JP2000123478A - Data transmitting system, and data transmitting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a reproduction output while preventing illegal copy of a digital signal recorded in a solid memory. SOLUTION: A serial protocol control section 31 supplies audio data from a card type recording medium 20 to a memory 33, and supplies redundant data to a PC interface control section 32. When a redundant area register 39 detects a copyright flag, it controls the device so that an I/O register 38 does not transmit audio data to a host computer 10. On the other hand, a decoder 34 reads out audio data stored in the memory 33, decodes it, and supplies it to an amplifier 36 through a D/A converter 35. And the amplifier 36 amplifies an audio signal and output sound to the outside.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data transmission system and a data transmission method for outputting data stored in a solid-state memory such as a flash memory.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A recording / reproducing system for recording audio data and video data in a solid-state memory such as a flash memory and reading and reproducing such data instead of an optical disk or a magnetic disk has been proposed. In such a recording / reproducing system, by using a solid-state memory as a recording medium, the system can be downsized.
The effect of vibration can be reduced.

[0003]

As the above-mentioned recording / reproducing system, for example, a recording medium is configured to be replaceable and not only reproduces audio data recorded on a predetermined recording medium but also records on various recording media. A recording and reproducing system capable of reproducing recorded audio data has been considered. In such a recording / reproducing system, it is convenient to carry each recording medium, and since the storage capacity of the solid-state memory is expected to be improved in the future, it is expected that the reproducing time will be prolonged.

[0004] However, digital signals such as audio data and video data are easily copied from one device to another device, and have the property of not deteriorating no matter how many times they are copied. Therefore, in the case of a digital signal, there is a problem that exactly the same audio data and video data are generated by repeating dubbing.

[0005] In particular, some sounds and images have copyrights, and unless the copying of digital signals is effectively prevented, the rights of the copyright holder may become famous and innocent.

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above circumstances, and a data transmission system and a data transmission method capable of obtaining a reproduction output while preventing illegal copying of a digital signal recorded in a solid-state memory. The purpose is to provide.

[0007]

To solve the above-mentioned problems, a data transmission system according to the present invention has a recording medium comprising a solid-state memory on which digital signals are recorded, and a storage means for storing digital signals. A storage device having control means for reading a digital signal from the recording medium and writing the digital signal to the storage means; and detecting whether the digital signal read from the recording medium has copyright information. When the copyright information detecting means detects the copyright information, the digital signal read from the recording medium is converted into an analog signal and output to the outside, and the copyright information is output. An adapter for transmitting a digital signal read from the recording medium to the storage device when the information detection means does not detect the copyright information And a stage.

In the data transmission device, when the copyright information detecting means detects copyright information from the digital signal read from the recording medium, the digital signal is converted into an analog signal and output to the outside, When the copyright information detecting means does not detect the copyright information from the digital signal read from the recording medium, the digital signal read from the recording medium is transmitted to the storage device.

A data transmission method according to the present invention reads a digital signal from a recording medium comprising a solid-state memory on which the digital signal is recorded, detects whether the read digital signal has copyright information, and outputs the copyright information. When the copyright information is detected, the digital signal read from the recording medium is converted into an analog signal and output to the outside. When the copyright information detecting means does not detect the copyright information, the digital signal is read from the recording medium. The transmitted digital signal is transmitted to a storage device.

In the above data transmission method, a digital signal having copyright information is converted into an analog signal and output, and a digital signal without copyright information is transmitted to a storage device as it is.

A data transmission system according to the present invention has a recording medium comprising a solid-state memory in which a digital signal is recorded, and storage means for storing the digital signal. The digital signal is read from the recording medium and the digital signal is read. A storage device that controls writing to the storage means,
Copyright information detecting means for detecting whether the digital signal read from the recording medium has copyright information, and when the copyright information detecting means detects the copyright information, the digital signal is read from the recording medium. The modulated digital signal is subjected to modulation processing and transmitted to the storage device. If the copyright information detecting means does not detect the copyright information, the digital signal read from the recording medium is directly sent to the storage device. Adapter means for transmitting.

In the data transmission system, when the copyright information detecting means detects the copyright information, the digital signal read from the recording medium is modulated and transmitted to the storage device. When the information detecting means does not detect the copyright information, the digital signal read from the recording medium is transmitted to the storage device as it is.

A data transmission method according to the present invention detects whether copyright information is present in a digital signal read from a recording medium comprising a solid-state memory in which the digital signal is recorded, and detects the copyright information. Modulates the digital signal read from the recording medium and transmits the modulated signal to the storage device. If the copyright information detecting means does not detect the copyright information, the digital signal read from the recording medium is used. A signal is transmitted to the storage device as it is.

In the above data transmission method, a digital signal having copyright information is modulated and transmitted, and a digital signal without copyright information is directly transmitted to a storage device.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The present invention is applied to, for example, a recording / reproducing system 1 having the configuration shown in FIG. The above recording / reproducing system 1
Comprises a host computer 10 for controlling reading and writing of audio data, a card-type recording medium 20 for recording audio data, and a PC interface board 30.

The recording / reproducing system 1 is capable of recording audio data recorded on a host computer 10 on a card-type recording medium 20.
The audio data recorded in 0 is reproduced. In particular, the recording / reproducing system 1 reproduces the audio data without copying the audio data to the host computer 10 when the audio data whose copying is prohibited is recorded in the card type recording medium 20 in advance. Has become.

The host computer 10 corresponds to a so-called personal computer, and includes an I / O client 11 for transmitting and receiving control signals and the like to and from a PC interface board 30, an audio player 12 as software, a control program, and the like. (Read Only Memory) 13 in which is stored a CPU (Central Procedures) that controls each circuit according to the control program.
(single unit) 14 and a RAM (Random Access Memory) for temporarily storing data from the I / O client 11 and the like.
15 and a hard disk drive (hereinafter, referred to as “HDD”) 16 for storing data.

The I / O client 11 transmits a control signal indicating the operating state (status) of the host computer 10 and a serial clock SCLK for synchronization to the PC interface board 30 via the PC bus 17, and outputs audio data. And busy signal BSY etc. I / O
The data is received via the PC interface board 30.

The audio player 12 is started application software, and executes a process of reading audio data from the card type recording medium 20 and reproducing it under the control of the CPU 14.

Under the control of the CPU 14, the HDD 16 stores audio data read from the card-type recording medium 20 via, for example, the PC interface board 30, or reads recorded audio data.

The card type recording medium 20 includes a flash memory 21 for recording audio data and the like, and a memory controller 22 for reading audio data recorded in the flash memory 21.

Here, the flash memory 21 is
It is composed of four blocks. One block is composed of 16 pages, and one page is composed of 528 bytes. In one page, audio data is recorded in a 512-byte normal area, and redundant data such as a copyright flag is recorded in a 16-byte redundant area. Therefore, the storage capacity of the flash memory 21 is about 8 Mbytes ($ 5
28 × 16 × 1024 bytes).

The memory controller 22 writes audio data to the flash memory 21 in page units,
Deletes audio data written in block units.

The PC interface board 30 is an interface between the host computer 10 and the card type recording medium 20 and may be provided inside the host computer 10 or may be provided inside the card type recording medium 20. Is also good.

The PC interface board 30 includes:
A PCMCIA card (conforming to the JEIDA / PCMCIA standard) adapter is used, and a serial protocol control unit 31 and a PC interface control unit 32
A memory 33 for storing audio data for each page, a decoder 34 for decoding the audio data in the memory 33, a D / A converter 35 for converting the audio data decoded by the decoder 34 into an analog signal, Amplifier 36 that amplifies and outputs the audio signal
And

The serial protocol control unit 31 reads audio data and data in a redundant area from the card type recording medium 20 based on a serial protocol control signal from the PC interface control unit 32, and stores the audio data in the memory 33 in the redundant mode. The copyright flag of the data is supplied to the PC interface control unit 32.

The PC interface control unit 32 is a PC that performs pulse code modulation on audio data as necessary.
M (Pulse Code Modulation) circuit 37 and I / O for transmitting audio data and the like and receiving a predetermined command
A register 38 and a redundant area register 39 to which a copyright flag which is data of a redundant area is supplied.

The PCM circuit 37 is a circuit used when audio data is degraded, and performs a PCM modulation process on the audio data supplied from the memory 33.
The audio data is supplied to the I / O register 38. Note that the PCM circuit 37 converts the audio data into I / O data as it is when there is no need to degrade normal voice.
Supply to register 38.

The I / O register 38 receives audio data from the PCM circuit 37, the ready signal RDY and the busy signal BSY via the PC bus 17 at a predetermined timing.
O Transmit to the client 11.

The redundant area register 39 detects whether a copyright flag is set in the redundant data. Specifically, when detecting that the copyright flag is set, the redundant area register 39 disables the I / O register 38 and stops the output of the audio data. Also, the redundant area register 39
When the copyright flag is not set, the redundant data from the redundant area register 39 is transmitted to the
/ O Client 11

At the time of recording, the recording / reproducing system 1
Transmission and reception of control signals and audio data are performed according to the time chart shown in FIG. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2A, the I / O client 11 inverts and outputs a control signal indicating an operation state (status) at a predetermined timing to change the status. Each time the control signal BS is inverted, the operation state is changed to the status BS0, BS1, BS2, B
The status changes to S3, and then the status changes to BS0 again. That is, the four statuses are repeatedly changing. When the status is BS1 or BS2, the host computer 10 performs a predetermined operation, and the status BS0 or BS2.
In the case of 3, the PC interface board 30 (or the card type recording medium 20) performs a predetermined operation.

When the status is BS0, both the I / O client 11 and the I / O register 38 are in an idling state and do not output any data. I / O client 11
Starts transmission of a TPC (transfer protocol command) signal, the status becomes BS1.

In the status BS 1, the I / O client 11 sends the I / O register 38 via the PC bus 17.
2B, a TPC (transfer protocol command) signal for writing data is transmitted as shown in FIG. 2B, and a serial clock SCLK is transmitted as shown in FIG. 2C. When the transmission of the TPC signal ends, the status becomes BS2.

In the status BS2, the I / O client 11 sends the I / O register 38 to, for example, the HDD
The audio data read from 16 is transmitted, and then a CRC signal, which is a code for performing error correction, is transmitted. Then, audio data is recorded in the flash memory 21 of the card type recording medium 20 via the PC interface board 30. When the transmission of the CRC signal ends, the status becomes BS3.

In the status BS3, the I / O register 3
8 transmits to the I / O client 11 a busy signal BSY indicating that the flash memory 21 is recording audio data, and upon completion of the recording, a ready signal indicating that preparation for receiving the next command is completed. Signal R
Send DY. Then, when the transmission of the ready signal RDY ends, the status becomes the status 0 again.

After the above processing, the host computer 1
From 0, the recording process of the audio data on the card-type recording medium 20 ends.

When reproducing the audio data recorded in the flash memory 21, the recording / reproducing system 1 performs different reproduction processing depending on whether a copyright flag is added to the audio data. In the case of reproduction, as in the case of recording, as shown in FIG.
There are three statuses BS0, BS1, BS2, BS3. When the status is BS1, the host computer 10 performs a predetermined operation, and the status BS0, BS
2, PC interface board 30 for BS3
(Or the card type recording medium 20) performs a predetermined operation.

When the copyright flag is not set and the status is BS0, the I / O client 1
1 and the I / O register 38 are in an idling state and do not output any data. I / O client 11 is TPC
When the transmission of the signal is started, the status becomes BS1.

In the status BS 1, the I / O client 11 transmits the I / O register 38 via the PC bus 17.
In response to this, a TPC signal for reading data is transmitted as shown in FIG. 3B, and a serial clock SCLK is transmitted as shown in FIG. 3C. TPC
When the transmission of the signal is completed, the status becomes BS2.

In the status BS2, the I / O register 3
8 transmits to the I / O client 11 a busy signal BSY indicating that preparation for reading audio data from the flash memory 21 is being performed, and when the preparation is completed, a ready signal indicating that it is ready for reading is prepared. Transmit the signal RDY. When the transmission of the ready signal RDY is completed, the status becomes BS3.

In the status BS3, the I / O register 3
Reference numeral 8 denotes a serial protocol control unit 31 and a memory 3 from the flash memory 21 to the I / O client 11.
Then, the audio data to be read out is transmitted via the H.3, and after the data transmission, the CRC signal is also transmitted. In the host computer 10, the audio data transmitted from the I / O register 38 is temporarily stored in the RAM 15, and thereafter,
The audio data is stored in the HDD 16. When the transmission of the CRC signal ends, the status B is returned again.
Return to S0.

On the other hand, when the copyright flag is set, the status B is passed through the statuses BS0, BS1, and BS2, as in the case where the copyright flag is not set.
Move to S3.

In the status BS3, the serial protocol control section 31 supplies audio data from the card type recording medium 20 to the memory 33 and supplies redundant data to the PC interface control section 32. When detecting the copyright flag, the redundant area register 39 controls the I / O register 38 not to transmit audio data to the host computer 10. As a result, it is possible to prevent the audio data recorded on the card type recording medium 20 from being copied to the host computer 10.

On the other hand, the decoder 34 reads out and decodes the audio data stored in the memory 33 and supplies it to the amplifier 36 via the D / A converter 35.
Then, the amplifier 36 amplifies the audio signal and outputs sound to the outside.

As described above, the recording / reproducing system 1
Prevents the audio data with the copyright flag set from being copied from the card-type recording medium 20 to the host computer 10, while obtaining an analog reproduction output of the audio data.

The host computer 10 displays "copyright data cannot be read" on a monitor (not shown) when the PC interface board 30 notifies that the copyright flag is set. Is also good. Thus, the user can be notified that the audio data is protected by the copyright. In addition to the predetermined display on the monitor, the user may be notified by a buzzer or other means.

The recording / reproducing system 1 not only outputs audio data in analog form via the decoder 34, the amplifier 36 and the like, but also copies audio data from the card type recording medium 20 to the host computer 10. The sound quality of data can be degraded.

More specifically, the PCM circuit 37 stores the memory 3
3 performs PCM modulation on the audio data from I / O
Supply to register 38. At this time, even when the copyright flag is detected, the redundant area register 39 does not control the I / O register 38 not to transmit data. Therefore, the I / O register 38 transmits the audio data to the I / O client 11 of the host computer 10. Thus, the host computer 1
The audio data transmitted to 0 is temporarily stored in the RAM 15 and then recorded on the HDD 16.

As described above, when copying audio data to the host computer 10, the recording / reproducing system 1 performs a process of deteriorating the sound quality, so that the audio data recorded on the card type recording medium 20 is illegally used. Copying can be prevented.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Note that the same circuits as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted.

In the second embodiment of the present invention, for example, the present invention is applied to a recording / reproducing system 1A having a configuration shown in FIG.

The recording / reproducing system 1A includes a host computer 1 for controlling reading and writing of audio data.
0A, a card-type recording medium 20 for recording audio data, and a PC interface board 30A.

The host computer 10A includes a first encryption process (Ks1) and a second encryption process (Ks1) in addition to the configuration of the host computer 10 in the first embodiment.
2) A decoding unit 18 for decoding already processed audio data is provided.

Here, the first encryption processing is an encryption processing performed on audio data recorded on the card type recording medium 20. On the other hand, the first decryption processing refers to decrypting the data that has been subjected to the first encryption processing. The second encryption process refers to an encryption process performed by the encryption unit 40 described later in detail. The second decryption processing refers to decrypting the data that has been subjected to the second encryption processing. The processing of the second encryption processing is different depending on each recording / reproducing system. Therefore, the second decryption process also has different contents depending on each recording / reproducing system.

The card type recording medium 20 includes a flash memory 21 for recording audio data, and a memory controller 22 for controlling reading of audio data recorded in the flash memory 21 and the like. The flash memory 21 records audio data that has been subjected to the first encryption processing.

The PC interface board 30A includes a serial protocol controller 31 for reading audio data and redundant data read from the card type recording medium 20.
And a PC interface control unit 32A for transmitting and receiving data to and from the host computer 10, and a memory 33 for storing audio data from the PC interface control unit 32A.

The serial protocol control unit 31 reads audio data and data in a redundant area from the card type recording medium 20 based on a serial protocol control signal from the PC interface control unit 32A, and stores the audio data in the memory 33 in the redundant mode. The copyright flag of the data is supplied to the PC interface control unit 32A.

The PC interface control unit 32A includes a redundant area register 39 to which a copyright flag, which is data of a redundant area, is supplied, an encryption unit 40 for performing a second encryption process on audio data from the memory 33, I / O
A host I / F register 41 for transmitting and receiving I / O data to and from the client 11 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 5, a copyright flag, which is copyright information in the redundant data, is written into the redundant area register 39, and when it is detected that the copyright flag is set, the second encryption processing is performed. The encryption unit 40 is controlled to perform the following. When the copyright flag is not set, the redundant area register 39 does not cause the encryption unit 40 to perform the second encryption processing.

As shown in FIG. 6, an encryption key is written in the encryption unit 40. The host I / F register 40
Under the control of the redundant area register 39, the second encryption process is performed on the audio data read from the memory 33 for each page. The encryption process performed here is
This is performed using a random function in one page cycle for audio data in units of one page. In this case, the encryption key is also written for each page in the redundant area. Note that the unit of such encryption processing is not limited to one page unit, and may be, for example, one block unit or one file unit. The encryption unit 40
The audio data encrypted as described above is supplied to the host I / F register 41.

As shown in FIG. 7, the host I / F register 41 has a lower data register (Lower Data Register).
r) and the Upper Data Registe
r) and the control register (Control Data Registe
r), a command register (Command Register), and a status register (Status Register).

The host I / F register 41 analyzes a command or status BS transmitted from the I / O client 11 using these registers, and performs processing according to the analysis result.

The host I / F register 41 transmits the audio data supplied from the encryption unit 40 to the I / O client 11 under the control of the redundant area register 39.
Send to In this way, the first and second encrypted audio data are transmitted to the host computer 10.

In the host computer 10, the CP
The U 14 temporarily stores the audio data transmitted from the PC interface board 30 in the RAM 15, and then writes the audio data in the HDD 16. When reproducing the audio data, the CPU 14 reads the audio data from the HDD 16 and causes the decoding unit 18 to perform the first and second decoding processes.
2 performs a reproduction process.

As described above, the recording / reproducing system 1
The first and second encrypted audio data are stored in the C interface board 30 by the host computer 10.
, It is possible to prevent the reproduction of the audio data even when the audio data is copied from the host computer 10 to another computer.

That is, when reproducing the copied audio data, the other computer must perform the first and second decoding processes on the audio data. However, the other computer does not include the decoding unit 18 that performs the same second decoding process as the host computer 10, and thus cannot perform the second decoding process. Therefore, even if the audio data recorded on the HDD 16 is copied to another recording medium, the audio data cannot be reproduced, and as a result, the reproduction of the illegally copied audio data can be prevented. .

In the above-described embodiment, the case has been described where the first and second encrypted audio data are transmitted to the host computer 10, but the audio data is decrypted after the first encryption processing is decrypted. Host computer 1
It may be transmitted to 0A.

Specifically, the serial protocol control unit 3
1 decrypts the first encrypted audio data read from the card type recording medium 20 and stores the decrypted audio data in the memory 3
3 may be supplied to the PC interface control unit 32A. Then, the audio data subjected to only the second encryption processing is transmitted to the host computer 10A. This allows the host computer 10A to perform only the second decoding process when using the audio data, and thus can reduce the processing load in the decoding process.

In the present embodiment, audio data has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that video data can be similarly applied. is there.

Although the flash memory has been described as an example of the solid-state memory, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to a semiconductor memory such as a nonvolatile RAM.

[0072]

As described above in detail, according to the data transmission system and the data transmission method of the present invention, when copyright information is detected, a digital signal read from the recording medium is converted into an analog signal. When the copyright information is not detected, the digital signal read from the recording medium is transmitted to the storage device to prevent the digital signal recorded in the solid-state memory from being illegally copied and reproduced. You can get the output.

According to the data transmission system and the data transmission method according to the present invention, when copyright information is detected, the digital signal read from the recording medium is modulated and transmitted to the storage device, and the copyright information is transmitted to the storage device. When the digital signal read from the recording medium is not detected, the digital signal read from the recording medium is transmitted to the storage device as it is, thereby deteriorating the sound quality and image quality of the digital signal copied illegally. It is possible to prevent illegal copying of digital signals.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a recording / reproducing system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a time chart for explaining the recording operation of the recording / reproducing system.

FIG. 3 is a time chart for explaining an operation at the time of reproduction of the recording / reproducing system.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a recording / reproducing system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a flash memory provided in a recording medium of the recording / reproducing system.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state in which an encryption key is written in an encryption unit of a PC interface board in the recording / reproducing system.

FIG. 7 shows the host interface of the PC interface board.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an F register.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 recording and playback system, 10 host computer, 1
4 CPU, 16 HDD, 20 card type recording medium,
21 flash memory, 30 PC interface board, 31 serial protocol control unit, 32, 32
A PC interface control unit, 34 decoder, 3
6 amplifier, 37 PCM circuit

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A recording medium comprising a solid-state memory in which a digital signal is recorded, and a storage means for storing the digital signal, wherein a control for reading the digital signal from the recording medium and writing the digital signal to the storage means is provided. A storage device having control means for performing the operation, and copyright information detecting means for detecting whether there is copyright information in the digital signal read from the recording medium, wherein the copyright information detecting means detects the copyright information When the copyright information is detected, the digital signal read from the recording medium is converted into an analog signal and output to the outside, and when the copyright information detecting means does not detect the copyright information, the digital signal is read from the recording medium. A data transmission system comprising: adapter means for transmitting a digital signal to the storage device. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said adapter means transmits a signal indicating that a digital signal cannot be transmitted to said storage device when said copyright information detecting means detects copyright information. Data transmission system. 3. The data transmission system according to claim 1, wherein said adapter means is built in said storage device or said recording medium. 4. A digital signal is read from a recording medium comprising a solid-state memory on which the digital signal is recorded, and it is detected whether or not the read digital signal has copyright information. The digital signal read from the medium is converted into an analog signal and output to the outside. If the copyright information detecting means does not detect the copyright information, the digital signal read from the recording medium is stored in a storage device. A data transmission method, wherein the data is transmitted to a user. 5. The data transmission method according to claim 4, wherein a signal indicating that a digital signal cannot be transmitted to the storage device when the copyright information is detected is transmitted. 6. A recording medium comprising a solid-state memory on which a digital signal is recorded, and a storage means for storing the digital signal, wherein a control for reading the digital signal from the recording medium and writing the digital signal to the storage means is provided. And a copyright information detecting means for detecting whether copyright information is present in the digital signal read from the recording medium. When the copyright information detecting means detects the copyright information, The digital signal read from the recording medium is modulated and transmitted to the storage device. If the copyright information detecting means does not detect the copyright information, the digital signal read from the recording medium is converted. A data transmission system comprising: an adapter for transmitting the data to the storage device as it is. 7. The data transmission system according to claim 6, wherein said adapter means is built in said storage device or said recording medium. 8. A digital signal read from a recording medium comprising a solid-state memory on which a digital signal is recorded, and whether the digital signal has copyright information is detected. When the copyright information is detected, the digital signal is read from the recording medium. The modulated digital signal is subjected to modulation processing and transmitted to the storage device. If the copyright information detecting means does not detect the copyright information, the digital signal read from the recording medium is directly sent to the storage device. A data transmission method characterized by transmitting.