Patent ID: 6134585
Filing Date: 2000-10-17
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
A stream transfer control system comprising a server unit and a plurality of clients connected through a network, said server unit including a secondary storage unit for storing a file which stores streams and is divided into a plurality of data blocks and transferring streams to the plurality of said clients over said network at a request for transfer from said client, whereinsaid server unit comprising:transmission buffer means provided in the plural corresponding to said respective clients for temporarily holding a data block of a file read from said secondary storage unit;read management means for issuing, upon reception of a transfer request from said client, as many data reading requests as said transmission buffer means corresponding to said client which has transmitted the transfer request, as well as every time said data blocks stored in said transmission buffer means are read to empty said transmission buffer means, issuing as many data reading requests as said transmission buffer means emptied; anddata transfer means for, after a lapse of a fixed time from the arrival of said transfer request at said read management unit and at every lapse of the fixed time from then on, reading a data block in said transmission buffer means and continuously transmitting the same to said client which has transmitted said transfer request.