the present embodiment is realized by the hardware configuration of a general computer or computer system such as a general-purpose server. It has an F 103 , a communication I/F 104 , a processor 105 and a memory device 106 . Each of these pieces of hardware is communicably connected via a bus 107 .

The input device 101 is, for example, a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, various physical buttons, and the like. The display device 102 is, for example, a display. Note that the video distribution control device 10 may not have at least one of the input device 101 and the display device 102, for example.

The external I/F 103 is an interface with an external device such as the recording medium 103a. The video distribution control device 10 can perform reading, writing, etc. of the recording medium 103 a via the external I/F 103 . Examples of the recording medium 103a include CD (Compact Disc), DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), SD memory card (Secure Digital memory card), USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory card, and the like.

The communication I/F 104 is used by the video distribution control device 10 to communicate with other devices and systems (for example, the server control device 20, the network control device 30, the terminal control device 40, the content provider 80, the client terminal 90, etc.). interface. The processor 105 is, for example, various arithmetic units such as a CPU and a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). The memory device 106 is, for example, various storage devices such as HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive), flash memory, RAM (Random Access Memory), and ROM (Read Only Memory).

The video distribution control device 10 according to the present embodiment has the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 2, so that it can implement various processes described later. Note that the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 2 is an example, and the video distribution control device 10 may have a plurality of processors 105 or a plurality of memory devices 106, for example. Also, the video distribution control device 10 may have, for example, various hardware other than the illustrated hardware.

<Functional Configuration of Video Distribution Control Device 10>
FIG. 3 shows the functional configuration of the video distribution control device 10 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3 , the video distribution control device 10 according to this embodiment has a registration unit 201 , a control unit 202 , a band information acquisition unit 203 and a storage unit 204 . Note that the registration unit 201, the control unit 202, and the band information acquisition unit 203 are implemented by, for example, processing that one or more programs installed in the video distribution control device 10 causes the processor 105 to execute. Also, the storage unit 204 is realized by the memory device 106, for example. However, the storage unit 204 may be implemented by, for example, a database server or the like connected to the video distribution control device 10 via a communication network.

Upon receiving resource contract information and distribution requirement information from the content provider 80 , the registration section 201 stores (registers) these resource contract information and distribution requirement information in the storage section 204 .

When the resource contract information and the distribution requirement information are registered, the control unit 202 requests the server control device 20 to secure computational resources for the content provider 80, and secures bandwidth resources to the server control device 20 and the network control device. Requires at least one of 30.

In addition, when receiving a viewing request (that is, a request to start viewing content) from the client terminal 90, the control unit 202 controls the bandwidth resource, the allocation bandwidth of each content, etc. according to the distribution requirement information of the content and the situation of the network 60. to at least one of the server control device 20 and the network control device 30. Furthermore, the control unit 202 requests the terminal control device 40 to change the image quality (bit rate and resolution) of the client terminal 90 to which each content is delivered.

Note that if both the server control device 20 and the network control device 30 have the functions of securing bandwidth resources and allocating and changing bandwidth resources, the control unit 202 controls either or both of these devices. Sends requests for bandwidth resource allocation, bandwidth allocation/modification, etc. On the other hand, if only one of the devices has the function, the control unit 202 transmits the request only to the device that has the function.

The bandwidth information acquisition unit 203 acquires bandwidth information from the server control device 20 and the network control device 30 . The band information is information representing the band currently used for content distribution by the content provider 80 .

Note that if both the server control device 20 and the network control device 30 have the functions of securing bandwidth resources and allocating and changing bandwidth resources, the bandwidth information acquisition unit 203 can be either one of these devices or Get bandwidth information from both. On the other hand, if only one of the devices has the function, the band information acquisition unit 203 acquires band information from the device having the function.

The storage unit 204 stores various information such as resource contract information, distribution requirement information, and band allocation information. Bandwidth allocation information is information representing content distributed in each session, its allocated bandwidth, distribution source, distribution destination, and the like. A session is a communication path used for content distribution between the encoding server 50 and the client terminal 90 .

≪Resource contract information≫
An example of resource contract information is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, each piece of resource contract information includes a content provider ID, a guaranteed upper limit of bandwidth, and an upper limit of usable bandwidth. The content provider ID is identification information that identifies the content provider 80 . The bandwidth guaranteeable upper limit is the upper limit of the guaranteed bandwidth of the content provider 80 (that is, the bandwidth in which the lower limit of the communication speed is guaranteed). The usable band upper limit is the upper limit of the band that the content provider 80 can use.

For example, the resource contract information on the first line in the example shown in FIG. 10 Gbps”.

≪Distribution requirement information≫
An example of distribution requirement information is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, each distribution requirement information includes content provider ID, content ID, stability, image quality, and delay. The content ID is identification information that identifies content. Stability, image quality, and delay are the delivery requirements for the content. Stability is a requirement that expresses the presence or absence of stable delivery control (i.e., whether or not to deliver in a guaranteed bandwidth), image quality is a requirement related to bit rate and resolution, and delay. is a requirement for delivery delay. For image quality, there may be multiple bit rates and resolutions that can be used when distributing the content.

For example, the distribution requirement information on the first line in the example shown in FIG. 5 is the content provider ID "a" and the content ID "1". This indicates that the distribution requirement information is a distribution requirement for the content identified by the content ID "1", and the content is the content of the content provider 80 identified by the content provider ID "a". represents something. The delivery requirements for the content are: stability "with stable delivery control", image quality "0.5 Mbps (360p/low compression), 5 Mbps (1080p/low compression), 10 Mbps (2160p/high compression)", delay "60 s or less”. The image quality "0.5Mbps (360p/low compression), 5Mbps (1080p/low compression), 10Mbps (2160p/high compression)" corresponds to the image quality "0.5Mbps (360p/low compression)", "5Mbps (1080p /low compression)” or “10 Mbps (2160p/high compression)” is available.

≪Bandwidth allocation information≫
An example of band allocation information is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, each piece of band allocation information includes session ID, content ID, stability, allocated band, communication information, and distribution start time. A session ID is identification information that identifies a session between the encoding server 50 and the client terminal 90 . Stability is the presence or absence of stable distribution control, allocated bandwidth is the bandwidth allocated to the session, communication information is information indicating the content distribution source (encoding server 50) and distribution destination (client terminal 90), and distribution start time is This is information indicating the time (date and time) when the distribution of the content was started.

For example, the bandwidth allocation information on the first line in the example shown in FIG. 10.10.10.x, delivery destination: 202.100.100.5", and delivery start time "yyyy/mm/dd 20:22:30".

<Processing when registering resource contract information and delivery requirement information>
Processing for registering resource contract information and distribution requirement information of a content provider 80 will be described with reference to FIG. In the following, as an example, it is assumed that the resource contract information and distribution requirement information for the content provider ID "a" have not been registered, and the case of registering these resource contract information and distribution requirement information will be described.

First, the registration unit 201 receives resource contract information and distribution requirement information from the content provider 80 (step S101). At this time, a plurality of delivery requirement information (that is, delivery requirement information for each of a plurality of contents) may be received. For the sake of simplicity, it is assumed below that distribution requirement information for a certain piece of content has been received.

Next, the registration unit 201 stores the resource contract information and distribution requirement information received in step S101 in the storage unit 204 (step S102). As a result, the resource contract information and distribution requirement information are registered.

Next, the control unit 202 calculates calculation resources (for example, the number of CPUs (more precisely, the number of required CPU cores)) from the image quality and the delay included in the distribution requirement information received in step S101, and Calculation resource control information for securing calculation resources is transmitted to the server control device 20 (step S103). An example of computational resource control information is shown in FIG. The computational resource control information shown in FIG. 8 is information for securing the number of CPUs “2” as computational resources for the content with the content ID “1”. As a result, the computational resources of the encoding server 50 are secured by the server control device 20 . When a plurality of pieces of distribution requirement information are received in step S101 above, calculation resources are calculated and secured for each piece of distribution requirement information (that is, for each content).

Here, the calculation resource of each content may be calculated by a known method. If the highest bit rate included in is R [Mbps] and the number of parallel processes is x [pieces], it is possible to calculate the minimum x that satisfies D>R/(Pxx) as the computational resource.

Next, based on the resource contract information received in step S101, the control unit 202 transmits band resource control information for securing band resources to at least one of the server control device 20 and the network control device 30 ( step S104). An example of band resource control information is shown in FIG. The bandwidth resource control information shown in FIG. 9 is information for securing, as bandwidth resources, a guaranteed bandwidth of "1 Gbps" and a bandwidth of "10 Gbps" for the content provider 80 with the content provider ID "a". Thereby, at least one of the server control device 20 and the network control device 30 secures the band resource of the network 60 .

Here, the bandwidth resource of each content provider 80 may be a guaranteed bandwidth equal to or less than the guaranteed bandwidth upper limit included in the resource contract information and a bandwidth equal to or less than the usable bandwidth upper limit. The example shown in FIG. 9 is bandwidth resource control information when the guaranteed bandwidth upper limit and the usable bandwidth upper limit included in the resource contract information are used as they are as the guaranteed bandwidth and bandwidth of the bandwidth resource.

As described above, when receiving the resource contract information and the distribution requirement information from the content provider 80, the video distribution control device 10 according to the present embodiment secures computational resources and bandwidth resources to be used for distributing the content of the content provider 80. to control. In particular, when securing computational resources, an appropriate number of CPUs is secured so as to satisfy a delay requirement, which is one of content delivery requirements.

<Processing when performing distribution control>
Processing for controlling delivery of certain content in response to a request from the client terminal 90 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG.

First, the control unit 202 receives a viewing request from the client terminal 90 via the terminal control device 40 (step S201). The viewing request includes information indicating the client terminal 90 (eg, IP (Internet Protocol) address, terminal ID, etc.), content ID of the content desired to be viewed on the client terminal 90, and the like. Note that the control unit 202 may directly receive the viewing request from the client terminal 90 without going through the terminal control device 40 .

Next, the control unit 202 acquires the highest image quality bit rate of the content related to the viewing request received in step S201 (step S202). That is, the control unit 202 refers to the distribution requirement information of the content ID included in the viewing request among the distribution requirement information stored in the storage unit 204, and out of the bit rate included in the image quality of the distribution requirement information. to get the highest bitrate of

Next, the control unit 202 determines whether or not the content related to the viewing request requires stable distribution control (step S203). This can be determined by referring to the stability value of the distribution requirement information of the content ID included in the viewing request.

If it is determined in step S203 above that the content requires stable distribution control, the bandwidth information acquisition unit 203 causes at least one of the server control device 20 and the network control device 30 to provide the content related to the viewing request. Bandwidth information about the provider 80 is acquired (step S204). An example of band information is shown in FIG. The bandwidth information shown in FIG. 12 is bandwidth information about the content provider 80 with the content provider ID “a”, and has a line bandwidth of “remaining bandwidth: 500 Mbps, remaining guaranteed bandwidth: 100 Mbps”. This indicates that the remaining 500 Mbps of the non-guaranteed band and the remaining 100 Mbps of the guaranteed band can be used when distributing the content of the content provider 80 with the content provider ID "a".

Next, the control unit 202 refers to the bandwidth information acquired in step S204 described above, and if "remaining guaranteed bandwidth≧maximum image quality bit rate of the content related to the viewing request", the maximum image quality bit rate is a guaranteed band (step S205). That is, the control unit 202 transmits band allocation request information for allocating a guaranteed band at the bit rate to at least one of the server control device 20 and the network control device 30 . An example of bandwidth allocation request information is shown in FIG. The bandwidth allocation information shown in FIG. 13 includes a content provider ID "a", communication information "source: 10.10.10.x, destination: 202.100.100.5", line bandwidth "guaranteed bandwidth: 10 Mbps "It is included. This specifies that the guaranteed bandwidth “10 Mbps” of the bandwidth resources used for content distribution with the content provider ID “a” is set to “10.10.10.x” from the source and “202.100.100.5” to the destination. ” indicates that it is a request to allocate to a session.

It should be noted that if "remaining guaranteed bandwidth < bit rate of highest image quality of content requested for viewing", the guaranteed bandwidth is not allocated in step S205 above.

On the other hand, if it is not determined in step S203 that the content requires stable distribution control, the bandwidth information acquisition unit 203 obtains at least Bandwidth information on the content provider 80 that provides the content related to the viewing request is acquired from one side (step S206).

Next, the control unit 202 refers to the band information acquired in step S206 described above, and if "remaining band ≥ highest image quality bit rate of the content related to the viewing request", the highest image quality bit rate is used. A band is allocated (step S207). That is, the control unit 202 transmits band allocation request information for allocating a band at the bit rate to at least one of the server control device 20 and the network control device 30 . Although an example of this bandwidth allocation request information is omitted, for example, the line bandwidth of the bandwidth allocation request information shown in FIG. 13 is set to "bandwidth: 10 Mbps".

It should be noted that if "remaining bandwidth < bit rate of highest image quality of content requested for viewing", no bandwidth is allocated in step S207.

Following step S205 or step S207 above, the control unit 202 determines whether or not the bandwidth allocation for the content requested for viewing has been completed (step S208).

If it is determined that the bandwidth allocation is not completed in step S208, the control unit 202 optimizes the bandwidth resources of the content provider 80 that provides the content related to the viewing request by the following procedures 1 to 3 ( step S209). Note that, in the procedures 1 to 3 below, as an example, it is assumed that the stability of the distribution requirement information of the content related to the viewing request is "no stable distribution control".

Procedure 1: Referring to the band allocation information and the distribution requirement information stored in the storage unit 204, among the sessions used for distribution of the content of the content provider 80, the stable distribution control is not performed and the distribution Extract sessions that deliver content that can be reduced in quality while meeting the requirements.

Content whose image quality can be lowered means that there is a bit rate that is one level lower than the bit rate of the current allocated band in the image quality of the distribution requirement information of the content. For example, the image quality of distribution requirement information for certain content is "0.5 Mbps (360p/low compression), 5 Mbps (1080p/low compression), 10 Mbps (2160p/high compression)", and the bit rate of the current allocated band is In the case of "5 Mbps", since there is a bit rate "0.5 Mbps" that is one lower, the content can be reduced in image quality. On the other hand, for example, if the bit rate of the current allocated band is "0.5 Mbps", the image quality cannot be lowered because there is no bit rate lower by one, and the content for which the image quality can be lowered is not.

Procedure 2: By referring to the bandwidth allocation information stored in the storage unit 204, among the sessions extracted in Procedure 1 above, the image quality of the content of the session with the longest viewing time is reduced by one. That is, the content is allocated to a band with a bit rate one lower than the current bit rate. This can be done by transmitting to at least one of the server control device 20 and the network control device 30 band allocation request information for allocating a band at a bit rate that is one bit lower. At this time, among the band allocation information stored in the storage unit 204, the allocated band of the band allocation information for the session is also updated.

As a result, if the bit rate that is one lower than the current bit rate is Δ, the remaining bandwidth will increase by Δ.

Procedure 3: When the remaining bandwidth becomes available for allocating the content related to the viewing request by the above procedure 2, the optimization of the bandwidth resource is terminated. On the other hand, if the remaining bandwidth is not enough to allocate the content requested for viewing, the process returns to step 1 above. Also, when no session is extracted in the above procedure 1 (that is, when there is no more content for which image quality can be lowered), optimization of band resources is terminated.

By replacing "without stable delivery control" in procedure 1 with "with stable delivery control" and "remaining bandwidth" in

procedures

2 and 3 with "remaining guaranteed bandwidth", the above procedures 1 to 3 are equivalent to viewing requests. The same can be applied to the case where the stability of the distribution requirement information of the content is "with stable distribution control". However, when "with stable delivery control", similarly in steps S210 and S212 described later, "remaining bandwidth" is read as "remaining guaranteed bandwidth".

Next, if "remaining bandwidth<bit rate of content related to viewing request", control unit 202 refers to distribution requirement information of content related to viewing request among distribution requirement information stored in storage unit 204. Then, the image quality of the content related to the viewing request is lowered by one (step S210). However, if the image quality of the content related to the viewing request cannot be lowered any further, the image quality remains unchanged.

Next, the control unit 202 allocates a band at the bit rate of the current image quality when "remaining bandwidth≧bit rate of the content related to the viewing request" (step S211). That is, the control unit 202 transmits band allocation request information for allocating a band at the bit rate to at least one of the server control device 20 and the network control device 30 .

Next, the control unit 202 determines whether or not the bandwidth allocation for the requested content has been completed (step S212).

If it is not determined in step S212 that the bandwidth allocation has been completed, the control unit 202 selects, from among the resource contract information stored in the storage unit 204, the resource contract of the content provider 80 that provides the content related to the viewing request. By referring to the information, it is determined whether or not the bandwidth resource can be increased (step S213). Here, when the stability of the distribution requirement information of the content related to the viewing request is "with stable distribution control", it is used for the content distribution of the content provider 80 and the session with "with stable distribution control" When the sum of the allocated bandwidths is less than the bandwidth guaranteeable upper limit included in the resource contract information of the content provider 80, it is determined that the bandwidth resources can be increased; otherwise, it is determined that the bandwidth resources cannot be increased. be. Similarly, when the stability of the distribution requirement information of the content related to the viewing request is "no stable distribution control", it is used for the content distribution of the content provider 80 and the session "no stable distribution control". If the sum of the allocated bandwidths is less than the upper limit of the usable bandwidth included in the resource contract information of the content provider 80, it is determined that the bandwidth resources can be increased, and if not, it is determined that the bandwidth resources cannot be increased. be.

If it is determined in step S213 that the bandwidth resource can be increased, the control unit 202 sends bandwidth resource control information for securing additional bandwidth resources to at least one of the server controller 20 and the network controller 30. It transmits (step S214). If the stability of the content delivery requirement information related to the viewing request is "with stable delivery control", the guaranteed bandwidth is additionally secured, and if it is "without stable delivery control", the bandwidth that is not the guaranteed bandwidth is additionally secured. do. At this time, the amount of additional content to be secured may be determined in advance, or the content related to the viewing request may be additionally secured as much as possible to be allocated.

After step S214 is executed, the process returns to step S203, and steps after step S203 are executed again.

If it is not determined in step S213 that the bandwidth resource can be increased, the control unit 202 ends the process. In this case, the content cannot be distributed to the client terminal 90 due to lack of bandwidth resources. At this time, information indicating that the content cannot be distributed (for example, error information) may be transmitted to the client terminal 90 .

If it is determined in step S212 above that the bandwidth allocation has been completed, the control unit 202 controls the start of encoding of the content related to the viewing request (step S215). That is, the control unit 202 uses the image quality (bit rate and resolution) of the content related to the viewing request as an encoding parameter, and transmits a content delivery request including this encoding parameter to the server control device 20 . The content distribution request also includes, for example, content ID, stability, communication information (distribution source, distribution destination IP address), and the like. As a result, the encoding server 50 is controlled by the server control device 20, a session is established between the encoding server 50 and the client terminal 90 that made the viewing request, and encoding of the content is started on the encoding server 50 according to the encoding parameters. be done.

Next, the control unit 202 creates band allocation information for the session between the encoding server 50 and the client terminal 90 that made the viewing request, and stores it in the storage unit 204 (step S216).

Then, the control unit 202 refers to the band allocation information and the distribution requirement information stored in the storage unit 204, and refers to all the client terminals 90 to which the content of the content provider 80 that provides the content related to the viewing request is distributed. Image quality is controlled (step S217). That is, the control unit 202 transmits the client control information for reproducing the content with image quality (bit rate and resolution) corresponding to the allocated band according to the allocated band of the band allocation information including the content ID of the content provider 80. Send to the control device 40 . Accordingly, the terminal control device 40 controls the image quality of the content reproduced on each client terminal 90 . An example of client control information is shown in FIG. The client control information shown in FIG. 14 is information for controlling the image quality of content ID "1" to "5 Mbps (1080p/low compression)". The client control information may include information (for example, IP address, client ID, etc.) indicating the client terminal 90 to which the client control information is to be sent.

As described above, when receiving a viewing request from the client terminal 90, the video distribution control device 10 according to the present embodiment determines the image quality based on the content distribution requirements related to the viewing request so as to satisfy the distribution requirements. do. At this time, it is also possible to change the image quality of the content distributed in the existing session so as to satisfy the distribution requirements, or to increase the band resource. This makes it possible to deliver content that satisfies the delivery requirements desired by the content provider 80, compared to existing general video delivery under the same bandwidth resource environment. That is, for example, content that requires stable distribution is stably distributed, and content that requires high-quality distribution is distributed with high image quality. Content distribution that satisfies distribution requirements will be performed, and as a result, it will be possible to improve the service level and viewing quality.

The present invention is not limited to the specifically disclosed embodiments described above, and various modifications, alterations, combinations with known techniques, etc. are possible without departing from the scope of the claims. .

10 video distribution control device 20 server control device 30 network control device 40 terminal control device 50 encoding server 60 network 70 distribution platform 80 content provider 90 client terminal 101 input device 102 display device 103 external I/F
103a recording medium 104 communication I/F
105 processor 106 memory device 107 bus 201 registration unit 202 control unit 203 band information acquisition unit 204 storage unit

Claims

When a request for viewing video content is received from a client terminal, it is determined whether or not the video content can be distributed with a quality that satisfies the distribution requirements, based on the distribution requirements of the video content and the usage status of network bandwidth resources. a judgment unit for judging;
an optimization unit that optimizes the usage of the band resource when it is not determined that the video content can be distributed with a quality that satisfies the distribution requirements;
a resource allocation unit that allocates band resources for distributing the video content with the quality when it is determined that the video content can be distributed with the quality that satisfies the distribution requirements;
has
The determination unit is
When the usage status of the bandwidth resource is optimized, whether or not the video content can be delivered with a quality that satisfies the delivery requirement based on the delivery requirement and the usage status of the bandwidth resource after optimization. A video distribution control device that determines whether
multiple qualities are defined in said delivery requirements,
The determination unit is
If it is determined that the video content can not be distributed with one quality defined in the distribution requirements after the bandwidth resource usage status is optimized, a plurality of qualities defined in the distribution requirements. 2. The video distribution control device according to claim 1, which determines whether or not said video content can be distributed with one quality lower than said one quality.
The determination unit is
If it is not determined that the video content can be distributed with a quality that is one quality lower than the one quality, the available bandwidth resource can be increased based on contract information with the provider of the video content. determine whether it is possible,
The resource allocation unit
3. The video distribution control device according to claim 2, wherein said usable band resource is added when it is determined that said usable band resource can be increased.
The optimization unit
Extracting a session that satisfies the delivery requirements of the video content and is capable of lowering the quality of the video content from the sessions during which the video content is being delivered;
Decrease the quality of the video content distributed in the session with the longest elapsed time from the start of distribution among the extracted sessions,
4. The video distribution control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which optimizes the utilization of said band resource by doing so.
The optimization unit
Until a bandwidth resource capable of allocating the video content related to the viewing request is generated, or until a session that satisfies the distribution requirements of the video content and can lower the quality of the video content is no longer extracted 5. Optimizing the usage of band resources by repeatedly extracting a session and lowering the quality of the video content being distributed in the session with the longest elapsed time from the start of distribution, according to claim 4 Video distribution control device.
The video distribution control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the distribution requirements are notified from a provider of the video content.
When a request for viewing video content is received from a client terminal, it is determined whether or not the video content can be distributed with a quality that satisfies the distribution requirements, based on the distribution requirements of the video content and the usage status of network bandwidth resources. Judgment procedure for judging,
an optimization procedure for optimizing the usage of the band resource if it is not determined that the video content can be distributed with a quality that satisfies the distribution requirements;
a resource allocation procedure for allocating band resources for distributing the video content with the quality when it is determined that the video content can be distributed with the quality that satisfies the distribution requirements;
is executed by the computer and
The determination procedure is
When the usage status of the bandwidth resource is optimized, whether or not the video content can be delivered with a quality that satisfies the delivery requirement based on the delivery requirement and the usage status of the bandwidth resource after optimization. A video distribution control method for determining whether
A program that causes a computer to function as the video distribution control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.