Material conversion device and material conversion method

Abstract

To provide a material conversion device capable of transmitting each material received by a compression stream to a playout service at time determined by a unified format.SOLUTION: A material conversion device 20 includes: a conversion part 21 for respectively converting compression streams of a plurality of materials into compression streams of a prescribed format; a generation part 22 for generating a time stamp showing time information corresponding to a compression stream obtained by converting an unconverted compression stream on the basis of time information included in packets constituting the compression stream; an imparting part 23 for respectively imparting the generated time stamp packets to the packets constituting a corresponding compression stream over each converted compression stream; and a transmission part 24 for transmitting each compression stream imparted with the time stamp to the playout server when prescribed time calculated from the imparted time stamp arrives.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a material conversion device, a material conversion method, and a material conversion program, and particularly to a material conversion device, a material conversion method, and a material conversion program specialized for use in cloud computing (hereinafter referred to as cloud).

Background Art

[0002] For the purpose of reducing equipment costs and the like, it is expected that cloud will be used in the television master system of a broadcasting station (hereinafter simply referred to as the master system).

[0003] In the operation of a master system that does not incorporate Internet Protocol (IP) technology within a broadcasting station building, materials such as video are often exchanged in an uncompressed stream. When materials are exchanged in an uncompressed stream, a line with a wide bandwidth is required. However, it is relatively easy to prepare a line with a wide bandwidth within a broadcasting station building.

[0004] In the operation of a master system in which cloud is used for the operation of a master system within a broadcasting station building (hereinafter referred to as a cloud master system), due to the influence of bandwidth limitations and the like, it is required that the stream be compressed (encoded).

[0005] The reason is that compared with an environment such as within a broadcasting station building where a direct cable is pulled between on-premises configured master systems, a line with a narrow bandwidth is often used in an environment where a cloud master system is used.

[0006] In the case of a cloud master system, for example, a playout server, which is an important element constituting the cloud master system, discriminates the formats of the compressed streams of a plurality of materials and decodes each compressed stream.

[0007] In addition, Patent Document 1 describes an image processing apparatus that aims to standardize the processing content and processing system for compressed data by standardizing the format of compressed data regardless of the data format difference, and at the same time, improve the readability of characters at a high compression rate.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0008]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0009] In order to make the cloud master system a loosely coupled system, it is preferable that another server provided in front of the playout server unifies the formats of each compression stream of a plurality of materials.

[0010] When a system using the cloud is designed, generally, the relationships between each service, each component, and each role are designed to be loosely coupled. The reason is that designing the relationships to be loosely coupled rather than tightly coupled makes the system more fault-tolerant.

[0011] For example, when the relationships between the components of the system are tightly coupled, if an error occurs in a part of the components and the component stops, there is a high possibility that other components will also be affected. However, when the relationships between the components of the system are loosely coupled, even if an error occurs in a part of the components, it is highly likely that only that component will be affected.

[0012] That is, designing the relationships to be loosely coupled has the advantages of not only shortening the time to recover from a failure but also quickly identifying the failure location, so the system is more fault-tolerant when designed with loosely coupled relationships.

[0013] In the operation of the cloud master system, it is assumed that materials are directly transmitted from the relay destination to the cloud master system. However, depending on the geographical distance between the relay destination and the cloud master system, the materials may reach the cloud master system late or on time.

[0014] By having the playout server store each material in the buffer until all materials arrive, the playout server can also eliminate the difference in delay time until each material arrives. However, when the playout server stores each material in the buffer, a buffer with a large capacity is required for the playout server. Therefore, it is preferable that another server provided in front of the playout server eliminates the difference in delay time until each material arrives.

[0015] Furthermore, it is preferable that another server provided in front of the playout server can execute material switching. If material switching can be executed, the other server can also handle interruptions such as emergency news.

[0016] Summarizing the above content, when the compressed stream is input to the cloud master system, the load on the playout server increases. Therefore, from the perspective of fault tolerance, the unification of the compressed stream format and the storage of each material in the buffer are required to be performed by another server provided in front of the playout server.

[0017] As described above, in the operation of the master system, materials are exchanged in non-compressed streams, so the above problems that occur when materials are exchanged in compressed streams are not considered. Exceptionally, there has been a case where materials are transmitted in a compressed stream from the relay destination even in the operation of the master system, but since immediacy has not been emphasized, the above problems have not been examined.

[0018] Also, Patent Document 1 does not describe a method for solving the above problems.

[0019] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a material conversion device, a material conversion method, and a material conversion program that can transmit each material received in a compressed stream to a playout server at a determined time in a unified format.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0020] The material conversion device according to the present disclosure includes a conversion unit that converts compressed streams of a plurality of materials into compressed streams in a predetermined format respectively, a generation unit that generates a time stamp indicating time information corresponding to the compressed stream after the conversion based on the time information included in the packets constituting the compressed stream before the conversion, an assignment unit that assigns the generated time stamp to the packets constituting the corresponding compressed stream respectively across the converted compressed streams, and a transmission unit that transmits the compressed streams with the time stamp assigned thereto to the playout server when a predetermined time calculated from the assigned time stamp is reached.

[0021] The material conversion method according to the present disclosure includes converting compressed streams of a plurality of materials into compressed streams in a predetermined format respectively, generating a time stamp indicating time information corresponding to the compressed stream after the conversion based on the time information included in the packets constituting the compressed stream before the conversion, assigning the generated time stamp to the packets constituting the corresponding compressed stream respectively across the converted compressed streams, and transmitting the compressed streams with the time stamp assigned thereto to the playout server when a predetermined time calculated from the assigned time stamp is reached.

[0022] The material conversion program according to the present disclosure causes a computer to execute a conversion process of converting compression streams of a plurality of materials into compression streams in a predetermined format respectively, a generation process of generating a timestamp indicating time information corresponding to the compression stream after conversion based on the time information included in the packets constituting the compression stream before conversion, an assignment process of assigning the generated timestamp to the packets constituting the corresponding compression stream respectively across the converted compression streams, and a transmission process of transmitting each compression stream with the timestamp assigned thereto to a playout server when a predetermined time calculated from the assigned timestamp is reached.

Advantages of the Invention

[0023] According to the present disclosure, each material received as a compression stream can be transmitted to a playout server at a time determined in a unified format.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0024]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0025] [Description of the Configuration] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present disclosure, the drawings are associated with one or more embodiments.

[0026] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a transcoder according to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, the transcoder 100 of the present embodiment includes a transcoding unit 110, a time information acquisition unit 120, a time information conversion unit 130, a time information holding unit 140, a delay fixing unit 150, and a switching unit 160.

[0027] A transcoder that holds the time information of each material in the compression stream and eliminates the difference in the delay time until arrival under the condition that the reference method of the time information in the compression stream of each material to be transmitted or received is the same has already been provided.

[0028] The transcoder 100 of the present embodiment can transmit each material to the playout server at a determined time while holding the time information of each material in the compression stream even if the reference method of the time information in the compression stream of each material to be transmitted or received is different. Further, the transcoder 100 of the present embodiment can immediately transcode the compression stream of each material and stream it to the playout server in a unified format.

[0029] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a usage example of the transcoder 100. As shown in FIG. 2, the transcoder 100 receives materials in a compressed stream from Sender 210, which is a relay destination, via a public line. Similarly, the transcoder 100 receives materials in a compressed stream from Sender 220, which is a broadcasting station, via a dedicated line.

[0030] As described above, the transcoder 100 receives two compressed streams in various formats. The transcoder 100 in this embodiment unifies the formats of the two received compressed streams. The transcoder 100 transmits the two compressed streams with unified formats to Receiver 300, which is a playout server.

[0031] Note that the transcoder 100 in this embodiment may receive two or more compressed streams and unify the formats of the received multiple compressed streams.

[0032] Since the formats of the two received compressed streams are unified, the playout server only needs to prepare a decoder corresponding to only one type of format. After decoding the two received compressed streams, the playout server switches the two streams on time. Also, the playout server performs video and audio processing such as inserting an L-shaped screen or a station logo. After performing the video and audio processing, the playout server passes the material to a broadcast encoder.

[0033] FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing another usage example of the transcoder 100. The hatched rectangles shown in FIG. 3 represent compressed streams. Also, the black rectangles shown in FIG. 3 represent time stamps indicating the time of the video stored on the left side of the black rectangles. The time stamp shown in FIG. 3 indicates "10:00:00".

[0034] The playout server is required to switch the material on time. For example, the playout server switches the material from a CM to a program at 10:00:00.

[0035] That is, the playout server is required to grasp at what hour, minute, second, and frame the video indicated by the received compressed stream is. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the transcoder 100 is required not to lose the time information from the compressed stream.

[0036] To prevent the loss of time information from the compressed stream, for the compressed stream received from the relay destination, the transcoder 100 utilizes a time information conversion function described later. In the case of a compressed stream received from the relay destination, the time information is stored in the same layer as the layer where video and audio information is stored, for example. The transcoder 100 utilizes the time information conversion function for the time information stored in the compressed stream.

[0037] Also, for the compressed stream received from the broadcasting station, the transcoder 100 directly applies the RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol) timestamp stored in the packets constituting the compressed stream to the compressed stream to be transmitted. That is, in the case of a compressed stream received from the broadcasting station, the transcoder 100 utilizes the RTP timestamp as time information.

[0038] Hereinafter, the functions of the respective components of the transcoder 100 according to the present embodiment will be described. The transcoding unit 110 has a function of unifying the formats of the compressed streams of a plurality of received materials.

[0039] Specifically, the transcoding unit 110 performs protocol processing corresponding to the received compressed stream on the material. Note that the protocol processing is, for example, non-encapsulation processing. Also, as the protocol, for example, UDP (User Datagram Protocol) and RTP are assumed.

[0040] Next, the transcoding unit 110 performs decoding on the compressed stream according to the format of the compressed stream of the material on which the protocol processing has been performed. Next, the transcoding unit 110 encodes the decoded material into a predetermined format for transmission. Note that the format of the present embodiment is the format when compressed by a compression method such as H.264.

[0041] Next, the transcoding unit 110 inputs the encoded material as a compressed stream to the time information holding unit 140 in a protocol adapted to the destination in the form of a compressed stream. In this embodiment, since the transcoding unit 110 encodes each material in a predetermined format, the playout server does not need to prepare decoders corresponding to a plurality of formats.

[0042] The time information acquisition unit 120 has a function of acquiring time information (timestamp) from the packets constituting the compressed stream of the received material. The time information acquisition unit 120 inputs the acquired time information to the time information conversion unit 130 or the time information holding unit 140.

[0043] The time information conversion unit 130 has a function of converting the time indicated by the input time information into real time. Next, the time information conversion unit 130 generates a timestamp based on the converted real time. Next, the time information conversion unit 130 inputs the generated timestamp to the time information holding unit 140.

[0044] When the compression method is different, the method of attaching timestamps to the packets constituting the compressed stream of each material is also different. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a compressed stream. The rectangles shown in FIG. 4 represent the frames constituting the video indicated by the compressed stream (the same applies to FIG. 5).

[0045] The compressed stream shown in FIG. 4 is a stream compressed by MPEG2, H.264, HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding), or VVC (Versatile Video Coding).

[0046] In the compressed stream shown in FIG. 4, the black frames are compressed together with the frames before and after which patterns are applied. Therefore, the time indicated by the circles attached to the black frames cannot be determined from the timestamps of the packets.

[0047] FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of a compressed stream. The compressed stream shown in FIG. 5 is a stream compressed with JPEG-XS or VC-2.

[0048] In the compressed stream shown in FIG. 5, each frame is compressed frame by frame. Therefore, the time indicated by the circle attached to the black frame corresponds to the timing at which the packet is given a time stamp.

[0049] The time information conversion unit 130 of the present embodiment generates an RTP time stamp from a PTS (Presentation Time Stamp) that notifies the time when the specified frame is reproduced by the receiver. By generating the RTP time stamp, the time information conversion unit 130 reduces the influence of the difference in the method of attaching time information according to the compression format. Note that the PTS is a value indicating whether to output the specified frame to the monitor when the clock (PCR: Program Clock Reference) received by the receiver reaches a certain value.

[0050] FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a frame constituting a compressed stream. FIG. 6 shows a frame constituting a compressed stream transmitted by MPEG2-TS and a frame constituting a compressed stream transmitted in accordance with ST2110.

[0051] The compressed stream transmitted by MPEG2-TS corresponds to the compressed stream from the relay destination. PTS (time information) is included in the PES (Packetized Elementary Stream) header in the frame constituting the compressed stream transmitted by MPEG2-TS shown in FIG. 6.

[0052] Therefore, the transcoder 100 uses the PTS for the compressed stream transmitted by MPEG2-TS. Specifically, the time information acquisition unit 120 acquires the PTS and inputs it to the time information conversion unit 130.

[0053] Next, the time information conversion unit 130 converts the time indicated by the PTS into real time. Next, the time information conversion unit 130 generates an RTP timestamp indicating the converted real time. Next, the time information conversion unit 130 inputs the generated RTP timestamp to the time information holding unit 140.

[0054] Also, the compressed stream transmitted in accordance with ST2110 corresponds to the compressed stream from the broadcasting station. A timestamp is included in the RTP header within the frame constituting the compressed stream transmitted in accordance with ST2110 shown in FIG. 6.

[0055] Therefore, the transcoder 100 uses the RTP timestamp for the compressed stream transmitted in accordance with ST2110. Specifically, the time information acquisition unit 120 acquires the RTP timestamp and inputs it to the time information holding unit 140. In ST2110, it is specified by the standard that the time indicated by the timestamp in the RTP header is the real time.

[0056] The time information holding unit 140 has a function of adding the time information (timestamp) of the packet constituting the received compressed stream to the time information of the packet constituting the compressed stream to be transmitted. The timestamp is input from the time information acquisition unit 120 or the time information conversion unit 130. The time information holding unit 140 inputs the compressed stream composed of the packets with the timestamp added to the delay fixing unit 150.

[0057] By adding the time information of the packet constituting the received compressed stream, the server provided after the transcoder 100 can grasp the time when the material was transmitted toward the transcoder 100. That is, the server provided after the transcoder 100 can switch between non-synchronized materials at the specified time.

[0058] The delay fixing unit 150 has a function of transmitting the compressed stream of each material toward the playout server at the time when the set value is added to the time indicated by the given timestamp. Since the delay fixing unit 150 transmits the compressed stream of each material at a predetermined time, the playout server can receive the compressed stream of each material without being affected by fluctuations due to network jitter or processing delay. That is, the playout server does not need to prepare a large-capacity buffer.

[0059] Hereinafter, consider the case where the delay fixing unit 150 is not provided in the transcoder 100. When it is required to convert the format of the compressed stream transmitted from Sender210, if the encoding takes 5 seconds, the video received by Receiver300 at 10:00:00 may be the video at 9:59:55.

[0060] Also, when the conversion of the format of the compressed stream transmitted from Sender220 is not required, the video received by Receiver300 at 10:00:00 may be the video at 9:59:59.

[0061] That is, when the delay fixing unit 150 is not provided in the transcoder 100, the playout server requires a buffer capable of holding frames of the encoding processing difference for the two streams.

[0062] In the case of the above example, the buffer is required to hold 120 frames, which is the number of frames for 4 seconds of video. When holding 120 frames of Full HD (High Definition), the playout server requires a large-capacity buffer.

[0063] Consider the case where the transcoder 100 is provided with the delay fixing unit 150 for the above example. As described above, the delay fixing unit 150 can transmit the compressed streams of each material to the playout server at almost the same timing. That is, the delay fixing unit 150 can reduce the influence of fluctuations in network delay according to the processing differences between decoding and encoding and geographical distances.

[0064] Therefore, when the transcoder 100 is provided with the delay fixing unit 150, the playout server can receive the videos at the same time at almost the same timing, so that it is not necessary to prepare a buffer with a large capacity. When the capacity of the buffer prepared in the playout server becomes small, the playout server can operate stably. Also, the processing load on the playout server is reduced.

[0065] The material switching unit 160 has a function of switching the material to be transmitted to the playout server without shock. For example, the material switching unit 160 can switch the material to be transmitted to the playout server to news, which is a material interrupted during an emergency, that is, input from the outside. The material switching unit 160 transmits the compressed stream of the switched material to the playout server.

[0066] [Description of Operations] Hereinafter, the operation of the transcoder 100 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the material conversion process by the transcoder 100 according to the present disclosure. In this example, it is assumed that the switching unit 160 does not operate.

[0067] First, a plurality of materials are received by the transcoder 100 in the form of compressed streams (step S101). The plurality of received materials are input to the transcoding unit 110 and the time information acquisition unit 120.

[0068] Next, the transcoding unit 110 converts the compressed streams of the plurality of input materials into compressed streams in a predetermined format respectively (step S102). The transcoding unit 110 inputs the compressed streams of the plurality of materials with the format converted into the time information holding unit 140.

[0069] Also, the time information acquisition unit 120 acquires time information from each packet constituting the compressed streams of the plurality of input materials respectively (step S103). Next, the time information acquisition unit 120 determines whether it is necessary to convert the time indicated by each acquired time information into real time respectively (step S104).

[0070] When there is no need to convert the time indicated by the acquired time information (No in step S104), the time information acquisition unit 120 inputs the acquired time information into the time information holding unit 140 (step S106). Note that the time information indicating the time that does not need to be converted is the RTS timestamp as described above.

[0071] When it is necessary to convert the time indicated by the acquired time information (Yes in step S104), the time information acquisition unit 120 inputs the acquired time information into the time information conversion unit 130.

[0072] Next, the time information conversion unit 130 converts the time indicated by the input time information into real time (step S105). Next, the time information conversion unit 130 generates a timestamp indicating the converted real time. Next, the time information conversion unit 130 inputs the generated timestamp into the time information holding unit 140 (step S106).

[0073] Next, the time information holding unit 140 assigns the input timestamps corresponding to the respective compressed streams to each packet constituting the compressed streams of the plurality of materials with the format converted (step S107). The time information holding unit 140 inputs the compressed streams of the plurality of materials composed of the respective packets with the timestamps assigned into the delay fixing unit 150.

[0074] Next, the delay fixing unit 150 determines whether or not the calculated time has reached the actual time indicated by the time stamp (step S108). If the calculated time has not been reached (No in step S108), the delay fixing unit 150 performs the process of step S108 again after a predetermined time has elapsed.

[0075] If the calculated time has been reached (Yes in step S108), the delay fixing unit 150 transmits the compression streams of the plurality of materials to the playout server (step S109). After the transmission, the transcoder 100 ends the material conversion process.

[0076] As described above, the transcoding unit 110 of the present embodiment converts the compression streams of the plurality of materials into compression streams of a predetermined format, respectively. Further, the time information conversion unit 130 generates a time stamp indicating the time information corresponding to the compression stream into which the compression stream is converted based on the time information included in the packet constituting the compression stream before the conversion.

[0077] In addition, the time information holding unit 140 of the present embodiment attaches the generated time stamp to each packet constituting the corresponding compression stream across the converted compression streams. Further, when the predetermined time calculated from the attached time stamp is reached, the delay fixing unit 150 transmits each compression stream to which the time stamp is attached to the playout server.

[0078] The time information included in the packet is, for example, the PTS included in the PES header. When the time information is PTS, the compression stream constituted by the packet including the PTS is, for example, a compression stream transmitted in MPEG2-TS.

[0079] In addition, the time information acquisition unit 120 of the present embodiment acquires the time information included in the packet. The time information acquisition unit 120 inputs the acquired time information to the time information conversion unit 130.

[0080] Further, when the acquired time information is a time stamp indicating real time (for example, an RTS time stamp), the time information acquisition unit 120 inputs the time stamp to the time information holding unit 140. The time information holding unit 140 attaches the input time stamp to the packet.

[0081] Also, when the time information is a time stamp indicating real time, the compressed stream constituted by the packet including the time stamp indicating real time is, for example, a compressed stream transmitted in accordance with ST2110.

[0082] Also, the switching unit 160 of the present embodiment switches the compressed stream to be transmitted to the playout server to the compressed stream input from the outside.

[0083] [Description of Effects] Unlike the case where a plurality of systems such as a sub-system and a line system are all configured on-premises within the same broadcast station building in addition to the master system, when a cloud master system is used, there are restrictions on the line for exchanging materials. For example, it is difficult to transmit the same number of videos as the videos transmitted and received between a plurality of on-premises configured systems and the master system from a relay destination or the like to the cloud master system.

[0084] That is, since it is difficult to transmit an uncompressed stream to the cloud master system, it is required to transmit the material to the cloud master system in a compressed state. However, the above problems that occur when transmitting a compressed stream to the cloud master system have not been studied, and no application function suitable for a loosely coupled cloud master system has been considered.

[0085] The transcoding unit 110 of this embodiment can convert the compression streams of a plurality of received materials into compression streams in a predetermined format respectively. Also, the time information conversion unit 130 of this embodiment can generate a time stamp indicating the real time even when the time information included in the packets constituting the received compression stream does not indicate the real time.

[0086] In addition, the time information holding unit 140 of this embodiment can assign a time stamp to all of the compression streams of a plurality of materials to be transmitted. Also, the delay fixing unit 150 of this embodiment can transmit the compression streams of a plurality of materials to the playout server at a predetermined time. Therefore, the transcoder 100 of this embodiment can transmit each material received as a compression stream to the playout server at a time determined in a unified format.

[0087] Hereinafter, a specific example of the hardware configuration of the transcoder 100 of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a hardware configuration example of the transcoder 100 according to the present disclosure.

[0088] The transcoder 100 shown in FIG. 8 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a main memory unit 12, a communication unit 13, and an auxiliary storage unit 14. It also includes an input unit 15 for the user to operate and an output unit 16 for presenting the processing result or the progress of the processing content to the user.

[0089] The transcoder 100 is realized by software by the CPU 11 shown in FIG. 8 executing a program that provides the functions of each component.

[0090] That is, each function is realized by software by the CPU 11 loading the program stored in the auxiliary storage unit 14 into the main memory unit 12 and executing it to control the operation of the transcoder 100.

[0091] Note that the transcoder 100 shown in FIG. 8 may include a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) instead of the CPU 11. Alternatively, the transcoder 100 shown in FIG. 8 may include both the CPU 11 and the DSP.

[0092] The main memory unit 12 is used as a work area for data and a temporary storage area for data. The main memory unit 12 is, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory).

[0093] The communication unit 13 has a function of inputting and outputting data to and from peripheral devices via a wired network or a wireless network (information communication network).

[0094] The auxiliary storage unit 14 is a non-temporary tangible storage medium. Examples of non-temporary tangible storage media include magnetic disks, magneto-optical disks, CD-ROMs (Compact Disk Read Only Memories), DVD-ROMs (Digital Versatile Disk Read Only Memories), and semiconductor memories.

[0095] The input unit 15 has a function of inputting data and processing instructions. The input unit 15 is, for example, an input device such as a keyboard, a mouse, or a touch panel.

[0096] The output unit 16 has a function of outputting data. The output unit 16 is, for example, a display device such as a liquid crystal display device, a touch panel, or a printing device such as a printer.

[0097] Also, as shown in FIG. 8, in the transcoder 100, each component is connected to the system bus 17.

[0098] In the transcoder 100, the auxiliary storage unit 14 stores programs for realizing the transcoding unit 110, the time information acquisition unit 120, the time information conversion unit 130, the time information holding unit 140, the delay fixing unit 150, and the switching unit 160.

[0099] Note that the transformer 100 may be implemented with a circuit including hardware components such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration) that realizes the functions shown in FIG. 1 inside, for example.

[0100] Also, the transformer 100 may be realized by hardware that does not include a computer function using elements such as a CPU. For example, some or all of each component may be realized by general-purpose circuitry or dedicated circuitry, a processor, etc., or a combination thereof. These may be configured by a single chip (for example, the above LSI), or may be configured by a plurality of chips connected via a bus. Some or all of each component may be realized by a combination of the above-described circuitry, etc. and a program.

[0101] Also, some or all of each component of the transformer 100 may be configured by one or more information processing devices having an arithmetic unit and a storage unit.

[0102] When some or all of each component is realized by a plurality of information processing devices, circuitry, etc., the plurality of information processing devices, circuitry, etc. may be centrally arranged or may be distributed. For example, the information processing devices, circuitry, etc. may be realized in a form in which each is connected via a communication network, such as a client and server system, a cloud computing system, etc.

[0103] Next, an overview of the present disclosure will be described. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an overview of a material conversion apparatus according to the present disclosure. The material conversion apparatus 20 according to the present disclosure includes a conversion unit 21 (for example, a transcoding unit 110) that converts compression streams of a plurality of materials into compression streams in a predetermined format, respectively, and a generation unit 22 (for example, a time information conversion unit 130) that generates a timestamp indicating time information corresponding to the converted compression stream based on time information included in packets constituting the compression stream before conversion, and an assignment unit 23 (for example, a time information holding unit 140) that assigns the generated timestamp to each packet constituting the corresponding compression stream across the converted compression streams, and a transmission unit 24 (for example, a delay fixing unit 150) that transmits each compression stream to which the timestamp is assigned to a playout server when a predetermined time calculated from the assigned timestamp is reached.

[0104] With such a configuration, the material conversion apparatus can transmit each material received as a compression stream to the playout server at a time determined in a unified format.

[0105] Also, the time information included in the packet may be PTS included in the PES header. Further, the compression stream constituted by the packets including PTS may be a compression stream transmitted in MPEG2-TS.

[0106] The material conversion apparatus 20 may further include an acquisition unit (for example, a time information acquisition unit 120) that acquires time information included in the packet, and the acquisition unit may input the acquired time information to the generation unit 22. Further, when the acquired time information is a timestamp indicating real time, the acquisition unit may input the timestamp to the assignment unit 23, and the assignment unit 23 may assign the input timestamp to the packet.

[0107] With such a configuration, the material conversion apparatus can omit the conversion process to real time.

[0108] In addition, the compressed stream constituted by packets including time stamps indicating real time may also be a compressed stream transmitted in accordance with ST2110.

[0109] Further, the material conversion device 20 may include a switching unit (for example, switching unit 160) that switches the compressed stream to be transmitted to the playout server to a compressed stream input from the outside.

[0110] With such a configuration, the material conversion device can also handle interruptions such as news in an emergency.

[0111] In addition, some or all of the above embodiments may be described as follows in the following supplementary notes, but are not limited thereto.

[0112] (Supplementary Note 1) A conversion unit that converts the compressed streams of a plurality of materials into compressed streams of a predetermined format respectively, A generation unit that generates a time stamp indicating time information corresponding to the compressed stream obtained by converting the compressed stream based on the time information included in the packets constituting the compressed stream before conversion, An attachment unit that attaches the generated time stamps to the packets constituting the corresponding compressed streams respectively across the converted compressed streams, A transmission unit that transmits the compressed streams to which the time stamps are attached to the playout server when a predetermined time calculated from the attached time stamps is reached. A material conversion device characterized by the above.

[0113] (Supplementary Note 2) The time information included in the packet is the PTS included in the PES header. The material conversion device according to Supplementary Note 1.

[0114] (Supplementary Note 3) The compressed stream constituted by the packets including PTS is a compressed stream transmitted in MPEG2-TS. The material conversion device according to Supplementary Note 2.

[0115] (Appendix 4) It is provided with an acquisition unit that acquires time information included in a packet, The acquisition unit inputs the acquired time information to a generation unit The material conversion device according to any one of Appendices 1 to 3.

[0116] (Appendix 5) When the acquired time information is a time stamp indicating real time, the acquisition unit inputs the time stamp to an attachment unit, The attachment unit attaches the input time stamp to a packet The material conversion device according to Appendix 4.

[0117] (Appendix 6) The compressed stream constituted by a packet including a time stamp indicating real time is a compressed stream transmitted in accordance with ST2110 The material conversion device according to Appendix 5.

[0118] (Appendix 7) It is provided with a switching unit that switches the compressed stream to be transmitted to the playout server to the externally input compressed stream The material conversion device according to any one of Appendices 1 to 6.

[0119] (Appendix 8) Convert the compressed streams of a plurality of materials into compressed streams of a predetermined format respectively, Based on the time information included in the packets constituting the compressed stream before conversion, generate a time stamp indicating the time information corresponding to the compressed stream into which the compressed stream is converted, For each of the converted compressed streams, attach the generated time stamp to the packets constituting the corresponding compressed stream respectively, When reaching a predetermined time calculated from the attached time stamp, transmit each compressed stream with the attached time stamp to the playout server A material conversion method characterized by the above.

[0120] (Appendix 9) The time information included in the packet is the PTS included in the PES header The material conversion method described in Appendix 8

[0121] (Appendix 10) The compressed stream composed of packets containing PTS is a compressed stream transmitted in MPEG2-TS The material conversion method described in Appendix 9

[0122] (Appendix 11) Obtain the time information included in the packet The material conversion method described in any one of Appendices 8 to 10

[0123] (Appendix 12) When the obtained time information is a timestamp indicating real time, attach the timestamp to the packet The material conversion method described in Appendix 11

[0124] (Appendix 13) The compressed stream composed of packets containing a timestamp indicating real time is a compressed stream transmitted in accordance with ST2110 The material conversion method described in Appendix 12

[0125] (Appendix 14) Switch the compressed stream to be transmitted to the playout server to the compressed stream input from the outside The material conversion method described in any one of Appendices 8 to 13

[0126] (Appendix 15) On the computer A conversion process for converting the compressed streams of a plurality of materials into compressed streams of a predetermined format respectively A generation process for generating a timestamp indicating time information corresponding to a compressed stream obtained by converting a compressed stream based on time information included in packets constituting the compressed stream before conversion, An assignment process for assigning the generated timestamp to each packet constituting the corresponding compressed stream across each converted compressed stream, and A transmission process for transmitting each compressed stream to which a timestamp is assigned to a playout server when a predetermined time calculated from the assigned timestamp is reached A material conversion program for causing the above to be executed.

[0127] (Appendix 16) The time information included in the packet is the PTS included in the PES header The material conversion program described in Appendix 15.

[0128] (Appendix 17) The compressed stream constituted by the packets including PTS is a compressed stream transmitted in MPEG2-TS The material conversion program described in Appendix 16.

[0129] (Appendix 18) Causing a computer to Execute an acquisition process for acquiring time information included in a packet The material conversion program described in any one of Appendices 15 to 17.

[0130] (Appendix 19) Causing a computer to When the acquired time information is a timestamp indicating real time, in the assignment process, cause the packet to be assigned the timestamp The material conversion program described in Appendix 18.

[0131] (Appendix 20) The compressed stream constituted by the packets including the timestamp indicating real time is a compressed stream transmitted in accordance with ST2110 The material conversion program described in Supplementary Note 19.

[0132] (Supplementary Note 21) Cause the computer to execute a switching process to switch the compressed stream to be sent to the playout server to the externally input compressed stream The material conversion program described in any one of Supplementary Notes 15 to 20.

[0133] As described above, the present disclosure has been described with reference to the embodiments, but the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments. Various changes that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present disclosure within the scope of the present disclosure. And each embodiment can be combined with other embodiments as appropriate.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0134] 11 CPU 12 Main memory unit 13 Communication unit 14 Auxiliary storage unit 15 Input unit 16 Output unit 17 System bus 20 Material conversion device 21 Conversion unit 22 Generation unit 23 Attachment unit 24 Transmission unit 100 Transcoder 110 Transcoding unit 120 Time information acquisition unit 130 Time information conversion unit 140 Time information holding unit 150 Delay fixing unit 160 Switching unit 210, 220 Sender 300 Receiver

Claims

1. A conversion unit that converts compression streams of a plurality of materials into compression streams of a predetermined format respectively; A generation unit that generates a time stamp indicating time information corresponding to the converted compression stream based on the time information included in the packets constituting the compression stream before conversion; An assignment unit that assigns the generated time stamp to the packets constituting the corresponding compression stream respectively across the converted compression streams; A transmission unit that transmits each compression stream with the time stamp assigned thereto to a playout server when a predetermined time calculated from the assigned time stamp is reached A material conversion device characterized by the above.

2. The time information included in the packet is PTS (Presentation Time Stamp) included in the PES (Packetized Elementary Stream) header The material conversion device according to Claim 1.

3. The compression stream constituted by the packets including PTS is a compression stream transmitted in MPEG2-TS The material conversion device according to Claim 2.

4. Comprising an acquisition unit that acquires the time information included in the packet, The acquisition unit inputs the acquired time information to the generation unit The material conversion device according to Claim 1.

5. When the acquired time information is a time stamp indicating real time, the acquisition unit inputs the time stamp to the assignment unit, The assignment unit assigns the input time stamp to the packet The material conversion device according to Claim 4.

6. The compression stream constituted by the packets including the time stamp indicating real time is a compression stream transmitted in accordance with ST2110 The material conversion device according to Claim 5.

7. Comprising a switching unit that switches the compression stream transmitted to the playout server to an externally input compression stream The material conversion device according to any one of Claims 1 to 6.

8. Convert the compression streams of a plurality of materials into compression streams of a predetermined format respectively, Generate a time stamp indicating time information corresponding to the converted compression stream based on the time information included in the packets constituting the compression stream before conversion, Assign the generated time stamp to the packets constituting the corresponding compression stream respectively across the converted compression streams, When a predetermined time calculated from the given timestamp is reached, each compressed stream with the timestamp is transmitted to the playout server A material conversion method characterized by the above.

9. On a computer,[[]]END]] A conversion process for converting the compressed streams of a plurality of materials into compressed streams of a predetermined format respectively, A generation process for generating a timestamp indicating the time information corresponding to the compressed stream converted from the compressed stream based on the time information included in the packet constituting the compressed stream before conversion, An assignment process for respectively assigning the generated timestamp to the packets constituting the corresponding compressed stream across each converted compressed stream, and A transmission process for transmitting each compressed stream with the timestamp to the playout server when a predetermined time calculated from the assigned timestamp is reached A material conversion program for causing the above to be executed.

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