JPH04205171A - Distributed database search method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a database search system that targets multiple media data such as audio, images, text, etc. This paper relates to an integrated multimedia data retrieval method for the system.

In particular, the present invention relates to a distributed database search method that is effective for a system that integrally searches/displays individual databases such as audio, image, text, etc. created for educational purposes.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a filing system that uses different database filing devices is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 116249/1983.
As shown in the publication, data search, database access, control, data transfer to the search terminal, and communication procedures with the parent terminal are all centrally managed by the host computer, and different database filing devices are It was configured to output data instructed from a search control device to a terminal via a host computer.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the above filing system, when realizing a multimedia data search/filing system that effectively uses existing database filing devices, the host computer that controls the system has interfaces and control functions with multiple database filing devices, and The data transfer processing function of the media is required,
The load on the host computer is heavy and processing capacity cannot be increased.

Furthermore, since communication between the database and the host computer is used for control and the transfer of the data itself, a high-speed, large-capacity network is required to realize a wide-area search system in which database devices are distributed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and provide a distributed database search method that can combine data from a plurality of distributed media and handle it as integrated multimedia data.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention connects each database filing device and search input/output terminal with a multimedia network that can simultaneously transmit synchronous data such as audio and video, and data such as text and images. death,
A communication control means is provided between the search input/output terminal and each database filing device, and the search control device is provided with a data address table of all database filing devices for search, and the search from the search input/output terminal is provided with a communication control means. By searching the address table of each database filing device according to the instructions, the database filing device that stores the necessary data and the address that stores that data are selected and transferred to the search input/output terminal. Based on the received address, the output terminal automatically directly accesses the database filing device according to the data access procedure of each database filing device, transfers the data, and displays the data. Alternatively, the search control device directly instructs the control unit of the database filing device according to the searched address, and instructs the search input/output terminal to output data corresponding to the search address to the search input/output terminal. Transfer data to your device,
It is designed to be displayed.

In other words, the data itself is transferred automatically between the search input/output terminal and each database filing device, the search and data transmission are controlled by the search control device, and the user only needs one search instruction. By doing so, it is possible to perform searches from multiple database filing devices.

[Effect]

A search input/output terminal that has a data communication function with each database filing device and a multimedia-compatible data communication line interface that can simultaneously communicate media such as images, audio, text, and data is a multimedia terminal with sufficient transmission capacity. It is logically connected to the database filing device and search control device through a media-compatible LAN or multimedia network such as exchange/transmission equipment, and data search instructions are input by the user from the search input/output terminal, and each database Each database filing device corresponding to a search instruction from a search input/output terminal and the data storage device therein are searched by a search control device having a table for managing data storage addresses in the database.

In order to transfer all searched addresses to the search input/output terminal and control data output synchronization at the search input/output terminal, the search input is performed based on the notified addresses according to the predetermined database access order. The output terminal automatically accesses the database filing device in turn and requests data.

The database filing device transfers the data at the designated address, and the search input/output terminal receives and displays the data. As a result, the synchronization of each data output is adjusted at the search input/output terminal.

Furthermore, if it is known that some of the communication paths to the database filing device that outputs synchronously are not secured and some data cannot be received, the search input/output terminal has already been secured. It is possible to make adjustments when a part of the data is missing by stopping the search operation of the search input/output terminal when the line is blocked without receiving data from the communication channel.

Also, management of storage addresses for stored data.

Changes can be made by simply modifying or changing the data table in the search control device, and since the search input/output terminal has a data communication procedure with each database filing device, the functions of the existing database filing device can be used as is. The user can perform a search with just one search instruction.

In addition, the search control device communicates with the network control unit, connects the search input/output terminal that has made the search request, and uses the communication means with the database filing device to directly transfer the address searched by the search control device to the database. By instructing the filing device to transfer corresponding data to the search input/output terminal, each data can be displayed on the search input/output terminal in the order instructed by the search control device.

Furthermore, by storing the combination of the database filing device and data address that has been searched in the search input/output terminal, the database filing device can be accessed directly and the search control device can be used for searching. Communication can be omitted and high-speed response can be achieved.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be explained in detail below.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment in which a star type switching system and a slotted ring type multimedia LAN are used as a multimedia network.

FIG. 2 shows a table structure of data storage addresses used for searching in this embodiment.

FIG. 3, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5 show the communication procedure between the search input/output terminal and the database filing device during this search.

A first embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3.

When performing a search, the search input/output terminal 1 is initialized to a predetermined initial state by a series of initial setting operations or by downloading from the search control device 7 after connecting to the search control device 7. Show search menu.

This corresponds one-to-one to the code in the search menu in FIG.

Next, the user selects this menu and inputs the menu code once from the search input/output terminal 1, and the search input/output terminal 1 assumes the selected search menu number, for example ■ in this case. . In this case, voice, data,
Multimedia communication channel using one channel for data transfer of multimedia communication channel capable of transmitting image multimedia data2. It is connected to the demultiplexer 41 of the digital exchange 4 via the multimedia backbone LAN 3. If the search input/output terminal 1 and the demultiplexer 41 are logically connected one-to-one, the multimedia communication path 2. Instead of connecting the multimedia backbone LANs 3 individually, only the multimedia communication path 2 and only the multimedia backbone LAN 3 may be used as communication paths.

When the preliminary search input/output terminal 1 is initialized and started up, the switching unit 42 of the digital exchange 4
One communication channel is the line control unit 7 of the search control device 7.
1, the digital exchange 4 may be connected to the search control device 7 in response to a connection request from the search input/output terminal 1 before menu selection.

Search menu from search input/output terminal 1, for example, the third
In the figure, the data (■) is connected to the line control unit 71 of the search control device 7 via the switching unit 42 of the digital exchange 4 via the data communication line 10, and is connected to the line control unit 71 of the search control device 7. Using a table, the data address of the voice database filing device 5 in which the data corresponding to ■ is stored, for example a
Assume l. Still image database filing device 6
Assume that the data address is, for example, al.

These addresses al and a2 are searched.

This result is combined with the address a1 and the predetermined identification number of the audio database filing device 5, and similarly, is combined with the address a2 and the predetermined identification number of the still image database filing device 6. Data communication line 10. Digital exchange 4.
Multimedia backbone LAN3. Multimedia communication channel 2
The search input/output terminal 1 is notified via the search input/output terminal 1. Upon receiving this, the search input/output terminal 1 internally identifies and separates the address parts a1 and al. At this time, the received addresses a1 and al are stored in the search input/output terminal 1 in association with the specified search menu. The search input/output terminal 1 is equipped with an access procedure for each filing device, and then based on the address transmitted from the search control device 7 according to the procedure,
Access each filing device. For example, if the still image database filing device 6 stores still image data and the audio database filing device 5 stores audio explanation data corresponding thereto, search is performed to synchronize the data. The input/output terminal 1 initially sets the order in which images are displayed first and then the corresponding audio is output, and the line number to which the corresponding filing device is connected.

Or, it can be known by downloading from the search control device 7. The switching control unit 43 may manage the line number to which each filing device is connected, and automatically connect to a vacant line in response to a connection request from a search input/output terminal.

First, the search input/output terminal 1 sends a channel connection request to the still image database filing device 6 to the exchange control unit 4 using one channel of the multimedia communication path 2.
3, the exchange control unit 43 controls the switching unit 42 to connect the line 2 from the search input/output terminal 1 to the still image line 9, and receives the call to the line control unit 61 of the still image database filing device 6. . The search input/output terminal 1 and the line control unit 61 may be fixedly and logically connected in advance; in this case, the search input/output terminal 1
The request for connection from to the audio line 8 is omitted. After the connection is completed, the search input/output terminal 1 uses the channel designed by the switching unit 42 to transmit the address a1 to the still image database filing device 6. Line control section 6
1, after receiving the address a1, the data stored at address 81 in the still image database 62, in this case still image data, is selected, and this data is sent to the search input/output terminal via the still image line 9. Transmit to 1.

The search input/output terminal 1 receives data from the still image database filing device 6 in a procedure corresponding to the image data format, and displays the screen data on a display. After receiving this data, the search input/output terminal 1 sends a connection request to the voice database filing device 5 to the exchange control unit 43 via the multimedia communication path 2.
The exchange control unit 43 controls the switching unit 42 to connect the line 2 from the search input/output terminal 1 to the voice line 8, and receives the call to the 1 line control unit 51. The search input/output terminal 1 and the line control unit 51 may be connected in a fixed manner in advance. After the connection is completed, the search input/output terminal 1 uses address a2.
The voice database filing device 5 is notified of this, and the line control section 51 then sends the information to the voice database filing device 5.

After receiving the address a2, the data stored at the address a2 in the audio database 52, in this case audio data, is selected and transmitted to the search input/output terminal 1 via the audio circuit 1iA8.

The search input/output terminal 1 processes the data from the voice database filing device 5 through a procedure corresponding to the voice data format.
For example, it is received during a telephone call procedure, and the audio data is output to a speaker or a handset.

When the transmission of each data is completed, for example, the line control unit 51
, the line control unit 61 releases the line 8 for audio and the line 9 for still images, displays the initial menu screen, and prepares for the next menu selection.

If you want to select another menu next time, input the next required search menu in the same way. It compares this search menu with the search code in the address storage part inside the search input/output terminal 1 to see if it is a menu that has been searched before, and if they are the same, it directly accesses each database filing device.

Data corresponding to the search menu is selected from the databases of the still image database filing device 6 and the audio database filing device 5 and displayed on the search input/output terminal 1.

If it is different, a search menu is sent to the search control device 7 to search for the address in the same manner as described above.

The address storage section within the search input/output terminal 1 is cleared periodically to match changes in the address table of the search control device 7, so that new addresses are always stored.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4, the search input/output terminal 1 sends a search menu numbered to identify the filing device according to the predetermined order of access to the database filing device to the search control device 7, and the search control device 7 then files the file. One address corresponding to one filing device in the device-specific table is returned. Next, a search menu with the identification number of another filing device in the same menu is similarly sent to the search control device 7, and the search control device 7 returns one address for this filing device. Furthermore, the procedure for accessing the filing device 6 and the voice database filing device 5 is for each address a1. ．． a2
When the still image data is received, the still image data filer 6. The audio data filing device 5 may be accessed to display the data.

Next, a second embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 5.

When searching, the search input/output device 1 is connected to the search control device 7 and initialized by the search control device 7 to perform a detailed search, as in the first embodiment. Display menu registration. This has a one-to-one correspondence with the search menu code in FIG. Next, the user selects and inputs this menu, so that the search input/output terminal 1 can transmit the data of the selected search menu, in this case, multimedia data such as audio, data, and images. Multimedia communication channel using multimedia communication channel 2. Multimedia core L
The demultiplexer 4 of the digital exchange 4 via the AN3
1 to 1 concubine. Search input/output terminal 1 and demultiplexer 41
If they are logically connected on a one-to-one basis, the multimedia communication path 2 and the multimedia backbone LAN 3 may not be connected separately, and only the multimedia communication path 2 and the multimedia backbone LAN 3 may be used as communication paths. The menu data from the search input/output terminal 1 is once received by the exchange control unit 43 of the digital exchange 4 using one channel of the multimedia communication path 2, and the exchange control unit 43 stores the menu data on the search user output terminal that sent it. In this case, the line is connected to the terminal, so it is the number of line 2.

The information on the search user output terminal and the requested menu information, for example, here assumed as ■, are transferred to the search control device 7. The search control device 7 pulls a table from this menu information and determines the required filing device and the line to be connected to it. In this case, the still image database filing group W6, search input/output terminal 1, and audio database are selected. It decides to connect the communication channels between the filing device 5 and the searcher output terminal one by one, and instructs the exchange control unit 43 to allocate and connect the vacant channels via the connection control line 11,
Secure communication channels.

Here, a still image database filing device 6 and an audio database filing device 5 are displayed in synchronization.
If even one of the communication paths cannot be set up due to line blockage, the line blockage is displayed on the search input/output terminal 1, the series of search operations are completed, and the connected lines are also disconnected.

However, if the transmission path is in the bus format or ATM format, there is no need to secure a line channel in advance, and information is transmitted over an empty communication path.

The search control device 7 is notified of the termination of the connection by the exchange control unit 43, and upon receiving this, the search control device 7 first sends the data to the still image database filing device 6 via the connection control port X1A11. It instructs the data at address a1 to be output via the line audio line 8. Since the audio line 8 is connected to the search input/output terminal 1 that requested the preliminary menu through one channel, the data is received as is by the search input/output terminal 1, and the search input/output terminal 1 is connected to the audio line. 8 through the image data receiving procedure, and outputs the image data to the search input/output terminal 1.

Next, the search control device 7 instructs the audio data file filing device 5 via the connection control line 11 to output the data at address a2 via the still image line 9. Since the line 9 is connected to the search input/output terminal 1 in advance, the data is received by the search input/output terminal 1.

In this way, the synchronization of data output of each database is managed by the search control device 7 and displayed on the search input/output terminal 1.

When the data transfer is completed, either the line control unit 61 or the line control unit 71 instructs the line to be disconnected, or the search input/output terminal 1 notifies the exchange control unit 43 of the termination instruction.
In response to this, the search control device 7 instructs the exchange control section 43 to disconnect the line on the switching section 42 via the connection control line 11, and also instructs the voice database filing device W5. By issuing a data access termination instruction to the still image database filing device 6 through the connection control line 11, data output is terminated, the line channel is released, and the next data search instruction is awaited.

The search control device 7 and the exchange control section 43 can be implemented in the same device, and the connection control line 11 can be omitted.

In this way, data search and data display are possible.

Furthermore, an embodiment of a large-scale configuration expanded to wideband network connection will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

As an example of a multimedia network ■SDN public network 601, digital exchange 602゜603.604
A PBX network consisting of a multimedia backbone LAN605,
For multimedia compatible communication networks that interconnect
Audio database filing devices 611 and 612, still image database filing devices 1620 and 621,
A text database filing device 622 is connected, and as shown in FIG. 7, it has a table of addresses corresponding to the identification information of the Kowara database device and the data search menu in each database, and when adding or modifying a database, , a search control device 7 capable of rewriting and adding tables is connected at one location.

The search input/output terminals 101, 102, 103 may be connected to any network.

As mentioned above, all search instructions from the search input/output terminal are once notified to the search control device 7.
transfers the necessary database identification information and data storage address from the address table shown in FIG. 7 to the terminal that requested the search.

This address may also include a network access address for accessing each edition.

The search input/output terminal accesses the database containing the necessary data according to this address and sequentially transfers the data.

The table of the search control device 7 has a size that can accommodate expansion of the database and addition of menu items, and when a menu is added, this information is added to the initial menu screen and the search input/output terminal When you connect a new database to a certain network and expand the system, simply add the data information in the new database to this table, and the search input/output terminal will search from the newly added database. I can make things possible.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, data from a plurality of distributed media can be combined using an existing database filing device and displayed on a single search input/output device as integrated multimedia data.

In addition, since the communication load between the search control device and the database filing device is eliminated from the burden of transferring the data itself, a distributed arrangement of the control device and the database filing device can be easily realized.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an example of a distributed data search system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a table of search data storage addresses used for the search, and FIG. , a diagram showing an example of the communication procedure between the terminal and the database device when searching using FIG. 2 with the configuration of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a diagram similarly showing another example of the communication procedure,
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a search system distributed in a distributed manner using a wide area network, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a data accommodation address table to be used. 1: Search input/output terminal 4: Digital exchange 5: Voice database filing device 6: Still image database filing device 7: Search control device figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A system consisting of a plurality of distributed database filing devices for voice, image, text, etc., a data search input/output terminal for searching data in the filing devices, and a network connecting the devices. , each time a data search instruction is received from the search input/output terminal,
A distributed database search method characterized in that a database filing device in which target data is stored and a search control device having a function of identifying the storage location of the data are connected to the network. 2. In claim 1, the search control device has a function of transmitting a plurality of database filing devices in which data requested for search are stored and all data storage locations to the search input/output terminal; , a function of receiving all of the database filing devices and data storage locations, a function of analyzing the received data storage locations and identifying the database filing device that stores the data requested for retrieval, and a function based on the identified information. the search input/output terminal having a function of requesting data by transferring the data storage location to the database filing device; a function of receiving the data storage location from the search input/output terminal; and a function of receiving the data storage location from the search input/output terminal; A distributed database search method comprising a database filing device having a function of transferring data at a storage location to the search input/output terminal. 3. In claim 2, a search order for a plurality of database filing devices is set in advance in the search control device and the search input/output terminal, and each time a search request from the search input/output terminal is received, the database filing device is The data storage location is searched, and the data storage location is sequentially transferred to the search input/output terminal according to the search order, and the search input/output terminal has a function to identify the corresponding database filing device according to the set search order. A distributed database search method characterized by: 4. In claim 1, the search control device includes a network connection control section, a function of communicating with each database filing device, and instructs the control section to control the connection between the search input/output terminal and the database filing device. 1. A distributed database search method characterized by having a function of instructing the database filing device to transfer data. 5. In claim 2, the search input/output terminal is provided with means for storing the identification information and data storage location of the database filing device corresponding to the last search instruction, and a newly generated search request instruction is stored. The present invention is characterized by providing means for determining whether or not the search request instruction matches the search request instruction, and means for performing a search using the stored identification information of the database filing device and the data storage location when there is a match. The database search method. 6. In claim 2, from the received database filing device and data storage location, identification information for distinguishing the database filing device and information on the data storage location are determined, and based on the identification information of the database filing device, It has a table of combinations of each database filing device and connection line, and has a function that determines the line to be connected to the database filing device from this table and sends a connection request to the network to the database filing device. The invention is characterized in that a search input/output terminal is provided which has a procedure for searching the database filing device for stored data corresponding to a specified data storage location after the line connection is terminated, and instructing transfer of the data after the search. database search method.