JPH09185865A - A/v server system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase the number of outputs simultaneously accessible systems and to enable a system to be backed up also in the event a failure occurs. SOLUTION: An A/V(audio/video) server system is comprised of a pair of A/V server units 1A and 1B of which the number of simultaneously accessible input/output channels are, for example, 6. Input channels are common to the two units 1A and 1B. When a request for recording comes, one of input/output channels of each of the two units 1A and 1B are assigned for recording and a same material is recorded in each unit. In the case of reproducing, the two unit 1A and 1B are used independently from each other. A demand for recording to the A/V severs 1A and 1B, when it is specified not to exceed 3, the number of reproducing channels can be secured up to 6=(6-3)×2 for a demand for reproducing the same material. Also, in the event that a failure occurs on one of the units 1A or 1B, a half of normal time functions can be secured.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an A (audio) / V (visual) server system which uses a randomly accessible recording / reproducing apparatus such as a hard disk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to provide high quality audio and image data, the data transfer rate becomes high, and
A large amount of memory is required to record long-term data. Normally, as an A / V server system,
A plurality of hard disk drives are put together and a disk array device having a controller for the hard disk drives is used. Handling high-quality video A
Since the / V server system has a large amount of recorded data per unit time, it is difficult to realize multi-channel.
The number of inputs and outputs (the number of inputs and outputs that can be accessed simultaneously) was about 6 to 8.

[0003]

When an A / V server system having a larger number of input / outputs is constructed, the number of simultaneous accesses to the same recorded A / V material increases. In the conventional system, there is a problem that it is not possible to realize simultaneous access exceeding the number of inputs and outputs of one A / V server unit. In addition, as a measure against the failure of the A / V server system, a working system and a backup system are provided, and when a failure occurs in the working system, the data of the working system is transferred to the backup system. There was no use for me.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an A / V server system capable of increasing the number of simultaneous accesses and coping with the occurrence of a failure.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, first and second A's capable of simultaneously accessing a predetermined number of input / outputs are provided.
/ V server unit as a pair, the same input signal is simultaneously recorded by the first and second A / V server units during recording, and the output of the first and second A / V server units during playback. It is an A / V server system characterized by being used individually. Also, the first and second A / V server units each have a separate control unit. Further, when a failure occurs in one of the first and second A / V server units, the other one backs up.

A / with two input / output units that can be accessed simultaneously
Doubled by V-Server unit. The rest, except the one used for recording, can be used for reproduction (for output). Further, when a failure occurs, the capacity is reduced by the other A / V server unit, but it can be dealt with immediately.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and 1A and 1B show A / V server units that make up one pair, respectively. A / V server unit 1A
Has three input channels I1, I2, I3 and six output channels O1, O2, ..., O6. A /
Similarly, the V server unit 1B also has an input channel I1.
1 to I13 and output channels O11 to O16. Each of the A / V server units 1A and 1B is configured by combining a plurality of hard disk array devices. More specifically, a buffer memory is provided for each of the plurality of disk array devices, and a data controller is provided between the buffer memory and the input / output.

As shown in FIG. 1, the inputs of the A / V server units 1A and 1B are connected to each other so that the same A / V data are input to each other. It has an input channel. In this embodiment, the number of recording requests to the A / V server system is determined not to exceed 3 in operation. The same A / V material is recorded in the A / V server units 1A and 1B. On the other hand, A / V server unit 1A,
The 1B output channels are independent.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a reproduction request for the same material is given (the number of input / output of the A / V server unit-
3) Up to 2 can be secured. For example, when the A / V server units 1A and 1B each have 6 input / outputs (the number of channels that can be simultaneously accessed), it is possible to support reproduction requests up to 6. The number of input / output is 8
In the case of, it is possible to handle up to 10 reproduction requests. In this way, it is possible to increase the number that can secure the reproduction request for the same material.

Since the system is composed of the pair of A / V server units 1A and 1B, it is possible to back up the equipment which is normally performed. In other words, even if one of the server units 1A and 1B fails, the same material is recorded in these units, so that the other unit operates to reduce the output to half the normal number. The function can be secured.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the following equation holds between input and output numbers, assuming a system of a certain broadcasting station. (Number of inputs + (Number of outputs x 1.2 / 2)) / 6 ≤ Number of required units

In this example, the number of outputs is the number of editing rooms. In the above equation, the A / B roll usage rate during editing is 20%. A / B roll editing is generally editing that combines the outputs of two players into one. Here, a large number of items are included in the material in the A / V server, and the time ratio when performing the effect like a wipe with two materials for the same item is called the A / B roll usage rate.

Based on the above equation, the following relationship holds. Number of input channels = 8 at the beginning of system introduction,
When the number of output channels = 6, the required number of units is 2. The final assumed value is the number of input channels = 30,
When the number of output channels = 20, the required number of units is 7
It is. When 4 units are used, when the number of input channels = 8, the number of input / output ports does not become insufficient until the number of output channels = 26, and the number of input channels = 16.
In the case of, the number of input / output ports does not become insufficient until the number of output channels = 13. When supporting 20 editing rooms, up to 12 input channels can be simultaneously supported. The maximum number of outputs from the same unit is assumed to be 12 physically and 8 logically. It is necessary to consider recording materials that are set with high access frequency so that they are not concentrated in the same unit.

When it is attempted to realize the same function as the above with an existing configuration (that is, a configuration in which two units are not configured as a pair), the maximum number of inputs / outputs from one unit is physically 6, logically. Considering 4 or 5, it is necessary to reduce the number of input channels per unit to one in order to widen the frontage of the output side. At this time, the maximum number of simultaneous accesses to the same material is 5. Using this conventional system, 8 A / V server units are required for input / output at the time of system introduction of the above example, and 30 units are required for the final assumed value. Even with the final estimated value, the maximum number of simultaneous accesses is 5. Moreover, it is not possible to perform backup for a unit failure. However, in this case, since the number of material recording times depends on the number of units, comparing with the case of forming two pairs,
It will be more than double.

FIG. 2 shows a more specific structure of an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the control units 2A, 2 are provided corresponding to the A / V server units 1A, 1B, respectively.
B is provided separately. Thereby, the server unit 1
Even if a failure occurs not only in A and 1B but also in the control unit 2A or 2B, the other one can operate normally. The higher-order application unit 3 coupled to the control units 2A and 2B via the bus is related to recording by the control unit 2A,
Give the same instructions to 2B. On the other hand, regarding reproduction, instructions are given alternately (that is, separately) to the control units 2A and 2B.

At the time of recording the material, a recording request is created in the upper application section 3. This includes information (file name, length, input channel number, recording time, etc.) about the video (and audio) to be recorded, and this information is provided to the control units 2A and 2B of the two servers. Sent from. In the control units 2A and 2B, recording is performed by linking the recording information and the unique recording address and name to the recording information based on the states in the respective server units 1A and 1B. The actual recording is executed by A / by the start command given externally or via the network.
The V server units 1A and 1B simultaneously record the same content.

At the time of reproduction, a reproduction request is created in the upper application section 3. The playback request is information about the video to be played (file name, output channel number,
The reproduction request is sent to the control unit of the server unit on the designated side, including the output order, control destination, etc.) and information for instructing which of the server units 1A, 1B should reproduce.

The control units 2A and 2B control the reproduction in accordance with the instruction received from the upper application unit 3. When the actual reproduction is executed, in addition to the normal reproduction by the start command, there are also special reproduction instructions such as slow-motion reproduction and fast-forward reproduction. Reproduction according to the operation of the output request destination, such as control from an external control device such as an editing machine, is performed for each reproduction request.

In the configuration example of FIG. 2, the upper application section 3 manages which of the server units 1A and 1B is used. However, the control unit 2A,
If the 2Bs are linked and the designated output channel and the control destination can be connected, this management can be omitted. Further, when a failure occurs in the A / V server units 1A, 1B and the control units 2A, 2B, the same control as above is performed.

Further, although the above-mentioned one embodiment uses two server units, it is also possible to make a structure in which three or more server units are combined to have a common input channel and separate output channels. is there.

[0021]

According to the present invention, the number of simultaneous input / output is 6 to 6.
Using about 8 A / V server units, it is possible to record about 2 systems in parallel while performing about 10 simultaneous outputs. Further, according to the present invention, even if one of the A / V server units forming the pair fails,
Backup can be performed by the other side, and for example, by using all the other sides for reproduction, it is possible to secure the same number of simultaneous outputs as in the normal state. Further, the present invention has a simple control method.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to construct an A / V server system having a large number of input / outputs with almost no limit while covering the simultaneous maximum output request in actual operation. That is, in a normal broadcasting station operation, the maximum number of simultaneous accesses to the same material is about 6, and
It is also possible to substantially increase the number of simultaneous outputs by recording the material distributed among the units in consideration of the degree of simultaneous access of the material to be recorded.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a more specific configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1A, 1B A / V server unit 2A, 2B control unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A pair of first and second A / V server units capable of simultaneously accessing a predetermined number of inputs / outputs are paired, and the same first and second A / V server units are used for recording during recording. An A / V server system, wherein input signals are simultaneously recorded and the outputs of the first and second A / V server units are individually used during reproduction. 2. The A / V server system according to claim 1, wherein the first and second A / V server units each have a control unit separately. 3. The A / V according to claim 1 or claim 2.
In the server system, when one of the first and second A / V server units fails, another A / V server system backs up.