JP7660985B2 - Server device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a server device.

In a commercial communication karaoke system, performance data for many songs, including new songs, and video data used as background images are periodically distributed from a server device to all karaoke machines. Known karaoke systems include those in which data is distributed directly from the server device to all karaoke machines, and those in which data is distributed from the server device to a representative karaoke machine in each karaoke store (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the karaoke system described in Patent Document 1, when data is distributed from the server device to the representative karaoke machine, the data is transferred from this karaoke machine to other karaoke machines in the karaoke store.

JP 2007-271976 A

Video data is particularly large in size, so when video data is distributed from a server device to many karaoke devices, the distribution time for each karaoke device becomes long, causing the karaoke devices to wait for distribution. In the karaoke system described in Patent Document 1, if the number of karaoke stores increases, the number of representative karaoke terminals to which data is distributed increases, causing similar problems. In such a karaoke system, it is difficult to prioritize the distribution of video data that is in high demand. It is possible to adopt an on-demand method in which data is distributed in response to requests from karaoke devices, but this would result in access being concentrated on songs that are popular on the server device side.

The object of the present invention is to provide a server device that can quickly deliver songs that are in high demand to karaoke devices.

The main invention for achieving the above object is a server device that distributes video data to a plurality of karaoke machines, the server device including: a video data storage unit that stores designated video data, which is designated video data, and non-designated video data, which is video data other than the designated video data; a first distribution unit that distributes the designated video data to all karaoke machines when a first distribution timing arrives; a second distribution unit that distributes the non-designated video data on demand in response to a request from the karaoke machine within a predetermined period after the first distribution timing; a distribution history storage unit that stores the distribution history of the non-designated video data distributed on demand by the second distribution unit; a generation unit that generates a ranking of the number of times the non-designated video data has been distributed based on the distribution history when a second distribution timing arrives after a predetermined period has elapsed since the first distribution timing; and a third distribution unit that distributes the non-designated video data ranked high in the number of times of distribution to karaoke machines to which the non-designated video data has not yet been distributed.

According to the present invention, by specifying video data that is expected to be in high demand, the specified video data is preferentially distributed to all karaoke machines at the first distribution timing. Non-specified video data is distributed on demand within a predetermined period after the first distribution timing. Non-specified video data that ranks high in the number of times the non-specified video data is distributed is determined to be in high demand, and the non-specified video data is distributed to karaoke machines to which it has not yet been distributed at the second distribution timing after the predetermined period has elapsed. In this way, by differentiating the distribution timing between the specified video data and the non-specified video data, it is possible to reduce waiting for distribution and concentrated access to specific video data. Furthermore, non-specified video data with high demand can be found and distributed from among non-specified video data whose demand was not predicted.

1 is a configuration diagram of a karaoke system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a server device according to the first embodiment. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a correspondence relationship between a video ID and video data in the first embodiment. FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a distribution history of on-demand distribution in the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a ranking of the number of distributions in the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing operation of the server device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram of a server device according to a second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an acquisition result of the number of plays in the second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a playback count ranking according to the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing operation of a server device according to the second embodiment.

First Embodiment
The karaoke system of the first embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 5. Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of the karaoke system of the first embodiment. Fig. 2 is a functional block diagram of a server device of the first embodiment. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a corresponding relationship between a video ID and video data of the first embodiment. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a distribution history of on-demand distribution of the first embodiment. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a ranking of the number of distributions of the first embodiment. Note that, for convenience of explanation, the functional block diagram of Fig. 2 shows functional blocks for realizing a specific process, but it is assumed that the server device has the configuration that is normally provided.

As shown in FIG. 1, the karaoke system 1 is managed by a karaoke operator and includes multiple karaoke devices 10 installed in each karaoke store 5, and a server device 20 installed in a data center or the like. A karaoke device 10 is installed in each karaoke room in the karaoke store 5, and the multiple karaoke devices 10 are communicatively connected via an in-store network 7. The in-store network 7 of each karaoke store 5 is connected to an external network 8, and the multiple karaoke devices 10 in each karaoke store 5 are communicatively connected to the server device 20 via the external network 8.

Each karaoke device 10 is connected to a monitor 11, a speaker 12, a microphone 13, and a remote control device 14. The monitor 11 displays lyrics captions along with background video based on a video signal from the karaoke device 10. The microphone 13 converts singing voice into a singing voice signal and inputs it to the karaoke device 10. The speaker 12 emits singing voice along with performance sounds based on the performance sound signal from the karaoke device 10 and the singing voice signal from the microphone 13. The remote control device 14 accepts various operations from the user, such as reserving songs for the karaoke device 10.

When the karaoke performance is started by the karaoke device 10, lyrics captions and background images are displayed on the monitor 11 in sync with the karaoke performance. In the karaoke device 10, the karaoke performance sound signal and the singing voice signal input from the microphone 13 are mixed by the mixer, and this mixed signal is amplified by the amplifier and output from the speaker 12. In this way, when the user sings along with the karaoke performance, the singing voice is output from the speaker 12 together with the performance sound. The karaoke device 10 also scores the user's singing ability and the score result is displayed on the monitor 11.

In the karaoke system 1, performance data and video data of new songs, etc. are periodically distributed from the server device 20 to the multiple karaoke devices 10. Because video data has a large data size, it is not desirable to distribute video data of many songs to all karaoke devices 10 at once. For this reason, the server device 20 allows karaoke operators to specify video data that is used in famous songs, etc. and is expected to be in high demand, and distributes this specified video data, that is, designated video data, to all karaoke devices 10 with priority. Video data other than the designated video data, that is, non-designated video data, is distributed on demand.

However, karaoke businesses and the like are not always able to accurately predict the need for video data, and non-designated video data that karaoke businesses and the like predict to be of low demand may actually contain non-designated video data that is in high demand. For this reason, the server device 20 finds non-designated video data with high demand from the number of times that non-designated video data distributed on-demand has been distributed, and distributes this non-designated video data to karaoke devices 10 to which it has not yet been distributed. In this way, the server device 20 is configured to be able to quickly distribute video data with high demand to multiple karaoke devices 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, the server device 20 is provided with a video data storage unit 21, a first distribution unit 22, a second distribution unit 23, a distribution history storage unit 24, a generation unit 25, and a third distribution unit 26. The video data storage unit 21 stores designated video data designated by a karaoke business operator or the like, and non-designated video data not designated by a karaoke business operator or the like. The designated video data and non-designated video data are distinguished by video IDs (video identification information). For example, as shown in FIG. 3(A), designated video data is associated with a video ID starting with D1, and as shown in FIG. 3(B), non-designated video data is associated with a video ID starting with D2.

The first distribution unit 22 distributes the designated video data to all karaoke devices 10 when the first distribution timing, which occurs once a week, arrives. In this case, after the performance data of all songs to be distributed that week has been distributed to all karaoke devices 10, the designated video data of the songs to be distributed that week is read from the video data storage unit 21, and the designated video data is distributed to all karaoke devices 10. The designated video data may be distributed to all karaoke devices 10 all at once by the first distribution unit 22, or the designated video data may be distributed to all karaoke devices 10 in several batches by the first distribution unit 22.

The second distribution unit 23 distributes the non-designated video data on demand in response to a request from the karaoke device 10 within a predetermined period (e.g., within one week) after the first distribution timing. In this case, when a song that does not use the designated video data as background video is reserved at one karaoke device 10, a distribution request for the non-designated video data is sent from the one karaoke device 10 to the server device 20. When the server device 20 receives a distribution request for the non-designated video data from the one karaoke device 10, the server device 20 distributes the non-designated video data on demand to the one karaoke device 10. The one karaoke device 10 stores the distributed non-designated video data, and a background video is displayed on the monitor 11 based on the stored non-designated video data.

The distribution history storage unit 24 stores the distribution history of the non-designated video data distributed on demand by the second distribution unit 23. The distribution history includes the distribution date of the non-designated video data, the video ID of the non-designated video data, and the karaoke ID (device identification information) to which the data is distributed. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the distribution history storage unit 24 stores a distribution history that associates the distribution date "2021/08/01", the video ID "D2****1", and the karaoke ID "K****1", as well as a distribution history that associates the distribution date "2021/08/02", the video ID "D2****10", and the karaoke ID "K****2".

When the second distribution timing arrives after a predetermined period of time has elapsed (e.g., one week has elapsed) from the first distribution timing, the generation unit 25 generates a ranking of the number of distributions of the non-designated video data based on the distribution history. In this case, the number of distributions of the non-designated video data is obtained from the number of distribution histories for each video ID stored in the distribution history storage unit 24, and the video IDs are arranged in descending order of the number of distributions to generate a ranking of the number of distributions of the non-designated video data. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, first place is video ID "D2****1" and number of distributions "20", second place is video ID "D2****10" and number of distributions "15", and third place is video ID "D2****5" and number of distributions "13".

The third distribution unit 26 distributes the non-designated video data ranked high in terms of number of distributions to karaoke devices 10 to which the non-designated video data has not yet been distributed. In this embodiment, non-designated video data with video IDs ranked 1st to 3rd is read from the video data storage unit 21 and distributed to karaoke devices 10 to which the non-designated video data has not yet been distributed. Karaoke devices 10 to which the video data has already been distributed are identified from the distribution history. For example, the non-designated video data with video ID "D2****1" has already been distributed to karaoke ID "K****1", and the non-designated video data with video ID "D2****10" has already been distributed to karaoke ID "K****2", so the video data will not be distributed to these karaoke devices 10 (see FIG. 4).

After the third distribution unit 26 distributes the non-designated video data, the distribution history is entirely erased by the distribution history storage unit 24. The distribution history is reset, and a new ranking of the number of distributions is generated based on the next on-demand distribution (next week). The non-designated video data may be distributed all at once to the karaoke devices 10 that are not yet distributed to by the third distribution unit 26, or the non-designated video data may be distributed in several batches to the karaoke devices 10 that are not yet distributed to by the third distribution unit 26. In this way, in addition to the designated video data specified by the karaoke operator, the non-designated video data distributed on demand that has been distributed the most is distributed to all the karaoke devices 10.

The processing of each part of the server device 20 may be realized by software using a processor, or may be realized by a logic circuit (hardware) formed in an integrated circuit or the like. When a processor is used, various processes are performed by the processor reading and executing programs stored in the memory. For example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) is used as the processor. Furthermore, the memory is composed of one or more storage media such as ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory) depending on the application.

The processing operation of the server device of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing an example of the processing operation of the server device of the first embodiment. Note that the symbols in FIG. 2 will be used as appropriate for the explanation. Also, the following flow is merely an example and can be modified as appropriate.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the first distribution timing arrives (Yes in step S01), the first distribution unit 22 distributes the designated video data to all karaoke devices 10 (step S02). Depending on whether or not the video data has been designated by the karaoke operator, the video data is classified as designated video data and non-designated video data, and designated video data is expected to be video data with high demand and is distributed preferentially. At the first distribution timing, only the designated video data is distributed to the karaoke devices 10, thereby suppressing the amount of data distribution and reducing the burden on the server device 20.

When a request for distribution of non-designated video data is received from the karaoke device 10 (Yes in step S03), the second distribution unit 23 distributes the non-designated video data on demand to the karaoke device 10 that made the request (step S04). The distribution history storage unit 24 stores a distribution history for each on-demand distribution process (step S05). During a predetermined period after the first distribution timing, the load on the server device 20 is reduced by on-demand distribution. When a request for distribution of non-designated video data is not received from the karaoke device 10 (No in step S03), the process proceeds to step S06.

The processes from step S03 to step S05 are repeated until the second distribution timing arrives in the week following the first distribution timing (No in step S06). When the second distribution timing arrives (Yes in step S06), the generation unit 25 generates a ranking of the number of times the non-designated video data has been distributed based on the distribution history (step S07). The third distribution unit 26 transmits the non-designated video data ranked highest in terms of number of distributions to the karaoke devices 10 that have not yet been distributed (step S08), and the distribution history storage unit 24 erases the distribution history (step S09). At the second distribution timing, video data with high demand is found from the non-designated video data and distributed.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, by specifying video data that is expected to be in high demand, the specified video data is preferentially distributed to all karaoke devices 10 at the first distribution timing. Non-specified video data is distributed on demand within a predetermined period after the first distribution timing. Non-specified video data that ranks high in the number of times the non-specified video data is distributed is determined to be in high demand, and the non-specified video data is distributed to karaoke devices 10 to which the non-specified video data has not yet been distributed at the second distribution timing after the predetermined period has elapsed. In this way, by differentiating the distribution timing between the specified video data and the non-specified video data, it is possible to reduce waiting for distribution and concentrated access to specific video data. Furthermore, non-specified video data with high demand can be found and distributed from among non-specified video data whose demand was not predicted.

Second Embodiment
Next, a server device of the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of the server device of the second embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the acquisition result of the number of plays of the second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the ranking of the number of plays of the second embodiment. The server device of the second embodiment differs from the server device of the first embodiment in that the server device determines the distribution destination of non-designated video data based on the ranking of the number of plays in addition to the ranking of the number of distributions. Therefore, the description of the same configuration as the first embodiment will be omitted for the second embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 7, the server device 30 of the second embodiment is provided with a video data storage unit 31, a first distribution unit 32, a second distribution unit 33, a distribution history storage unit 34, an acquisition unit 35, a generation unit 36, and a third distribution unit 37. When the second distribution timing arrives, the acquisition unit 35 acquires the number of times that the non-designated video data has been played from each karaoke device 10 to which the non-designated video data is to be distributed. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the number of times that the non-designated video data has been played is acquired in association with the video ID of the non-designated video data. The total number of times that the non-designated video data has been played on each karaoke device 10 to which the non-designated video data has been distributed is calculated.

The generation unit 36 generates a ranking of the number of times the non-designated video data has been distributed based on the distribution history, and also generates a ranking of the number of times the non-designated video data has been played based on the acquisition results of the number of times it has been played. The number of times it has been played acquired by the acquisition unit 35 is tallied for each video ID, and the video IDs are arranged in descending order of the number of times it has been played to generate a ranking of the number of times the non-designated video data has been played. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, in first place is video ID "D2****1" with number of times played "55", in second place is video ID "D2****10" with number of times played "45", and in third place is video ID "D2****8" with number of times played "40".

The third distribution unit 37 distributes the non-designated video data ranked high in the number of distributions and the non-designated video data ranked high in the number of playbacks to karaoke devices 10 to which the non-designated video data has not been distributed. In this embodiment, the non-designated video data with a video ID that is ranked 1st to 3rd in the number of distributions or 1st to 3rd in the number of playbacks is identified as the video data to be distributed. That is, the non-designated video data with video IDs "D2****1", "D2****5", "D2****8", and "D2****10" are identified (see Figures 5 and 9).

Non-designated video data is read from the video data storage unit 31 and distributed by the third distribution unit 37 to undistributed karaoke devices 10. After the third distribution unit 37 distributes the non-designated video data, the distribution history is entirely erased by the distribution history storage unit 34, and the acquisition unit 35 erases the acquired results of the number of plays. The distribution history and number of plays are reset, and a new ranking of the number of deliveries and the number of plays is generated by the next on-demand distribution (next week). Of the non-designated video data distributed on-demand in this way, the data with the highest number of deliveries and plays is distributed to all karaoke devices 10.

The processing operation of the server device of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is a flow diagram showing an example of the processing operation of the server device of the second embodiment. Note that the symbols in FIG. 7 will be used as appropriate for the explanation. Also, the following flow is merely an example and can be modified as appropriate.

As shown in FIG. 10, the processes from step S11 to step S15 in the second embodiment are similar to the processes from step S01 to step S05 in the first embodiment. When the second distribution timing arrives (Yes in step S16), the acquisition unit 35 acquires the number of times the non-designated video data has been played from each karaoke device 10 to which the non-designated video data is distributed and sums them up (step S17). The generation unit 36 generates a ranking of the number of times the non-designated video data has been played based on the acquisition result of the number of times the non-designated video data has been played (step S18), and generates a ranking of the number of times the non-designated video data has been distributed based on the distribution history (step S19).

Non-designated video data that is ranked high in either the number of times distributed or the number of times played is identified, and this non-designated video data is transmitted by the third distribution unit 37 to the karaoke device 10 to which the data has not been distributed (step S20). The distribution history is erased by the distribution history storage unit 34 (step S21), and the acquisition unit 35 erases the acquisition result of the number of times played (step S22). Note that the processing order of steps S18 and S19 may be reversed, or these processes may be performed in parallel. The processing order of steps S21 and S22 may be reversed, or these processes may be performed in parallel.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, in addition to non-designated video data ranked high in the number of times the non-designated video data is distributed, non-designated video data ranked high in the number of times the non-designated video data is played is also determined to be in high demand. Non-designated video data with high demand can be found from the number of times it is distributed and played, and distributed to karaoke devices that have not yet been distributed to.

In the first embodiment, after the non-designated video data ranked high in the number of times of distribution is distributed, the distribution history is entirely erased by the distribution history storage unit, but this configuration is not limited to this. The distribution history storage unit may only partially erase the distribution history of the non-designated video data ranked high in the number of times of distribution.

In the second embodiment, after the non-designated video data ranked high in the number of distributions and the number of plays is distributed, the distribution history is entirely erased by the distribution history storage unit, and the acquisition unit entirely erases the acquisition result of the number of plays, but this configuration is not limited to this. The distribution history storage unit may only partially erase the distribution history of the non-designated video data ranked high in the number of distributions, and the acquisition unit may only partially erase the acquisition result of the number of plays of the non-designated video data ranked high in the number of plays.

In addition, in the embodiment and the modified example, a distribution function according to the above-mentioned distribution timing may be added to the server device by installing a program in the server device. This program is stored in a storage medium. The storage medium is not particularly limited, but may be a non-transitory storage medium such as an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a flash memory.

Although this embodiment has been described, other embodiments may be combinations of the above embodiments and variations in whole or in part.

The technology of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and may be modified, substituted, or altered in various ways without departing from the spirit of the technical idea. Furthermore, if the technical idea can be realized in a different way due to technological advances or other derived technologies, it may be implemented using that method. Therefore, the claims cover all embodiments that may fall within the scope of the technical idea.

10: karaoke device 20, 30: server device 21, 31: video data storage unit 22, 32: first distribution unit 23, 33: second distribution unit 24, 34: distribution history storage unit 25, 36: generation unit 26, 37: third distribution unit 35: acquisition unit

Claims (3)

A server device that distributes video data to a plurality of karaoke devices,
a video data storage unit that stores designated video data that is designated video data and non-designated video data that is video data other than the designated video data;
a first distribution unit that distributes the designated video data to all the karaoke devices when a first distribution timing arrives;
a second distribution unit that distributes non-designated video data on demand in response to a request from the karaoke device within a predetermined period after the first distribution timing;
a distribution history storage unit that stores a distribution history of the non-designated video data distributed on demand by the second distribution unit;
a generating unit that generates a ranking of the number of times the non-designated video data has been distributed based on the distribution history when a second distribution timing arrives after a predetermined period has elapsed from the first distribution timing;
and a third distribution section for distributing the non-designated video data ranked high in terms of the number of times of distribution to karaoke machines to which the non-designated video data has not been distributed. The server device according to claim 1, characterized in that the distribution history storage unit erases the distribution history after the third distribution unit distributes the non-specified video data. an acquisition unit that acquires the number of times the non-designated video data has been played from the karaoke device that is the distribution destination of the non-designated video data when a second distribution timing arrives;
The generating unit generates a ranking of the number of times of play of the non-designated video data based on the acquired result of the number of times of play,
The server device according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the third distribution unit distributes non-designated video data ranked high in number of distributions and non-designated video data ranked high in number of playbacks to karaoke machines to which the non-designated video data has not yet been distributed.

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