JP2008084374A - Audio system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To retrieve a music enjoyable for a user with simple operation. <P>SOLUTION: The audio system is provided with: a music information database for managing the prescribed information related to respective music data; a user information storing means for storing user information composed of a plurality of items; a condition monitoring means for monitoring whether the prescribed conditions are satisfied or not; a user information extracting means for extracting the prescribed information in the plurality of items when the prescribed conditions are satisfied by the condition monitoring means; and a retrieval result output means for retrieving the music information database based on the extracted user information and outputting the retrieval result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an audio apparatus holding a plurality of music data.

In recent years, a music information database (for example, CDDB (CD DataBase)) that manages information related to music is widely known and used by many users. For example, Patent Document 1 below proposes a system that searches a music information database based on user preferences, generates a playlist according to the preferences, and transmits the playlist to the terminal.
JP 2002-73041 A

  For example, a device capable of reproducing music such as a terminal described in Patent Document 1 is also mounted on a vehicle. With the development of technology, such a device (that is, an in-vehicle audio device) that can acquire music information from a CDDB has been proposed and put into practical use.

  In a vehicle-mounted audio device, the timing at which the driver performs an input operation is limited to, for example, when the vehicle is stopped (for example, while waiting for a signal) due to the nature of the vehicle-mounted device. For this reason, it is desirable that the input operation in the in-vehicle audio apparatus is simple.

  However, for example, when searching for a desired piece of music in the system described in Patent Document 1, the user inputs various information related to his / her preference to the terminal. In such a case, fine search processing is realized on the server side, but the input operation is complicated for the user. For the reasons described above, this can be a major disadvantage in a device such as an in-vehicle audio device.

  On the other hand, when the audio device is configured to execute a music search that does not require information related to the user's preference, simplification of the input operation at the time of the music search is achieved. However, in the case of such an audio apparatus, a music piece unrelated to the user's preference is searched. Therefore, depending on the contents, the user may not be able to enjoy the music.

  Therefore, in view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an audio apparatus that can search for music that can be entertained by a simple operation.

  An audio device that holds a plurality of song data according to an aspect of the present invention that solves the above problems stores a song information database that manages predetermined information associated with each song data and user information that includes a plurality of items. User information storage means, condition monitoring means for monitoring whether or not a predetermined condition is satisfied, and a predetermined user among the plurality of items when the condition monitoring means determines that the predetermined condition is satisfied User information extraction means for extracting information, and search result output means for searching a music information database based on the extracted user information and outputting the search results are provided.

  According to the audio apparatus configured as described above, when a predetermined condition is satisfied, a search process is performed based on predetermined user information held in advance. Therefore, it is not necessary to input some information related to the user at the time of search, and operation complexity is reduced. The music obtained as a search result is related to the user. By listening to music related to the user, the user is interested in the music and can enjoy the music more.

  The audio apparatus may further include an input unit that receives an input by a user operation, for example. In this case, the condition monitoring unit may determine that the predetermined condition is satisfied, for example, when an input of a predetermined user operation is detected.

  Here, when the predetermined information includes at least the birthplace information of the artist and the predetermined user information is the birthplace information of the user, the search result output means is the same as the user as the search result, for example. Information about the artist in his / her hometown may be output.

  Further, the audio device is, for example, a vehicle-mounted device mounted on a vehicle, and further includes a position information acquisition unit that acquires position information of the vehicle, and a map information storage unit that stores map information corresponding to the position information. It may be provided. In this case, the condition monitoring means, for example, monitors the position information of the vehicle on the map information, and detects that the predetermined condition is satisfied when the vehicle detects that the vehicle has entered the birthplace of the user. You may judge.

  The audio apparatus may further include, for example, destination setting means for setting the destination of the vehicle. In this case, for example, the condition monitoring unit refers to the map information and determines that the predetermined condition is satisfied when it detects that the set destination is included in the user's hometown. Also good.

  The audio apparatus may further include, for example, a playlist creation unit that creates a playlist based on the output search result.

  The audio device may further include, for example, music playback means for processing and playing back music data based on the created playlist.

  The audio device may further include a communication unit for communicating with an external terminal, for example. In this case, the predetermined information may be information acquired from an external server that holds information related to music via communication means. This external server may be, for example, a server holding a CDDB (CD DataBase).

  According to the audio device of the present invention, it is possible to search for music that can be entertained by a simple operation.

  The configuration and operation of the vehicle-mounted device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle-mounted device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The in-vehicle device 100 includes an audio device capable of reproducing music. In addition, for example, a well-known navigation system for guiding a user to a destination is implemented.

  The vehicle-mounted device 100 includes a control unit 1, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 5, an input unit 6, a display unit 7, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 8, a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) 9, and an SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) 10. , Navigation unit 11, user interface 12, image processing unit 13, communication unit 14, audio unit 15, and speaker 16. The control unit 1 operates so as to comprehensively control the on-vehicle device 100 as a whole. Each component of the vehicle-mounted device 100 executes various processes under the control of the control unit 1.

  The navigation unit 11 has a known configuration, and includes, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, a gyro sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, and the like. The HDD 5 stores map data for navigation. The ROM 8 stores a program for realizing a navigation function, various data, and the like. The DRAM 9 and SRAM 10 are development destinations of programs and data stored in, for example, the HDD 5 and the ROM 8.

  The input unit 6 is for performing a user operation, and is, for example, a mechanical input key installed on a front panel (not shown) of the vehicle-mounted device 100. Alternatively, it is a remote control device (not shown) that realizes a user operation by performing infrared communication with the user interface 12. For example, the power switch is one element constituting the input unit 6.

  The display unit 7 is for displaying, for example, navigation information and information related to music. In addition, the display unit 7 is a known touch panel such as a pressure-sensitive type or an electrostatic type, and also serves as an input unit. When the input unit 6 or the display unit 7 is operated, a corresponding signal is input to the control unit 1 via the user interface 12. And the control part 1 controls each component so that the process corresponding to user operation may be performed.

  For example, when a user operation for destination input is performed using the input unit 6 (or the display unit 7), the control unit 1 reads a navigation program stored in, for example, the ROM 8, and the DRAM 9 (or SRAM 10). It is expanded and executed in a predetermined area. Then, it operates in cooperation with each component of the navigation unit 11 and performs a route search based on the received positioning result and sets a route to the destination. The image processing unit 13 performs known image signal processing based on the set route, generates a navigation image, and outputs the navigation image to the display unit 7. The user can drive the vehicle toward the destination by following the navigation information displayed on the display unit 7.

  The audio unit 15 has the same configuration as a known audio device. The audio unit 15 has, for example, a capture function that encodes and imports music written in a storage medium such as a CD (Compact Disc) into music data in a predetermined format, and a server (for example, CDDB) via the communication unit 14 ) And the like, and a function of decoding music data and outputting it to the speaker 16. When the audio unit 15 decodes the music data and outputs it to the speaker 16, the user can enjoy the music in the car.

  In addition to the map data, the HDD 5 stores, for example, thousands of pieces of music data. These music data are digitally encoded in a predetermined format, and are acquired by, for example, the capturing function or the downloading function of the audio unit 15. The HDD 5 also stores a music information database MUDB that stores information related to each music data, and a playlist PL. Here, FIG. 2 schematically shows the music information database MUDB and the playlist PL.

  The music information database MUDB stores information related to music, and has fields of “album name”, “song name”, “artist name”, “hometown”, and “address”. In each of the “album name”, “song name”, “artist name”, and “birthplace” fields, for example, information of music downloaded from the CDDB or the like on the network via the communication unit 14 is entered. In the “Birthplace” field, the birthplace of the artist is entered. In the “address” field, an address in the HDD 5 in which music data corresponding to each record is stored is entered.

  The playlist PL is created by the playlist creation process of this embodiment. FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of playlist creation processing for creating the playlist PL. 4A to 4C show screens displayed on the display unit 7 in the playlist creation process. On each screen shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C, several operation buttons are displayed. The control unit 1 executes processing according to the operation button touched by the user.

  For example, when a user operation for browsing user information related to a user is performed, the control unit 1 reads out the user information held in its own internal memory, and displays the user information screen shown in FIG. Is displayed on the display unit 7 (step 1: YES, hereinafter, step is abbreviated as “S” in the specification and drawings). The user information here includes, for example, a user name, address, birthplace, gender, birthday, and the like. These pieces of user information are information created in advance using a predetermined user information registration program. In addition, when the user performs an input operation of a user name, for example, on the program, data corresponding to the user (that is, user information) is created, and the created data is stored in the internal memory of the control unit 1. The For example, when a device operating in cooperation with the vehicle-mounted device 100 holds user information, the control unit 1 can also extract the user information from such a device and hold the extracted information in an internal memory. It is. In FIG. 4 (a), “user name”, “birthday”, and “birthplace” are displayed as user information. Which item of user information is displayed on the screen depends on the user operation. Can be set arbitrarily. However, “user name” and “birthplace” are items that are always displayed on the user information screen.

  In addition to the user information, operation buttons E, H, and SK are displayed on the user information screen in FIG. The operation button E is used to end the playlist creation process, and is marked with “END”. When the operation button E is touched, the playlist creation process of this flowchart ends. The operation button H corresponds to the item “birthplace” of the user information, and is given the birthplace of the user a (“Saitama Prefecture” in FIG. 4A).

  When the user touches the operation button H (S2: H), the control unit 1 controls the image processing unit 13 to display the birthplace setting screen shown in FIG. 4B on the display unit 7 (S3). ). The user can set the hometown on the hometown setting screen. As shown in FIG. 4B, on the birthplace setting screen, the operation buttons B and E, the list of prefectures, and the icon SU for scrolling up or down the list of prefectures are displayed. SD are arranged and displayed. The operation button B is for returning to the previous image, and is marked with “return”. When the operation button B is touched, the display on the display unit 7 returns to the user information screen of FIG. When the user touches any prefecture in the list, the control unit 1 changes the home location of the user a to the touched prefecture (S4), and returns to the process of S2.

  Further, the operation button SK is provided with a character “search”. When the user touches the operation button SK in the process of S2 (S2: SK), the control unit 1 searches the music information database MUDB using the birth place of the user a (here Saitama Prefecture) as a key. Then, a record whose entry data in the “Birthplace” field matches the key is extracted from the music information database MUDB (S5). That is, records of all artists whose hometown is Saitama Prefecture are extracted. Next, “PLC NAME” (and “ARTIST NAME”) entry data of all the extracted records is added to the playlist PL in an order based on a predetermined rule (eg, searched order, 50-sound order (song name)). (S6). “Entry to playlist PL” means writing some information for specifying the music data to the playlist PL. Here, as described above, the entry data of “Song Title” (and “Artist Name”) is entered in the playlist PL. When the playlist PL is created by the process of S6, the control unit 1 controls the image processing unit 13 to display the playlist screen shown in FIG. 4C on the display unit 7 (S7). Then, the playlist creation process of this flowchart is terminated.

  On the playlist screen of FIG. 4C, a playlist PL in which the names of the songs (and artists) are arranged, and icons SU and SD for scrolling the playlist PL up or down are displayed. Is done. In addition, operation buttons B, E, P, and S are displayed. The operation button P is for playing back music, and is marked with “play”. The operation button S is used to stop the music being played back, and is marked with “stop”.

  For example, when the operation button P is touched while the playlist screen of FIG. 4C is displayed on the display unit 7, the audio unit 15 displays the ordinal number of the playlist PL (FIG. 2 or FIG. 4C). Play songs in order according to (see below). First, the audio unit 15 searches the music information database MUDB using the music title with the ordinal number “1” as a key, and extracts a corresponding record. Next, the address is accessed with reference to the “address” field of the extracted record, and the music data is acquired. The music data is decoded and output to the speaker 16. Such processing is executed for each piece of music entered in the playlist PL. When any song name in the playlist PL is touched, the audio unit 15 reproduces the subsequent songs according to the ordinal number. For example, when a song name with an ordinal number “3” is touched, the audio unit 15 sequentially plays songs after “3” according to the ordinal number. Thereby, the music by the artist of the same birthplace as the user is sequentially reproduced on the speaker 16. As a result, the user can not only listen to the music, but also find a common point between the artist and the artist (for example, being in the same country), and can enjoy the music more. For example, when the operation button S is touched during music reproduction, the audio unit 15 stops the music reproduction.

  According to the present embodiment, for example, even when the number of songs stored in the HDD 5 reaches several thousand, the user is searched for songs by the same artist and the same place of birth without imposing a burden on the user. Can be heard. Since the artist of the music to be listened has in common with the user, the user can feel the friend and enjoy the music more, for example. In addition, when a music search is performed using the birthplace as a key, a genre or the like that the user does not normally listen to may be played. In such a case, the user can learn freshness and enjoy music more.

  The above is the embodiment of the present invention. The present invention is not limited to these embodiments and can be modified in various ranges. For example, the playback order of the music pieces in the playlist PL does not have to follow the above ordinal numbers, and may be a random order.

  In this embodiment, the birthplace is divided into prefectures. However, in another embodiment, the birthplace is divided in units of a larger area (for example, the Kanto region) or a smaller area (for example, a municipality). You may make it classify.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the search for the music information database MUDB is started and the playlist PL is created when a user operation for selecting the operation button SK is detected, but in another embodiment, for example, The GPS positioning result may be monitored, and when it is determined that the vehicle has entered the user's hometown from another region, the search of the music information database MUDB may be started to create the playlist PL. Alternatively, the search of the music information database MUDB may be started when the user operation with the user's hometown as the destination is detected, and the playlist PL may be created.

  In another embodiment, the operation button SK may be always displayed on the display unit 7. In this case, the user can always obtain the playlist PL with one click. For example, since it is not necessary to perform a user operation for browsing user information, the user can obtain the playlist PL with a simpler operation.

It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the onboard equipment of embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed schematically the music database and playlist which were stored in HDD of embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the playlist creation process performed with the onboard equipment of embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the image displayed on a display part, when the play list preparation process of embodiment of this invention is performed.

Explanation of symbols

1 Control unit 5 HDD
6 Input unit 7 Display unit 8 ROM
9 DRAM
10 SRAM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Navigation part 12 User interface 13 Image processing part 14 Communication part 15 Audio part 16 Speaker 100 Onboard equipment

Claims (8)

In an audio device holding multiple music data,
A music information database for managing predetermined information associated with each music data;
User information storage means for storing user information comprising a plurality of items;
Condition monitoring means for monitoring whether or not a predetermined condition is satisfied;
User information extracting means for extracting predetermined user information in the plurality of items when the condition monitoring means determines that the predetermined condition is satisfied;
An audio apparatus comprising: search result output means for searching the music information database based on the extracted user information and outputting the search result. It further comprises an input means for receiving input by a user operation,
2. The audio apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the condition monitoring unit determines that the predetermined condition is satisfied when an input of a predetermined user operation is detected.   When the predetermined information includes at least artist's birthplace information, and the predetermined user information is the user's birthplace information, the search result output means relates to an artist of the same birthplace as the user as a search result. The audio apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the audio apparatus outputs information. The audio device is a vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle,
Position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of the vehicle;
Map information storage means for storing map information corresponding to the position information, and
The condition monitoring means monitors the position information of the vehicle on the map information, and determines that the predetermined condition is satisfied when it detects that the vehicle has entered the user's hometown, The audio apparatus according to claim 3. Further comprising destination setting means for setting the destination of the vehicle;
The condition monitoring means refers to the map information, and determines that the predetermined condition is satisfied when detecting that the set destination is included in the user's hometown, The audio device according to claim 4.   6. The audio apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising playlist creation means for creating a playlist based on the output search result.   7. The audio apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising music playback means for processing and playing back music data based on the created playlist. A communication means for communicating with an external terminal;
8. The vehicle-mounted device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined information is information acquired from a CDDB (CD DataBase) held by the external terminal via the communication unit. .

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