Multimedia data relay system, multimedia data relay apparatus, and multimedia data relay method

• US 7,231,454 B2
• Filed: 03/28/2002
• Issued: 06/12/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Togashi, Yuuichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Meky; Moustafa M.
• Application Number:
  US10/107,345
• Publication Number:
  US 20020143977A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,902 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/231, 709200-202, 709217-227, 705/26, 715/91
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1026 at the edge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1036 at the edge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/765 intermediate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/14 Backbone network devices

Abstract

In this invention, relay processing is executed for multimedia data input from a server without using any storage device. A plurality of processing units that execute the same processing are prepared at each stage, and a unit that has ended processing is caused to execute the relay processing, thereby quickening the relay processing. Processing on each processing unit is executed in a working area on a memory without using any storage device.

Claims

1. A multimedia data relay system comprising:

a server computer which stores multimedia data;

a portable telephone which acquires the multimedia data from said server computer, executes relay processing for the acquired multimedia data, and outputs the multimedia data; and

a music player which writes the multimedia data output from said portable telephone, which has undergone the relay processing, in a memory card,

wherein said portable telephone sequentially acquires multimedia data each having a size processible in a memory of said portable telephone from said server computer, and executes the relay processing only in the memory of said portable telephone for the acquired multimedia data on the basis of a multimedia data request from said music player, and

the said portable telephone further comprises;

a plurality of first data conversion units which execute first conversion processing for the multimedia data;

a plurality of second data conversion units which execute second conversion processing for the multimedia data that have undergone the first conversion processing by said plurality of first data conversion units;

first determination means for determining whether a first data conversion unit that has ended processing is present in said plurality of first data conversion units;

acquisition means for, when said first determination means determines that said first data conversion unit that has ended processing is present, acquiring multimedia data each having a size processible by each of said plurality of first and second data conversion units from a server;

first input means for inputting the multimedia data acquired by said acquisition means to said first data conversion unit that has ended processing;

second determination means for determining whether a second data conversion unit that has ended processing is present in said plurality of second data conversion units;

second input means for, when said second determination means determines that said second data conversion unit that has ended processing is present, inputting the multimedia data that has undergone the first conversion processing by said first data conversion unit to said second data conversion unit that has ended processing; and

output means for outputting the multimedia data that have undergone the second conversion processing by said plurality of second data conversion units to a relay target in an order of input to said plurality of first data conversion units by said first input means.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said portable telephone has no hard disk drive.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the memory card is an SD memory card.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said portable telephone acquires the multimedia data from said server computer when the relay processing becomes possible.

5. A multimedia data relay apparatus for executing relay processing only in a memory, the data relay apparatus comprising:

a plurality of first data conversion units which execute first conversion processing for multimedia data in the memory of the multimedia data relay apparatus only;

a plurality of second data conversion units which execute second conversion processing for the multimedia data that have undergone the first conversion processing by said plurality of first data conversion units in the memory of the multimedia data relay apparatus only;

first determination means in the memory of the multimedia data relay apparatus for determining whether a first data conversion unit that has ended processing is present in said plurality of first data conversion units;

acquisition means for, when said first determination means determines that said first data conversion unit that has ended processing is present, acquiring multimedia data each having a size processible by each of said plurality of first and second data conversion units from a server;

first input means for inputting the multimedia data acquired by said acquisition means to said first data conversion unit that has ended processing;

second determination means for determining whether a second data conversion unit that has ended processing is present in said plurality of second data conversion units;

second input means for, when said second determination means determines that said second data conversion unit that has ended processing is present, inputting the multimedia data that has undergone the first conversion processing by said first data conversion unit to said second data conversion unit that has ended processing; and

output means for outputting the multimedia data that have undergone the second conversion processing by said plurality of second data conversion units to a relay target in an order of input to said plurality of first data conversion units by said first input means.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the first conversion processing executed by said plurality of first data conversion units and the second conversion processing executed by said plurality of second data conversion units are executed using a working area of the memory of the multimedia data relay apparatus.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the memory comprises

a plurality of first working areas arranged in correspondence with said plurality of first data conversion units, respectively, to execute the first conversion processing, and

a plurality of second working areas arranged in correspondence with said plurality of second data conversion units, respectively, to execute the second conversion processing.

8. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein when said first determination means determines that said first data conversion unit that has ended processing is present, said acquisition means outputs a transmission request for multimedia data each having a size processible by each of said plurality of first and second data conversion units to the server, thereby acquiring the multimedia data from the server.

9. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the first conversion processing is format conversion processing or encryption processing.

10. A multimedia data relay system comprising:

a server which stores multimedia data; and

a data relay apparatus which executes predetermined processing only in a memory for the multimedia data from said server and outputs the multimedia data that has undergone the predetermined processing to a relay target,

wherein said data relay apparatus comprises;

a plurality of first data conversion units which execute first conversion processing for the multimedia data in a memory of the data relay apparatus only;

a plurality of second data conversion units which execute second conversion processing for the multimedia data that have undergone the first conversion processing by said plurality of first data conversion units in the memory of the data relay apparatus only;

first determination means in the memory of the multimedia data relay apparatus for determining whether a first data conversion unit that has ended processing is present in said plurality of first data conversion units;

acquisition means for, when said first determination means determines that said first data conversion unit that has ended processing is present, acquiring multimedia data each having a size processible by each of said plurality of first and second data conversion units from a server;

first input means for inputting the multimedia data acquired by said acquisition means to said first data conversion unit that has ended processing;

second determination means for determining whether a second data conversion unit that has ended processing is present in said plurality of second data conversion units;

second input means for, when said second determination means determines that said second data conversion unit that has ended processing is present, inputting the multimedia data that has undergone the first conversion processing by said first data conversion unit to said second data conversion unit that has ended processing; and

output means for outputting the multimedia data that have undergone the second conversion processing by said plurality of second data conversion units to a relay target in an order of input to said plurality of first data conversion units by said first input means.

11. A multimedia data relay method in a multimedia data relay system that executes relay processing only in a memory, the system comprising a plurality of first data conversion units which execute first conversion processing for multimedia data in a memory of the multimedia data relay system only and a plurality of second data conversion units which execute second conversion processing for the multimedia data in the memory of the multimedia data relay system only that have undergone the first conversion processing by the plurality of first data conversion units, comprising steps of:

determining whether a first data conversion unit that has ended processing is present in the plurality of first data conversion units;

when it is determined that the first data conversion unit that has ended processing is present, acquiring multimedia data each having a size processible by each of the plurality of first and second data conversion units from a server;

inputting the acquired multimedia data to the first data conversion unit that has ended processing;

determining whether a second data conversion unit that has ended processing is present in the plurality of second data conversion units;

when it is determined that the second data conversion unit that has ended processing is present, inputting the multimedia data that has undergone the first conversion processing by the first data conversion unit to the second data conversion unit that has ended processing; and

outputting the multimedia data that have undergone the second conversion processing by the plurality of second data conversion units to a relay target in an order of input to the plurality of first data conversion units by the first input means.

12. A multimedia data relay apparatus for executing relay processing only in a memory, the data relay apparatus comprising:

acquisition means for acquiring multimedia data from a server;

a first application program to execute first processing for the multimedia data acquired by said acquisition means;

a second application program to execute second processing for the multimedia data that has undergone the first processing by said first application program;

a memory comprising a plurality of first working areas to execute the first processing and a plurality of second working areas to execute the second processing;

control means for causing said first application program to execute the first processing for the multimedia data acquired by said acquisition means using one of the plurality of first working areas only, where processing has been ended, and causing said second application program to execute the second processing for the multimedia data that has undergone the first processing using one of the plurality of second working areas only, where processing has been ended; and

output means for outputting the multimedia data that has undergone the second processing to a relay target.