JP2000308040A - Bidirectional high-speed data distribution device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To realize real-time operation and simultaneous multiple access even in a small-scale network. A client including a plurality of terminal devices is provided.
, A source 30 storing information, a video output unit 40 having a video camera, and a communication system 50 for coordinating communication between them form a network. The source includes a server 33, a peripheral device 35, and a control means 31 for controlling these components. These components are connected by an IEEE 1394 bus as a high-speed serial bus. Connected by
ATMs that can build high-speed communication networks
A converter 51 and converters 52 and 53 for converting an ATM format signal output from the ATM converter into an IEEE 1394 format signal are provided between the client side and the source side. Access from a large number of terminal devices can be dealt with without increasing the number of servers on the source side.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a bidirectional high-speed data distribution device. For details, see ATM networks suitable for high-speed communication networks supporting multimedia,
By using the IEEE 1394 interface as a high-speed serial interface capable of simultaneous distribution to a large number of terminal devices, data requiring real time such as a moving image can be distributed to a large number of terminal devices without increasing the communication scale. It is like that.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a network that handles multimedia such as audio, video, and data, an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM: Asynchronous T
In many cases, a network (cell relay network) capable of high-speed communication is constructed by ransfer mode. A
In the TM transmission, a band required for a communication channel can be freely allocated and two-way high-speed communication is possible. Therefore, as a network constructed by ATM, a videophone, a video conference, a mail service (a post office box) ), Video on demand (VOD) and the like.

As one of the two-way communication and utilizing the high-speed communication function, it is considered to be installed in a large stadium such as a sports stadium or a stadium in addition to the above. In the future stadium, it is preferable that the spectator not only watch the game but also replay (instant replay) the last fine play by himself or search the athlete's profile by himself / herself. Even in such a case, there is a case where the user wants to watch an image of watching the game of the game from a different place while watching the game in the same manner as in the instant replay.

[0004] In order to do so, a terminal device having a communication function having a monitor is provided in the spectator seat, and data on the contents of the game and players (players) are stored in any place inside or outside the stadium. Build a system with a server in place. That is, it is necessary to construct a network with a video device such as a server, a terminal device, and a video camera.

[0005] When constructing such a multimedia-compatible network, a large number of terminal devices and video devices must be connected to the network, two-way and high-speed communication can be performed, and at the same time, a large number of terminals must be connected. A multimedia network must be constructed so as to satisfy various conditions, such as being able to deliver the same video and the like to devices, and being able to access many terminals simultaneously with a server (host) that stores data. Such a multimedia network can be applied not only to a large stadium, but also to a movie studio, a concert hall, a broadcasting station, and the like.

[0006]

In constructing such a multimedia network, the above-described ATM network can be considered as a network for realizing high-speed bidirectional multimedia communication.

[0007] By the way, assuming a case where the player is installed in a large stadium or the like as described above, there is a high possibility that real-time replay or the like is frequently requested, and also a large number of spectators may request simultaneously. . Therefore, it is necessary to consider distributing one image or the like almost simultaneously to many persons.

Since the above-described ATM network is capable of bidirectional communication, (1: many) communication (communication between one client and a plurality of clients) is possible. However, in order to do so, there is a case where only one server cannot sufficiently cope with the situation. Therefore, in such a case, it is preferable to install a plurality of servers.

As described above, when the same data is distributed to a plurality of terminal devices, it is necessary to increase the number of servers in order to realize simultaneous multiple distribution even for simultaneous access from the terminal devices. Communication cables to and from the server must be increased. In this case, an interface for ATM is set in each server, but this interface is expensive. Therefore, there is a tendency that the installation cost is increased.

On the other hand, recently, as a bus specification for connecting a computer to various peripheral devices (input / output devices), IEEE 13
94 (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Eng
ineers (American Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) standards are being used. This is because it has a maximum transmission speed of 400 Mbps and has an isochronous (isochronous) transmission function in addition to an asynchronous (asynchronous) transmission function. Since the isochronous transmission can perform real-time transmission, it is suitable for moving image data transmission such as instant replay.

When an IEEE 1394 high-speed serial interface (bus) is used, daisy-chain connection or star connection can be used between terminals, so that it is not necessary to add a communication cable even for simultaneous multiple distribution. This eliminates the need to increase the number of servers storing video data such as instant replay.

Accordingly, the present invention has solved such a conventional problem, and has disclosed an ATM network and IEEE.
The present invention proposes a bidirectional high-speed data distribution device capable of constructing a large-scale high-speed multimedia network without increasing the communication scale by skillfully utilizing the E1394 interface.

[0013]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bidirectional high-speed data distribution apparatus according to the present invention, comprising a client including a plurality of terminal devices and information requested by the client. , A video output unit having a video camera, and a communication system for coordinating communication between them constitute a bidirectional high-speed data distribution device, wherein the source includes at least one server, It has peripheral devices and control means for controlling them, and these are used as an IEEE 1
394 bus, a plurality of terminal devices are also connected as a high-speed serial bus by the IEEE 1394 bus, and the communication system includes an ATM converter capable of constructing a high-speed communication network, and an output from the ATM converter. The ATM format signal is transmitted to the IEEE 1394
A converter for converting the signal into a format signal is provided between the client side and the source side.

In the present invention, an ATM network is used as a network capable of handling multimedia information requiring real-time properties such as audio and video in addition to data. High-speed communication is possible in this ATM network. A client to which a plurality of terminal devices are connected is connected to this network, a source storing information is connected, and a video output unit for outputting audio and video is connected.

At this time, the devices connected to the client and the source are connected by an IEEE 1394 bus. By using the IEEE 1394 bus, access from a large number of terminal devices can be dealt with without increasing the number of servers installed on the source side. Therefore, even when an instant replay mode in which an image captured by the image output unit is stored in a source server and an instant replay mode for immediately reproducing a part of the image is simultaneously requested from a plurality of terminal devices is used, if an IEEE 1394 bus is used, one is required. One server can handle it.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of a bidirectional high-speed data distribution device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The embodiment described below is a case where the present invention is applied to a video distribution device of a stadium. As described above, in the future stadium, the spectators will not only watch the competition, but the spectators themselves can replay (instant replay) the last fine play from the seats in the stadium,
In the same way as Instant Replay, the spectator can search the profile of the competitor from the seat himself, and even watching the competition pattern from another place even in the same stadium, changing the viewpoint The stadium must be able to provide a variety of information to the audience so that it can be viewed.

For this purpose, a terminal device forming a part of a multimedia communication system is installed in the audience seat, and a terminal device is connected to a source serving as information storage means or to a video output unit such as a video camera. A multimedia high-speed data network must be established between them.

In order to construct such a high-speed network, the bidirectional high-speed data distribution device according to the present invention is configured as shown in FIG. FIG. 1 shows a bidirectional high-speed data distribution device 1
It is a system diagram of the principal part of 0. This bidirectional high-speed data distribution device 10 is a client 20 composed of a plurality of terminal devices.
And a source 30 which has a server storing information and controls the entire system including the network.
A video output unit 40 that processes video signals from a video camera, and a communication system 50 configured by a high-speed network connecting these components constitute a two-way high-speed data communication network system.

Therefore, video data from the video output unit 40 is stored in the server of the source 30 via the communication system 50, and a request from a terminal device provided in the client 20 is transmitted via the communication system 50 to the source 30. The video data and the like stored in the server are transmitted to the requesting terminal device via the communication system 50 and displayed on the monitor thereof.

Next, the configuration of each section will be described. Communication system 5
No. 0 has one ATM converter 51 that can construct a high-speed communication network. The ATM converter 51 is an exchange having a function (routing function) of switching data in ATM format, and one ATM exchange 51 is provided.
Are 6 to 24 clients. ATM
The converter 51 and the client connected thereto are star-connected.

The communication system 50 is further provided with two converters (operating as the above-mentioned clients) 52 and 53 in this example having a format conversion function. The two converters 52 and 53 convert an ATM format signal output from the ATM converter 51 into an IEEE 1394 format signal functioning as a high-speed serial interface, or perform signal processing reverse thereto. (ATM-IEEE1394 converter, hereinafter simply IEEE
E1394 converter)).

The relationship with the client 20 connected to the IEEE 1394 converter 52 will be described. The client 20 has a plurality of terminal devices 21, 22, 23,.
.. (21A, 21B,..., 23A, 23B,...)
Having. Each of the terminal devices 21, 22, 23,...
Connected by bus. When a direct daisy chain connection is made from the IEEE 1394 converter 52, this IEEE
Up to 16 terminal devices (each functioning as a client) can be connected to the E1394 converter 52,
When branching from a terminal device as shown in FIG. 1, up to 63 terminal devices can be connected depending on the connection method.

Further, since a maximum of 24 clients can be connected to one ATM exchange, as shown in FIG.
Are connected to the 23 ATM switches 70 as clients, and the remaining one is connected to the second ATM switch 71 as the 24th client. For example, from 16 to a maximum of 63 terminal devices 90 can be daisy-chain connected to each IEEE 1394 converter 80, so that a sufficient number of terminal devices (the number of seats) can be secured even when installed in a stadium.

A plurality of terminal devices 21, 22, 23,...
Can be provided and used, for example, on the seat (rear) side of the spectator seats respectively installed in the stadium. Since these terminal devices 21, 22, 23,... All have the same configuration, only one of them will be described in detail, and only the basic configuration will be illustrated for the other.

The terminal device 21 is a monitor incorporating a board type personal computer board having basic functions,
For example, it has a liquid crystal monitor (LCD monitor) 24. The control software 25 included in the monitor 24 controls the communication with the customer interface and the source 30 or the input operation unit (control unit) 2.
Processing such as a communication request input from 6 is performed.
Headphones 27 for listening to audio are connected to the monitor 24. As the input operation unit 26, input means such as a keyboard and a keypad, such as a touch panel provided on the surface of the monitor 24, can be used.

The source 30 is connected to an ATM converter 51 via an ATM-IEEE1394 converter 53. This is an interface configuration that allows the source 30 to also perform high-speed serial transfer.
This is because it is necessary to perform conversion processing with the E1394 format. The above-mentioned source 30 has a main control unit 31 for controlling and managing the entire communication network system, and is connected to a multi-server 33, a content server 34 and peripheral devices 35 such as a printer via an IEEE1394 bus. .

The main control unit 31 is composed of a personal computer. Control software 32 built in the computer controls each terminal device, charges management, service information management, multi-server 33, Data management of the content server 34 is performed. Here, billing management refers to providing content information in response to spectators' demands, and peripheral devices such as AV devices.
5 is software for performing billing management when information is provided by running 5 or when they are charged.

The multi server 33 is a hard disk drive H
This is a large-capacity storage device such as a DD or a magneto-optical disk MO. This stores compressed video data, video camera characteristic data, the history of athletes (players) playing in the stadium, past performances, face photos, etc. Is stored. Here, the compressed video data is video data captured by the video output unit 40 described above, and is often used for instant replay or the like. Data compression is performed by, for example, MPEG (Moving Picture Experts).
Groups) compressed by the standard.

In this example, the content server 34
ML / IP (Hyper Text Mark-up Language / Internet
Protocol) It is used as a data server, and stores data for selling products, customer information, and the like. As with the multi server 33, the content server 34 is a hard disk drive HDD or a magneto-optical disk M
Large capacity storage means such as O is used.

As the peripheral device 35, a printer or the like can be considered in addition to the AV device. For example, when a printer is connected, necessary data is output (printed out) in response to a request from the terminal device. In the case of AV equipment, services such as recording video data stored in the multiserver 33 in response to a request from a terminal device are provided.

Subsequently, the video output unit 40 has a plurality of video cameras 41 and 42 in the example of FIG.
Is equipped. These two video cameras 41, 4
2 captures an image of a game pattern or the like from an appropriate angle of the stadium. Video data obtained by imaging with the video camera is compressed by the encoder 43.

Here, if the video cameras 41 and 42 can be output in an ATM format, they are supplied to the encoder 43 as they are. The encoder 43 performs compression so as to have the same compression mode as described above. Therefore, an MPEG encoder is used as the encoder 43. The compressed video data is transmitted to the communication system 5 in the form of ATM format.
The data is supplied to an ATM converter 51 provided at 0.

The output form of the video cameras 41 and 42 is IE
When the signal is of the EE1394 format, an ATM-IEEE1394 converter is connected to a stage preceding the encoder 43 or between the encoder 43 and the ATM converter 51.

The embodiment of FIG. 1 shows a case where one ATM converter 51 is installed in the communication system 50. In this case, since there is a capability of connecting at least six clients, in this example, A plurality of ATM converters 6 are connected to the ATM converter 51 via another ATM network 61.
2 and 63 are shown. Therefore, in the example of FIG. 1, four clients 2 are connected to one ATM converter 51.
0, 30, 40, and 61 are connected.

Now, the bidirectional distribution operation in the bidirectional high-speed data distribution device 10 configured as described above will be described. (1) Real-time transmission A request from the terminal device 21 will be described. The signal requested from the terminal device 21 is transmitted to the main control unit 31 via the IEEE 1394 converter 52 and the ATM converter 51. The contents of the request from the terminal device 21 are analyzed, and when it is determined that this is a request for video data, for example, the video cameras 41 and 42 are controlled by the main control unit 31 so that the camera video of the selected video camera is transmitted to the encoder 43. The data is transmitted as an MPEG signal to the ATM converter 51 via the MFP.

The video data is transmitted to an IEEE 1394 bus in a state where the video data is converted into an IEEE 1394 format signal via an IEEE 1394 converter 52.
The video is displayed on the monitor 24 of the target terminal device 21 in real time. Therefore, the audience can simultaneously enjoy images captured from different camera angles on the monitor 24.

(2) Instant Replay Function The video data of the video cameras 41 and 42 are filed in the multi server 33 via the communication system 50 for each time address. For example, with 20 seconds as one file, the video within a predetermined time (about 1 to 2 minutes) is accumulated in the multi server 33. A request signal from the terminal device 21 is transmitted to the main control unit 31 via the ATM converter 51. When the request signal is an instant replay request, the video data stored in the multi server 33 is transmitted to the IEEE 1394 bus on the source 30 side.

The transmitted video data is based on IEEE1394.
The signal is converted into an ATM signal by the converter 53, and is switched to the client 20 by the ATM converter 51 while the IEEE 1394 converter 52 of the client 20 re-executes the IE signal.
It is transmitted on the EE1394 bus. And this IEEE
The video data transmitted through the 1394 bus is received by the terminal device 21 and the video content of the immediately preceding competition is displayed on the corresponding monitor 24 while being instantly replayed.

Thus, an actual game can be enjoyed while analyzing the contents of the game. In this case, even if the same request is issued from many terminal devices, the same video data can be simultaneously delivered to each terminal device,
At the same time, many audiences can enjoy the instant replay video.

(3) Digital video browsing / still picture data browsing The signal requested from the terminal device 21 is an IEEE13
The signal is transmitted to the main controller 31 via the 94 converter 52 and the ATM converter 51. The content of the request from the terminal device 21 is analyzed, and when the content is, for example, a browsing request for digital video or still image data stored in the content server 34, the content server 34 is controlled to read the requested digital video or the like. . This data is MPEG data or IP data, and transmits these browsing data to the IEEE 1394 bus side.

The transmitted video data is IEEE1394
The signal is converted into an ATM signal by the converter 53, and switched to the client 20 by the ATM converter 51.
It is transmitted on the EEE1394 bus. And this IEEE
The video data transmitted through the E1394 bus is received by the terminal device 21, and digital video and still image data are displayed on the corresponding monitor 24. As a result, digital video and still image data can be browsed on the spot.

(4) Control of AV Equipment The signal requested from the terminal device 21 is an IEEE13
The signal is transmitted to the main controller 31 via the 94 converter 52 and the ATM converter 51. The contents of the request from the terminal device 21 are analyzed. If this is a request to print out the file information in the multi-server 33, for example, the corresponding file information is read out from the multi-server 33, and then the digital information is transmitted via the IEEE 1394 bus. Printer 35
The digital printer 35 is controlled to a print mode by a control signal from the main control unit 31, and a printout process of file information is executed.

In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to a two-way high-speed data communication network centered on a large stadium. In addition, the present invention is also applicable to a moving picture studio, a concert hall, a broadcasting station, and the like. It can be easily understood that the invention can be applied.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention, an ATM network is used as a high-speed network capable of handling, in addition to data, multimedia information such as audio and video which require real-time properties, and an ATM network is used. When connecting a client to which a plurality of terminal devices are connected or a source storing information, devices connected to the client and the source are connected to the IEEE.
Communication is performed by a 1394 bus.

By using the IEEE 1394 bus, it is possible to cope with simultaneous access from many terminal devices without increasing the number of servers installed on the source side. Therefore, even when an instant replay mode in which an image captured by the image output unit is stored in a source server and an instant replay mode for immediately reproducing a part of the image is simultaneously requested from a plurality of terminal devices is used, if an IEEE 1394 bus is used, one is required. One server can handle it.

Therefore, the present invention has a feature that a high-speed network can be constructed without increasing the scale of the network.
The present invention is very suitably applied to a high-speed network network such as a concert hall where real-time operation and simultaneous multiple access can occur.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a main part showing an embodiment of a bidirectional high-speed data distribution device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system diagram showing an example of network expansion.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... bidirectional high-speed data distribution device, 20 ... client, 21, 22, 23 ... terminal device, 30 ...
Source, 31 Main control unit, 33 Multiserver, 34 Content server, 35 AV equipment, 40 Video output unit, 41, 42 Video camera, 43 ... MPEG encoder, 50 ... Communication system, 51 ... ATM converter, 52, 53 ... ATM
-IEEE 1394 converter

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A client comprising a plurality of terminal devices, a source storing information requested by the client, a video output unit having a video camera, and a communication system for coordinating communication therebetween. A high-speed data distribution device is constructed, and the source includes at least one server, peripheral devices, and control means for controlling these devices. These devices are connected by an IEEE 1394 bus as a high-speed serial bus. The terminal devices are also connected by the IEEE 1394 bus as a high-speed serial bus, and the communication system includes a high-speed communication network capable of constructing a high-speed communication network.
TM converter and ATM output from this ATM converter
A bidirectional high-speed data distribution device, wherein converters for converting a format signal into the IEEE 1394 format signal are provided between the client side and the source side, respectively. 2. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device is a terminal device with a built-in personal computer, and has at least a monitor unit having a built-in personal computer software and an input operation unit. High-speed data distribution device. 3. The bidirectional high-speed data distribution device according to claim 1, wherein said terminal devices are connected by a daisy chain connection. 4. The source includes a multi server,
A content server is provided, wherein the multiserver stores video data from the video output unit via the communication system, and wherein the content server stores billing information, personal information, and the like. Item 2. The bidirectional high-speed data distribution device according to Item 1. 5. The video output unit is provided with a data compression unit, and the compressed video data from the data compression unit is supplied to the ATM converter as an ATM format signal. The bidirectional high-speed data distribution device according to claim 1, wherein 6. When an output form from a video camera provided in the video output section is an IEEE 1394 format signal, the signal in the ATM format is transmitted to the preceding or subsequent stage of the data compression section.
2. The bidirectional high-speed data distribution device according to claim 1, further comprising a converter for converting the signal into a format signal.