CN101626385B - media service method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a media service method and system. The method comprises: an edge node receives a media service request from a user equipment, wherein the media service request is used to request media resources; the edge node judges whether it can provide the user equipment with media resources ; If the judgment result is negative, the edge node sends a request message to the central node; the edge node receives the media resource from the central node in response to the request message, and sends the media resource to the user equipment. The invention optimizes the resource sharing capability of the system and improves the effect of user experience.

Description

Media service method and system

technical field

The present invention relates to the communication field, in particular, to a media service method and system.

Background technique

Mobile streaming media technology collects and compresses continuous audio and video information and stores them on the network server, so that mobile terminal users can listen and watch while downloading, without waiting for the entire multimedia file to be downloaded and then watch it immediately. technology.

When providing mobile streaming media services, server nodes are generally set up according to the physical areas to which users belong, and the nodes provide media services for users in this area. When there are more and more media files in the system, it will put a lot of pressure on the storage of nodes. At the same time, for some relatively unpopular content, each node saves a copy, which will cause a waste of storage resources. However, if in order to reduce storage The pressure makes each node selectively save some media files. When a user requests a media file that does not exist on the node, the system cannot provide services and affects user experience.

Contents of the invention

The present invention is proposed in view of the waste of storage resources generated by server sub-nodes in the related art when storing resources and the system’s inability to provide services when resources do not exist. Therefore, the main purpose of the present invention is to provide an improved media service solution , to address at least one of the above problems.

In order to achieve the above purpose, according to one aspect of the present invention, a media service method is provided.

The media service method according to the present invention includes: the edge node receives a media service request from the user equipment, wherein the media service request is used to request media resources; the edge node judges whether it can provide media resources for the user equipment; the edge node judges that the result is If not, send a request message to the central node; the edge node receives the media resource from the central node in response to the request message, and sends the media resource to the user equipment.

Preferably, the edge node receiving the media resource from the central node in response to the request message includes: the central node sends to the edge node a URL carrying a media server address for providing the media resource; the edge node initiates a media service to the media server corresponding to the URL according to the URL Request and receive the media resource from the media server corresponding to the URL.

Preferably, the edge node sending the request message to the central node includes: the edge node sending a URL carrying the address of the media server of the edge node to the user equipment, wherein the URL carries an indication that the edge node cannot provide media resources; the user equipment according to the URL Initiate a media service request to the media server corresponding to the URL; after receiving the service request from the user equipment, the media server corresponding to the URL sends a request message to the central node.

Preferably, if the judgment result is yes, the edge node sends the media resource to the user equipment.

Preferably, before the edge node receives the media service request from the user equipment, the method further includes: the edge node saves the media resource according to a predetermined policy.

In order to achieve the above object, according to another aspect of the present invention, a media service system is provided.

The media service system according to the present invention includes an edge node and a central node, wherein the edge node includes: a first receiving module, configured to receive a media service request from a user equipment, wherein the media service request is used to request media resources; a judging module, It is used to judge that the edge node can provide media resources for the user equipment; the first sending module is used to send a request message to the central node when the judgment result of the judgment module is negative; the second receiving module is used for the edge node to receive the message from the central node. The media resource in response to the request message; the second sending module, configured to send the media resource to the user equipment.

Preferably, the second receiving module includes: a first receiving submodule, configured to receive a URL from the central node carrying a media server address for providing media resources; an initiating submodule, configured to initiate a media server corresponding to the URL according to the URL Media service request; the second receiving submodule is used to receive the media resource from the media server corresponding to the URL.

Preferably, the first sending module includes: a first sending submodule, configured to send a URL carrying the address of the media server of the edge node to the user equipment, wherein the URL carries an indication that the edge node cannot provide media resources, so as to facilitate The user equipment initiates a media service request to the media server corresponding to the URL according to the URL; the second sending submodule is configured to send a request message to the central node after receiving the service request from the user equipment.

Preferably, the edge node further includes: a storage module, configured to store media resources according to a predetermined strategy.

Preferably, the central node includes: a third receiving module, configured to receive a request message from an edge node, wherein the request message is used to request a media resource; and a third sending module, configured to send the media resource to the edge node.

Through the present invention, the media resources are stored on sub-nodes (that is, edge nodes) according to policies. When the media resources requested by the user terminal do not exist on the sub-nodes, the sub-nodes obtain the media resources from the central node, which solves the problem of The waste of storage resources generated by the server sub-nodes when storing resources and the problem that the system cannot provide services when resources do not exist, thereby achieving the effect of optimizing the resource sharing capabilities of the system and improving user experience.

Description of drawings

The accompanying drawings described here are used to provide a further understanding of the present invention and constitute a part of the application. The schematic embodiments of the present invention and their descriptions are used to explain the present invention and do not constitute improper limitations to the present invention. In the attached picture:

Fig. 1 is a flowchart of a media service method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a mobile streaming media system networking according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a flowchart of a service relay method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of providing on-demand services in a non-relay form according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of providing on-demand services in the form of relays according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 6 is a structural block diagram of a media service system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 7 is a specific structural block diagram of a media service system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

Functional Overview

In the related art, the server sub-nodes generate waste of storage resources when storing resources and the system cannot provide services when resources do not exist. Embodiments of the present invention provide a media service solution. The processing principles of the solution are as follows: edge nodes receive A media service request from the user equipment, wherein the media service request is used to request media resources; the edge node determines that it cannot provide the user equipment with media resources, and sends a request message to the central node; the edge node receives a response from the central node Request the media resource for the message and send the media resource to the user device.

It should be noted that, in the case of no conflict, the embodiments in the present application and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other. The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples.

In the following embodiments, the steps shown in the flowcharts of the drawings may be performed in a computer system, such as a set of computer-executable instructions, and, although a logical order is shown in the flowcharts, in some cases , the steps shown or described may be performed in a different order than here.

method embodiment

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a media service method is provided. FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a media service method according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the method includes the following steps S102 to S106:

Step S102, the edge node receives a media service request from the user equipment, where the media service request is used to request media resources.

Step S104, the edge node judges whether the edge node can provide the requested media resources for the user equipment, and sends a request message to the central node when it is determined that it cannot provide the media resources for the user equipment; When the user equipment provides media resources, the edge node sends the media resources to the user equipment.

Step S106, the edge node receives the media resource from the central node in response to the request message, and sends the media resource to the user equipment.

The reason why the edge node cannot provide the user equipment with the media resource may be that the edge node does not have the media resource, but the reason is not limited thereto. For example, the reason may also be that the load of the edge node is too large.

It should be noted that the edge node does not need to store all the media resources, and may store the media resources according to a predetermined strategy, for example, according to the number of times the media resource is ordered, the creation time of the media resource, and so on.

Wherein, the edge node in step S106 receives the media resource from the central node in response to the request message, including the following steps:

In step A, the central node sends a uniform resource locator (UniformResourceLocator, referred to as URL) carrying the address of a media server for providing media resources to the edge node.

In step B, the edge node initiates a media service request to the media server corresponding to the URL according to the URL, and receives media resources from the media server corresponding to the URL.

In step S104, sending the request message from the edge node to the central node includes the following steps:

In step C, the edge node sends a URL carrying the address of the media server of the edge node to the user equipment, wherein the URL carries an indication that the edge node does not have a media resource.

In step D, the user equipment initiates a media service request to the media server corresponding to the URL according to the URL.

Step E, after receiving the service request from the user equipment, the media server corresponding to the URL sends a request message to the central node.

The above step 102 to step S106 is described below in conjunction with a specific network. FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a mobile streaming media system network according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. Deployment in the form of a two-level architecture, setting up a central node (also called a headquarters node) at the headquarters; setting up an edge node (also called a provincial node or a local node) in each province, where the media server Configure the service engine address information of the headquarters node, where a node refers to a combination of a service engine device and multiple media server devices.

The service engine is used to manage the media server device and the file information (ie, media resources) stored on each media server device, wherein the provincial service engine is also responsible for processing the interaction with the user equipment (User Equipment, referred to as UE for short). After the service engine receives the media service request from the user equipment, it first retrieves from the database which media server equipment contains the media files requested by the user (that is, media resources), and then synthesizes the hardware of each media server in the provincial node The most suitable server is selected based on the performance and/or the number of concurrent streams, and finally a URL for providing media services is assembled and provided to users, and users use this URL to request media services.

The media server can provide users with media services such as on-demand, live broadcast and download, and can be composed of multiple media server devices to form a cluster. The media server uses a large-capacity disk array to store the physical content of the media files on the node.

The audio and video Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) portal in the headquarters node is responsible for displaying the media files in the mobile streaming media system, and the user equipment browses the list of media files in the system by accessing the WAP portal.

All media files are stored on the media server of the headquarters node, and each provincial node only stores some physical files according to a certain strategy. For example, only popular content or newly launched content can be saved according to the actual operation of the system and dynamically adjusted regularly. All mobile streaming media users can be assigned to a certain edge node according to their terminal numbers (for example, mobile phone numbers). When a user equipment requests a media service, the wireless network or wired fixed network is responsible for sending the request to the provincial service engine of the provincial node to which it belongs, and the provincial service engine searches according to the media file records stored in the database of the local node , if there is a media file requested by the user on the provincial media server, the local media server of the node will directly provide the service for the user; if there is no corresponding media file on the provincial media server, the service relay process will be triggered, via the provincial After a series of interactions, network elements such as the branch media server, headquarters service engine, and headquarters media server select an optimal available headquarters media server device, which is responsible for providing the media service of the content requested by the user to the provincial media server. The relay process is described in detail below.

The relay process is: when a user equipment requests a service, if its own home node does not have the service conditions, the provincial media server in the home node first initiates a redirection request to the headquarters service engine (it should be noted that redirection refers to The distribution information of media files in the system and the operation status of each media device, select a media server to provide services for users), the business engine of the headquarters generates a service URL including the address of the media server of the headquarters and returns it to the provincial media server, and the provincial media server Use this URL to request services from the headquarters media server. The headquarters media server sends the media code stream to the provincial media server, and the provincial media server forwards the media code stream to the user equipment to complete the media interaction process. Among them, the data transmission form between the headquarters media server and the provincial media server, and between the provincial media server and the user equipment is related to the service type. The general streaming media data transmission is through the Real-time Transport Protocol (Real-timeTransportProtocol, referred to as RTP) and Real-time Transport Control Protocol (Real-timeTransportControlProtocol, referred to as RTCP) are completed in cooperation. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a service relay method according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the process includes the following steps:

In step S301, the user equipment initiates a media service request to the provincial service engine of the home node.

In step S302, after receiving the media service request, the provincial service engine searches the database whether the content requested by the user exists on the media service device of the local node.

Step S303, according to the search result in step S302, combined with the hardware performance of the media service equipment in the provincial node and the number of concurrent streams, etc., determine whether the provincial node can provide services.

Step S304, if the provincial node can provide services for the user, the provincial media server directly sends the media code stream to the user equipment, and starts the service process.

Step S305, if the provincial node cannot provide the service, a relay process needs to be triggered. Now, a temporary service URL generated by the provincial service engine is returned to the user equipment, and the service equipment Internet Protocol (Internet Protocol, referred to as IP) address in the URL fills in the address of any media server in this node. An identification parameter is used to indicate that this service needs to go through the relay process.

Step S306, the user equipment uses the URL returned in step S305 to initiate a request to the provincial media server, and the provincial media server retrieves the relay identification parameter in the request URL, and initiates a redirection request to the headquarters service engine.

In step S307, the headquarter business engine performs redirection in the headquarter node to generate an available URL containing the address of the headquarter media server, and then encapsulates the URL in a response message of a certain format and returns the result to the requesting provincial media server.

In step S308, the provincial media server uses the received new URL to request a service from the headquarters media server, and the headquarters media server sends code stream data of the requested content to the provincial media server.

In step S309, the provincial media server forwards the received code stream data to the user equipment, and starts the media service process.

The implementation process of the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to examples.

Taking the video file on-demand service requested by the user equipment as an example, the flow of this embodiment will be described respectively when the content requested by the user exists and the content requested by the user does not exist on the provincial node to which the user belongs.

Fig. 4 is the flow chart of providing on-demand service in the non-relay form according to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in Fig. 4, in this flow process, directly provide service for the user by the provincial stream media server, UE generally refers to the mobile phone terminal; WAP Refers to the audio and video WAP portal, which provides a list of program entries. In practical applications, the user device first visits the WAP portal, and selects an interesting content on the page to access and trigger the on-demand process; the local streaming server (Local Streaming Server, referred to as LSS) Deployed at the edge of the network, it is responsible for the local access of users in a certain province, and the media server that provides streaming media on-demand, live broadcast, download and other services; the local service engine (LocalServiceEngine, referred to as LSE) and the local streaming server form a provincial node , to jointly provide users with mobile streaming services. As shown in Figure 4, the process includes the following steps:

Step S401, the user equipment accesses the WAP portal of the mobile streaming media system through a wireless network.

In step S402, the WAP portal displays the audio and video media files in the mobile streaming media system on the page in the form of a list, and returns it to the user equipment.

In step S403, the user selects a media file of interest for on-demand, and sends an on-demand service request to the LSE of the user node. The message is a GET request in HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) format.

Step S404, LSE searches in the content record table of its own node database to find whether the content requested by the user exists on the local streaming media server, and if the content requested by the user exists, the streaming media server is running normally, and then sends the result message in the form of an HTTP packet Return, the result code in the HTTP message header is 200, and the HTTP message body contains the result URL generated by LSE. Setting the proxy parameter in the URL to 0 means that the content exists in the provincial node, and there is no need to go through the service relay process.

Step S405, after receiving the response from the LSE, the user equipment takes out the URL in the response message, and initiates a service request to the LSS with a Real-time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) message.

Step S406, after the LSS receives the RTSP request from the user equipment, it judges that the proxy parameter in the URL of the request is 0, locates the location of the file requested by the user on the disk array of the server, and starts sending code stream data to the user equipment to provide on-demand services .

Fig. 5 is a flow chart of providing on-demand services in the form of relays according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 5, when a user equipment requests an on-demand service, the provincial service engine notifies the user equipment that a relay needs to be triggered in the message returned to the user equipment process, and then complete the on-demand relay process through the interaction between the provincial branch streaming media server, the headquarters business engine and the headquarters streaming media server. Global Streaming Server (Global Streaming Server, referred to as GSS), deployed in the headquarters node of the mobile streaming media system, share the service pressure of each provincial node through relay; Global Service Engine (Golbal Service Engine, referred to as GSE) When redirecting the request, select an optimal available device in the streaming media server of the headquarters node, and send the information of the server back to the LSS. The process includes the following steps:

Step S501, the user equipment accesses the WAP portal of the mobile streaming media system.

In step S502, the WAP portal displays the audio and video media files in the system on the page in the form of a list, and returns it to the user equipment.

In step S503, the user selects an interested media file to order, and sends an on-demand service request to the LSE of the user node.

Step S504, LSE searches in the content record table of the node database to find out whether the content requested by the user exists on the local streaming server, if not, a temporary service URL is generated, and the address of the streaming server in the URL is filled in the local node For any streaming media server IP, at the same time, by setting the identification parameter proxy in the URL to 1, it means that there is no such content locally, and the relay process needs to be triggered later, and the response message is also returned in the form of an HTTP packet. The result code in the HTTP message header is 200. The HTTP message body contains the result URL generated by LSE.

Step S505, after receiving the response from the LSE, the user equipment takes out the URL in the response message body, and initiates a service request to the LSS in RTSP format.

In step S506, after receiving the request from the user equipment, the LSS determines that the proxy parameter in the request URL is 1, and initiates a redirection request to the GSE, requesting to obtain a serviceable VOD URL.

Step S507, GSE retrieves the content record table of the headquarter node database, finds which streaming media devices contain the media files requested by the user, and selects a streaming media server according to the operation status of each device, and finally generates an available streaming media server that can provide relay services to the LSS URL, the format is as follows:

rtsp://<GSS-IP>:<GSS-Port>/vod.3gp? userid=8618807880000&subcontentid=9013100020090514012300...,

Among them, GSS-IP is the address of a streaming media server that can serve in the headquarters node, GSS-Port is the port number of the streaming media server that provides video streaming services, and then GSE encapsulates an RTSP response message, and the result code in the message is filled as 302 (MovedTemporarily, redirection, indicating that further operations must be performed to complete the request), and simultaneously fill in the newly generated URL in the Location parameter field in the response-header, and then return to the provincial streaming media server.

In step S508, after receiving the RTSP response with result code 302, the LSS fetches a new URL from the Location field of the response-header in the response message packet to initiate a relay request.

In step S509, the GSS locates the requested entity file after receiving the service request from the LSS, and starts to send code stream data to the LSS.

In step S510, the LSS forwards the received code stream data to the user equipment, and starts to provide the user with an on-demand service.

In this embodiment, the on-demand service is taken as an example for illustration, and similarly, it can also be extended to media service fields such as live broadcast and download. The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto, and all the various replacements and modifications based on the essence of the present invention shall belong to the protection of the rights of the present invention scope.

Device embodiment

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a media service system is provided. FIG. 6 is a structural block diagram of a media service system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, the central node can be connected to one or more edge nodes, and the edge nodes It includes: a first receiving module 62, a first sending module 64, a second receiving module 66, and a second sending module 68. The edge node will be described in detail below.

The first receiving module 62 is configured to receive a media service request from the user equipment, wherein the media service request is used to request media resources; the judging module 60 is connected to the first receiving module 62 and the first sending module 64, and this module is used to judge Can the edge node provide media resources for the user equipment; the first sending module 64 is connected to the first receiving module 62, and is used to send a request message to the central node when it is determined that the edge node cannot provide media resources for the user equipment; the second The receiving module 66 is connected to the first sending module 64, and the edge node receives the media resource from the central node in response to the request message; the second sending module 68 is connected to the second receiving module 66, and is used for sending the media resource to the user equipment.

Fig. 7 is a specific structural block diagram of a media service system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 7, the second receiving module 66 includes: a first receiving submodule 662, an initiating submodule 664, and a second receiving submodule 666. Face this for a detailed description.

The first receiving submodule 662 is used to receive the URL carrying the media server address for providing media resources from the central node; the initiating submodule 664 is connected to the first receiving submodule 662, and is used to send the URL to the corresponding media server according to the URL Initiate a media service request; the second receiving submodule 666 is connected to the initiating submodule 664 for receiving media resources from the media server corresponding to the URL.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the first sending module 64 includes: a first sending submodule 642 and a second sending submodule 644, wherein the first sending submodule 642 is configured to send the media server address carrying the edge node to the user equipment URL, where the URL carries an indication that the edge node cannot provide media resources, so that the user equipment can initiate a media service request to the media server corresponding to the URL according to the URL; the second sending submodule 644 is configured to receive After the service request of the device, send a request message to the central node.

As shown in FIG. 7, the edge node further includes: a saving module 74, which is used for saving media resources according to a predetermined strategy.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the central node includes: a third receiving module 76 and a third sending module 78 , and the central node will be described in detail below.

The third receiving module 76 is configured to receive a request message from an edge node, wherein the request message is used to request a media resource: the third sending module 78 is connected to the third receiving module 76 and configured to send the media resource to the edge node.

It can be seen that through the method described in the present invention, each provincial node can save some content resources in the system according to a certain strategy, and at the same time, it can provide services for content that does not exist in the local node through relaying, which can effectively solve the problem of node content storage. The contradiction between the system and the provision of stable services has better optimized the resource sharing capabilities of the system.

Obviously, those skilled in the art should understand that each module or each step of the above-mentioned present invention can be realized by a general-purpose computing device, and they can be concentrated on a single computing device, or distributed in a network formed by multiple computing devices Optionally, they can be implemented with program codes executable by a computing device, so that they can be stored in a storage device and executed by a computing device, or they can be made into individual integrated circuit modules, or they can be integrated into Multiple modules or steps are fabricated into a single integrated circuit module to realize. As such, the present invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

The above descriptions are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. For those skilled in the art, the present invention may have various modifications and changes. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention shall be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (8)

1. A media service method, characterized in that, comprising: The edge node receives a media service request from the user equipment, wherein the media service request is used to request media resources, and the mobile streaming media user belongs to a certain edge node according to the user equipment number; The edge node judges whether it can provide the media resource for the user equipment; The edge node sends a request message to the central node when the judgment result is negative; receiving, by the edge node, the media resource from the central node in response to the request message, and sending the media resource to the user equipment; Wherein, the sending of the request message by the edge node to the central node includes: The edge node sends a URL carrying the address of the media server of the edge node to the user equipment, where the URL carries an indication that the edge node cannot provide the media resource; The user equipment initiates a media service request to the media server corresponding to the URL according to the URL; After receiving the service request from the user equipment, the media server corresponding to the URL sends the request message to the central node. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the receiving, by the edge node, the media resource from the central node in response to the request message comprises: The central node sends a URL carrying an address of a media server for providing the media resource to the edge node; The edge node initiates a media service request to a media server corresponding to the URL according to the URL, and receives the media resource from the media server corresponding to the URL. 3. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein when the judgment result is yes, the edge node sends the media resource to the user equipment. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein before the edge node receives the media service request from the user equipment, the method further comprises: The edge node saves media resources according to a predetermined policy. 5. A media service system, comprising an edge node and a central node, characterized in that the edge node comprises: The first receiving module is configured to receive a media service request from a user equipment, wherein the media service request is used to request media resources, and mobile streaming media users belong to a certain edge node according to the user equipment number; A judging module, configured to judge that the edge node can provide the media resource for the user equipment; A first sending module, configured to send a request message to the central node when the judging result of the judging module is negative; a second receiving module, the edge node receives the media resource from the central node in response to the request message; a second sending module, configured to send the media resource to the user equipment; Wherein, the first sending module includes: The first sending submodule is configured to send a URL carrying the media server address of the edge node to the user equipment, where the URL carries an indication that the edge node cannot provide the media resource, so that Initiating a media service request from the user equipment to the media server corresponding to the URL according to the URL; The second sending submodule is configured to send the request message to the central node after receiving the service request from the user equipment. 6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the second receiving module comprises: A first receiving submodule, configured to receive a URL carrying an address of a media server for providing the media resource from the central node; An initiating submodule, configured to initiate a media service request to a media server corresponding to the URL according to the URL; The second receiving submodule is configured to receive the media resource from the media server corresponding to the URL. 7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the edge node further comprises: The saving module is used for saving media resources according to a predetermined strategy. 8. The system according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the central node comprises: A third receiving module, configured to receive a request message from the edge node, where the request message is used to request media resources: A third sending module, configured to send the media resource to the edge node.