JP4386044B2 - Terminal device and distribution center device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a data distribution system that distributes a digital signal such as digital audio data with high efficiency encoding, a terminal device used in the system, and a distribution center device.

  There are several methods for obtaining audio data such as music. For example, a method for purchasing the medium itself is known. This method is known as a record board or a compact disc (CD). There is also a method for receiving radio broadcasts and recording the target audio data on a recordable recording medium.

  Recently, a large amount of music audio data (music data (music information)) is stored on a hard disk or the like, and the music data in the hard disk is transferred to an external recording medium brought by the purchaser for recording. A server system that provides music data is also known.

  In this server system method, for example, a server system is installed in a store. The purchaser goes to the store with the recording medium (external recording medium) that he owns, pays a predetermined amount, and records the target music data from his server system to his recording medium. Realize the purchase of music.

  In general, music data stored in a server system is compressed in consideration of the storage capacity and transfer capacity of the server system. Therefore, the server system can transfer the requested music data to the purchaser's recording medium and record it in a time shorter than the actual performance time of the music data.

  In addition, regarding the selection of music data to be purchased, additional information such as the music title, performer, performance time, etc. can be input to the server system in a text format or a selection format from an image, and can be confirmed in the server system. Therefore, the purchaser can easily select desired music data, record it on his / her recording medium, and use it.

  In the server system described above, a plurality of types of external recording media can be used. For example, there is a small magneto-optical disk called MD (mini disk (registered trademark)) or a semiconductor element called a so-called memory card.

  Then, there is a case where the music data once purchased as recorded on the MD through the server system is re-recorded on the other recording medium such as a memory card because the MD playback device is not used. is there. In this case, the user may not be able to copy from his / her own recording medium to his / her other recording medium due to problems such as copyright protection and sound quality degradation.

  In such a case, it is necessary to purchase the music data again so that the target music data is recorded on another recording medium (new recording medium) through the server system. However, although the recording medium on which the music data has been recorded is not used, the same music data as the previously purchased music data is purchased again by paying the purchase price again for the new recording medium. Doing so is disadvantageous for the user.

  Further, even when the music data is purchased after the compression processing with improved sound quality is performed on the same recording medium as compared with the compression processing at the time of previous purchase, it is necessary to pay the purchase price again. . Even in this case, the previously purchased music data with poor sound quality will not be used, but it will be disadvantageous for the user if it needs to be purchased again.

  In addition to the above case, when purchasing music data through a server system, for example, when the same music data is to be recorded again because the recording medium is defective, the same music data is received from the server system. It is considered that there are various cases where the user has to purchase multiple times.

  As one method for solving such a problem, for example, identification information of a generation source (purchase destination) of previously purchased music data is recorded on a recording medium, and the same music data purchased from the original purchase destination is recorded again. At the time of purchase, it is considered that the purchase price must be dealt with for free or at a low price. However, an existing recording medium is not provided with an area for recording information representing a music data generation source (purchase destination).

  Therefore, the inventor of the present application uses the identity of the encoded data formed by the high-efficiency encoding device to determine whether or not the music data recorded on the recording medium is a predetermined distributor. A patent application (Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-56469) has already been filed for such a method and apparatus.

The method and apparatus according to the previous application have been made paying attention to the following. That is, encoded data (binary data) that has been encoded with high efficiency by a predetermined high efficiency encoding device does not change when it is recorded as it is. However, even if the music data is the same, if the high-efficiency encoding device that performs high-efficiency encoding is different, the encoded data (binary data) formed by high-efficiency encoding due to the difference in the encoding processing timing, etc. It will be completely different.

  By using this fact, it is determined whether or not the encoded data (binary data) encoded with high efficiency is encoded at the same timing by the same encoding device. In the server system that distributes, it is possible to determine whether or not it is provided from the own system.

  However, in the case of the method and apparatus according to this earlier application, for example, whether or not the music data distributed so as to be recorded on the recording medium of the purchaser is provided from the same server system (apparatus) is reliable and simple. For example, in the case where different companies distribute music data using the same server system (equipment), it is distributed to the purchaser's recording medium. It is not possible to identify which company the music data is from.

  In this case, the same server system distributes music data using a server system manufactured by the same manufacturer when a plurality of companies provide music data through one server system. Including both.

  In the future, it is expected that there will be an increase in the number of businesses that provide music data, and it is easy and reliable to determine which business the music data provided through the server system is from. It is demanded to be able to provide a service.

  In view of the above, the present invention makes it possible to reliably and easily determine which provider has provided encoded data such as music data recorded on a recording medium, and to provide a digital signal. It is an object of the present invention to provide a terminal device and a distribution center device that can provide a new service for each business operator.

In order to solve the above problem, a terminal device according to claim 1 is provided.
The digital content data is divided into a plurality of bands, and the digital content data included in each of the divided bands is composed of at least bit allocation information, normalized data, and quantized data, and a plurality of blocks having a predetermined length unit or less When there is a difference between the data length of the actual encoded data and the predetermined length for each block, the difference that is the surplus part in the block is A record that receives the encoded data from a distribution server that provides the encoded data on which at least a part of an identifier for specifying a distribution source of digital content data is superimposed, and is loaded with the encoded data in its own device A terminal device comprising recording means for recording on a medium,
A reading means for sequentially reading out the encoded data in blocks recorded on the loaded recording medium;
Discriminating means for discriminating whether or not a surplus portion exists for each block of the encoded data read by the reading means;
Extraction means for extracting data of the surplus part from each of the blocks determined to have a surplus part by the discrimination means;
A demodulating means for demodulating an identifier for identifying the distributor based on the data extracted by the extracting means;
Connection means for connecting a communication line through a predetermined communication network with the distribution server for distributing the digital content data;
An identifier that identifies the distribution source of the digital content data demodulated by the demodulation unit, and a distribution source that distributes the digital content data provided from the distribution server connected to the communication network through the connection unit Query means for querying the identifier;
When the identifier that identifies the distribution source of the digital content data demodulated by the demodulation unit by the inquiry unit matches the identifier that identifies the distribution source that distributes the digital content data, the reading unit Control means for controlling recording of new digital content data corresponding to the read encoded data on the recording medium ;
Is provided.

Moreover, the terminal device of the invention described in claim 7 is:
A terminal having receiving means for receiving digital content data provided from a predetermined distribution source through a predetermined communication network, and first recording means for recording the received digital content data on a recording medium loaded in the own device A device,
The digital content data is composed of at least bit allocation information, normalized data, and quantized data, and is converted into encoded data composed of a plurality of blocks of a predetermined length unit or less, and actual encoding is performed for each block. If there is a difference between the data length of the subsequent data and the predetermined length, at least a part of the identifier that identifies the distribution source of the digital content data is superimposed on the difference that is a surplus part in the block And
A reading means for sequentially reading out the encoded data in blocks recorded on the loaded recording medium;
Discriminating means for discriminating whether or not a surplus portion exists for each block of the encoded data read by the reading means;
Extracting means for extracting data of the surplus portion from each of the blocks determined to have a surplus portion by the first discrimination means;
A demodulating means for demodulating an identifier for identifying the distributor based on the data extracted by the extracting means;
Transmitting means for transmitting an identifier identifying the distribution source demodulated by the demodulation means to the distribution source through the predetermined communication network;
Recording of new digital content data corresponding to the encoded data read by the reading means in accordance with control information from the distribution source received by the receiving means after transmitting the identifier through the transmitting means. Control means for controlling recording on the medium ;
Is provided.

The terminal device of the invention according to claim 11
A terminal having receiving means for receiving digital content data provided from a predetermined distribution source through a predetermined communication network, and first recording means for recording the received digital content data on a recording medium loaded in the own device A device,
The digital content data is composed of at least bit allocation information, normalized data, and quantized data, and is converted into encoded data composed of a plurality of blocks of a predetermined length unit or less, and actual encoding is performed for each block. If there is a difference between the data length of the subsequent data and the predetermined length, at least a part of the identifier that identifies the distribution source of the digital content data is superimposed on the difference that is a surplus part in the block And
A reading means for sequentially reading out the encoded data in blocks recorded on the loaded recording medium;
Discriminating means for discriminating whether or not a surplus portion exists for each block of the encoded data read by the reading means;
Extracting means for extracting data of the surplus portion from each of the blocks determined to have a surplus portion by the first discrimination means;
A demodulating means for demodulating an identifier for identifying the distributor based on the data extracted by the extracting means;
A comparing means for comparing the identifier for identifying the distribution source demodulated by the demodulating means with an identifier for specifying the distribution source held by the own device, and determining whether or not both match;
Control means for controlling recording of new digital content data corresponding to the encoded data read by the reading means on a recording medium when the comparing means determines that both identifiers match.
Is provided.

The distribution center device according to the invention of claim 18
Digital content data is divided into a plurality of bands, and the digital content data included in each of the divided bands is composed of at least bit allocation information, normalized data, and quantized data, and includes a plurality of blocks of a predetermined length unit or less. When there is a difference between the data length of the actual encoded data and the predetermined length for each block, the digital value is added to the difference that is a surplus part in the block. First memory means for storing the encoded data on which at least a part of an identifier for specifying a distribution source of content data is superimposed;
Transmitting means for transmitting desired digital content from a plurality of digital content data stored as encoded data in the first memory means to a predetermined terminal device;
Second memory means for storing an identifier for identifying the distribution source of itself;
Receiving means for receiving an identifier identifying the distribution source transmitted from the terminal device;
A comparing means for comparing the identifier for identifying the distribution source received by the receiving means with an identifier for identifying the distribution source of its own stored in the second memory means;
A transmission control unit that controls the transmission unit when the comparison result in the comparison unit matches, and controls to transmit the digital content data requested from the terminal device ;
It is equipped with.

  According to the present invention, the additional information is written in the fractional part of the encoded data, that is, the surplus bit part of the encoded data of a predetermined format without providing an area for adding the additional information to the encoded data. Additional information can be added to the encoded data.

  And the additional information added to the encoded data can specify the provider of the additional information, or can reliably determine the validity of the provision route. Accordingly, it is possible to easily provide a new service to be provided for each provider of encoded data, such as movement of encoded data between recording media and verification of defective recording media.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the embodiments described below, a case where the present invention is applied to a corresponding part of a music distribution system that distributes (distributes) music data (music data) as digital content data will be described as an example.

[First Embodiment]
[Outline of music distribution system]
First, an outline of the music distribution system according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the outline of the music distribution system according to the first embodiment and the outline of the configuration of the main server. FIG. 2 is a music server according to the first embodiment. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the outline | summary of a structure of a system.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the music distribution system according to the first embodiment includes a plurality of main servers (information centers) 10 (1), 10 (2), 10 (3),. And a plurality of music server systems (terminals) 30 (1), 30 (2),..., 30 (Z) (character Z is a positive integer).

  In FIG. 1, each of the main servers 10 (1), 10 (2), 10 (3),... Owns rights such as sales rights for music data, and sells music data. Is a server system of a provider of the distribution source, and provides music data to a number of music server systems 30 (1), 30 (2),. (1), 30 (2),... Can be used to instruct deletion of old music data or unpopular music data, and a number of music server systems 30 (1 ), 30 (2),... Can be managed together.

  Each of the main servers 10 (1), 10 (2), 10 (3),... Is managed by, for example, a different business operator, but the basic configuration is shown for the server system 10 (1) in FIG. It has a configuration. Each of the main servers 10 (1), 10 (2), 10 (3),... Is source data for efficiently distributing the music data to the music server systems 30 (1), 30 (2),. The audio PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) signal is compressed by high-efficiency encoding by the encoder 11 and the music-compressed music data (encoded data) is stored in the hard disk 12, which is its own large-capacity memory. Yes.

  In each of the main servers 10 (1), 10 (2), 10 (3),..., The control unit 13 reads out necessary music data from the hard disk 12, and transmits it to the multiple music servers through the communication unit 14. Provided by transmitting to the music server system managed by itself in the system 30 (1), 30 (2),... And the control signal formed by the control unit 13 is managed by the self through the communication unit 14. By transmitting to the music server system, the music server system can be controlled.

  On the other hand, each of the music server systems 30 (1), 30 (2),..., 30 (Z) is installed in a store or the like, as will be described later, and a large number of main servers 10 (1), 10 (2), 10 (3),... Is provided with a large-capacity storage medium such as a hard disk for storing music data provided from its own main server.

  Each of the music server systems 30 (1), 30 (2),... Stores music data corresponding to a request from the user with a large capacity on the condition that the user (customer) responds to the charge. The music data is provided (distributed) to the user by reading from the recording medium and recording it on an external recording medium such as an MD or a memory card that the user brings.

  In the first embodiment, each of the main servers 10 (1), 10 (2), 10 (3),... Is compressed as described above by performing high-efficiency encoding. The music data is superimposed (added) as additional information to at least the provider identifier that can specify the provider of the provider, and the music data with the additional information added is provided to the music server system.

  In this case, each of the main servers 10 (1), 10 (2),... Does not newly provide a specific area for adding additional information in the music data (encoded data) in which data compression is performed. As will be described in detail later, additional information is added to the music data by utilizing the fact that the music data is highly efficient encoded data.

  Then, the music data recorded on the user's recording medium is moved to, for example, another recording medium through the music server systems 30 (1), 30 (2),. In order to replace the recorded target music data with the music data compressed by the upgraded high-efficiency encoding process, an external recording medium of the user on which the target music data is recorded is When brought into the music server system, each of the music server systems extracts an operator identifier that is additional information added to the target music data.

  The extracted additional information is transmitted to a main server that provides music data to itself, and the music data recorded on the external recording medium brought into the music server system is transmitted from the main server, that is, the main server. Determine whether it was provided through the server.

  When it is determined that the music data recorded on the external recording medium of the user loaded in the music server system is provided from the main server, the main server New services such as controlling the loaded music server system and moving music data between media for free or at a low price, or replacing music data on users' external recording media with upgraded music data To provide.

  That is, in the music distribution system according to the first embodiment, among the music data provided to the user's external recording medium through the music server system, the music data provided by the main server of another business operator, Distinguish the music data provided through the main server securely and clearly, and provide new services such as moving music data between recording media and upgrading the music data for music data provided from the main server. To be able to.

  The extraction of the additional information and the collation in the main server will be described by taking as an example a case where information is transmitted / received between the music server system 30 (1) and the main server 10 (1). As shown in FIG. 2, the music server system 30 (1) includes a reading unit 1, a recording unit 2, an identifier extracting unit 3, an identifier transmitting unit 4, and a receiving unit 5. The target music data recorded in the external recording medium 1 </ b> X brought in by the user is read, and the read music data is supplied to the identifier extraction unit 3.

  The identifier extraction unit 3 extracts additional information added to the music data supplied thereto, which is an operator identifier that can identify the operator that provides the music data. The business entity identifier extracted by the identifier extraction unit 3 is transmitted to the main server 10 (1), which is the main server of the music server system, through the identifier transmission unit 4.

  The main server 10 (1) receives a service provision request such as a carrier identification code from the music server system 30 (1) and a request for moving music data between media through the communication unit 14. The received business operator identifier is supplied to the comparison unit 15 where it is compared with its own business operator identifier stored in the business operator identifier memory 16. The comparison result in the comparison unit 15 is notified to the control unit 13.

  The control unit 13 indicates that the target music data recorded in the external recording medium 1X loaded in the music server system 30 (1) matches the identifiers of the comparison results from the comparison unit 15, and the main server 10 When it is shown that the data is provided from (1), the target music data is read from the hard disk 12 in which various music data encoded with high efficiency are recorded, and this is read through the communication unit 14. , It is transmitted to the music server system 30 (1) which is the transmission source of the business entity identifier.

  At this time, the music data (content) transmitted from the main server 10 (1) is received by the receiving unit 5 of the music server system 30 (1), which is the transmission source of the business entity identifier, as shown in FIG. Recording is performed on the recording medium 1X or another recording medium through the recording unit 2.

  In the case of movement of music data between recording media, the music data recorded on the recording medium 1X is erased by the operation of the recording unit 2, for example. In the case of version upgrade of music data, the newly provided music data is overwritten on the target music data of the external recording medium 1X. That is, in either case, the original music data recorded on the external recording medium 1X is erased so that it cannot be used thereafter.

  In addition, as described above, when a new service such as movement of music data between recording media or version upgrade of music data is provided and charging is performed, the charging process is shown in FIG. In the case of the music distribution system shown, the billing processing unit 17 on the main server side performs this.

  That is, in the comparison of the provider identifiers, when the identifiers match and the music data is newly provided, the billing processing unit 17 of the main server 10 (1) calculates the billing amount for this, When the result is transmitted to the music server system 30 (1), and the main server 10 (1) has information capable of accepting payment from the user through the music server system 30 (1) or identifying the user. In such cases, the billing amount generated is recorded as accounts receivable and billed at a later date to accept payment, or settled through a credit card or bank account. That is, in the first embodiment, management of actual billing processing (settlement processing) is performed in the main server 10 (1).

  In the description of the outline of the music distribution system according to the first embodiment, the music data as the target content data is provided from the main server to the music server system when the operator identifiers are matched. As described above, it is also possible to provide music data stored in a large-capacity memory included in the music server system by controlling the music server system by the main server.

  Each of the main servers 10 (1), 10 (2),... Operated by different operators is a dedicated music server system that can be connected only to itself or a music server system arranged in various places. Thus, the music data can be provided (distributed) to the customer through the music server system shared by each business operator.

  Accordingly, each of the music server systems 30 (1), 30 (2),..., 30 (Z) can be configured to receive music data only from a specific main server, Or it can also comprise so that provision of music data may be received from the main server system of a some provider.

  However, in the following, in order to simplify the description, each of the music server systems 30 (1), 30 (2),..., 30 (Z) provides music data only from a predetermined main server. And will be described as being controlled.

[High-efficiency encoding method for digital audio data]
Next, a specific example of the high-efficiency encoding method used in the encoders 11 of the main servers 10 (1), 10 (2), 10 (3),... Shown in FIG. A process of adding additional information to encoded data (music compressed music data) formed by efficiency encoding will be described.

  In this specification, an example of using an ATRAC (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding) type high-efficiency encoding method used for digital audio data recorded on an MD widely used for music will be described. .

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining an example of a high-efficiency encoding apparatus that performs ATRAC high-efficiency encoding on digital audio data. A high-efficiency encoding device 120 shown in FIG. 3 is mounted on the encoder 11 shown in FIG.

  The high-efficiency encoding device 120 shown in FIG. 3 divides the input digital audio signal into a plurality of frequency bands, performs orthogonal transform for each frequency band, and reduces the obtained frequency-axis spectrum data. Bits are adaptively allocated for each critical bandwidth (critical band) that takes into account human auditory characteristics, which will be described later, and for each band in which the critical bandwidth is subdivided in consideration of block flow efficiency in the middle and high ranges Are encoded.

  Usually, a block for performing this bit allocation is a quantization noise generation block. Furthermore, in the high-efficiency encoding device 120 of this embodiment, the block size (block length) for bit allocation is adaptively changed according to the input signal before orthogonal transformation.

  That is, in FIG. 3, digital audio data (audio PCM signal) of 0 to 22 kHz is supplied to the input terminal 100 when the sampling frequency is 44.1 kHz, for example. This input signal is divided into signals of 0 to 11 kHz band and 11 kHz to 22 kHz band by a band division filter 101 such as a so-called QMF (Quadrature Mirror Filter), and the signal of 0 to 11 kHz band is also a band division filter such as QMF. 102 divides the signal into signals of 0 to 5.5 kHz band and 5.5 kHz to 11 kHz band.

  A signal in the 11 kHz to 22 kHz band from the band division filter 101 is supplied to an MDCT (Modified Discrete Cosine Transform) circuit 103 which is an example of an orthogonal transform circuit, and is also supplied to block determination circuits 109, 110, and 111.

  A signal in the 5.5 kHz to 11 kHz band from the band division filter 102 is supplied to the MDCT circuit 104 and also supplied to the block determination circuits 109, 110, and 111. Further, the 0 to 5.5 kHz band signal from the band division filter 102 is supplied to the MDCT circuit 105 and also to the block determination circuits 109, 110, and 111.

  The block determination circuit 109 determines the block size based on the signal supplied thereto, and information indicating the determined block size is stored in the MDCT circuit 103, the adaptive bit allocation encoding circuit 106, the bit allocation calculation circuit 118, and the output terminal 113. To supply.

  Similarly, the block determination circuit 110 determines a block size based on a signal supplied thereto, and provides information indicating the determined block size to the MDCT circuit 104, the adaptive bit allocation encoding circuit 107, the bit allocation calculation circuit 118, and This is supplied to the output terminal 115.

  The block determination circuit 111 determines a block size based on a signal supplied thereto, and information indicating the determined block size is output to the MDCT circuit 105, the adaptive bit allocation encoding circuit 108, the bit allocation calculation circuit 118, and the output. Supply to terminal 117.

  Each block determination circuit 109, 110, 111 adaptively sets the block size (block length) according to the time characteristics and frequency distribution of the signal supplied thereto. Each of the MDCT circuits 103, 104, and 105 performs MDCT processing on a signal supplied from the QMF 101 or the QMF 102 under the block size supplied from the corresponding block determination circuits 109, 110, and 111. Apply.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a specific example of a standard input signal for a block for each band supplied to the MDCT circuits 103, 104, and 105. In the example shown in FIG. 4, three filter output signals, that is, a signal of 11 kHz to 22 kHz from the QMF 101, a signal of 5.5 kHz to 11 kHz, and a signal of 0 kHz to 5.5 kHz from the QMF 102 are provided for each band. Each has a plurality of orthogonal transform block sizes independently, and the time resolution can be switched by the time characteristics, frequency distribution, etc. of the signal.

  That is, when the signal to be subjected to orthogonal transformation is a quasi-stationary signal that does not change drastically in time, the orthogonal transformation block size is increased to 11.6 mS, that is, (A) Long Mode in FIG. . Further, when the signal is a non-stationary signal that changes rapidly with time, the orthogonal transform block size is further divided into two and four.

  Therefore, when the signal is non-stationary, all are divided into 4 and 2.9 mS as in (B) Short Mode in FIG. 4, or (C) Middle Mode A, (D in FIG. ) Like Middle Mode B, it is adapted to an actual complex input signal by dividing a part into 2 parts, 5.8 mS, and 1 part into 4 parts and 2.9 mS. This division of the orthogonal transform block size is more effective if a more complicated division is performed if the scale of the processing device permits.

  In FIG. 3, spectrum data or MDCT coefficient data on the frequency axis obtained by MDCT processing in each MDCT circuit 103, 104, and 105 are grouped for each so-called critical band. The middle and high frequencies are supplied to the adaptive bit allocation coding circuits 106, 107, and 108 and the bit allocation calculation circuit 118 with the critical bandwidth subdivided in consideration of the effectiveness of block floating.

  Here, the critical band is a frequency band divided in consideration of human auditory characteristics, and when the pure tone is masked by a narrow band noise of the same intensity in the vicinity of a certain pure tone frequency, It is the band you have. The critical band has a wider bandwidth as the frequency is higher, and the entire frequency band of 0 to 22 kHz is divided into 25 critical bands, for example.

  In FIG. 3, the bit allocation calculation circuit 118 considers so-called masking effects and the like based on the information indicating the block size and the spectrum data or the MDCT coefficient data, and takes each of the critical bands and the block floating into consideration. The amount of masking for each divided band and the energy or peak value for each divided band are calculated. Based on the result, the number of allocated bits is obtained for each band, and the adaptive bit allocation encoding circuit 106 in FIG. 107 and 108 are supplied.

  In the adaptive bit allocation coding circuits 106, 107, 108, each spectrum data or MDCT is determined according to the information indicating the block size described above and the number of bits allocated to each divided band considering the critical band and block floating. The coefficient data is re-quantized (normalized and quantized).

  The data encoded in this way (quantized data) is output via the output terminals 112, 114, and 116 in FIG. 3, for example, supplied to a processing system for recording on a recording medium, The main server 10 is supplied to a processing system for transmitting digital audio data to the music server system 30. In the following description, each divided band considering a coastal band and block floating as a unit of bit allocation is referred to as a unit block.

  The bit allocation calculation circuit 118 in FIG. 3 analyzes the state of tone components and the like based on the spectrum data or the MDCT coefficient, and also presents existing effects such as a so-called masking effect, a minimum audible curve related to human hearing, and an equal loudness curve. In consideration of the above, information allocation is determined by calculating the bit allocation amount for each unit block. At this time, the information indicating the block size described above is also taken into consideration.

  The bit allocation calculation circuit 118 also determines a scale factor value that is normalized data indicating the block floating state of the unit block. Specifically, for example, some positive values are prepared in advance as candidates for the scale factor value, and the minimum value among the values of the spectrum data in the unit block or the absolute value of the MDCT coefficient is taken from among them. Is used as the scale factor value of the unit block.

  The scale factor value may be numbered using several bits in a form corresponding to the actual value, and the number may be stored in a ROM or the like (not shown). The scale factor values corresponding to the numbers are defined so as to have values at intervals of, for example, 2 dB in the order of the numbers. Here, the scale factor value determined by the above-described method in a certain unit block uses a number corresponding to the determined value as sub-information indicating the scale factor of the unit block.

[High-efficiency encoding format for digital audio data]
Next, an encoding format, which is a format of digital audio data after actual encoding, will be described with reference to FIG. The numerical values shown on the left and right sides in FIG. 5 represent the number of bytes, and in this embodiment, 212 bytes are used as a unit of one frame (one sound frame).

  In FIG. 5, the block size information of each band determined by the block determination circuits 109, 110, and 111 in FIG.

  Information on the number of unit blocks to be recorded is recorded at the position of the next first byte. This is because, for example, the higher the high frequency side of a series of bit allocation calculation circuits, the more the bit allocation becomes 0 and the recording is unnecessary. Therefore, by setting the number of unit blocks to be recorded, the audibility can be set. Many bits are allocated to the middle and low range where the above influence is large.

  In addition, the number of unit blocks in which bit assignment information is double-written and the number of unit blocks in which scale factor information is double-written are recorded at the position of the first byte. Here, the double writing is to record the same data as the data recorded at a certain byte position in another place for error correction. The greater the amount of the double-written information, the higher the strength against errors. However, the smaller the information, the more bits that can be used for spectrum data that is actual digital audio data.

  In this embodiment, the number of unit blocks for which double writing is performed is set independently for each of the bit allocation information and scale factor information described above, and the strength against errors and the use for spectrum data are possible. The number of bits is adjusted. For each piece of information, the correspondence between the code within the specified bits and the number of unit blocks is determined in advance as a format.

  An example of the content of information recorded in 8 bits at the position of the first byte in FIG. 5 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, among the 8 bits at the 1-byte position, 3 bits are used as information on the number of unit blocks to be actually recorded, and the remaining 5 bits are double-written with bit allocation information. Each of them is recorded as information indicating the number of unit blocks in which the remaining 3 bits are double-written with scale factor information.

  Bit allocation information of the unit block is recorded at the position from the second byte in FIG. For recording bit allocation information, it is determined as a format that, for example, 4 bits are used for one unit block. As a result, the bit allocation information corresponding to the number of unit blocks actually recorded in FIG. 5 is recorded in order from the 0th unit block.

  The scale factor information of the unit block is recorded after the bit allocation information data thus recorded. For recording the scale factor information, it is determined as a format that, for example, 6 bits are used for one unit block. As a result, the scale factor information is recorded by the number of unit blocks actually recorded in order from the 0th unit block in exactly the same manner as the recording of bit allocation information.

  Then, after the scale factor information, the spectrum data (quantized data) of the unit block is recorded. The spectrum data is also recorded in the order of the number of unit blocks actually recorded in order from the 0th unit block. Since how many pieces of spectrum data exist for each unit block is determined in advance by the format, it is possible to correspond to the data by the above-described bit allocation information. Note that recording is not performed for a unit block whose bit allocation is 0.

  After the spectrum information, the above-described double writing of the scale factor information and the double writing of the bit allocation information are performed. This recording method is the same as the recording of the scale factor information and the bit allocation information described above, except that the correspondence of the number corresponds to the double writing information shown in FIG.

  As for the last two bytes, as shown in FIG. 5, the information of the 0th byte and the 1st byte is written twice. The double writing for 2 bytes is determined as a format, and the double writing recording amount cannot be set to be variable like the double writing of the scale factor information and the double writing of the bit allocation information.

  That is, the bit allocation calculation circuit 118 in FIG. 3 shows the data obtained by processing the orthogonal transform output spectrum with the sub information as the main information, the scale factor indicating the state of the block floating and the word length as the sub information. A word length is obtained, and based on this, the adaptive bit allocation coding circuits 106, 107, and 108 in FIG. 3 actually re-quantize and code in a form according to the coding format.

  In this embodiment, high-efficiency encoded digital data is provided to the music server system in the encoding format described using FIG. 5, stored in the music server system, and in response to a request from the user, It is recorded on an external recording medium such as MD brought in by the user.

[Decoding processing of highly efficient encoded digital audio data]
Next, the decoding process of the digital audio data that has been highly efficient encoded as described above will be described. FIG. 7 is a block diagram for explaining a decoding circuit that decodes digital audio data that has been highly efficient encoded by the high efficiency encoding device 120 described above with reference to FIG. This decoding circuit is mounted on a music server system 30 (1), 30 (2),..., A high-efficiency encoded data reproducing device such as an MD player, or the like.

  The quantized MDCT coefficients of each band, that is, the data (spectrum data) equivalent to the output signals of the output terminals 112, 114, and 116 in FIG. 3 are applied to the adaptive bit through the decoding circuit input terminal 707 as shown in FIG. This is supplied to the allocation decoding circuit 706. Further, the used block size information, that is, data equivalent to the output signals of the output terminals 113, 115, and 117 in FIG. 3 is passed through the input terminal 708 as shown in FIG. 7, and an inverse orthogonal transform (IMDCT) circuit 703 is obtained. , 704 and 705.

  In the adaptive bit allocation decoding circuit 706, the spectrum data supplied to the adaptive bit allocation decoding circuit 706 uses the adaptive bit allocation information here to release the bit allocation, and the inverse data corresponding to each spectrum data of the high band, the medium band, and the low band. The signals are supplied to the orthogonal transformation circuits 703, 704, and 705. The inverse orthogonal transform circuits 703, 704, and 705 convert the spectrum data, which is a signal on the frequency axis, into a signal on the time axis by performing an inverse orthogonal transform process.

  The signals on the time axis of each band are supplied to band synthesis filter (IQMF) circuits 702 and 701 as shown in FIG. The band synthesizing filter circuits 702 and 701 synthesize the signals on the time axis supplied thereto and decode them into digital audio data of all band signals.

  In this way, the digital audio data that has been encoded with high efficiency is passed through the steps of bit allocation decoding, inverse orthogonal transform, and band synthesis so as to be decoded and decoded into digital audio data before high efficiency encoding. Is done. Then, the decoded audio data can be reproduced and listened to.

  In addition, as described above, also in an MD recording / reproducing apparatus using an MD as a recording medium, high-efficiency encoding of audio data and decoding of audio data subjected to high-efficiency encoding are performed in the same manner. It will be.

[Specific method for adding additional information to encoded data]
Next, a specific method of adding additional information such as an operator identification code to music data that is encoded data in the format shown in FIG. 5 by performing ATRAC high-efficiency encoding will be described. To do. This method is realized by paying attention to the fact that the encoded data is data of the predetermined format shown in FIG.

  As described above with reference to FIG. 5, the size of data for one frame, which is the minimum unit of encoded data, is 212 bytes, that is, 1696 bits, but depending on the frame, the actual encoding and There is a possibility that bits that are not used in decoding (hereinafter referred to as “unused bits for encoding”) are generated. The additional information is embedded in the encoded unused bits.

  First, a process in which an encoding unused bit is generated will be described by taking as an example a case where bit assignment information and scale factor information are not double-written. As a portion that is regularly generated at the time of encoding, block size mode information (0th byte) in the encoded data for one frame shown in FIG. 5, the number of unit blocks recorded, and double writing information (1 byte) And the double-written information (210th byte, 211th byte) of each of these pieces of information, and a total of 4 bytes of 0th byte, 1st byte, 210th byte, and 211th byte corresponding to this part, That is, 32 bits are always used.

  As described above, the information shown in FIG. 6 is recorded in the first byte of the encoded data for one frame shown in FIG. 5. The number of unit blocks indicated by the information shown here is set as follows. M.

  At this time, the number of bits used for the bit allocation information is 4 × M bits because the number of bits used for one unit block is 4 bits. In this specification, the symbol x is used as a multiplication symbol. Similarly, the number of bits used for scale factor information is 6 × M bits because the number of bits used for one unit block is 6 bits.

  Next, the number of bits used for spectrum data. When the number of spectrum data of the kth unit block is SPk and the number of bits allocated to the kth unit block is WLk, The total number of bits SPsum used in the above can be obtained by the equation (1) shown in FIG. 8A.

  When audio PCM data to be collected for one sound frame is encoded, if the sum of the actual number of bits used for encoding is Bsum, Bsum is the number of bits required for each of the information described above. On the basis of (2) shown in FIG. 8B.

  The number M of unit blocks and the bit allocation number WLk of the kth unit block are calculated for each frame, and the number SPk of spectrum data of the kth unit block also varies depending on the unit block number. The total Bsum of the actual number of bits used for the encoding described above does not necessarily match 1696 bits, which is the size of one frame. If the remainder generated at this time becomes an encoding unused bit, and its value is REM, the encoding unused bit REM can be obtained by the equation (3) shown in FIG. 8C.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining in what form the encoding unused bits REM are present in one frame of encoded data. As shown in FIG. 9, the encoding unused bit REM is generated at the end of the area where the spectrum data is recorded.

  In general, since the bit allocation calculation circuit 118 in the high-efficiency encoding device 120 shown in FIG. 3 allocates bits to unit blocks as much as possible, the value of the encoding unused bit REM is represented by the format. In many cases, the number is less than the minimum value SPk of the spectrum data of the first unit block. Therefore, when the minimum value SPk of the number of spectrum data of the unit block is 8 or less, the encoding unused bit REM is 209 bytes of encoded data for one frame as shown in FIG. It is more likely to appear in the rear part of the eye.

  Then, when an encoding unused bit REM is generated in each frame, it is added by embedding additional information such as an operator identifier (enterprise code) in that portion. Therefore, in order to add additional information, additional information is added to unused portions (surplus bits) in the area reserved in the original format without providing a new area in the encoded data. It is possible to add additional information to encoded data without changing the absolute amount of data.

  As described above, the additional information is added to the encoded data, for example, on the main server 10 side immediately after the high-efficiency encoding process. FIG. 10 is a diagram for describing a case where additional information is added to encoded data by the additional information writing device 130.

  10, the high-efficiency encoding apparatus (high-efficiency encoding encoder) 120 is the same as that shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 10, an additional information writing device 130 is provided after the high-efficiency encoding device 120. That is, in the first embodiment, the configuration of the encoder 11 of the main server 10 (1) shown in FIG. 1 is as shown in FIG.

  As described with reference to FIG. 3, the data output through the output terminals 112 to 117 of the high-efficiency encoding device 120 becomes the information for one frame shown in FIG. 5 and the additional information writing device 130. To be supplied.

  Further, in the bit allocation calculation circuit 118 of the high-efficiency encoding device 120 having the configuration shown in FIG. 3, various information supplied thereto is used according to the equations shown in FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C. The encoded unused bits REM of each frame of the encoded data formed by encoding are detected. As shown in FIG. 3, the information indicating the encoded unused bits REM is output through the output terminal 119 and is supplied to the additional information writing unit 130 at the subsequent stage.

  In the additional information writing device 130 in FIG. 10, based on the information indicating the encoded unused bits REM from the high-efficiency encoding device 120, the encoded unused bits REM out of each frame of spectrum data supplied to itself. To determine the frame in which the error occurred. Then, additional information is added to the encoded unused bit portion of the frame in which the encoded unused bits are generated by writing additional information according to the number of encoded unused bits.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an additional information writing image performed in additional information writing apparatus 130 shown in FIG. FIG. 11 shows an example in which 4-bit additional information “1011” is stored in order from the lower bit in the nth and subsequent frames of the encoded data.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the value of the encoding unused bit REM from the high-efficiency encoding device 120 is 1, 0, 2, 0, 1 in order from the n-th frame, , It is assumed that an encoding unused bit is generated in the (n + 2) th frame and the (n + 4) th frame.

  In this case, first, in the n-th frame, the bit allocation calculation circuit 118 in FIG. 3 calculates that the value of the encoding unused bit REM is 1, and this is supplied to the additional information writing device 130. Based on the encoded unused bit REM, the device 130 records the lower 1 bit of the additional information in the encoded unused bit portion of the nth frame.

  In the (n + 1) th frame, the bit allocation calculation circuit 118 in FIG. 3 calculates that the value of the encoding unused bit REM is 0. Therefore, the additional information writing device 130 does not record the additional information. Similarly, in the case of the (n + 2) th frame, the value of the encoding unused bit REM from the bit allocation calculation circuit 118 of the high-efficiency encoding device is 2, so that the additional information writing device 130 determines the n + 2th frame. Two bits worth of additional information is recorded in the unused bits of the frame.

  Further, in the (n + 3) th frame, the bit allocation calculation circuit 118 in FIG. 3 calculates that the value of the encoding unused bit REM is 0. Therefore, the additional information writing device 130 does not record the additional information. . In the case of the (n + 4) th frame, since the value of the encoding unused bit REM from the bit allocation calculation circuit 118 of the high-efficiency encoding device is 1, the additional information writing device 130 determines the n + 4th frame. One bit of additional information is recorded in the encoding unused bits.

  As a result, the additional information is written in 3 frames of the 5 frames in which the encoded unused bits are generated, so that the 4-bit additional information can be added to the encoded data. Here, an example in which 4-bit additional information is added is shown, but it is possible to add more additional information bits according to the number of frames. Further, if it is determined from which frame to add the additional information, the additional information can be extracted from the created series of frames.

[About processing in the encoder 11]
Next, operations of the high-efficiency encoding device 120 and the additional information writing device 130 shown in FIG. 10 will be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the flowchart shown in FIG. 12, a variable i is a counter value indicating a frame number, and a variable w_done is a value indicating how many bits have been written in writing additional information, that is, the number of recorded additional information bits. It is shown. The encoded unused bit REM (i) indicates the value of the encoded unused bit REM of the i-th frame.

  The processing shown in FIG. 12 is started in the high-efficiency encoding device 120 and the additional information writing device 130 when the high-efficiency encoding processing of audio PCM data is started. First, in the additional information writing device 130, the variable i is initialized to 0 (step S101), and the variable w_done is initialized to 0 (step S102).

  Next, the high-efficiency encoding device 120 determines whether there is still audio PCM data to be encoded (step S103). In this step S103, for example, when processing audio PCM data by 512 samples, the number of samples of the source audio PCM file is monitored and subjected to high-efficiency encoding processing. This is a process for determining whether or not all the audio PCM data being processed has been processed.

  If it is determined in step S103 that all the audio PCM data that is the target of the high-efficiency encoding process has been processed, the process illustrated in FIG. 12 ends. When it is determined in step S103 that all of the audio PCM data that is the target of the high-efficiency encoding process has not been processed, the high-efficiency encoding device 120 performs high-efficiency encoding of the audio PCM data. Processing is executed (step S104).

  In the high-efficiency encoding process executed in step S104, the high-efficiency encoding device 120 forms the encoded data shown in FIG. 5 and calculates the encoding unused bits REM (i) for each frame. To do. Thereafter, for example, in the additional information writing device 130, it is determined whether or not the variable i is larger than a predetermined initial movement amount (step S105). Here, as described above, the initial movement amount is a value that is determined in advance when additional information is recorded, and in what number and subsequent frames the additional information is recorded (added). Is the amount to determine.

  If it is determined in step S105 that the designated frame has not been reached, the variable i is counted up (step S111), and thereafter, the processing from step S103 is repeated. Note that counting up the variable i in step S111 means counting up the number of frames. In FIG. 12, the notation i ++ in step S111 means that the variable i is counted up.

  If it is determined in step S105 that the designated frame has been reached, it is determined whether the bit length of the write data (additional information) is greater than the variable w_done (step S106). The determination process of step S106 is a process of determining whether or not all of the additional information has been added. Strictly speaking, it is a process of determining how many bits of additional information have been recorded.

  If it is determined in step S106 that all of the additional information has been added, that is, if it is determined that the bit length of the write data is not greater than the variable w_done, the additional information has already been written. Then, the process proceeds to step S111, and after counting up the variable i, the process from step S103 is repeated.

  In FIG. 12, the determination process in step S106 is performed each time. However, in step S106, when it is determined No, that is, when it is determined that all of the additional information has been added. Can be configured so that a flag is set so that the process after step S107, which is a process related to writing, is not entered.

  If it is determined in step S106 that all of the additional information has not been added, that is, if it is determined that the bit length of the write data is greater than the variable w_done, the encoded unused bit REM (i ) Is greater than 0 (step S107). In the determination process in step S107, as described above with reference to FIG. 9, it is determined whether or not an unused bit has been actually generated.

  In the determination process of step S107, when it is determined that the encoded unused bit REM (i) is 0, that is, no encoded unused bit is generated, additional information cannot be written. Proceed to the process, and after counting up the variable i, the process from step S103 is repeated.

  Also, in the determination process of step S107, when it is determined that the encoded unused bit REM (i) is not 0, that is, the encoded unused bit is generated, the lower REM (i) portion of the additional information Is written in the encoded unused bit portion of the corresponding frame of the encoded data supplied from the high-efficiency encoding device 120 (step S108).

  Then, the write data of the additional information after writing is shifted downward by REM (i) (step S109). That is, a process is performed so that the written additional information is not written. In the example shown in FIG. 12, the processing in steps S108 and S109 always writes from the lower bit to the encoded unused bit portion of the encoded data. Obviously, this writing method is arbitrary.

  Thereafter, the encoding unused bit REM (i) is added to the variable w_done as the number of processed bits (step S110), the variable i is counted up (step S111), and the processing from step S103 is repeated. In this way, additional information is added by the additional information writing device 130 to the encoded data formed by the high-efficiency encoding by the high-efficiency encoding device 120.

  As described above, this additional information is the identifier (identification code) of the provider that is the provider of the encoded data, the identifier of the encoded data that is music data (music identifier), and the like. By detecting the added additional information, it is possible to reliably determine where and which music data is provided by the provider of the encoded data.

  In the method shown in FIG. 12, the additional information is recorded only once for the encoded data. For example, after all the additional information is recorded, the same additional information or another information is recorded again. Additional information may be recorded by the same method. In this case, for example, i, which is the frame number at which recording is started, and the type of additional information are output in a so-called log form, indicating how many bits of additional information are recorded in the subsequent frames. A table file may be output.

  If the information of the table file in this case is managed on the music server system 30 side as a detection frame of database information when performing a distribution business, it can be used for detection of additional information.

  By using the method described above, it is possible to record additional information in the encoded data. The extraction of the recorded additional information is performed using the previously described initial movement amount, the detected frame number recorded in the database provided in the music server system 30 (1), 30 (2),. The additional information can be sequentially output from the start frame by specifying the start frame and using the method for calculating the encoded unused bits REM described above.

  Since the additional information is added to the unused bits as described above, it has no effect on the audio PCM data generated by decoding with the decoding apparatus described in FIG. Absent.

  Further, the additional information added to the encoded data that is music data identifies the provider identifier that indicates the provider of the encoded data, the generator identifier that indicates the source of the encoded data, and individual encoded data Various kinds of necessary information such as an encoded data identifier (music identifier) can be added.

  Thus, when adding multiple types of additional information, if the number of digits of those additional information is known in advance, it can be separated by the number of digits, and a specific code, for example, What is necessary is just to add the isolation | separation code | cord | chord etc. from which all several digits become "1".

[Specific examples of main server]
Next, a specific example of the main servers 10 (1), 10 (2), 10 (3),... In FIG. FIG. 13 is a block diagram for explaining the main server 10. As shown in FIG. 13, the main server 10 includes an encoder 80, a main controller 81, a hard disk 82, a display unit 83, an operation unit 84, a charging processing unit 85, a communication unit 86, a decoder 87, and a reproduction processing unit 88. It is.

  In FIG. 13, an encoder 80 corresponds to the encoder 11 of the main server 10 (1) shown in FIG. 1, and includes a high-efficiency encoding device 120 and an additional information writing device 130, as shown in FIG. Is. The high-efficiency encoding device 120 has the configuration shown in FIG. 3, and the high-efficiency encoding device 120 and the additional information writing device 130 cooperate with each other under the control of the main controller 81 in FIG. By performing the process shown in (4), the audio PCM signal is encoded with high efficiency, and additional information such as an operator identifier is added to the encoded data formed by the high efficiency encoding.

  In the encoder 80, the music data that has been subjected to high-efficiency encoding and added with additional information is stored in the hard disk 82. The hard disk 82 corresponds to the hard disk 12 of the server apparatus 10 (1) shown in FIG. Moreover, in FIG. 13, the main controller 81 controls each part of the main server 10 of this embodiment, and is equivalent to the control part 13 of the main server apparatus 10 (1) shown in FIG.

  The main server 10 shown in FIG. 13 follows all the functions of the main server 10 (1) shown in FIG. 1, and the function of the operator identifier comparison unit 15 in FIG. The main controller 81 of the main server 10 shown in FIG. 4 can be realized by software, for example. In this case, the operator identifier of the main server 10 itself is stored and held in a non-volatile memory such as a ROM or EEPROM of the main controller 81, a hard disk 82, etc., and can be read and used as necessary.

  The communication unit 86 corresponds to the communication unit (transmission / reception unit) 14 of the main server 10 (1) shown in FIG. And the communication part 86 of the main server 10 shown in FIG. 13 connects a communication line between each music server system 30 (1), 30 (2), ... as shown in FIG. Various accompanying information, control information, billing information, etc. can be exchanged.

  The billing processing unit 85 corresponds to the billing processing unit 17 of the main server 10 (1) shown in FIG. 1 and is a part for processing billing information from the music server system received through the communication unit 86. . As shown in FIG. 13, the main server 10 in this example includes a display unit 83 that displays various display information such as a guidance display and a warning display, and a key operation unit 84 that receives various operation inputs from the user. It has.

  Further, the main server 10 shown in FIG. 13 is also provided with a decoder 87 and a reproduction processing unit 88 so that the music data recorded on the hard disk 82 can be reproduced and listened to. The decoder 87 has the configuration of the decoding circuit described above with reference to FIG.

  As described above, in the main server 10 shown in FIG. 13, the audio PCM signal is encoded by the encoder 80, added with additional information, and stored in the hard disk disk 82. There are two types of methods for realizing a high-efficiency encoding device (high-efficiency encoding encoder): a method realized by hardware (MD deck) mounted with a so-called encoding LSI, and a method of computing a PCM file by software. There is a way.

  The encoding process in the main server apparatus 10 of FIG. 13 generally requires a large amount of music to be processed automatically and efficiently in order to perform a digital audio data distribution business. The main server device 10 shown in FIG. 4 is realized by a method using computer software.

[Differences in properties between hardware encoding and software encoding]
Here, the difference in the properties between high-efficiency encoding (encoding) using hardware (MD deck) and high-efficiency encoding (encoding) using computer software will be described.

  As for recording with hardware (MD deck), anyone can realize high-efficiency coding by purchasing the hardware, but with regard to the calculation accuracy associated with high-efficiency coding, the implemented encoding Depends on the accuracy of the LSI. In general, when a PCM file is used, so-called PCM data digitally output is digitally input and encoded. Due to this, even when encoding the same music, depending on the timing of recording operation start, The input position (encoding start position) of PCM data that is digitally input varies, and the data after high-efficiency encoding is completely different.

  In order to explain this phenomenon, the time unit for performing the high-efficiency encoding process will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3 showing an example of the high-efficiency encoding circuit. In the high-efficiency encoding circuit shown in FIG. 3, digital audio data (PCM data) is supplied to the input terminal 100. In the MDCT processing in the MDCT circuits 103, 104, and 105 performed after the input, so-called orthogonal transformation is performed. The number of samples for processing is defined, which becomes one unit and is repeatedly performed.

  In the high-efficiency encoding circuit shown in FIG. 3, 1024-sample PCM data input through the input terminal 100 is output from the MDCT circuits 103, 104, and 105 as 512 MDCT coefficients or spectrum data. . Specifically, 1024 pieces of PCM data (PCM sample data) input from the input terminal 100 are converted into 512 high frequency samples and 512 low frequency samples by the QMF 101, and the low frequency samples are 256 by the QMF 102. The sample will be a low-frequency sample and 256 mid-range samples.

  Thereafter, 256 low-frequency samples from the QMF 102 are converted to 128 low-frequency spectrum data by the MDCT circuit 105, and 256 mid-frequency samples from the QMF 102 are converted to 128 mid-frequency spectra by the MDCT circuit 104. The 512 high-frequency samples from the QMF 101 become 256 high-frequency spectrum data by the MDCT circuit 103, and a total of 512 spectrum data is created from 1024 PCM samples.

  The 1024 PCM sample data as input data in this case is a time unit for performing the above-described high-efficiency encoding once, and this is defined as one frame (one sound frame). One frame subjected to high-efficiency encoding is 212 bytes shown in FIG.

  As for the PCM sample data input from the input terminal 100 in FIG. 3, one frame is 1024 samples, but the front and rear 512 samples are also used in the front and rear adjacent frames. This is for realizing an accurate encoding process in consideration of an overlap in the MDCT process.

  Thus, in order to form high-efficiency-encoded digital audio data for one frame from 1024-sample PCM sample data, 1024-sample PCM data to be input first is determined at the timing of the start of the recording operation, Thereafter, a highly efficient encoded frame is generated accordingly.

  Considering the overlap, theoretically, 512 input patterns are generated. For this reason, in general hardware (MD deck), even if the same music is encoded (recorded), the data of high-efficiency encoding changes depending on the timing of recording operation start. There is an analog recording method, but in this case, noise and so-called A / D conversion accuracy also depend, and it is clear that it is difficult to see the coincidence of data.

  On the other hand, the encoding method based on the calculation in the software of the computer (PC) is such that the PCM file stored in the hard disk is processed, and there is no cause for the deviation of the encoding timing as described above. Therefore, the same highly efficient encoded data is always generated for the encoding of the same music.

  In general, the calculation accuracy of an encoding LSI mounted on hardware (MD deck) is lower than the calculation accuracy of a CPU of a processing device such as a personal computer that executes the encoding software, and the same PCM sample is used by using the encoding LSI. Even if the timing coincides, that is, even if the encoding process is started from exactly the same PCM sample, the digital audio data encoded with high efficiency changes due to the low calculation accuracy.

  For these reasons, if it is assumed that the software method is used only in the encoder used by the distributor, the highly efficient encoded data recorded on the external recording medium and the main server 10 or By comparing high-efficiency encoded data recorded on the hard disk of the music server system 30 to be described later and seeing a match, the high-efficiency encoded data (digital audio data) recorded on the MD is It is theoretically possible to determine whether the data is encoded (recorded) by wear (MD deck) or purchased from a distributor using a music server system.

  In addition to this, for recordable MDs brought into the music server system by the user, an area for recording information indicating the creator and distribution company of music data is not prepared in advance. By using the method of writing additional information to unused bits in the frame of the digitized data, it is possible for the user (purchaser of music data) to surely know from which distributor the music data was purchased Become.

  In this way, the user identifies the distributor of the music data that has been provided (the provider that is the distributor), thereby clarifying the responsibility of the distributor, and is responsible for the recording medium. New services that could not be realized because the distributors could not be identified, such as music transfer between songs, upgrade of high-efficiency encoding algorithm, analysis of defective recording media, etc. were provided free of charge or at low cost Can be realized.

[Specific examples of music server system]
Next, a specific example of the music server system 30 (1), 30 (2),... In FIG. FIG. 14 is a block diagram for explaining the music server system 30. As described above, the music server system 30 is installed in stores in various places. The music server system 30 accumulates music data (encoded data) provided from the main server 10, accepts an external recording medium brought by the user, and records music data according to the user's request in this. It is actually operated by the user.

  In FIG. 14, a main controller 31 is connected to all the device units in the music server system 30 and controls them. The hard disk 32 mainly stores music data to be provided to the user. The music data stored in the hard disk 32 of the music server system 30 includes main information (encoded data which is digital audio data) as actual music data, and accompanying information such as the music title, performance time, and jacket photo. Become. Therefore, the main server 10 described above can provide accompanying information to the music server system.

  In the first embodiment, as described above, the digital audio data as the main information is used in consideration of the efficient use of the hard disk capacity and the capacity of the communication line at the time of transfer to the music server system. The high-efficiency encoding process has been compressed, and high-speed recording is possible on an external recording medium brought in by the user.

  The management of accompanying information accompanying the digital audio data as the main information is prepared, for example, by preparing a management table file having a configuration as shown in FIG. 15 and describing the correspondence between the file name of the main information and the accompanying information. This can be realized by performing a reading operation or the like by the main controller 31.

  In the example of FIG. 15, character information and image information as accompanying information are also files, and an example of managing the file name is shown. However, for example, character information or the like may be directly written in a text format. Good. Further, as other information in FIG. 15, for example, copyright information of music, so-called emphasis information, and the like can be mentioned.

  In addition to this, the performance time of the music can be managed in the same way, but the performance time can be managed by displaying the file information of the music information, recording the music, etc. It is also possible to calculate from the compression rate as needed. The detected frame number indicates that the audio data recorded on the recording medium of the user loaded in the music server system of this embodiment is a valid provider (operator) of the audio data that operates the music server system 30. Information to be referred to in the process of determining whether or not the purchase has been made.

  Specifically, as described above, the main server 10, such as a frame number to which additional information such as an operator identifier is added, is notified and stored as a detected frame number for each piece of music. Will be able to. When detecting additional information such as an operator identifier added to music data recorded on an external recording medium brought in by the user, the detected frame number of the management file shown in FIG. 15 is referred to. The additional information addition start frame is specified so that the additional information can be detected quickly and reliably.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 15, an example in which the accompanying information is managed by a so-called table file has been described. However, it is not limited to this. For example, various accompanying information can be added to the main information as a so-called header.

  The display unit 33 is connected to the main controller 31 and is used for displaying the details of the music data in the hard disk 32 and the status of recording, reproduction, etc. to the user. The operation unit 34 performs recording on a recording medium, execution of reproduction processing, and the like via the main controller 31.

  FIG. 14 shows an example in which the music server system 30 has a single configuration, but for the display unit 33 and the operation unit 34, for example, a personal computer or the like is used as an external device, A method using a keyboard and a mouse is also conceivable. In this case, for the music server system and the personal computer, a dedicated signal line for exchanging additional information and control signals, or a digital connection such as serial connection, USB (Universal Serial Bus), IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 1394, etc. This can be achieved by using an interface.

  Although details including the memory are not shown, all the elements of the music server system 30 shown in FIG. 14 can be configured in a personal computer. That is, the music server system 30 shown in FIG. 14 can be realized as a so-called stand-alone dedicated device installed in a store or the like, or by configuring the music server system in a computer such as a personal computer. It can also be realized.

  In FIG. 14, the reading recording unit 35 and the reading recording unit 36 are based on the control from the main controller 31 according to the instruction from the operation unit 34, and the external recording medium 19 and the external recording medium 20 loaded therein. Can be read, and information (main information, accompanying information, etc.) can be written to the external recording medium 19 and the external recording medium 20.

  Therefore, the main controller 31 controls the reading and recording unit 35 and the reading and recording unit 36 to supply the data read from the external recording medium 19 and the external recording medium 20 to, for example, the hard disk 32 and store it therein. Conversely, data from the hard disk 32 can be written to the external recording medium 19 and the external recording medium 20.

  In this embodiment, the external recording medium 19 and the external recording medium 20 are in the form of a so-called package and can be easily brought to the outside, and the music data recorded on the external recording medium by a small playback device or the like. Etc. can be reproduced. Examples of the external recording medium include an MD that is widely used for music and a memory stick (hereinafter abbreviated as MS) that is a kind of memory card. As described above, by providing a plurality of reading and recording units corresponding to different external recording media, it is possible to cope with different external recording media.

  Usually, the detailed mechanism of a device for processing music data, the format for writing to an external recording medium, and the like vary depending on the type of external recording medium. Therefore, the music server system 30 needs to have music data in a format corresponding to each of the external recording media that can be used. In this method, the main information can be shared by performing a so-called conversion process between formats, but in general, there is a high possibility that the sound quality is deteriorated due to the conversion.

  For this reason, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, the music server system 30 for processing music data has a reading recording unit 35 and a reading recording unit 36, so that different external recording media are used. In the music server system 30 of this embodiment, MD and MS can be used.

  In the first embodiment, it is assumed that the recording medium 19 is MD and the recording medium 20 is MS, and the hard disk 32 has MD music data and MS music data for one music. The following explanation will be made on the assumption that it has been accumulated.

  Next, a case where a specific example of a method for recording music data on an external recording medium is recorded on an MD will be described. In the case of the MD, the recording device portion of the reading / recording unit 35 includes a spindle motor, an optical head, a magnetic head, a servo circuit, and the like for rotationally driving the MD.

  That is, the small magneto-optical disk MD which is the external recording medium 19 is rotationally driven by a spindle motor and, for example, a modulation magnetic field corresponding to the recording data is irradiated by the magnetic head in a state where the laser beam from the optical head is irradiated onto the MD. By applying this, so-called magnetic field modulation recording is performed. In this case, the optical head is subjected to tracking control and focus control based on the servo signal from the servo circuit so that the MD track can be accurately scanned with a laser beam having an appropriate spot shape. The music data is accurately recorded on the track.

  In this embodiment, the digital audio data, which is the main information of the music data stored in the hard disk 32, is data compressed by the compression format (high efficiency encoding method) used in the MD. . In the case of recording digital audio data that has been compressed, it is possible to realize a faster recording time than the actual music playback equivalent time because the data compression is performed.

  In the case of MD, an area for recording music management information called TOC (Table of Contents) is provided in the disc, and additional information such as the title of the music is recorded in this TOC. . Therefore, the main controller 31 controls the reading / recording unit 35 to record additional information about the music recorded on the hard disk 32 according to the format of the MD TOC based on the management information shown in FIG. ing. In this manner, even with an external recording medium such as an MD, the main information and the accompanying information managed by the music server system 30 shown in FIG. 14 can be similarly associated.

  The reading / recording unit 36 includes a mechanism for reading data recorded in the semiconductor memory inside the MS and a mechanism for writing data into the semiconductor memory inside the MS. In addition, the recordable MD does not have an area for recording the ID information of the music creator or the music itself, but these areas are secured for the MS. The reading and recording unit 36 can record the ID information of the music creator and the music itself in the corresponding area.

  The decoder 37 is a compression decoding device for actually listening to the sound (music) based on the digital audio data stored in the hard disk 32 in the music server system 30 of this embodiment. The decoder 37 has the configuration described above with reference to FIG.

  The digital audio data decoded by the decoder 37 is subjected to reproduction processing by a reproduction processing unit 38 constituted by a so-called D / A converter, amplifier, speaker, and the like. The reproduction processing by the reproduction processing unit 18 is used for auditioning music by actual digital audio data before recording the music data intended by the user on its own external recording medium.

  As described above, when both the digital audio data compressed for MD and the digital audio data compressed for MS exist, respective decoders for MD and MS are required. However, in this embodiment, the decoder 37 is capable of decoding both the digital audio data compressed for MD and the digital audio data compressed for MS.

  Further, as described with reference to FIGS. 10, 11, and 12, the additional information detection unit 39 uses unused encoding generated in a frame of encoded data formed by performing high-efficiency encoding of the audio PCM signal. It detects additional information such as an operator identifier written in the bit.

  As described above, the music server system 30 according to this embodiment reads high-efficiency-encoded audio digital data (music data) recorded in the MD loaded in the reading / recording unit 35, and stores it in the hard disk. 32 is temporarily stored. With respect to the music data captured in the hard disk 32 in this way, the additional information detection unit 39 extracts additional information such as a provider identifier from the frame at the position corresponding to the detected frame number of the management file shown in FIG. The main controller 31 is notified of the extracted additional information.

  In this embodiment, the additional information detected by the additional information detection unit 39 is the music data recorded on the external recording medium 19 or the external recording medium 20, and the music data is stored in the music server system 30. This is used when it is determined whether or not the service is properly provided by the business operator who operates the provided main server 10.

  The communication unit 40 is a part that performs communication with the main server 10. The communication unit 40 transmits various requests to the main server 10 according to the control of the main controller 31, receives information from the main server and notifies the main controller 31, and receives information from the main server 10. The received music data can be supplied to the hard disk 32 and recorded.

  As described above, in the music server system 30 shown in FIG. 14, the reading and recording units 35 and 36 correspond to the reading unit 1 and the recording unit 2 of the music server system shown in FIG. In the music server system 30 shown in FIG. 14, the additional information detecting unit 39 corresponds to the identifier extracting unit 3 of the music server system shown in FIG. Further, in the music server system 30 shown in FIG. 14, the communication unit 40 corresponds to the identifier transmission unit 4 and the reception unit 5 of the music server system shown in FIG.

  As can be seen from a comparison between the main server 10 shown in FIG. 13 and the music server system shown in FIG. 14, the main server 10 includes an encoder 80 and a charging processing unit 85, and these are the music server system 30. The music server system 30 includes the reading and recording units 35 and 36 and the additional information detection unit 39, which are not included in the main server 10, but the main server 10 and the music server 30. Can be configured in substantially the same manner.

  In this embodiment, the ATRAC method is used as the high-efficiency encoding method. However, the high-efficiency encoding method is not limited to the ATRAC method. That is, the above-described encoding method is merely an example, and the main server 10 and the music server system 30 of this embodiment can handle digital audio data that has been highly efficient encoded by another high efficiency encoding method. It is.

[Usage of music server system]
Next, a usage form of the music server system 30 of this embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, the music server system 30 is installed in a store such as a CD shop as described above. In this case, although not shown, the music server system 30 in FIG. 14 includes a depositing device unit that accepts deposits from users, and also has a function of managing the price of music data.

  Then, the user brings an external recording medium such as his / her MD into the store, and loads his / her external recording medium into the music server system 30 of this embodiment installed at the store. Then, an instruction to select target music data from music data stored in the hard disk 32 of the music server system 30 is input through the display unit 33 and the operation unit 34 of the music server system 30.

  The music server system 30 reads the selected music data from the hard disk 32 in response to a request from the user, and allows trial listening through the decoder 37 and the playback processing unit 38. The user who has confirmed the target music data through this audition, in order to record the target music data on his / her external recording medium, provides money corresponding to the billing related to the recording of the music data to the music server. The target music data can be recorded on its own external recording medium by inputting it into the depositing device section of the system 30 and inputting a recording instruction through the operation section 34.

  Thus, in this embodiment, the user records the music data intended by the user through the music server system 30 on the external recording medium that he / she brought in, or in the case of this embodiment, the MD is recorded on the MD. Thus, the music data for the purpose can be purchased.

  In this embodiment, the music server system 30 and the main server system 10 that sells music data are connected by, for example, a dedicated line. As described above, the main server 10 sends the music data to the music server system 30 according to this embodiment in units of a certain period (for example, once a month). The music data stored in the hard disk 32 can be updated.

  In addition, if the music server system 30 and the main server 10 are connected by a high-speed dedicated line, a method of directly using music data in the hard disk on the main server 10 at each purchase is also conceivable. In this manner, the music server system 30 shown in FIG. 1 functions as a so-called vending machine for music data.

  As another example of using the music server system 30, a method of placing the music server system in the home is also conceivable. In this case, the music data transmission path from the main server 10 is, for example, the Internet. Also, a method using digital signal communication from a satellite such as CS is possible.

  In this case, unlike the music server system 30 installed at the store, it is not necessary to provide a depositing device unit in the music server system itself, and a deposit process using the existing Internet or a telephone line is performed. To do. In other words, in order not to leak the member identification information or credit card number to others, for example, it is encrypted and sent to the music data seller, etc., and it is automatically withdrawn from the bank account, credit card settlement, or invoice Can be processed for payment (payment process) by a method such as

  In addition to purchasing music data from a music provider (sales company), a method of using music data of a package already owned as a system for accumulating and storing the data can be considered. At this time, in some cases, an encoder for performing desired encoding is required in addition to reading the external recording medium.

  In addition, in the music distribution system including the main server 10 and the music server system 30 shown in FIG. 13, additional information added (embedded) to the music data includes various information such as music information and business information such as a business operator identifier. Can be considered. As described above, by adding company information such as an operator identifier to music data, it is possible to newly provide various services that could not be provided such as music movement between recording media. It becomes.

[Example of services that could not be provided in the past]
Next, a description will be given of music movement (moving service) between recording media, which is one of specific examples of services that can be configured mainly by writing an operator identifier. The reason for moving the music (moving service) between the recording media is as follows.

  That is, there are various types of external recording media for recording music data, such as MD and MS (memory stick), and the user can select a desired one from among them. However, for example, when a new playback device is purchased and it is desired to switch the external recording medium that has been mainly used, there is a demand for movement of music between the recording media.

  At this time, as a method of moving the music directly by the user, a method of simply copying an analog signal output can be considered. In this method, a process such as so-called A / D conversion or D / A conversion is performed. Intervening will cause deterioration of sound quality. Also, in the method using a digital signal, if there is no coincidence between high-efficiency encoding methods between recording media to be moved, a decoding and encoding process is interposed, which is also a cause of sound quality deterioration. Become.

  Also, if the high-efficiency encoding method is the same between the recording media, it is technically possible to make a direct copy, but there is no deterioration in sound quality, which causes a copyright problem. .

  In terms of sound quality, it is ideal to write music data that has been encoded based on the high-efficiency encoding method of the new recording medium to be moved. However, for example, if the music data of the movement source is purchased through the music server system 30, the music for the recording medium of the movement destination is purchased again even though the music is purchased for the recording medium of the movement source. This increases the financial burden on the purchaser.

  In order to solve this problem, if it turns out that the high-efficiency encoding recorded on the recording medium of the movement source is made by a distributor who distributes music data through the music server system 30, In the past, it becomes proof that the music has been purchased from the distribution company, and recording on a new recording medium is free, or a lower price is set compared to a purchaser who newly purchases the music. Service can be realized.

  In the case of the first embodiment, as described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the MD is loaded into the reading recording unit 35 of the music server system 30, and the music recorded in the MD is recorded. When receiving a move service for moving the data to the MS loaded in the reading and recording unit 36, the additional information detecting unit 39 of the music server system 30 adds the data from the music data recorded on the MD to the MS. An operator identifier is detected.

The detected carrier identifier, together with the music identifier for identifying music data, is transmitted to the main server 10 through the main controller 31, a communication unit 40, the main server 10, operators came transmitted from the music server system 30 The identifier is compared with the operator identifier held in its own operator identifier memory. When the result of this comparison indicates that the two business operator identifiers match, the music data specified by the music identifier and the music data formed by the high-efficiency encoding process for MS are Is returned to the requesting music server system 30.

  Then, the music data for MS from the main server 10 is recorded in the MS loaded therein through the reading recording unit 36, and the music data recorded in the MD loaded in the reading recording unit 35 is recorded. The music data move service is completed.

  The music identifier may be added to the encoded unused bits of the frame of the music data (encoded data) together with the provider identifier, or the music identification information recorded in the TOC of the MD or the like. May be used. As for the billing process, the billing amount is calculated by the billing processing unit 17 of the main server 10 and transmitted to the music server system 30. The music server system 30 confirms this when the deposit is accepted. When this confirmation is obtained, this is notified to the main server 10 so that the move service can be provided after the main server 10 confirms that the user has responded to the charge.

[Operations when moving music data between recording media]
Next, in the first embodiment, the operations of the music server system 30 and the main server 10 when moving the music data between the recording media will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. .

  First, the operation of the music server system 30 will be described. FIG. 16 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the music server system 30 when moving music data between recording media.

  The music server system 30 shown in FIG. 14 accepts insertion (loading) of the external recording medium 19 (MD) brought by the user into the reading and recording unit 35 (step S201). Thereafter, the user receives designation of Track of music data to be moved among music data recorded on the recording medium 19 inserted in the music server system 30 (step S202).

  After that, the music server system 30 accepts input of instruction information of music data to be moved (step S203). The music server system 30 reads the music data instructed from the external recording medium 19 based on the information received in steps S202 and S203, and temporarily stores it in the hard disk 32 (step S204).

  Next, the main controller 31 of the music server system 30 refers to the detected frame number of the music data in the management file shown in FIG. 15, identifies the frame where the addition of the additional information has started, and adds the additional information detection unit. 39 to detect additional information such as operator identification information added to the music data temporarily stored in the hard disk 32 in step S204 (step S205).

  In this case, when the additional information such as the provider identifier and the music identification is composed of a large number of bits and is added over a plurality of frames, the additional information detection unit 39 or the main controller 31 Also, it has a function as a demodulating means for demodulating (restoring) the business identifier and music identifier of a predetermined bit from the detected information.

  Then, the main controller 31 transmits information such as the provider identifier, the music identifier, and the request for providing the music data transfer service between recording media detected in step S205 to the main server 10 through the communication unit 40 (step S206). Thereafter, the main controller 31 of the music server system 30 receives return information such as information on whether or not to move between media and billing information from the main server 10 through the communication unit 40 (step S207), and based on the received information, It is determined whether or not the music data to be moved between the recording media is possible (step S208).

  If it is determined in step S208 that the target music data can be moved between recording media, a payment corresponding to the charging information from the main server 10 is received from the user, and a charging completion notification is sent to the main server. 10 (step S209). Thereafter, the music server system 30 receives the music data for MS transmitted from the main server 10 through the communication unit 40 (step S210).

  Then, the music server system 30 records the MS music data received in step S210 through the reading and recording unit 36 to the MS 20 which is an external recording medium loaded therein (step S211), and loads it into the reading and recording unit 35. The music data targeted for movement between the recording media is deleted from the MD 19, which is the external recording medium that has been recorded (step S212), and the processing shown in FIG. 16 ends.

  In addition, in the determination process of step S208, when the provider identifier or the like is different, information or message information that prohibits movement of music data between recording media is transmitted from the main server 10, and the determination process of step S208 is performed. In step S213, it is determined that the movement between the recording media is not possible, and the indication that the target music data provider is different is displayed (step S213). The process shown in FIG. 16 ends.

  If the charge is free, it is notified in step S209 that the charge will not occur, and the target music data can be automatically provided from the main server. Further, in the process of step S209, when payment according to the request is not made, such as when the charge requested by the user is not satisfied, by sending a charge incomplete notification, It is possible to prevent the music data from being provided to the user.

  Next, the operation of the main server 10 will be described. FIG. 17 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the main server 10 when moving music data between recording media.

  The main controller 81 of the main server 10 shown in FIG. 13 always accepts requests from a number of music server systems managed by itself through the communication unit 86 (step S301). When the main controller 81 of the main server 10 receives from the music server system 30 a request for movement of music data between recording media (move request), the business identifier included in the received information and the business operator held by itself. The identifier is compared (step S302).

  The provider identifier included in the information transmitted from the music server system 30 is added to the music data for the purpose of movement between recording media recorded in the MD 19 which is the user's external recording media. is there. Then, the main controller 81 determines whether or not the two operator identifiers match based on the comparison result of the comparison process in step S302 (step S303).

  If it is determined in step S303 that the two business operator identifiers match, the main controller 81 controls the charging processing unit 85 to determine the charging amount required when moving music data between recording media. The calculation is performed (step S304), and the information including the billing amount is transmitted to the requesting music server system 30 (step S305).

  Then, the main controller 81 of the main server 10 waits for a reply such as billing process result information from the music server system 30, and receives the billing process result information and the like (step S306). The main controller 81 of the main server 10 determines whether or not the accounting process is properly completed based on the accounting process result information received in step S306 (step S307).

  In the determination process of step S307, when the main controller 81 of the main server 10 determines that charging is properly completed in the music server system 30, the music data that is the target of movement between recording media is stored in the hard disk. 82 (step S308), this is transmitted to the requesting music server system 30 through the communication unit 86 (step S309), and the processing shown in FIG. 17 is terminated.

  If it is determined in step S303 that the two operator identifiers do not match, the main controller 81 moves between recording media recorded in the external recording medium 19 loaded in the music server system 30. Since the target music data is not provided from the main server 10, a message notifying that the music data provider is different is transmitted to the requesting music server system 30 (step S310). The process shown in FIG. 17 ends.

  Also, in the determination process of step S307, when the main controller 81 of the main server 10 determines that charging is not properly terminated in the music server system 30, the music data is not provided, and this is shown in FIG. The process ends.

  Thus, the music data brought into the music server system 30 by the user is provided from the main server 10 that manages the music server system 30 while providing the music data to the music server system 30. Can be reliably and easily identified by the operator identification information added to the encoded unused bits of the music data.

  In the first embodiment, it has been described that only the operator identifier (enterprise information) is used. As described above, the music data held by the main server 10 and the music server system 30 and the user A method may be used in which the binary data of the corresponding frames are compared with the music data brought in, and whether or not they match is confirmed.

  Further, in the above-described first embodiment, it has been described that music data moving between recording media is also provided from the main server 10 each time. However, as shown in FIG. 14, the music server system 30 includes a hard disk 32. When music data for MS is stored in the hard disk 32, music data is provided from the main server 10 each time. You don't have to take it.

  That is, the main server 10 performs comparison of the operator identifiers, judgment of the comparison result (judgment / non-coincidence judgment), and billing processing, and the music server system 30 may perform other parts. Of course you can. In this case, since there is no need to transmit the target music data from the main server 10 to the music server system 30 every time there is a request for movement between recording media, it is efficient in terms of communication cost.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, high-efficiency coding is performed even in a recording medium that does not have an area for recording additional information such as a music creator or a music number in advance, such as an MD. By recording additional information in unused bits of the data, it is possible to determine whether or not the music data recorded on the recording medium has been purchased from a specific distributor. In addition to making it possible to provide various services, it can also be used for data maintenance and security.

  In this embodiment, the description has been made assuming that the music identifier is also added to the encoded data in the same manner as the provider identifier. However, as the music identifier, for example, information capable of identifying individual music, such as recorded in the TOC or other part of an external recording medium such as MD brought in by the user, can be used. .

[Second Embodiment]
By the way, in the first embodiment described above, additional information can be written into the encoded data that is music data. However, if there is some editing process as represented by so-called dividing process of music on the recording medium or partial destruction of the recording medium, additional information such as the operator identifier described above with reference to FIG. 12 is recorded. It is difficult to take correspondence with the variable i that is the frame number that started the process and the detected frame number that is the database information. This second embodiment solves this problem.

  Also in the second embodiment, a case where a music distribution system similar to that in the first embodiment is configured will be described as an example. That is, the music distribution system of the second embodiment has the configuration described above with reference to FIGS.

  Therefore, also in the second embodiment, each of the main servers 10 (1), 10 (2), 10 (3),... Constituting the music distribution system has the configuration shown in FIG. is there. Further, each of the music server systems 30 (1), 30 (2), 30 (3),... Constituting the music distribution system has the configuration shown in FIG. 14, and the management table file shown in FIG. It is what you have. For this reason, the necessary drawings in FIGS. 1 to 17 used in the description of the first embodiment will be referred to also in the second embodiment.

  As described above, each of the main server and the music server system of the music distribution system according to the second embodiment is configured in the same manner as each of the first embodiment. In this embodiment, the additional information writing process performed in the encoder 80 of the main server 10 is different from that in the first embodiment.

  As described above, in the ATRAC high-efficiency encoding method, in general, the bit allocation calculation circuit 118 in FIG. 3 allocates bits to unit blocks as much as possible. Is often less than the minimum value of the number SPk of spectrum data of the kth unit block indicated by the format.

  Here, for example, if the number SPk of spectrum data is 4, the value of the encoding unused bit REM takes a value of 3, 2, 1 or 0. Since the value of the encoding unused bit REM can be detected even in decoding, it is distinguished by this value between a frame in which information is written and a frame in which control is performed to indicate the start point and end point of information writing. It becomes possible to do. A specific example in which the case where the value of the encoding unused bit REM is 3 is regarded as a control frame will be described below.

  When the value of the encoding unused bit REM is 3, there are 3 encoding unused bits, so that it is possible to determine the type of control data allowed in the range of 3 bits. An example of this is shown in FIG. In the case of the example shown in FIG. 18, “001” is the start point of the operator identification data, “010” is the start point of the music identification data, “101” is the end point of the operator identification data, and “110” is The end point of the music identification data is “000”, which has no particular meaning.

  Here, the operation of the encoder 80 shown in FIG. 10 (encoder 11 shown in FIG. 1) when the value of the encoding unused bit REM is 3 is regarded as a control frame will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. explain. In FIG. 19, a variable i is a counter value indicating a frame number, a variable w_done is a value indicating how many bits have been written in writing additional information, and an encoding unused bit REM (i) is i This indicates the value of the encoding unused bit REM of the second frame, which is the same as each variable used in the flowchart shown in FIG.

  In the flowchart shown in FIG. 19, in addition to the above-described variables and the like, the variable w_flag is used as a flag variable indicating whether or not data writing is being performed.

  The processing shown in FIG. 19 is started in the high-efficiency encoding device 120 and the additional information writing device 130 when the high-efficiency encoding processing of audio PCM data is started, similarly to the processing shown in FIG. First, in the additional information writing device 130, the variable i is initialized to 0 (step S401), and the variable w_done and the variable w_flag are initialized to 0 (step S402).

  Next, the high-efficiency encoding device 120 determines whether there is still audio PCM data to be encoded (step S403). In this step S403, for example, when processing the audio PCM data by 512 samples, the number of samples of the source audio PCM file is monitored to be a target of high-efficiency encoding processing. This is a process for determining whether or not all the audio PCM data being processed has been processed.

  If it is determined in the determination process in step S403 that all the audio PCM data that is the target of the high-efficiency encoding process has been processed, the process illustrated in FIG. 19 ends. If it is determined in step S403 that all of the audio PCM data that is the target of the high-efficiency encoding process has not been processed, the high-efficiency encoding device 120 performs high-efficiency encoding of the audio PCM data. Processing is executed (step S404).

  In the high-efficiency encoding process executed in step S404, the high-efficiency encoding device 120 forms the encoded data shown in FIG. 5 and calculates the encoding unused bits REM (i) for each frame. To do. Thereafter, for example, in the additional information writing device 130, it is determined whether or not the variable i is larger than a predetermined initial movement amount (step S405). Here, as described above, the initial movement amount is a value that is determined in advance when additional information is recorded, and in what number and subsequent frames the additional information is recorded (added). Is the amount to determine.

  If it is determined in step S405 that the designated frame has not been reached, the variable i is counted up (step S417), and thereafter, the processing from step S403 is repeated. Note that counting up the variable i in step S417 means counting up the number of frames. In FIG. 19, the notation i ++ in step S417 means that the variable i is counted up.

  If it is determined in step S405 that the designated frame has been reached, it is determined whether the variable w_flag is 0 (step S406). When it is determined in the determination process in step S406 that the variable w_flag is 0, it is determined whether or not the encoded unused bit REM (i) is 3 (step S407).

  When it is determined in step S407 that the encoded unused bit REM (i) is not 3, that is, when it is determined that 3 bits of encoded unused bits have not occurred, the process proceeds to step S417. The number of frames i is counted up, and then the processing from step S403 is repeated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in the determination process in step S407 that the encoding unused bit REM (i) is 3, 1 is set to the variable w_flag (step S408). The processing in step S408 indicates that additional information is to be written in the frame by turning on the variable w_flag.

  Thereafter, for example, write data is selected from candidates such as operator identification data and music identification data (step S409). In this case, for example, if there are two types of data to be written, that is, the business operator identification data and the music piece identification data, selection may be made so that these data are written alternately.

  Then, the start point control code corresponding to the write data selected in step S409 is written (step S410). In the process of step S410, the start point control code corresponding to the write data selected in step S409 is specified from the three-digit code shown in the table of FIG. 18, and this is used as a 3-bit encoded unused bit REM. Write to (i).

  Therefore, in the process of step S410, if, for example, the operator identification data is selected as the write data in step S409, the data “001” is written according to FIG. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S417, the number of frames i is counted up, and then the processing from step S403 is repeated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S406 that the variable w_flag is not 0, that is, if it is determined that the variable w_flag is 1 and that the start point control code corresponding to the selected write data has been written into the encoded data. Determines whether the encoded unused bit REM (i) is 1 or 2 (greater than 0 and less than 3) (step S411).

  If it is determined in step S411 that the encoded unused bit REM (i) is not 1 or 2, the process proceeds to step S417, where the number of frames i is counted up, and then the process from step S403 is performed. repeat. If it is determined in the determination processing in step S411 that the encoded unused bit REM (i) is 1 or 2, the lower REM (i) bits of the write data as additional information are encoded data. Are written in the unused bits of encoding (step S412).

  Thereafter, the write data after writing is shifted in the lower direction by REM (i) bits (step S413). In the example shown in FIG. 19, the lower bits of the write data are always written in step S412 and step S413. However, this writing method is arbitrary as long as it is consistent. It is obvious. Therefore, it is possible to write from the upper bits of the write data to the encoded unused bits of the encoded data.

  Then, the encoded unused bit REM (i) is added to the variable w_done as the number of processed bits, that is, the number of bits of write data written to the encoded data (step S414). Thereafter, by comparing whether or not the bit length of the write data is equal to or smaller than the variable w_done, it is determined how many bits of write data as additional information are currently recorded (step S415).

  If it is determined in step S415 that the bit length of the write data is not equal to or smaller than the variable w_done, the process proceeds to step S417, the number of frames i is counted up, and then the process from step S403 is repeated. In the determination process of step S415, when it is determined that the bit length of the write data is equal to or less than the variable w_done, that is, all the bits of the write data are written in the encoded data, the variable w_done and the variable w_flag are set to 0 ( Step S416) Thereafter, the process proceeds to Step S417, where the number of frames i is counted up, and then the processing from Step S403 is repeated.

  In the process shown in FIG. 19, the end point control data shown in FIG. 18 is not written. This can be detected at the time of decoding if the bit length of the write data, which is additional information, is predetermined, and therefore, the end point control code is not written under this assumption. .

  However, when the end point control data is written, a frame in which the encoding unused bit REM (i) is 3 is detected in the frame after the processing of step S416 is completed, and the start point control code is detected in the detected frame. The end point control code may be written in the same manner as.

  In FIG. 19, although not described as a process (step), it is assumed that 212 bytes of data for one frame are initialized to 0 before encoding, and the processes of steps S410 and S412 are involved. If not, the data corresponding to the encoded unused bit REM (i) is assumed to be 0.

  In the method shown in FIG. 19, the number of times of writing of write data as additional information differs depending on the number of variables i. However, the number of times the write data has been written, the number of data that could not be finally written, and the like may be recorded in a form such as log output.

  As this log output, for example, in a certain music X, 8-bit provider identification data is written 12 times and 64-bit music identification data is written 11 times, and the start code of the music identification data is written near the last frame. However, this indicates that the music identification data itself could not be written.

  With this log output information, it is possible to accurately grasp what information is recorded and how many times in the music piece X. The log output information may be held by the main server 10 and provided in response to a request from the music server system 30. In addition, as in the case of the music data, the log output information may be stored in the music server system 30 in advance. It may be provided and managed on the music server system 30 side.

  By using the method described with reference to FIG. 19, it is possible to record additional information and data for identifying the start point of the additional information in the encoded data. As a result, the additional information detection unit 39 of the music server system 30 shown in FIG. 14 first detects a frame in which the REM is 3 using the above-described method for calculating the encoded unused bit REM, When it is determined that the information recorded in the encoded unused bit REM portion in the frame is the start point control code, the additional information is detected by sequentially detecting data from the start point control code. It becomes possible to carry out surely and quickly.

  According to this method, additional information can be detected more reliably even in the case of some editing process represented by so-called division processing of music on the recording medium or partial destruction of the recording medium. Can be.

  Further, as illustrated above, for example, in a certain music X, 8-bit operator identification data is written 12 times and 64-bit music identification data is written 11 times, and the start code of the music identification data is near the last frame. As long as there is log information that writing has been performed, the same operator identification data is detected 10 times, and if the music identification code is also 10 times, the detected operator identification data, data by song area It can be determined that there is almost no mistake and the reliability is high.

  Thus, even if not all of the operator identification data and music identification data that are added a plurality of times are detected, the music data is indicated by the music identification data according to the number of times detected. Thus, it is possible to determine almost certainly whether or not the product is purchased from the business operator indicated by the business operator identification data. The collation rate with the detected data has a degree of freedom, but it may be set for each business operator in consideration of the influence of editing and data destruction.

  Also in the second embodiment, as in the case of the first embodiment, the start control code, the end control code, and the additional information are encoded unused bits as described above. Since it is used, it has no effect on the PCM data generated by decoding with the decoding apparatus described in FIG.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, as in the case of the first embodiment, information indicating additional information such as a music creator and a music number is recorded in advance as in the case of MD. Even in a recording medium without an area, the additional information can be added to the highly efficient encoded data by using unused bits of the highly efficient encoded data.

  Also, according to the number of bits of the unused bits to be encoded, a frame in which additional information is written is distinguished from a frame in which control is performed so as to indicate the start point and end point of writing additional information. Even when there is some editing process represented by so-called division processing or partial destruction of the recording medium, additional information can be detected.

  Based on the detected collation rate of the additional information, it is possible to determine whether or not the music data recorded on the recording medium is purchased from a specific business operator. In addition to making it possible to provide services, it can also be used for data maintenance and security.

  In addition, when a plurality of types of additional information is added by changing the control code according to the additional information, it is possible to easily separate and extract each piece of the additional information.

[Third Embodiment]
In the first and second embodiments described above, the encoded unused bits REM of the encoded data formed by high-efficiency encoding are used, and additional information is written to the encoded unused bits REM. This is premised on the generation of unused bits for encoding.

  However, the coding unused bits REM are generated as a result of bit allocation determined by the bit allocation calculation circuit 118 in FIG. 3, and the occurrence probability is arbitrary. For this reason, the amount of additional information that can be written (the number of times of writing) differs for each piece of music. In general, the amount of writing (number of times of writing) increases as the music takes longer time (reproduction time).

  In addition, in different music pieces in which the time required for reproduction is approximately the same time, the amount of additional information written (number of times of writing) tends to be extremely different. However, for example, when encoding a stationary special music signal or the like, there may be a case where the generation pattern of the encoding unused bits is extremely short or excessive.

  Further, in the high-efficiency encoding method used in the first and second embodiments described above, bits are allocated to spectrum data in a relatively simple form. As described above, even when complicated encoding is performed, the generation pattern of unused bits for encoding may be special.

  In this way, there is a difference in the generation of unused bits depending on the music to be encoded with high efficiency and the difference in the algorithm of high efficiency encoding to be used. As a result, sufficient additional information is written in the encoded data. There is a possibility that a song that cannot be added (added) may occur.

In order to cope with such a situation, in the second embodiment described above, information such as the number of additional information added to the encoded data and the addition mode is left in the form of log output. However, when detecting the additional information added to the encoded data, relying on the log information when the additional information is added to the encoded data depends on the reliability of the additional information itself added to the encoded data. Can't improve sex.

  Therefore, in the third embodiment, the parameters of the high-efficiency encoding device (high-efficiency encoding encoder) are changed in order to positively generate desired encoding unused bits in the encoded data. In order to compensate for the shortage of the amount of additional information written (number of times of writing).

  Also in the third embodiment, a case where a music distribution system similar to that in the first and second embodiments described above is configured will be described as an example. That is, the music distribution system according to the third embodiment has the configuration described above with reference to FIGS.

  Therefore, also in the third embodiment, each of the main servers 10 (1), 10 (2), 10 (3),... Constituting the music distribution system has the configuration shown in FIG. is there. Further, each of the music server systems 30 (1), 30 (2), 30 (3),... Constituting the music distribution system has the configuration shown in FIG. 14, and the management table file shown in FIG. It is what you have. For this reason, the necessary drawings of FIGS. 1 to 17 used in the description of the first embodiment and FIGS. 18 and 19 used in the second embodiment will be described with reference to the third embodiment. I will also refer to it.

  As described above, the main server and the music server system of the music distribution system according to the third embodiment are configured in the same manner as the first and second embodiments, respectively. In the third embodiment, the additional information writing process performed in the encoder 80 of the main server 10 is different from that in the first and second embodiments described above.

  The third embodiment will be specifically described with reference to FIG. FIG. 20 is a block diagram of the process until the PCM file is output as a highly efficient encoded file. That is, FIG. 20 is a block diagram of the encoder 80 of the main server 10 shown in FIG. 13 that includes the high-efficiency encoding unit 120 and the additional information writing unit 130 as shown in FIG. It is a thing.

  As illustrated in FIG. 20, when the encoder 80 illustrated in FIG. 13 is blocked for each processing step, the encoder includes a PCM file selection unit 141, a PCM data input unit 142, a high-efficiency encoding encoder unit 143, and additional information writing. Unit 144, encoded data output unit 145, and encoded file selection unit 146. The control unit 140 is inside the encoder 80 and controls each unit in the encoder 80. It is also possible for the control unit 81 of the main server 10 to perform the role of the control unit 140.

  As shown in FIG. 20, all the processing units are connected to the control unit 140, and the control of the processing is performed by the control unit 140. The PCM file selection unit 141 selects a desired PCM file to be processed from a plurality of PCM files on a recording medium such as a hard disk.

  The PCM file data selected by the PCM file selection unit 141 is read by the PCM data input unit 142 in units of frame processing. As described above, this frame processing unit corresponds to PCM data for 1024 samples, for example, which is necessary for forming encoded data for one frame (for 212 bytes). PCM data corresponding to one frame read by the PCM data input unit 142 is supplied to the high-efficiency encoding encoder unit 143.

  The high-efficiency encoding encoder unit 143 is a part corresponding to the high-efficiency encoding apparatus 120 shown in FIG. 10, and is a part that actually performs high-efficiency encoding on the supplied PCM data. The shape shown in FIG. Encoded data is output from the high-efficiency encoding encoder unit 143, and this encoded data is supplied to the additional information writing unit 144.

  The additional information writing unit 144 is a part corresponding to the additional information writing device 130 shown in FIG. 10, and the encoded data from the high-efficiency encoding encoder unit 143 is not encoded from the high-efficiency encoding encoder unit 143. Based on the used bit REM, additional information is written in the encoded unused bit portion of the frame in which the encoded unused bit is generated.

The encoded data output from the additional information writing unit 144 is output in units of frames through the encoded data output unit 145, is supplied to the encoded file selection unit 146, and is written into the encoded file. The encoded file selection unit 146 determines a write file name that is a storage destination of encoded data, and finally generates a file.

  Note that the processing from the PCM input unit 142 to the encoded data output unit 145 in the portion surrounded by a dotted line in FIG. 20 is performed based on the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 19 described in the second embodiment. Is. That is, the PCM file input to the PCM file input unit 142 corresponds to the start (Start) in FIG. 19, and the encoded file output from the encoded data output unit 145 corresponds to the end (End) in FIG. It is.

  In addition, although not shown in FIG. 20, as described above, it is assumed that the log output of the situation regarding the writing of additional information is sent from the additional information writing unit 144 to the control unit 140. Based on this log output, the control unit 140 can count and manage the write amount (write count) of the written additional information before the PCM file is input and the encoded file is output. Become.

  For example, when the control unit 140 determines that the final writing amount is insufficient as the writing amount of the additional information, the control unit 140 does not cause the encoded file selection unit 146 to function, and the PCM A reselection instruction is given to the PCM file selection unit 141 in such a manner that the file is encoded again. At this time, in the parameter setting unit 147, the control unit 140 determines parameters for high-efficiency encoding, and controls each unit so that the same PCM file is encoded again.

  In this way, parameters for the high-efficiency encoding process are changed until a predetermined amount (predetermined number) of additional information can be added to the encoded data formed by high-efficiency encoding of the PCM data. Thus, by performing the high-efficiency encoding process again, a predetermined amount of additional information can be added to encoded data formed by performing high-efficiency encoding on any PCM data.

  FIG. 21 is a flowchart for explaining processing performed in encoder 80 shown in FIG. 20, and is processing executed under the control of control unit 140. First, under the control of the control unit 140, the PCM file selection unit 141 selects a PCM file of PCM data to be subjected to high-efficiency encoding processing (step S501).

  The process of step S501 is performed in combination with the process of step S505 described later. Specifically, for example, if realized by software, a plurality of PCM files to be processed are first selected. Or the user of the main server 10 selects a plurality of files in advance in a desired order and selects them one by one in a desired order. It is a kind of operation.

  Thereafter, as in the case of the second embodiment described above, the selected PCM file is subjected to the process of the flowchart shown in FIG. 19 to perform the process of adding additional information to the encoded data ( Step S502). As described above, the process in step S502 is a process performed in the part from the PCM data input unit 142 to the encoded data output unit 145 in FIG.

  Thereafter, the control unit 140 determines whether additional information has been written into the encoded data (step S503). In the process of step S503, as described above, the additional information writing unit 144 in FIG. 20 outputs the write status of the additional information to the control unit 140, and the control unit 140 counts the number of write completions. A simple comparison with a predetermined number of times may be performed.

  If it is determined in the determination process in step S503 that the specified number of additional information has been written into the encoded data, the encoded data is filed (step S504). The processing in step S504 corresponds to the processing performed by the encoded file selection unit 146, and a desired file name is given and the file is closed, so that final output is performed as an encoded file.

  After the process of step S504, it is determined whether there is a PCM file to be processed (step S505). If there is no PCM file, the process shown in FIG. If it is determined in step S505 that there is still a PCM file to be processed, the process from step S501 is performed for the next PCM file.

  In the determination process of step S503, when it is determined that the additional information is not written more than the specified number of times for the encoded data, that is, depending on the first process of writing the additional information to the encoded data, the specified number of times When the additional information cannot be written, the control unit 140 controls the parameter setting unit 147 to change the parameter in the high-efficiency encoding process used in the high-efficiency encoding encoder unit 143 (step In step S506, the process of step S502 is passed again to perform high-efficiency encoding and additional information writing again.

  In this way, by changing the parameters used during the high-efficiency encoding process and actively generating the encoding unused bits REM, the additional information is written (added) to the encoded data more than a specified number of times. Is possible.

[Parameter change]
Next, a specific process for the parameter change in step S506 in FIG. 21 as processing performed by the parameter setting unit 147 in FIG. 20 will be described.

  The reason why additional information cannot be written more than the specified number of times is that, as described above, there are insufficient encoded unused bits, and sufficient writing cannot be performed. For this reason, it is possible to avoid this problem by intentionally creating the encoding unused bits.

  This can be realized by restricting the number of usable bits to the bit allocation calculation circuit 118 of the high-efficiency encoding device shown in FIG. As described above, the bit allocation calculation circuit 118 of the high-efficiency encoding device considers existing effects such as a so-called masking effect, a minimum audible curve related to human hearing, an equal loudness curve, and the like. Calculate the amount.

  The calculation of the bit allocation amount is performed so that the bit allocation in one frame and the accompanying bit usage amount are limited within 1696 bits according to the format shown in FIG. . It can also be said that the calculation is performed so that the total Bsum of the actual number of bits used for the encoding described above is 1696 or less.

  That is, in the normal state, 1696 is set as the upper limit value in the bit allocation calculation circuit 118 of the high-efficiency encoding device shown in FIG. 3, but by setting this value to, for example, 1693, it is ensured that at least 3 bits. It is possible to intentionally create unused bits for encoding. That is, the parameter setting unit 147 in FIG. 20 sets the upper limit value to the bit allocation calculation circuit 118 in FIG. 3 as a parameter.

  In this third embodiment, 1696 is normally set. However, if sufficient additional information cannot be written and encoding is performed again, this value is set to 1693, 1694, or the like. By setting, an encoding unused bit is intentionally created to secure a writing area for additional information.

  With respect to the value to be actually set, more precise processing can be performed by analyzing the log output once encoded with 1696 as the upper limit value and determining based on the result. The upper limit need not always be constant for one file, and may be changed for each frame.

  In general, as the number of unused bits increases, the influence on sound quality tends to increase. In view of this, for example, during processing of a certain file, the log output from the additional information writing unit 144 indicates that the additional information has been sufficiently written in the first half of the file by the parameter setting of the parameter setting unit 147 in FIG. Then, the control unit 140 can minimize the influence on the sound quality by returning the parameter to the normal value of 1696 based on this result.

  It should be noted that, here, the structure in which the parameter is set in such a manner that the result is fed back only when the additional information cannot be sufficiently written with the result after encoding once for the file to be processed. It has become. However, if priority is given to the speed of encoding processing without giving much importance to the impact on sound quality, parameter settings should be made in advance to reduce the upper limit of the number of usable bits, and processing can be performed once. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which additional information is written reliably.

  In the third embodiment, in the process of step S503 of the process shown in FIG. 21, the additional information is written more than the specified number of times, and the absolute amount of the number of times of writing is used as a reference condition. By setting the additional information in finer conditions, such as writing additional information several times in one minute, the additional information writing accuracy is controlled, and the accuracy of collation when decoding the additional information depends on the music It is also possible to make it a mechanism that raises without increasing.

  In this specification, the writing of the additional information has been described on the assumption that the encoding unused bits are between 0 bits and 3 bits. However, the parameter setting used in the above-described high-efficiency encoding is described. By performing the above, there is a high possibility that unused encoding bits of 4 bits or more are generated.

  In such a case, for example, when the encoded unused bit is 4 bits or more and the value is an even number, the encoded unused bit is treated as equivalent to 2 bits. Is treated as equivalent to 3 bits. If the usage of bits is determined in this way, control and writing can be performed regardless of the number of unused bits.

  In general, the number of unused bits and their handling are arbitrary, but the nature and tendency of the encoding format are analyzed, so that additional information can be written in the most efficient manner. Should be set.

  Also in the third embodiment, as described above, since the additional information written to the encoded data uses the unused bit for encoding, it has been described with reference to FIG. It has no effect on the PCM data generated by decoding with the decoding apparatus.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment, a high-efficiency code is used even in a recording medium that does not have an area for recording additional information such as a music creator or a music number in advance, such as an MD. By assuring the unused bits of the digitized data, it is possible to construct a system that writes a certain amount or more of additional information for any music data. As a result, regarding the reading of additional information from the recording medium, it becomes possible to secure a level index regarding addition of additional information at a level that does not depend on the music, and provide various services that are required to be provided for each distributor. Above, an effective means can be provided.

[Fourth Embodiment]
In the first, second, and third embodiments described above, it has been described that at least the comparison of the operator identifiers, the determination of the comparison result, and the charging process are performed by the main server. However, the comparison of the provider identifiers, the determination of the comparison result, and the billing process can also be performed in each music server system. In the fourth embodiment, each music server system also performs comparison of operator identifiers, determination of comparison results, and accounting processing.

  FIG. 22 is a block diagram for explaining the outline of the music distribution system of the fourth embodiment and the outline of the configuration of the main server system, and FIG. 23 shows the music of the fourth embodiment. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the outline | summary of a structure of a server system.

  As shown in FIG. 22, the music distribution system of the fourth embodiment is similar to the first, second, and third embodiments in that a plurality of main servers (information Center) 10 (1), 10 (2), 10 (3), ..., and a plurality of music server systems (terminals) 30 (1), 30 (2), ..., 30 (Z) (the letter Z is positive) Integer).

  Each of the main servers 10 (1), 10 (2),... In the fourth embodiment is similar to the main server in the first, second, and third embodiments. It is a server system of a so-called legitimate vendor (operator) who owns rights such as sales rights and sells music data, and organizes a large number of music server systems 30 (1), 30 (2),. It can be managed.

  Each of the main servers 10 (1), 10 (2), 10 (3),... According to the fourth embodiment is managed by, for example, a different business operator. The configuration is the same as that of the main server 10 (1) of the first, second, and third embodiments shown in FIG. 1 except that the accounting processing unit 17 is not provided. Therefore, in the main servers 10 (1), 10 (2), 10 (3),... Of the fourth embodiment, the main server 10 (1) of the first, second, and third embodiments. 10 (2), 10 (3),... Are assigned the same reference numerals as the main servers of the first, second, and third embodiments shown in FIG. Detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  In each of the main servers 10 (1), 10 (2), 10 (3),... According to the fourth embodiment, the audio PCM signal is encoded at the encoder 11 with high efficiency, The operator identifier from the operator identifier memory 16 supplied through the control unit 13 is added to the encoded unused bits of the frame in which the encoded unused bits are generated.

  The music data that has been encoded in this manner and added with the provider identifier as additional information is stored in the hard disk 12, which is a large-capacity memory. The music data stored in the hard disk 12 is supplied to the related music server system through the communication network.

  On the other hand, the music server systems 30 (1), 30 (2), 30 (3),... Are respectively the music server systems 30 (1), 30 (1) of the first, second, and third embodiments described above. Similar to 2), 30 (3), etc., provided by recording music data provided from a main server related to the user on an external recording medium such as an MD installed in a store or the like and brought in by a user. To do.

  In the music distribution system of the fourth embodiment, music data can be moved between recording media and music data can be upgraded as new services. Note that, as described above, the music data version is upgraded by improving the algorithm of music data provided by high-efficiency encoding using a conventional high-efficiency encoding method, for example, improving the compression rate. Or music data that has been encoded with a high-efficiency encoding method using a high-efficiency encoding method that improves sound quality.

  Prior to the movement of the music data between the recording media, the music data recorded on the external recording medium brought into the music server system, and the music data to be transferred between the recording media or upgraded Determining whether or not the music server system is provided by the main server that provides the music data, and when the target music data is provided from the main server, Enable to move and upgrade.

  The movement of the music data between the recording media and the version upgrade of the music data will be described by taking as an example a case where the recording medium is brought into the music server system 30 (1). In this case, the main server that manages the music server system 30 (1), such as providing music data to the music server system 30 (1), will be described as being the main server 10 (1).

  The music server system 30 (1) is brought into the external recording medium 1X on which the music data to be moved or upgraded is recorded by the user, and the music server system 30 (1). When the user performs an operation to start a target process, first, the playback unit 1 of the music server system 30 (1) reads the target music data from the external recording medium 1X. This is supplied to the identifier extraction unit 3.

The identifier extraction unit 3 extracts a provider identifier added to the encoded unused bits of the music data supplied thereto, and supplies this to the determination unit 6. The discriminating unit 6 is supplied with the operator identifier of the main server 10 (1) transmitted from the main server 10 (1) and received by the receiving unit 5 of the music server system 30 (1).

  The discriminating unit 6 is added to the music data read from the external recording medium 1X, and the business operator identifier extracted by the identifier extracting unit 3 and the business server identifier of the main server 10 (1) from the receiving unit 5 To determine whether or not both operator identifiers match.

  If the discriminating unit 6 discriminates that the two business operator identifiers coincide with each other, it is music data recorded on the external recording medium 1X, and is subject to movement between recording media and version upgrade. It can be determined that the target music data is supplied from the main server 10 (1). In this case, the determination unit 6 controls the charging processing unit 7 so as to perform predetermined charging.

  When the user responds to this charge, the music data supplied from the main server 10 (1) and received by the receiving unit 5 is recorded on another external recording medium through a recording unit not shown in FIG. The music data is moved between the recording media, or the music data supplied from the main server 10 (1) and received by the receiving unit 5 is overwritten on the external recording medium 1X through the recording unit 2. The music data can be upgraded.

  The provider identifier and the music data from the main server 10 (1) are provided in advance to the music server system, and by using this, the user can request the movement of the music data between the recording media and the music. When a data upgrade is requested, it is not necessary to communicate with the main server 10 (1) each time to obtain a provider identifier and music data.

  Of course, when a user requests to move music data between recording media or to request a version upgrade of music data, an operator is required by communicating with the main server 10 (1) each time. You may make it receive provision of an identifier and music data.

[Specific example of main server in the fourth embodiment]
Each of the main servers 10 (1), 10 (2), 10 (3),... Of the fourth embodiment is the main server of the first, second, and third embodiments shown in FIG. 10 can be configured in substantially the same manner. Therefore, a specific example of the main server according to the second embodiment will be described as having the configuration shown in FIG.

  However, as described above, in the fourth embodiment, the accounting process is performed on the music server system side, so that it is not necessary to provide the accounting processor 85 in the main server 10. However, in the case where the main server 10 manages information about each charging of each music server system managed by itself, the charging processing unit 85 is left as it is, and the charging processing unit 85 is used for charging management. You may do it.

  Further, in the case of the main server 10 of the first, second, and third embodiments, the main controller 81 compares the operator identifier from the music server system with the operator identifier held by itself. The main controller 81 has realized a function for determining whether or not both operator identifiers match based on the function of the part and the comparison result from the comparison part. However, since these functions are also provided in each music server system in the case of the fourth embodiment, it is not necessary to provide them in the main server 10.

  The main server 10 according to the fourth embodiment performs high-efficiency encoding on the audio PCM signal, and adds an operator identifier as additional information to the encoded data subjected to high-efficiency encoding, thereby adding its own hard disk 12. And a function of providing the stored music data (encoded data) to each music server system as necessary.

[Specific Example of Music Server System of Fourth Embodiment]
Each of the music server systems 30 (1), 30 (2), 30 (3),... Of the fourth embodiment is the music of the first, second, and third embodiments shown in FIG. The server system 30 can be configured in substantially the same manner. Therefore, a specific example of the music server system according to the fourth embodiment will be described as having the configuration shown in FIG.

  In the case of the music server system 30 according to the second embodiment, the billing amount corresponding to the service to be provided is calculated so that the billing process is also performed in the music server system 30. For example, the main controller 31 has a function as a billing processing unit such as determining whether or not a deposit amount deposited through a depositing device unit (not shown) corresponds to the billing amount. The main controller 31 is provided with a program executed in the above. Of course, a billing processing unit may be provided separately.

  The music server system 30 of the fourth embodiment also includes the management file table shown in FIG. 15, and is added to the music data by referring to the detected frame number of the management file table. The service provider identifier can be detected quickly and accurately.

[Operation when moving music data between recording media of the fourth embodiment]
In the fourth embodiment, in the music server system 30, the music data recorded on the external recording medium 19 that is an MD is moved to the external recording medium 20 that is an MS. The operation of the music server system 30 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The process shown in FIG. 24 is a process executed mainly by the main controller 31 of the music server system 30. First, the music server system 30 according to the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 14 accepts insertion (loading) of the external recording medium 19 (MD) on which purchased music data is recorded into the reading and recording unit 15. (Step S601). Thereafter, the main controller 31 of the music server system 30 receives the specification of the track of the music data to be moved among the music data recorded on the recording medium 19 through the operation unit 34 (step S602).

  Thereafter, the main controller 31 of the music server system 30 receives input of instruction information of music data to be moved through the operation unit 34 (step S603). The music server system refers to the database owned by the distributor shown in FIG. 15 based on the information received in step S603, and determines the music data to be moved (step S604).

  The process of step S604 is a process for searching for owned music data to be verified in later step S606. Examples of information to be accepted in step S603 for the indexing process in step S604 include music title information and artist information. The more information input in step S603, the faster and more reliable the search.

  If no corresponding music is found in step S604, the music server system 30 displays on the display unit 33 that there is no corresponding music (step S610), and then inputs an instruction to instruct to retry. It is determined whether it has been accepted (step S611). If it is determined in step S611 that it is instructed to retry, the music server system 30 repeats the processing from step S603. If it is determined not to perform the processing, the processing shown in FIG. finish.

  If it is determined in step S604 that the corresponding music data has been found, the highly efficient encoded data (music data) of the corresponding music is read from the recording medium 19 (MD) inserted in the read recording unit 15 (step S604). S605).

  Regarding the reading in step S605, all the encoded information of the music may be read. However, in the database shown in FIG. 15, based on the detected frame number, the first frame number of the collation data in step S606, which is a subsequent process, is used. It is possible to realize a high speed collation by reading out a desired frame from.

  In the music server system 30, the high-efficiency encoded data read from the purchaser's recording medium 19 in step S605 is provided by a distributor (operator) operating the music server system 30 of this embodiment. (Step S606).

  As the verification method, the additional information detection unit 39 in FIG. 14 detects the provider identifier recorded using the unused bits (encoded unused bits) of the encoded data and provides it from the main server 10. It is determined whether or not the music has been purchased from the business operator that operates the main server 10 by determining whether or not they match by comparing with the business operator identifier.

In addition, as described above, in the case of a music distribution system , the music data distribution business is based on the premise that high-efficiency encoding (encoding) is performed with software for the music data to be distributed. If the corresponding music data owned by the music server system 30 or the main server 10 on the user's side is compared with the music data that is the purpose of movement recorded in the external recording medium 19, the verification is performed. The accuracy can be further improved.

  When the collation in step S606 is not established, the fact that the collation is not established is displayed on the display unit 33 in FIG. 14 (step S612), and the processing shown in FIG. In the processing in step S612, processing such as displaying a message such as “The requested music is not sold through this system. Please check” is performed.

  If the collation in step S606 is established, a predetermined billing process is performed (step S607). As described above, in this case, a cheap price may be set or billing may be eliminated. If the charge is eliminated and the charge is free, the process in step S607 includes a message display process such as “No charge is generated. The music data can be moved for free”.

  Thereafter, the highly efficient encoded data for the recording medium 20 (MS) of the corresponding music data is written into the purchaser's external recording medium 20 (MS) inserted in the read recording unit 16 (step S608). Thereafter, the music server system 30 deletes (deletes) the track in which the information of the music data recorded in the recording medium 19 (MD) is recorded through the read recording unit 15 (step S609). The processing shown in FIG.

  Further, for example, in the billing process in step S607, if a certain amount of billing is performed, and the purchaser responds to this, the recording medium is not deleted (erased) in step S609. A new service is established as a copy service for recording medium data instead of moving between the two.

  Further, by recording an identification code of the music itself as additional information, for example, ISRC (International Standard Recording Code), in the first additional information recording portion, the information of the music itself is read, and step S603 is performed. It is also possible to omit the process.

  In this way, by using the provider identifier added to the encoded unused bits of the encoded data, even if there are a plurality of providers that distribute the music data, the external of the user through the music distribution system Since the music data recorded on the recording medium can be easily and surely known as to which business operator, each business operator can only share the music data to the user of the music data provided by him / her. New services such as moving between recording media and upgrading music data can be provided at low cost or free of charge.

  As described above, the comparison processing and charging processing of additional information such as the provider identifier added to the encoded data that is music data is the same as in the first, second, and third embodiments. It can be performed on the server side, or can be performed on each music server system side managed by the main server as in the fourth embodiment.

[New service variations]
Next, as described in detail in the first, second, third, and fourth embodiments described above, additional information such as an operator identifier is added to the encoded unused bits of music data (encoded data). A new service that can be realized by adding the addition of the music data provider can be surely and easily determined. In the following description, it is assumed that the recording medium A and the recording medium B are different. For example, the recording medium A is MD and the recording medium B is MS.

  FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining music movement (move service) between recording media. That is, FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a data flow at the time of music movement (move service) between the recording media described above with reference to FIG. 16, FIG. 17, or FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 25, the operator identifier added to the A encoded data, which is the music data recorded on the recording medium A, is compared with the operator identifier held in the main server 10 to match. In this case, the B encoded data of the same music data is transferred to the purchaser's recording medium B and recorded.

  Accordingly, in FIG. 25, the movement of the music data is as shown by the solid arrow in which the B encoded data is transferred after the A encoded data is read and used for verification. As indicated by the arrows, it can be seen as a form that moves between recording media. If the encoded data of the recording medium A is not erased here, the dotted arrow is regarded as a copy.

  FIG. 26 shows one of rewriting on the same recording medium such as MD to MD, for example, a service for improving the sound quality accompanying the refinement of high-efficiency encoding calculation, that is, for upgrading the high-efficiency encoding algorithm. It is a figure showing the flow of data at the time of use. That is, the flow of data when the music data version is upgraded is shown. As a process, step S608 shown in FIG. 24 is overwritten on the recording medium A, and step S609 is eliminated. At this time, the charging process shown in step S607 may be performed, or the charging process may be eliminated and the charge process may be free.

  Even in this case, the operator identifier added to the old A-coded data requested to be upgraded is compared with the operator identifier of the main server 10 held by the main server 10, and both Can be upgraded by overwriting the old A encoded data of the recording medium A with the new A encoded data.

  FIG. 27 shows one example of rewriting on the same recording medium. For example, when data in a location other than the detection frame to be compared described above is broken or a writing failure has occurred before, the data is overwritten again. It is the figure which showed the flow of the data at the time of use of the service which corrects by. The process is the same as that shown in FIG.

  FIG. 28 shows one of rewriting on the same recording medium. For example, when it is desired to change the bit rate of encoded data that can be written to the recording medium A, a service is used in which correction is performed by overwriting again. It is the figure which showed the data flow at the time. The process is the same as that shown in FIG.

  Also, for example, when a database of users is created, it is also possible to issue a password etc. to a registered customer and manage it so that the customer can receive a service for previously purchased music data become.

  FIG. 29 is a diagram showing the flow of service usage data of this music server system. In addition to the data on the recording medium, for example, a unique password or the like is input as customer identification data, and both music data and customer information are entered. By verifying, authentication is confirmed and additional services are provided.

  The customer identification data is used in order to prevent the same customer from receiving additional services. As a specific example of the additional service, a limited gift may be given only to a person who has previously purchased 10 or more songs by an artist named A. At this time, with respect to prevention of reuse of the recording medium, it may be managed whether or not the service is provided in the customer database.

For the additional service of FIG. 29, a service track is provided, a high-precision printer is installed in the music server system 30 to provide a bromide of a favorite artist, various discount tickets are issued , and each customer is provided. Various things are conceivable, such as accumulating service points and providing discounts or premiums according to the amount of points at a later date.

  And in any case of FIGS. 25-29, as mentioned above, the provider added to the unused block of the music data recorded on the external recording medium loaded in the music server system 30 The music data recorded in the external recording medium loaded in the music server system 30 can be stored in the music server system 30 only by comparing the identifier with the provider identifier held by the main server 10 or the music server system 30. It is possible to reliably and easily determine whether or not the server is provided from the main server 10.

  In the case of the example shown in FIGS. 25 to 29, the comparison and determination of the operator identifier is performed on the main server 10 side as in the case of the first, second, and third embodiments described above. Performed authentication when matched. However, the comparison and determination of the provider identifiers may of course be performed on the music server system 30 side as in the case of the fourth embodiment described above.

  Further, the music data to be newly provided may be acquired by the music server system 30 from the main server 10 whenever it is requested and provided, or provided in advance from the main server 10. The music data stored in the hard disk 32 of the music server system 30 can also be provided.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the user's external recording medium is brought into the predetermined music server system 30 has been described as an example. However, it is not always necessary to bring the user's external recording medium into the music server system that recorded the music data recorded therein.

  If the music server system 30 (1), 30 (2),..., 30 (Z) connected to the main server 10 shown in FIG. 1), 30 (2),..., 30 (Z) can receive the same service.

  In other words, the identity of the main server is determined using the provider identifier instead of the music server system, and the same service is provided regardless of which music server system managed by the main server 10 is used. To be able to do that. Thus, if it can be confirmed that the music data provider is the same, a new service can be provided through any music server system, and the convenience for the user can be improved.

  In addition, for example, in the case of processing not only the above-mentioned services but also complaints concerning the recording of purchased music from the purchaser, such as analysis of defective recording media, regular purchase from a distributor (operator) It is possible to determine whether or not the song is a song and re-provide the song data.

  Also, as described above, a music server system having the same configuration as that of the music server system shown in FIG. 14 is installed in a general home, the Internet is used as a communication line, and collation is performed on the main server. It is possible to provide a similar service.

  The present invention can also be applied as means for realizing a so-called check-in and check-out function from a large-capacity recording medium such as a hard disk. That is, the music data recorded on a predetermined hard disk can be copied up to three times.

  When the music data is recorded on the MD from the predetermined hard disk, the number of copies that can be made is reduced by one. In this way, output from a hard disk to an MD or the like is called checkout. When the music data copied to the MD is returned to the hard disk and deleted from the MD, the copy number of the music data is returned by one. This process of returning music data from the MD to the hard disk is called checkout.

  And, at the time of check-in, in order not to return the music data that is not the music data output from the hard disk, for example, it is added to the encoding unused bit as a hard disk identifier such as a serial number unique to the hard disk. Thus, it is possible to determine whether the data has been checked out from the hard disk, and to allow check-in only for the music data checked out from the hard disk.

  Therefore, by using the present invention, the check-out operation and the check-in operation can be performed even when an MD having no medium identifier is used.

  As described in the above-described embodiment, the main server has a function as a transmission device that transmits music data. In the above-described embodiment, the encoded data (music data) formed by high-efficiency encoding is once stored in the memory of the main server 10, and the stored encoded data is read as necessary. It has been described as being provided to the music server system 30. However, it is not limited to this.

  For example, the audio PCM signal of a music piece may be highly efficient encoded, and the music data that has been subjected to the high efficiency encoding may be provided to the music server system 30 at the time of the high efficiency encoding. As described above, the distribution timing of the music server system of the encoded data that is music data can take various forms depending on the configuration of the music distribution system to be constructed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the main server 10 has been described as performing high-efficiency encoding. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to receive supply of highly efficient encoded music data, detect unused bits for each frame of the music data, and add additional information such as a provider identifier to the detected unused bits. Accordingly, it is of course possible to provide an apparatus and a method for receiving additional data and adding additional information to digital data that has been encoded with high efficiency.

  In the above-described embodiment, the additional information has been described as being added to unused bits of encoded data that has been encoded with high efficiency. In this case, the additional information is modulated using a so-called biphase such as Manchester encoding, and a synchronization code is added to the modulated additional information, and the additional information is modulated with the synchronization code. The additional information can be sequentially added to the unused bits of the encoded data.

  For example, when a binary “0” is transmitted, the modulation method using the biphase is changed from a high level to a low level in the center of the bit interval, whereas when a binary “1” is transmitted, the bit is reversed. The data to be sent is modulated by changing from the low level to the high level at the center of the section.

  In this way, when the synchronization code and the modulated additional information are added to the unused bits of the encoded data, since the synchronization code is included, the unused bits (fractional part) of each frame of the encoded data Even if the encoded data is relatively long, it can be sequentially added to unused bit portions of a plurality of frames. When detecting the additional information, the head of the additional information can be quickly detected by the synchronization code.

  In addition, additional information modulated using biphase has no DC component, and since it has a clock component, it can be demodulated easily and accurately, so that additional information is added to unused bits of encoded data. In this case, restrictions such as the number of digits can be relaxed, and additional information can be flexibly added to the encoded data. Note that, here, an example has been described in which encoded data is modulated by a modulation scheme using biphase or the like, but various modulation schemes can be used.

  The additional information added to the encoded data includes a service identifier, a service identifier, a music identifier (song identification data), a generator identifier indicating a music data generator, a service usage period, and a service usage fee. It is possible to add restriction information, various types of control information, and other necessary information about services to be provided.

  For example, an identifier of each information such as a copyright information identifier, a URL information identifier, a billing information identifier, a device information identifier, and a reproduction count identifier can be added to the encoded data as additional information.

  In this case, the copyright information identifier can identify the copyrighted content such as music data, and can identify the content itself. In many cases, the copyright information identifier is created and used by a content providing organization or an industry organization.

  The URL information identifier is information for accessing a so-called Web page related to music data or information for specifying information for accessing the URL. By adding this URL information identifier to the music data that is the encoded data, it is possible to obtain information through the Web page for each piece of music data when reproducing the music data.

  That is, when reproducing music data recorded on a recording medium in a personal computer or a playback device connected to the personal computer, URL identification information added to the music data is obtained, and the URL identification information is obtained. It is possible to provide a service such as automatically accessing a target Web page through a personal computer based on the above, and automatically obtaining information on music data through the Internet.

  In this case, the information obtained through the Web page for each song can provide various information such as the lyrics of the song, the score, information about the artist, the image image, the concert schedule of the artist of the song, and the release schedule of the new score. .

  The charging information identifier can provide information related to charging for the music data to which the charging information is added, and the device information identifier can specify the device actually recorded on the recording medium. Further, the playback number identifier can specify the number of times that playback is possible. By using the reproduction number identifier and the billing information identifier in combination, it is possible to limit the number of reproductions according to the charge.

  Further, the additional information added to the encoded data is not limited to one type, and it is of course possible to add a plurality of types of additional information. In this case, each additional information may be separated by inserting a predetermined code between different additional information.

  In the above-described embodiment, the additional information is added to the unused bits (fractional part) of each frame of the encoded data. However, the TOC, which is the management area of the recording medium that records the encoded data, Additional information may be added to the header portion of each frame. Further, as a backup of the additional information added to the unused bits, the additional information added to the unused bits may be added to one or both of the TOC and the header of each frame.

  Further, in the above-described third embodiment, when a predetermined amount of additional information cannot be added, the parameter (upper limit value of bit allocation) used for the high-efficiency encoding process is changed and the high-efficiency code is again obtained. As a result, unused bits are provided so that a predetermined amount of additional information is possible in the highly efficient encoded data. However, it is not limited to this.

  For example, parameters used for the high-efficiency encoding process may be changed from the beginning to provide more unused bits than usual from the beginning. In this case, since it is not necessary to perform the high-efficiency encoding process again, encoded data to which additional information is added can be quickly formed.

  However, increasing the number of unused bits more than usual will reduce the spectrum data that composes the song, and lower the sound quality of the song that is played back by the spectrum data. Also become. For this reason, if additional information is added by performing high-efficiency encoding and a predetermined amount of additional information cannot be added, the parameter is changed and the high-efficiency encoding process is performed again. Since deterioration can be minimized, it can be said that it is more preferable.

  For example, for encoded data such as sample music data, where the sound quality is not a problem, additional information of a predetermined amount or more can be added at a time by taking many unused bits from the beginning. Thus, for music data where sound quality is important, only when a predetermined amount of additional information cannot be added, high-efficiency encoding is performed again to ensure the minimum necessary unused bits. Two methods may be used properly.

  Specifically, in an apparatus that performs high-efficiency encoding such as the main server 10, more unused bits than usual are generated in encoded data formed by high-efficiency encoding, or a predetermined amount of When the additional information cannot be added to the encoded data, it is possible to select whether to perform high-efficiency encoding again by changing the parameter.

  If it is selected to generate a larger number of unused bits than usual, the device that performs high-efficiency coding uses or uses different parameters than usual. In response to the input of parameters from the user, high-efficiency encoding is performed, and a predetermined amount of additional information is added to the encoded data by one high-efficiency encoding process.

  On the other hand, if a predetermined amount of additional information cannot be added to the encoded data and it is selected to perform the high-efficiency encoding again after changing the parameters, the device that performs the high-efficiency encoding is The additional information of the encoded data may be added as in the case of the third embodiment described above. Thereby, the two additional methods of additional information can be used properly.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where digital audio data is encoded with high efficiency has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In addition to audio data, the present invention can be applied to a case where digital data subjected to high-efficiency encoding such as still image data and moving image data is recorded on a recording medium and provided to a user. .

  In addition, the high efficiency encoding method has been described using the ATRAC method as an example, but is not limited thereto. For example, MPEG (Moving Picture Expert Group) method, MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer 3) method, AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) method, WMA (Windows (registered trademark) Media Audio) method, ATRAC method 3 developed from ATRAC method Various high-efficiency encoding schemes such as a -VQ (Transform-Domain Weighted Interleaved Vector Quantization) scheme can be used.

  In addition, as described above, when a large number of services can be provided, by receiving from the user through the operation unit of the music server system which service is requested to be provided, The user can select and receive the desired service.

  In the above-described embodiment, the music server system 30 is described as receiving music data supplied as encoded data from the main server device through a predetermined communication line. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, high-efficiency encoding is performed into encoded data, and additional information is added to encoded unused bits (surplus portion) of a frame of encoded data, for example, recorded on a recording medium such as an optical disk. The optical disk is delivered to the store where the music server system is installed by means such as mailing.

  Then, in the store where the music server system is installed, by loading the delivered recording medium such as an optical disc into the music server system, the music data recorded from the optical disc or the optical disc is once stored in the music server. It is possible to provide the user with music data provided through a recording medium such as an optical disk after being dropped into the hard disk of the system.

  In this case, the music distribution system does not have a main server, and is configured only by the music server system. In the music server system, detection and verification of additional information added to music data that is encoded data, It is possible to determine whether to provide a service according to the collation result and to provide the service.

  Also, by providing a high-efficiency encoding device and additional information writing device on the music server system 30 side, the music server system 30 adds information such as an identification code of its own system to the music data provided to the user. You can also

It is a block diagram for demonstrating the outline | summary of the music delivery system to which this invention was applied, and a main server. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the outline | summary of the music server system to which this invention was applied. It is a block diagram for demonstrating an example of the high-efficiency encoding apparatus (high-efficiency encoding encoder) of digital audio data. It is a figure showing the structure of the orthogonal transformation block in the case of bit compression. It is a figure for demonstrating a highly efficient encoding format. It is a figure which shows the detail of the data of the 1st byte in FIG. It is a block diagram for demonstrating an example of the high efficiency encoding decoder which decodes the digital audio data encoded by the high efficiency encoding apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the calculation formula for demonstrating the method of calculating the bit number of the encoding unused bit (fractional part) which generate | occur | produces in the encoding data formed by the high efficiency encoding device shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the generation | occurrence | production part of the encoding unused bit (fractional part) which generate | occur | produces in the encoding data formed by the high-efficiency encoding apparatus shown in FIG. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the structure of the encoder 11 of the main server shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the addition condition of the additional information to the encoding unused bit (fractional part) of the encoding data performed in the encoder 11 shown in FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart for describing a process of adding additional information to encoded data performed in the encoder 11 shown in FIG. 10. FIG. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the specific structural example of the main server shown in FIG. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the specific structural example of the music server system by this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the correspondence management table of the information in the main server shown in FIG. 1, or a music server system. FIG. 15 is a flowchart for explaining processing performed when moving music data between recording media in the music server system shown in FIG. 14. FIG. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process performed at the time of movement between the recording media of a music data in the main server shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the control information (control code) used when there are 3 encoding unused bits. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process in the case of writing control information and additional information in the encoding unused bit of encoding data. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the process in the encoder 80 of the main server shown in FIG. FIG. 21 is a flowchart for describing a process of adding additional information to encoded data performed in the encoder illustrated in FIG. 20. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the outline | summary of the other example of the music delivery system to which this invention was applied, and a main server. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the outline | summary of the other example of the music server system to which this invention was applied. FIG. 23 is a flowchart for explaining processing performed when music data is moved between recording media in the music distribution system shown in FIG. 22. It is a figure which shows the data flow which can be put at the time of the movement between recording media of the music data as a service which can be newly provided. It is a figure which shows the data flow at the time of using the version upgrade process service of the encoding calculation of the music data as a service which can be newly provided. It is a figure which shows the data flow at the time of using the write retry service of the music data partially destroyed as a service which can be newly provided. It is a figure which shows the data flow at the time of the bit-rate change service of the music data as a service which can be newly provided. It is a figure which shows the data flow at the time of utilization of the additional service of music data as a service which can be newly provided.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Main server, 11 ... Encoder, 12 ... Hard disk (memory), 13 ... Control part, 14 ... Communication part (transmission / reception part), 15 ... Comparison part, 16 ... Provider identifier memory, 17 ... Charge processing part, 30 ... Music server system, 1 ... reading unit, 2 ... recording unit (writing unit), 3 ... identifier extracting unit, 4 ... identifier transmitting unit, 5 ... receiving unit, 31 ... main controller, 32 ... hard disk, 33 ... display unit, 34 ... Operation part 35, 36 ... Reading / recording part, 37 ... Decoder, 38 ... Reproduction processing part, 39 ... Additional information detection part, 40 ... Communication part, 19 ... Recording medium, 20 ... Recording medium, 80 ... Encoder, 81 ... Main controller, 82 ... hard disk, 83 ... display unit, 84 ... operation unit, 85 ... charge processing unit, 86 ... communication unit, 87 ... decoder, 88 ... reproduction processing unit, 120 ... high efficiency mark 130 ... additional information writing unit, 140 ... control unit, 141 ... PCM file selection unit, 142 ... PCM data input unit, 143 ... high efficiency encoding encoder unit, 144 ... additional information writing unit, 145 ... encoded data Output unit, 146 ..encoded file selection unit

Claims (20)

The digital content data is divided into a plurality of bands, and the digital content data included in each of the divided bands is composed of at least bit allocation information, normalized data, and quantized data, and a plurality of blocks having a predetermined length unit or less When there is a difference between the data length of the actual encoded data and the predetermined length for each block, the difference that is the surplus part in the block is A record that receives the encoded data from a distribution server that provides the encoded data on which at least a part of an identifier for specifying a distribution source of digital content data is superimposed, and is loaded with the encoded data in its own device A terminal device comprising recording means for recording on a medium,
A reading means for sequentially reading out the encoded data in blocks recorded on the loaded recording medium;
Discriminating means for discriminating whether or not a surplus portion exists for each block of the encoded data read by the reading means;
Extraction means for extracting data of the surplus part from each of the blocks determined to have a surplus part by the discrimination means;
A demodulating means for demodulating an identifier for identifying the distributor based on the data extracted by the extracting means;
Connection means for connecting a communication line through a predetermined communication network with the distribution server for distributing the digital content data;
An identifier that identifies the distribution source of the digital content data demodulated by the demodulation unit, and a distribution source that distributes the digital content data provided from the distribution server connected to the communication network through the connection unit Query means for querying the identifier;
When the identifier that identifies the distribution source of the digital content data demodulated by the demodulation unit by the inquiry unit matches the identifier that identifies the distribution source that distributes the digital content data, the reading unit Control means for controlling recording of new digital content data corresponding to the read encoded data on the recording medium ;
A terminal device comprising: Charging means for performing charging processing when the new digital content data is recorded on the recording medium ;
An identifier for identifying the distributor of the digital content data demodulated by said demodulating means by the inquiry means, when an identifier identifying the distribution source for distributing the digital content data are matched, the accounting unit The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein charging is reduced or free. When the identifier for specifying the distribution source of the digital content data demodulated by the demodulation unit by the inquiry unit matches the identifier for specifying the distribution source for distributing the digital content data, the control unit The terminal device according to claim 1 , wherein control is performed so as to record the new digital content data on a different recording medium. When the identifier for specifying the distribution source of the digital content data demodulated by the demodulation unit by the inquiry unit matches the identifier for specifying the distribution source for distributing the digital content data, the control unit The terminal device according to claim 1 , wherein control is performed so as to overwrite the new digital content data in a recording area of the encoded data read from the recording medium . The excess portion of each said block of said encoded data, according to claim 1, further detection control information indicative of superimposition start point and / or superimposition end point identifier identifying the distributor of said digital content data is superimposed Terminal device . The terminal device further includes comparison means for comparing the encoded data read from the recording medium with the new digital content data provided from the distribution server,
The control means, when the comparison result in the comparison means indicates that the encoded data is provided from the same provider as the new digital content data, the new digital content The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device is controlled so that data can be recorded . A terminal having receiving means for receiving digital content data provided from a predetermined distribution source through a predetermined communication network, and first recording means for recording the received digital content data on a recording medium loaded in the own device A device,
The digital content data is composed of at least bit allocation information, normalized data, and quantized data, and is converted into encoded data composed of a plurality of blocks of a predetermined length unit or less, and actual encoding is performed for each block. If there is a difference between the data length of the subsequent data and the predetermined length, at least a part of the identifier that identifies the distribution source of the digital content data is superimposed on the difference that is a surplus part in the block And
A reading means for sequentially reading out the encoded data in blocks recorded on the loaded recording medium;
Discriminating means for discriminating whether or not a surplus portion exists for each block of the encoded data read by the reading means;
Extracting means for extracting data of the surplus portion from each of the blocks determined to have a surplus portion by the first discrimination means;
A demodulating means for demodulating an identifier for identifying the distributor based on the data extracted by the extracting means;
Transmitting means for transmitting an identifier identifying the distribution source demodulated by the demodulation means to the distribution source through the predetermined communication network;
Recording of new digital content data corresponding to the encoded data read by the reading means in accordance with control information from the distribution source received by the receiving means after transmitting the identifier through the transmitting means. Control means for controlling recording on the medium ;
A terminal device comprising: Second recording means for recording digital content data on a recording medium different from the recording medium,
When the control information from the distribution source permits movement of the digital content data between recording media, the control means controls the second recording means and is read by the reading means. The encoded data for the different recording medium corresponding to the encoded data, the encoded data transmitted from the distribution source, or the encoded data held by the own device is recorded on the different recording medium. In addition, the terminal device according to claim 7 , wherein the first recording unit is controlled to erase the encoded data recorded on the recording medium read by the reading unit. When the control information from the distribution source permits the update of the digital content data, the control means controls the first recording means and the encoding read by the reading means 8. The terminal device according to claim 7 , wherein the terminal device records the encoded data corresponding to the data, the encoded data transmitted from the distribution source, or the encoded data held by the own device, overwritten on the recording medium. Provided with a privilege granting means for granting a predetermined privilege to a purchaser of the digital content data,
When the control information from the distribution source permits granting a predetermined privilege, the control means controls the privilege granting means, and purchases the predetermined privilege from the digital content data. The terminal device according to claim 7 which is given to a person. A terminal having receiving means for receiving digital content data provided from a predetermined distribution source through a predetermined communication network, and first recording means for recording the received digital content data on a recording medium loaded in the own device A device,
The digital content data is composed of at least bit allocation information, normalized data, and quantized data, and is converted into encoded data composed of a plurality of blocks of a predetermined length unit or less, and actual encoding is performed for each block. If there is a difference between the data length of the subsequent data and the predetermined length, at least a part of the identifier that identifies the distribution source of the digital content data is superimposed on the difference that is a surplus part in the block And
A reading means for sequentially reading out the encoded data in blocks recorded on the loaded recording medium;
Discriminating means for discriminating whether or not a surplus portion exists for each block of the encoded data read by the reading means;
Extracting means for extracting data of the surplus portion from each of the blocks determined to have a surplus portion by the first discrimination means;
A demodulating means for demodulating an identifier for identifying the distributor based on the data extracted by the extracting means;
A comparing means for comparing the identifier for identifying the distribution source demodulated by the demodulating means with an identifier for specifying the distribution source held by the own device, and determining whether or not both match;
Control means for controlling recording of new digital content data corresponding to the encoded data read by the reading means on a recording medium when the comparing means determines that both identifiers match.
A terminal device comprising: Second recording means for recording digital content data on a recording medium different from the recording medium,
The control means controls the second recording means, and is encoded data for the different recording medium corresponding to the encoded data read by the reading means, transmitted from the distribution source. The encoded data that comes or the encoded data held by itself is recorded on the different recording medium, and is recorded on the recording medium read by the reading means by controlling the first recording means. The terminal device according to claim 11 , wherein the encoded data is erased . The control means controls the first recording means and is encoded data corresponding to the encoded data read by the reading means, and is encoded data transmitted from the distribution source, or The terminal device according to claim 11 , wherein the encoded data held by the own device is overwritten and recorded on the recording medium. Provided with a privilege granting means for granting a predetermined privilege to a purchaser of the digital content data,
The terminal device according to claim 11 , wherein the control unit controls the privilege granting unit to grant the predetermined privilege to a purchaser of the digital content data. The encoded data transmitted from the distribution source or the encoded data held by itself is newly encoded by a new encoding method having the same contents as the encoded data read by the reading means. The terminal device according to claim 12 , which is encoded data. The encoded data transmitted from the distribution source or the encoded data held by itself is provided when at least a part of the encoded data read by the reading means is destroyed. The terminal device according to claim 12 , which is new encoded data having the same content as the encoded data read by the reading means. The encoded data transmitted from the distribution source or the encoded data held by the device itself is a new encoding that improves the bit rate of the same content as the encoded data read by the reading means. The terminal device according to claim 12 , which is data. Digital content data is divided into a plurality of bands, and the digital content data included in each of the divided bands is composed of at least bit allocation information, normalized data, and quantized data, and includes a plurality of blocks of a predetermined length unit or less. When there is a difference between the data length of the actual encoded data and the predetermined length for each block, the digital value is added to the difference that is a surplus part in the block. First memory means for storing the encoded data on which at least a part of an identifier for specifying a distribution source of content data is superimposed;
Transmitting means for transmitting desired digital content from a plurality of digital content data stored as encoded data in the first memory means to a predetermined terminal device;
Second memory means for storing an identifier for identifying the distribution source of itself;
Receiving means for receiving an identifier identifying the distribution source transmitted from the terminal device;
A comparing means for comparing the identifier for identifying the distribution source received by the receiving means with an identifier for identifying the distribution source of its own stored in the second memory means;
A distribution center device comprising: a transmission control unit configured to control the transmission unit and to transmit the digital content data requested from the terminal device when the comparison result of the comparison unit matches. 19. The distribution center apparatus according to claim 18, wherein a log file that identifies a block on which the identifier is superimposed is generated, and the log file is further transmitted from the transmission unit. 19. The distribution center device according to claim 18, wherein when the surplus part on which the identifier is superimposed is insufficient in the encoded data, the surplus part is generated by performing the encoding with a high compression rate again.

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