JPH08256310A - Video service equipment with auxiliary storage - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [PROBLEMS] To provide a video service apparatus for a customized video capable of distributing one movie in a distributed manner and increasing the number of subscribers. SOLUTION: A disk array composed of disks storing a large number of distributed movies and a subscriber's request is checked at a time interval corresponding to the subscriber's request, and the movie requested by the subscriber is different from before. In the case of the new one, a control unit for controlling access to the disks in the disk array, auxiliary storage means for storing the data output from the disk array, and the control unit for requesting a movie previously requested by the subscriber. If it is determined that the data is already stored in the auxiliary storage unit, the auxiliary storage unit control unit for controlling to output the data already stored in the auxiliary storage unit and the outputs from the disk array and the auxiliary storage unit are adjusted to the transmission format. A buffer unit that outputs in synchronization with each other, and a high-speed switch that can switch the output from the buffer unit at high speed in order to send the output to a desired subscriber. Including.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video service device used in an On Demand) system, and more particularly, to a video service device that further includes an auxiliary storage device other than a disk array and can efficiently serve more subscribers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A custom-made video system is a system for storing a movie or the like in a disk array and then supplying the movie or the like stored in the disk array to a desired subscriber upon request of the subscriber. The movie is distributed and stored on a large number of disks in a disk array. Therefore, a movie can be provided to a large number of subscribers even when the same movie is requested by a large number of subscribers at different times.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conventional general video service device in a custom-made video system. The video service apparatus of FIG. 1 outputs a signal read from the disk array 12 composed of a large number of disks, an array controller 16 for controlling the output of the disk array 12, and the disk array 12 in accordance with the transmission format. The buffer unit 14 of FIG. The output terminal of the buffer unit 14 is connected to a high-speed switch 20 that can be switched at high speed to send the output signal from the buffer unit 14 to a desired subscriber.

One movie is distributed by the number of disks constituting the disk array 12 and stored in each disk. For example, if a 100-minute long movie is stored in the disk array 12 having 100 discs, a 1-minute long movie is stored in each disc. In order to send out one movie, each disc may be accessed in sequence. Dispersing and storing one movie is to distribute one movie to more subscribers. One minute after sending the movie information to the first requester, if another subscriber requests the same movie, the latter requester will see the head of the movie in the disk array 12 regardless of the first requester. Since the movie information output from the recording disc can be provided, the movie can be watched from the beginning. Therefore, since the conventional video service apparatus can output a movie from each disc when there is a request for the same movie at 1-minute intervals, eventually one movie is produced at 10-minute intervals.
Can be sent to 0 people.

On the other hand, a single disc can store a large number of movies, but in this case, each movie is distributed by the number of discs of the disc array 12. If one disc stores data relating to 20 movies and the data output speed of the disc is 30 Mbps, 20 movies with an output speed of each movie of 1.5 Mbps can be sent simultaneously.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional general video service apparatus, the time interval at which the data recorded on each disk for the same movie can be sent is limited by the number of disks in the disk array. Therefore, the above-mentioned time interval has a drawback that the number of subscribers who can simultaneously send out one movie is limited.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to provide an auxiliary storage device without increasing the number of disks on the disk array. It is to provide a video service device which can increase the number of subscribers who can supply one movie at the same time by using the video service device.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a video service apparatus according to the present invention is a disk array composed of disks storing a large number of distributed movies, and a subscriber's request response. The subscriber's request is checked at time intervals, and if the movie requested by the subscriber is a new one different from the previous one, a control unit for controlling access to the disks in the disk array and a data output from the disk array are checked. Auxiliary storage means for storing, and an auxiliary storage for controlling to output the data already stored in the auxiliary storage means when the control unit determines that the request of the subscriber is the same as the previous movie. A means control unit, a buffer unit for synchronizing and outputting the outputs from the disk array and the auxiliary storage unit according to a transmission format, and Characterized in that it comprises a high-speed switch which is switched at a high speed in order to feed the output from the Ffa portion to a desired subscriber.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 2
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a video service device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The video service apparatus of FIG. 2 is a storage means, and is a disk array 1 including a disk storing a large number of movies distributed by the number of disks.
2, an auxiliary storage unit 34 that stores the data output from the disk array 12, and a buffer unit 3 that stores the output data of the disk array 12 and the auxiliary storage unit 34
6, a high-speed switch 40 for supplying the output of the buffer unit 36 to the subscriber line, an auxiliary storage control unit 32 for controlling the data output of the auxiliary storage unit 34, and a control unit for controlling the disk array 12 and the auxiliary storage control unit 32. Including 38.

In the apparatus of FIG. 2, the disk array 12
Comprises a plurality of discs, each of which has a plurality of movies, all of which are distributed and stored partly on all the discs contained in the disc array 12. In this case, the disk array 12
May repeatedly output the same movie for each "playback time interval" of the disc array 12 determined by the number of discs in the disc array and / or the number of movies recorded on that disc. Here, the reproduction time interval is a time interval at which the disk array 12 continuously reproduces data for one movie from each disk. Control unit 38
Checks the request of the subscriber who wants to be provided with the movies stored in the disk array 12 at the preset "subscriber request corresponding time interval". Here, the subscriber request corresponding time interval is determined independently of the reproduction time interval described above, and is a time interval at which the control unit 38 checks the request of the subscriber who wants to be provided with the movie information. Preferably, the subscriber request response time interval is set shorter than the playback time interval.

When there is a request from the subscriber to provide the movie information, the controller 38 controls the disk array 12 to output the data stored in the disk, and at the same time, outputs the data output from the disk array 12. The auxiliary storage control unit 32 is controlled so that is stored in the auxiliary storage unit 34. The signal output from the disk array 12 is input to the buffer unit 36 and stored in the auxiliary storage unit 34.

Further, the control unit 38 checks whether or not there is a new subscriber request at each subscriber request response time interval. If there is a new subscriber request, it is determined whether the first data of the movie corresponding to the new subscriber request is stored in the auxiliary storage 34. This judgment is made based on the signal supplied from the auxiliary storage control unit 32. As a result of the determination, if the first data of the movie corresponding to the request of the new subscriber is stored in the auxiliary storage unit 34, the control unit 38 controls the auxiliary storage control unit 32 and the corresponding data stored in the auxiliary storage unit 34. Is output to the buffer unit 36. On the other hand, if the first data of the movie corresponding to the request of the new subscriber is not stored in the auxiliary storage unit 34, the control unit 38 controls the disk array 12 to output the corresponding data. For such control, the control unit 38 controls the beginning data of each movie to be stored in the auxiliary storage unit 34 when the initial data is reproduced from the specific disc by the disc array 12, and the other discs. Therefore, the auxiliary storage control unit 32 is controlled so that the subsequent contents of the movie are also stored in the auxiliary storage unit 34. The auxiliary storage unit 34 may be any one that can be accessed at each of the above-mentioned subscriber request response time intervals, and a DRAM or the like can be used.

However, when the data for each movie is stored in the auxiliary storage unit 34 by such a method, a larger memory capacity of the auxiliary storage unit 34 is required as the number of movies output from the disk array 12 increases at the same time. In order to solve such a problem, the control unit 38 is designed to store information about a movie that the subscriber demands, that is, a popular movie, thereby controlling the auxiliary storage control unit 32. . When data for a large number of movies is simultaneously output from the disk array 12 by the control unit 38 designed as described above, the movies that are requested by the subscribers out of the data are preferentially stored in the auxiliary storage unit 34. To be done.
In order to reduce the memory capacity of the auxiliary storage unit 34 more efficiently, the auxiliary storage control unit 32 controls the movie stored in the auxiliary storage unit 34 after the preset time has passed without requesting the subscriber's request. The data corresponding to the auxiliary storage unit 3
Delete from 4. That is, the data stored in the auxiliary storage unit 34 by the first request or a new request thereafter is deleted from the auxiliary storage unit 34 if there is no further request for a certain period of time after the data is stored. As a result, the data of the movies requested by the subscribers are stored in the auxiliary storage unit 34. Therefore, the popular movies requested by the subscribers can be accessed through the auxiliary storage unit 34 at the time intervals corresponding to the subscriber requests. Then you can send it out.

The buffer unit 36 synchronizes the data applied from the disk array 12 or the auxiliary storage unit 34 according to the transmission format and outputs the data, and each data output from the buffer unit 36 is sent to the corresponding subscriber line by the high speed switch 40. Sent out. As described above, the video service apparatus of FIG. 2 sends the data for N movies output from the disk array 12 to the subscriber line when the subscriber request occurs only during the reproduction time interval. On the other hand, a new subscriber request is generated at each playback time interval by checking for each subscriber request corresponding time interval, and the data for the movie requested by the new subscriber, particularly the data at the beginning, is stored in the auxiliary storage unit 34. If so, the apparatus of FIG. 2 sends the data output from the disk array 12 and the auxiliary storage unit 34 to the subscriber line, so that more movies than the N movies described above are sent almost simultaneously through the subscriber line. I can put it out.

A specific example will be described for easy understanding of the video service apparatus presented in the present invention. The disk array 12 is composed of 100 disks, and if it is assumed that 20 movies each having a length of 100 minutes are stored, that is, each movie has a length of 1 minute. The "subscriber request response time interval" in the video service device is set to 3 seconds, and the auxiliary storage unit 34
The fixed time unit for deleting data from is 1 minute. Therefore, the auxiliary storage unit 34 must be accessible every 3 seconds.

If there is a request for movies No. 1 to No. 15 from 0 seconds immediately after the service is started by the video service apparatus, the control unit 38 controls to sequentially output the data from the first disk of the disk array. Along with
A control signal is output to the auxiliary storage control unit 32 so that the auxiliary storage control unit 32 stores the data output from the disk array 12 in the auxiliary storage unit 34.

The data output from the disk array 12 is synchronized through the buffer section 36 and sent out to the subscriber who requests each data by the high speed switch 40. When requests for movies No. 1 to No. 5 arrive after 3 seconds, which is the subscriber request response time, the control unit 38 outputs a control signal to the auxiliary storage control unit 32 and is already stored in the auxiliary storage unit 34. Output the data.

When the requests for the movies No. 1 to No. 5 and the movie No. 17 arrive after 6 seconds, the movies No. 1 to No. 5 are output from the auxiliary storage unit 34, and the new requests of the subscriber are sent. The 17th movie is output from the disk array and stored in the auxiliary storage unit 34. Since the fixed time unit for deleting data from the auxiliary storage unit 34 is 1 minute, the data is requested, and the data temporarily stored in the auxiliary storage unit 34 is stored in the auxiliary storage unit 34. It is deleted from the auxiliary storage unit 34 by the storage control unit 32.

[0019]

As described above, in the video service apparatus according to the present invention, a signal output from another disk array which is composed of disks storing a large number of movies distributed by the number of disks. Further, an auxiliary storage device capable of storing the data is stored, the data output from the disk array is stored in the auxiliary storage device, and an independent "subscriber request corresponding time interval" is set for the number of disks on the disk array to join the data. The request of the subscriber is checked in the time interval corresponding to the user request, and if there is the same request as before, a movie is distributed by accessing the auxiliary storage and outputting the data already stored in the auxiliary storage. It is possible to increase the number of subscribers to be sent out.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conventional general video service apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a video service apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 disk array 14 and 36 buffer unit 16 array control unit 20 and 40 high speed switch 32 auxiliary storage control unit 34 auxiliary storage unit 38 control unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A video service apparatus for custom-made video, which sends out a large number of movies to a large number of subscribers, and a disk array composed of disks storing a large number of distributed movies, and responding to subscribers' requests. If the movie requested by the subscriber is a new one different from the previous one, the subscriber's request is checked at time intervals, and a control unit for controlling access to the disks in the disk array and a data output from the disk array are checked. An auxiliary storage unit for storing the auxiliary storage unit for controlling to output the data already stored in the auxiliary storage unit when the control unit determines that the request of the subscriber is the same as the previous movie. A means control section, a buffer section for synchronizing and outputting the outputs from the disk array and the auxiliary storage means according to a transmission format, A video service device, comprising: a high-speed switch that can be switched at high speed to output the output from the buffer unit to a desired subscriber. 2. The video service apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary storage unit can delete a movie that is not requested again for a predetermined time by the auxiliary storage unit control unit. 3. The video service apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the auxiliary storage unit is composed of a DRAM.