JP2002084321A - Method and mechanism to use the fastest data transfer client as a substitute for server in real-time data transmission from server - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (With correction) [Problem] When a large number of clients connect to a server at the same time, a heavy load is applied to the server, and it may not be possible to respond to a transmission request. Kind Code: A1 There is another client B receiving the same data as streaming data requested by a client A from a server.
If the data transfer from the client B can be performed at a higher speed than the data transmission from the client B, the data transfer request of the client A is switched to the client B, and the data transfer is received from the client B. To reduce In addition, by relaying and transmitting linearly from the server to the client B to the client A,
The network bandwidth can be used rationally.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to (1) a server (hereinafter referred to as a "server") provided with a database storing data with time series such as moving images and audio, and (2) connection to a server to receive data with time series. Clients that play while
“Client”), (3) a program having a sub-server function that operates on the client, (4)) an exchange program that operates on the client and performs transmission optimization, and (5) connects between the server and the client Network (hereinafter referred to as "network").

[0002] A technique for sequentially reproducing data on the client side while transmitting time-series data such as moving images and audio from the server to the client is called "streaming technology (St.
Reaming Technology). The server is a database storing a plurality of streaming data, and starts transmitting data when receiving a transmission request from a client. The client sequentially reproduces the streaming data transmitted from the server. The server starts transmitting data in response to transmission requests from a plurality of clients each time.

The above-mentioned (3) “program with sub-server function (hereinafter,“ sub-server ”)” is a program that operates in cooperation with a streaming data reproducing program, and stores streaming data that is currently being received. It has the function of forwarding to another client on the network. In other words, it is a program that operates on a certain client A, but also functions as a server of streaming data for another client B.

[0004] The "exchange program" of the above (4) is to obtain a list of a group of clients receiving data sent from a server to a client A and receiving the data from the server, and to determine their positional relationship on the network. This is a program that analyzes and finds the address of another client B that can transfer data to client A fastest, and automatically switches the streaming data transmission request destination to client B. This discovery of another client B may be performed statically for a certain data transmission request, that is, only once at the time of the transmission request, or may be performed dynamically, that is, sequentially during data transmission, according to the line status and the connection status of the client. _.. May be repeated to switch between different clients B, C, D.

In the present invention, the server responds to a data transmission request from the client A, and at the same time, acquires the address (IP address and connection port, etc.) of the client A on the network. During the transmission of the streaming data to the client A, if another client B subsequently requests the server for the data being transmitted to the client A, the server transmits the streaming data and at the same time transmits its streaming capability and the degree of the load. It also sends information about it and a list of clients it is sending information to.
Further, the client B analyzes the request destination of the streaming data based on the list.

[0006] When the server has sufficient transmission capacity and the distance between the client A and another client group on the network is long, the client A requests the server to directly transmit streaming data.

[0007] Even if the server has sufficient transmission capacity, if the distance between the client A and another client B on the network is short and the transfer between the clients A and B is faster than the direct transmission from the server, the client A If the above exchange program determines, the exchange program of client A requests client B to transmit streaming data. The secondary server of the client B starts transfer of the streaming data in response to the transfer request from the client A. Client A automatically receives data transfer from client B. The user of the client A does not recognize that the data transfer from the client B is being received.

[0008] When a certain client A receives a transfer from the sub-server of the client B, and the data transfer is interrupted for a certain period of time due to an accident in the middle of the line or a disconnection of the client B, the client A sends a request to the server. Requests transmission of streaming data. The server is
At the same time as starting the transmission of the streaming data, a list of the client group currently transmitting the data is transmitted to the client A. The exchange program on the client A analyzes the list, finds another client that can transfer data the fastest from the client A, for example, C, and switches the target of the subsequent streaming data transmission request to the client C. If the permissible time for data transfer is set long enough, the load on the switching program can be reduced. If the permissible time for data transfer is set short enough, client A will be most likely to respond to the line conditions of the network. Since the data is received while switching the clients that can receive the data at high speed, stable streaming images and sounds can be reproduced.

According to the present invention, streaming data is
Not only are the data transmitted directly from the server, but also the relay (relay) transfer of sending the data received from the client connected to the server to the next client, thereby increasing the large transfer load required by the server. Can be dispersed. In addition, it is possible to save the transmission bandwidth resources of the network by eliminating wasteful transmission of the same data on the network in multiple lines, and by transferring the data from the client closer to the server to the client farther from the server.

According to the principle of the streaming distribution mechanism of the present invention, the more clients that connect to the server and receive data distribution, the faster the transfer speed of the newly connected client is not from the server. The likelihood of receiving data from the client increases. In other words, in the ordinary streaming mechanism, when a large number of users connect, the transmission speed generally decreases, and the video / audio quality decreases, whereas in the present invention, it is more stable that a large number of users connect. The possibility of receiving video / audio of improved quality is increased.

[0011]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a moving picture / sound reproducing apparatus and technology distributed via a network.

[0012]

2. Description of the Related Art In streaming transmission in which data accompanied by time series such as moving images and sounds is reproduced from a server while being downloaded from a server, data is always directly transmitted from the server to the client. For this reason,
When a large number of clients connect to the server at the same time, a heavy load is applied to the server, and the server may not be able to respond to the transmission request. Further, providing a server capable of responding to a transmission request requires a large amount of cost. In addition, the streaming data of the same content is transferred to each client in parallel, which wastes network bandwidth.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a situation where many clients are connected to a server at the same time, the transmission load on a server that performs streaming data transmission is reduced, and in streaming distribution with a large amount of data, data having the same content is not transmitted. To reduce unnecessary network load caused by parallel transfer over a network.

[0014]

Means for Solving the Problems There is another client B receiving the same data as the streaming data requested by the client A from the server. If the data transfer can be performed at a higher speed by transferring the data from the client A, the data transmission request of the client A is switched to the client B, and the data transfer is received from the client B, thereby reducing the transmission load of the server. In addition, the network bandwidth can be rationally used by linearly relaying the transmission from the server to the client B to the client A.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention can be applied to image distribution and music distribution using a computer network.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the case of image distribution and music distribution using a computer network, a so-called "live broadcast" in which images and sounds of a site where a performance or performance is actually performed is simultaneously transmitted from a server to a large number of clients. ".

[0017]

According to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate an overload on a server and a waste of network bandwidth caused by a large number of clients connecting to the server at the same time, and to stably perform image distribution and music distribution.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an entire system.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In streaming transmission in which data accompanied by time series such as moving images and audio are reproduced from a server while being downloaded from the server, a list including information such as the address of the client receiving the data is created by the server. By sending a new data transmission request to the client that sent the server, the client can switch the transmission request destination to receive streaming data transfer from another client that has already received data from the server, Method and mechanism for minimizing the number of clients connected to a server and reducing the load on the server, and at the same time reducing the network load during transfer by receiving data transfer from another client that can always transfer data fastest, thereby increasing the speed of transmission. .