JP2007250036A - Data reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data reproducing device which can reduce its power consumption by preventing the time from increasing for retrieving data stored in hierarchical folders on a storage medium. <P>SOLUTION: This data reproducing device; has an analysis module 41 to analyze the hierarchical structure of the plurality of folders contained in a CD-ROM2 and to create the information of the hierarchical structures and of the structures containing the data information in each folder; a display 42 to display the structure information by discriminating the folders not storing the desired data; and an input unit 10 to input an instruction to specify one of the folders included in the structure information and the data to be reproduced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a content data reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to a data reproducing apparatus for content data layered and stored in a storage medium.

  The data reproduction device reproduces content data such as moving image data, still image data, and music data acquired from a storage medium. The content data is a ROM (Read Only Memory) or RAM (Random Access Memory) using a compact disc (CD) or digital video disc (DVD) as a storage medium, that is, CD-ROM, CD-RAM, DVD-ROM, and DVD. -Stored in RAM or the like. For example, music data stored in a CD-ROM and compressed by an encoding method such as audio layer 3 (MP3) is reproduced by a data reproducing apparatus. For example, when the storage medium is a CD-ROM, the data reproducing apparatus includes a stationary CD player, a portable CD player, an in-vehicle CD player, and the like.

  In general, a storage medium has a plurality of folders constituting a hierarchical structure set according to the contents of content data. The content data is stored in a folder corresponding to each content data. For example, if the content data is music data such as music, a folder hierarchized by genre, artist, etc. is set in the storage medium. Then, music data classified by genre and artist is stored in a corresponding folder (see, for example, Patent Document 1). For this reason, the user of the data reproduction apparatus searches the desired music data stored in the storage medium by tracing the genre and artist folders.

However, when the hierarchical structure becomes complicated, the time required to search for desired content data from information in the storage medium increases.
JP 2001-266470 A

  The present invention provides a data reproducing apparatus device that suppresses power consumption by suppressing an increase in search time of data stored in folders hierarchized in a storage medium.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, (a) a hierarchical structure formed by a plurality of folders included in a storage medium is analyzed, and structure information including information on the hierarchical structure and stored data stored in each of the plurality of folders is created. (B) a display device that displays structure information by enabling identification of unstored folders that do not store target data, and (c) one of a plurality of folders and reproduction target data included in the structure information. There is provided a data reproducing device including an input device for inputting an instruction for designating one.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the data reproducing | regenerating apparatus apparatus which suppressed power consumption by suppressing the increase in the search time of the data stored in the folder hierarchized on the storage medium can be provided.

  Next, a first or second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description of the drawings, the same or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals. The first or second embodiment shown below exemplifies an apparatus and method for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the technical idea of the present invention is the structure of the component parts. The arrangement is not specified below. The technical idea of the present invention can be variously modified within the scope of the claims.

(First embodiment)
As shown in FIG. 1, the data reproducing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention analyzes the hierarchical structure formed by a plurality of folders included in the CD-ROM 2, and the hierarchical structure information and the plurality of folders are analyzed. An analysis module 41 that creates structure information including stored data information, a display device 42 that displays unstructured folders that do not store target data and displays structure information, and a plurality of information included in the structure information And an input device 10 for inputting an instruction for designating one of the folder and the reproduction target data. Here, the target data stored in each of the plurality of folders includes target data stored in all folders in the lower hierarchy of each of the plurality of folders.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the analysis module 41 and the display device 42 are included in the data management device 40. The display device 42 includes folder information including information on the number of target data stored in each of the plurality of folders included in the storage medium and the number of target data stored in all the folders below each of the plurality of folders. A folder information creation module 421 to be created is provided. The folder information creation module 421 determines whether the data stored in each folder is the target data with reference to, for example, the extension of the data name. The display device 42 includes a display (not shown) in order to display the structure information. The data management device 40 further includes a memory 43. The memory 43 stores structure information, folder information, and the like.

  The data reproduction device 1 further includes a data acquisition module 30, a reproduction module 50, and an output device 60. The data acquisition module 30 acquires data information stored in the storage medium, and transfers the acquired data information to the data management device 40 and the reproduction module 50. The reproduction module 50 reproduces desired data designated by the user from the input device 10. Although not shown, the reproduction module 50 includes a digital signal processor (DSP) that decodes data, a DA converter (DAC) that converts digital data into analog data, and the like. The reproduced data is output from the output device 60. The output device 60 is, for example, a speaker or a display.

  The data reproducing apparatus 1 further includes a device interface 20 to which a storage medium can be attached. FIG. 1 shows an example in which a CD-ROM 2 is mounted as a storage medium in the data reproducing apparatus 1. In the CD-ROM 2, music data is stored in a hierarchy in folder units. As will be described later, the user searches for desired music data while referring to the folder information displayed on the display device 42 and operating the input device 10 to follow the folders according to the hierarchical structure. Then, when the user designates desired music data, the data reproducing apparatus 1 reproduces the designated music data.

  A central processing unit (CPU) 70 shown in FIG. 1 controls the entire data reproduction apparatus 1 including the data management apparatus 40, the input apparatus 10, the reproduction module 50, the output apparatus 60, and the device interface 20.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a hierarchical structure formed by a plurality of folders included in the CD-ROM 2 and data stored in each folder. In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, the folder 2, the folder 3, and the folder 4 are set in the hierarchy below the folder 1. Folder 5 is set in the hierarchy below folder 3. Folder 6 is set in the hierarchy below folder 4.

  Here, in the upper and lower layers, a folder in the upper layer is referred to as a “parent folder”, and a folder in a layer immediately below the parent folder is referred to as a “child folder”. For example, the folder 2, the folder 3, and the folder 4 immediately below the folder 1 are referred to as “child folders” of the folder 1. Folder 1 is referred to as “parent folder” of folder 2, folder 3, and folder 4.

  As shown in FIG. 2, data “101.mp3” is stored in the folder 1. The extension “mp3” indicates that the data “101.mp3” is music data compressed by the MP3 method. Data “201.mp3” is stored in the folder 2. Data “301.exe” is stored in the folder 3. The extension “exe” indicates that the data “301.exe” is an execution file such as a program. Further, data “501.mp3” is stored in folder 5 which is a child folder of folder 3. Data “601.jpg” is stored in the folder 6 which is a child folder of the folder 4. The extension “jpg” indicates that the data “601.jpg” is joint photographic expert group (JPEG) format data.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of folder information created based on the structure information shown in FIG. In the folder information shown in FIG. 3, the item “total data number” indicates the number of MP3 data stored in all the child folders of the folders 1 to 6. The item “number of local data” indicates the number of MP3 data stored in each of the folders 1 to 6. For example, data “101.mp3” that is MP3 data is stored in the folder 1, and data “201.mp3” is stored in the child folder 2 of the folder 1. Further, data “501.mp3” is stored in the folder 5 that is a child folder of the child folder 3 of the folder 1. Therefore, the total number of data in folder 1 is 3, and the number of local data is 1.

  Since the data “201.mp3” is stored in the folder 2, the total number of data in the folder 2 is 1 and the number of local data is 1. Folder 3 does not store MP3 data, but “501.mp3” is stored in folder 5, so the total number of data in folder 3 is 1 and the number of local data is 0. Since the folder 4 does not store MP3 data, and the folder 6 that is a child folder of the folder 4 also does not store MP3 data, the total number of data in the folder 4 is 0 and the number of local data is 0. Since “501.mp3” is stored in the folder 5, the total number of data in the folder 5 is 1 and the number of local data is 1. Since the folder 6 does not store MP3 data and there is no child folder for storing MP3 data, the total number of data in the folder 4 is 0 and the number of local data is 0.

  Further, the item “parent folder number” of the folder information shown in FIG. 3 indicates the folder numbers of all the parent folders of the folders 2 to 6. Since folder 1 has no parent folder, the item “parent folder number” is blank.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of data information of MP3 data. As shown in FIG. 4, the data information of MP3 data includes a folder number and a data name in which each MP3 data is stored.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the data reproducing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be specifically described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Hereinafter, an example will be described in which music data (hereinafter referred to as “MP3 data”) compressed on the CD-ROM 2 by the MP3 method is target data that can be reproduced, and the user specifies desired MP3 data.

  (A) In step S10, when the CD-ROM 2 is attached to the data reproducing apparatus 1 in the device interface 20, the data acquisition module 30 acquires information on the data stored in the CD-ROM 2. The acquired data information is transferred to the data management device 40 and stored in the memory 43.

  (B) In step S <b> 20, the analysis module 41 reads data information of the CD-ROM 2 from the memory 43. The analysis module 41 analyzes the type of data stored in the CD-ROM 2 and the hierarchical structure of folders based on the data information of the CD-ROM 2. Based on the analysis result, the analysis module 41 creates structure information including information on the hierarchical structure formed by the folders 1 to 6 and information on data stored in the folders 1 to 6. Specifically, the structure information shown in FIG. 2 is created. The created structure information is stored in the memory 43.

  (C) In step S30, the folder information creation module 421 reads the structure information from the memory 43. The folder information creation module 421 refers to the structure information and uses the number of MP3 data stored in each of the folders 1 to 6 and the number of MP3 data stored in all the child folders of the folders 1 to 6 as information. Create folder information including. For example, the folder information creation module 421 refers to the extension of the data name, and determines that the data with the extension “mp3” is MP3 data that can be reproduced. As a result, the folder information shown in FIG. 3 is created. The created folder information is stored in the memory 43.

  (D) In step S40, the display device 42 refers to the folder information, and makes it possible to identify the unstored folder in which all the child folders in the lower hierarchy do not store the MP3 data and do not store the MP3 data. Display structural information. Whether or not each folder is an unstored folder can be determined by referring to the item “total number of data” and the item “number of local data”. That is, a folder in which the total number of data and the number of local data are both 0 is an unstored folder. In the folder information shown in FIG. 3, folder 4 and folder 6 are unstored folders.

  In order to display the structure information in a state in which the unstored folder can be identified, the display device 42 displays the structure information by adding a code to the folder name of the unstored folder, for example. FIG. 6 shows an example of structure information displayed on the display device 42. FIG. 6 shows an example in which the data name of the MP3 data stored in the folder 1 and the folder name of the child folder of the folder 1 are displayed. As shown in FIG. 6, an asterisk symbol “*” is added to the head of the folder name of the folder 4 that is an unstored folder.

  In general, for example, in order to display all the structural information shown in FIG. 2, it is necessary to increase the display area of the display device 42 that displays the structural information. As the hierarchical structure becomes more complicated, the display area of the display device 42 needs to be increased. However, the area of the display of the display device 42 is limited in a portable data reproducing device or the like that needs to be downsized. In that case, the display device 42 displays a part of the structure information. For example, only the data name of the data stored in the folder specified by the input device 10 and the folder name of the child folder immediately below the specified folder in the structure information are displayed on the display device 42. 6 shows that when the folder 1 is designated by the input device 10, the data name “101.mp3” of the MP3 data stored in the folder 1 and the folder names “folder 2” to “folder 4” of the child folders of the folder 1 are shown. "Is an example displayed on the display device 42.

  When only a part of the hierarchical structure is shown on the display device 42, the entire hierarchical structure is unknown from the folder information displayed on the display device 42. Therefore, in order to search for desired MP3 data, the user may follow a folder in which MP3 data is not stored. As a result, the time for searching for desired music data increases.

  However, according to the data reproducing device 1 shown in FIG. 1, when the user searches for desired MP3 data by making the display device 42 display the structure information by making the unstored folder identifiable, the unstored folder Can be easily excluded from search. As a result, the time required for the user to search for desired MP3 data can be reduced. By reducing the search time, an increase in power consumption of the data reproducing apparatus 1 can be suppressed.

  FIG. 6 shows an example in which an asterisk symbol “*” is added to the head of the folder name of an unstored folder. The structure information may be displayed on the display device 42 by hatching the folder name of the unstored folder or by changing the color between the unstored folder and other folders.

Further, the structure information may be displayed by adding a code to a folder name having a child folder, that is, a folder name of the parent folder. FIG. 6 shows an example in which the structure information is displayed on the display device 42 with a slash mark “/” appended to the end of the folder names of the folder 3 and the folder 4 that are parent folders. By attaching a code to the parent folder, the user can easily grasp the entire hierarchical structure, and can be used as a reference when searching for desired MP3 data.
The user refers to the structure information displayed on the display device 42 and inputs an instruction to the input means of the input device 10 to search data while specifying folders one by one and specify data to be reproduced. To do. As shown in FIG. 6, when the display device 42 displays only information of one folder, the folder information is sequentially displayed on the display device 42 according to the hierarchical structure. Here, “folder information” is data stored in the folder and information on child folders of the folder. That is, when the display device 42 displays only information of one folder, when a folder is designated via the input device 10, data stored in the designated folder and child folders of the designated folder are displayed on the display device 42. Is displayed. However, the information of the folder 1 having no parent folder may be first displayed on the display device 42 without designation. The designated folder or data is highlighted on the display of the display device 42, for example, and the user can confirm that it has been designated.

  An example of the input means 100 included in the input device 10 is shown in FIG. The input unit 100 includes an up key 101, a down key 102, a left key 103, a right key 104, and a designation key 105. By pressing the upper key 101, the lower key 102, the left key 103, and the right key 104, the user designates a folder displayed on the display of the display device 42.

  Specifically, when the user presses the up key 101, the input device 10 generates instruction information for designating the folder displayed on the upper side of the display device 42 for the designated folder, and the CPU 70. Send to. When the user presses the down key 102, the input device 10 generates instruction information for designating a folder displayed on the lower side of the display device 42 for the designated folder, and transmits the instruction information to the CPU 70. When the user presses the left key 103, the input device 10 generates instruction information for specifying the parent folder of the specified folder, and transmits the instruction information to the CPU 70. When the user presses the right key 104, the input device 10 generates instruction information that specifies a child folder of the specified folder, and transmits the instruction information to the CPU 70.

  When the instruction information for designating a folder is transmitted from the input device 10, the CPU 70 controls the display device 42 so that the user can confirm the newly designated folder. For example, the display device 42 reversely displays the folder name of the newly designated folder on the display.

  When the user presses the designation key 105 while a folder is selected, the input device 10 generates instruction information for displaying information on the designated folder, and transmits the instruction information to the CPU 70. When the instruction information for displaying the folder information is transmitted from the input device 10, the CPU 70 displays the specified folder information on the display device 42. Therefore, when the user operates the input device 10, folder information is sequentially displayed on the display device 42 according to the hierarchical structure. As shown in FIG. 6, when only one folder information can be displayed on the display of the display device 42, when the user presses the left key 103 or the right key 104, the newly designated folder is displayed. Information may be displayed on the display device 42.

  A method of selecting a folder by the input unit 100 will be described by taking an example in which the folder 3 is designated in the structure information shown in FIG. When the up key 101 is pressed, the folder 2 is newly designated. When the down key 102 is pressed, the folder 4 is newly designated. When the right key 104 is pressed, information on the folder 5 that is a child folder of the folder 3 is displayed on the display device 42. When the designation key 105 is pressed, information on the folder 3 is displayed on the display device 42. Note that FIG. 6 displays information of the parent folder 1 of the folder 3, so that the display content does not change even if the left key 103 is pressed.

  Further, the user can designate the data displayed on the display device 42 by the input means 100 in the same manner as the designation of the folder. When the user presses the designation key 105 in a state where data is designated, the input device 10 generates instruction information for reproducing the designated data and transmits it to the CPU 70. When the instruction information for reproducing the data is transmitted from the input device 10, the CPU 70 transfers the designated data information to the data acquisition module 30. The data acquisition module 30 acquires specified data from the storage medium based on the transferred data information, and transfers the specified data to the reproduction module 50. The reproduction module 50 reproduces designated data. For example, by specifying the data “101.mp3” in the structure information shown in FIG. 6, the data acquisition module 30 acquires the data “101.mp3” from the CD-ROM 2, and the playback module 50 stores the data “101.mp3”. mp3 "is reproduced. The reproduced data “101.mp3” is output from the output device 60.

  In the above description, an example is shown in which the data reproduced by the data reproducing apparatus 1 is music data compressed by the MP3 method. However, music data compressed by a method other than MP3, a moving image, a still image, or the like Of course, it may be the image data. 1 shows an example in which the storage medium is the CD-ROM 2, but the storage medium may be a CD-RAM, a DVD-ROM, a DVD-RAM, or the like.

  As described above, according to the data reproduction device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, an unstored folder in which target data that can be a reproduction target is not stored can be identified on the display of the display device 42. By doing so, it is possible to suppress an increase in the search time of data stored in the hierarchized folder of the storage medium.

(Second Embodiment)
As shown in FIG. 8, the data reproduction apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention further includes an input control apparatus 11 that controls the input apparatus 10 so that the unstored folder cannot be specified with reference to the structure information. It is different from FIG. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  As already described, when the user searches for desired data, the unstored folder is not searched. Therefore, controlling the input device 10 so that the user does not mistakenly specify an unstored folder is effective for reducing the time for the user to search for desired data.

  The input control device 11 shown in FIG. 8 monitors instruction information for designating a folder transferred from the input control device 11 to the CPU 70. The input control device 11 refers to the folder information stored in the memory 43, and when the newly designated folder is an unstored folder, the unstored folder does not become the newly designated folder. The input device 10 is controlled.

  Specifically, the input control device 11 skips an unstored folder designated via the input device 10 and designates a new folder or data. For example, the case where the folder 3 is designated in the structure information shown in FIG. 6 will be described as an example. When the down key 102 is pressed while the folder 3 is specified, the unstored folder 4 is skipped and data “101.mp3” is newly specified. If the child folder to be newly specified is an unstored folder, the display content of the display device 42 does not change even when the right key 104 is pressed.

  As described above, according to the data reproducing apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the unstored folder cannot be specified, and is stored in the hierarchized folder of the storage medium. An increase in data search time can be suppressed. Others are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment, and redundant description is omitted.

(Other embodiments)
As described above, the present invention has been described according to the first or second embodiment. However, it should not be understood that the description and drawings constituting a part of this disclosure limit the present invention. From this disclosure, various alternative embodiments, examples and operational techniques will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

  In the description of the first or second embodiment already described, the example in which the hierarchical structure of the folder in the storage medium that can be attached to the data reproducing apparatus 1 is analyzed has been shown. By analyzing the hierarchical structure of folders for storage media such as a hard disk and a non-volatile memory built in the data reproducing apparatus 1, it is possible to reduce the search time for data stored in the built-in storage media.

  As described above, the present invention naturally includes various embodiments not described herein. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is defined only by the invention specifying matters according to the scope of claims reasonable from the above description.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the data reproduction apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the example of the hierarchical structure of the storage medium which can be mounted | worn with the data reproduction apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a table | surface which shows the example of the folder information produced by the data reproduction apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a table | surface which shows the example of the data information produced by the data reproduction apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the data reproduction method which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a table | surface which shows the example of the hierarchy information displayed by the data reproduction apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of the input means which the data reproduction apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention has. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the data reproducing apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... Data reproduction device 2 ... CD-ROM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Input device 11 ... Input control device 20 ... Device interface 30 ... Data acquisition module 40 ... Data management device 41 ... Analysis module 42 ... Display device 43 ... Memory 50 ... Playback module 60 ... Output device 70 ... CPU
421 ... Folder information creation module

Claims (5)

An analysis module that analyzes a hierarchical structure formed by a plurality of folders included in a storage medium and creates structure information including information on the hierarchical structure and information on storage data stored in each of the plurality of folders;
A display device that makes it possible to identify an unstored folder that does not store target data, and displays the structure information;
An input device for inputting an instruction for designating one of the plurality of folders and reproduction target data included in the structure information.   2. The data reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display device includes a folder information creation module that creates folder information that includes the number of target data stored in each of the plurality of folders as information.   The data reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display device displays the structure information by adding a code to the unstored folder.   4. The data reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an input control device that controls the input device so that the unstored folder is not designated. 5. The data reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a device interface to which the storage medium can be attached.

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