Video-on-demand system of reduced storage capacity which can provide noninterrupted broadcast to a plurality of users
First Claim
1. A video-on-demand system, comprising:
- an image data storage device, including a plurality of recording media for storing a plurality of programs, for storing image data for the programs divided into a plurality of blocks which are distributed among all of the recording media;
an image data management device, including image data management tables in which management information for the image data is stored, for consulting the image data management tables and transmitting management information separately for each block, when there is a request from outside the device for information about one of the programs, wherein the image data management tables comprise a title table for corresponding a title of each of the programs with starting block identification information for each of the programs, a block table for corresponding block identification information for each of the blocks with starting frame identification information for each of the blocks, and a frame table for corresponding frame identification information for each frame with position information showing at which position on which recording medium out of the recording media each of the frames is stored; and
an image data transmission device for requesting to the image data management device for management information related to a block which is to be transmitted in a transmission of a program requested by a user, for receiving the management information from the image data management device, for retrieving image block data separately for each block from the recording media and for transmitting the image block data to the user.
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Abstract
The present invention is a video-on-demand system, comprising an image data storage device, including a plurality of recording media, which stores image data for a plurality of programs divided into a plurality of blocks which are distributed among all of the recording media, an image data management device, including image data management tables in which management information for the image data is stored, which consults the image data management tables and transmits necessary information separately for each block, when there is a request from outside the device for information about one of the programs, these image data management tables including a title table corresponding a title of each of the programs with starting block identification information for each, a block table corresponding block identification information for each of the blocks with starting frame identification information for each block, and a frame table corresponding frame identification information for each frame with position information showing at which position on which recording medium out of the recording media each of the frames is stored, and an image data transmission device which requests to the image data management device for the necessary information for a transmission of a program requested by a user, receives the necessary information from the image data management device, retrieves image block data separately for each block from the recording media and transmits the image block data to the user.
41 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A video-on-demand system, comprising:
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an image data storage device, including a plurality of recording media for storing a plurality of programs, for storing image data for the programs divided into a plurality of blocks which are distributed among all of the recording media; an image data management device, including image data management tables in which management information for the image data is stored, for consulting the image data management tables and transmitting management information separately for each block, when there is a request from outside the device for information about one of the programs, wherein the image data management tables comprise a title table for corresponding a title of each of the programs with starting block identification information for each of the programs, a block table for corresponding block identification information for each of the blocks with starting frame identification information for each of the blocks, and a frame table for corresponding frame identification information for each frame with position information showing at which position on which recording medium out of the recording media each of the frames is stored; and an image data transmission device for requesting to the image data management device for management information related to a block which is to be transmitted in a transmission of a program requested by a user, for receiving the management information from the image data management device, for retrieving image block data separately for each block from the recording media and for transmitting the image block data to the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for supplying programs in a video-on-demand system, comprising:
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an image data storage step for storing image data for a plurality of programs divided into a plurality of blocks which are distributed among a plurality of recording media; an image data management step for storing image data management tables including a title table for corresponding a title of each of the programs with starting block identification information for each of the programs, a block table for corresponding block identification information for each of the blocks with starting frame identification information for each of the blocks, and a frame table for corresponding frame identification information for each frame with position information showing at which position on which recording medium out of the recording media each of the frames is stored, and for consulting the image data management tables and transmitting management information separately for each block, when there is a request for information about one of the programs; and an image data transmission step for requesting that management information related to a block which is to be transmitted in a transmission of a program requested by a user be transmitted by the image data management step, for receiving the management information transmitted by the image data management step, for retrieving image block data separately for each block from the recording media and for transmitting the image block data to the user. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification