JP2000285598A - Recording and reproduction system and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To permit rational information recording without reducing the storage capacity of a recording medium irrelevantly to the intention of a user by providing common-use condition setting conditions for setting conditions for common use. SOLUTION: A video recording and reproducing device (1) requests disk information files and video recording control files saved on respective client disks to respective video recording and reproducing devices through a communication control part. Then the video recording and reproducing device (1) obtains information regarding the free capacity of the disk set in its recording device. On the basis of this information, several usable video recording and reproducing devices are selected, a video recording procedure is generated, and video recording is carried out. Data files which are recorded over multiple devices are moved between the video recording and reproducing device (1) and video recording and reproducing device (2) at the end of the video recording, so that the series of information is moved as an integrated file to one new disk that the use has reserved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a recording / reproducing system for recording / reproducing information on / from a medium and a recording medium for the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a system in which a plurality of recording / reproducing devices are arranged on a network and resources of the devices and a recording medium are shared has been used. In such a system, for example, when a plurality of programs to be recorded overlap in time, or when a recording process cannot be performed only by a specific recording / reproducing device due to a relationship with a free space of a recording medium, By performing recording processing (substitute recording processing) on another recording / reproducing device that does not compete in time, smooth and efficient recording has been realized.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional system, each recording / reproducing device on the network is unconditionally shared unless time conflicts occur. In the case of possession by the user, undesired recording processing is performed regardless of the intention of each user. For this reason, the free space of the disk is reduced without each user's knowledge. For example, when trying to record a program being viewed, there is a disadvantage that the program being viewed cannot be immediately recorded due to lack of free space. Occurred.

Accordingly, the present invention provides an information recording / reproducing system and a recording medium capable of preventing such inconveniences and realizing smooth and efficient allocation recording processing such as proxy recording while reflecting a user's intention. As an issue.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of recording / reproducing apparatuses are connected on a network so that a recording area of a recording medium in one recording / reproducing apparatus can be shared with another recording / reproducing apparatus. And a sharing condition setting unit for setting the sharing condition.

The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in claim 1, the sharing condition setting means sets a sharing condition for each of the recording and reproducing devices.

A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first or second aspect, the sharing condition setting means sets a sharing condition for a disc mounted on each of the recording / reproducing apparatuses.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the condition for sharing is a sharable recording capacity.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in any one of the first to third aspects, the condition for sharing is a sharable date and time.

[0010] The invention of claim 6 is characterized in that, in any one of claims 1 to 3, the condition for sharing is a shareable person.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the condition for sharing is that the storage capacity of the recording medium is equally allocated to all other recording / reproducing apparatuses. There is a feature.

[0012] According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to seventh aspects, a procedure for recording a series of information is generated based on the set conditions for sharing, and the information is stored in accordance with the procedure. It is characterized by recording.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect, a new disc is mounted on the one recording / reproducing apparatus, and the recorded medium on which the series of information is recorded is read by another recording / reproducing apparatus. And re-records the series of information on the new disk, and erases the series of information recorded on the recorded medium after the re-recording is completed.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of recording / reproducing devices are connected on a network, and a recording / reproducing device configured to share a recording area of a recording medium in one recording / reproducing device with another recording / reproducing device. A recording medium used in the system, wherein a sharing condition for setting the sharing condition is recorded.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the tenth aspect, the condition for sharing is a sharable recording capacity.

In a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the tenth aspect, the condition for sharing is a sharable date and time.

According to a thirteenth aspect, in the tenth aspect, the condition for sharing is a shareable person.

According to a fourteenth aspect, in the tenth aspect, the condition for sharing is that the storage capacity of the recording medium is equally allocated to all other recording / reproducing apparatuses.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the present embodiment. 1 is an operation control unit, for example, a remote control, a keyboard,
It is composed of a key switch, a touch panel, a pen and the like, and sends an input command from the user to the main control unit 2 through the data bus 11.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a main control unit, for example, a CPU (Central
Processing unit), and controls each unit according to an input from the operation control unit 1. For example, control information received from the operation control unit 1 and attribute information (described later) of a recorded program are transmitted to the recording medium control unit 7.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a storage unit, for example, a RAM (Random Acc.)
The main control unit 2 temporarily stores control information sent from the main control unit 2 for controlling each unit.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a channel selector, which includes a receiving device and selects only a specific channel from video information such as TV received by the receiving device. At the time of recording, the selected video information is sent to the data bus 11. The video information sent to the data bus 11 is sent to the recording medium control unit 7 under the control of the recording control unit 6. At the time of reproduction, the selected video information is sent to the display control unit 9.

A communication control unit 5 transmits and receives various information to and from an external device.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a recording control unit which performs control for transmitting video data output from the channel selection unit 4 to the data bus 11 to the recording medium control unit 7.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a recording medium control unit which writes control information and attribute information received from the main control unit 2 or video data received from the recording control unit 6 to the recording device 8. Further, at the time of reproduction, necessary information is read from the recording medium 8 in accordance with a command from the operation control unit 1.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a recording device, which is a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk (for example, DVD-RAM, ASMO, GIG
AMO, etc.) and magnetic tape. The recording format of the recording medium will be described later (FIGS. 3 and 4).

Reference numeral 9 denotes a display control unit which performs control for displaying multimedia information transmitted from the channel selection unit 4 or the recording medium control unit 7.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a display unit, for example, a CRT or LC
D, PDP, etc., and a display control unit 9
Display multimedia information from.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a data bus which is used for transmitting and receiving multimedia information such as video, audio and text.

A control bus 12 transmits and receives commands for controlling transmission and reception of various multimedia information.

Next, an operation example of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. In this operation example, four recording / reproducing apparatuses are connected on a network, and the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 has a function as a server, and the remaining three have functions as clients. Here, the recording medium set in each recording / reproducing device is a removable disk. The operation of the recording / reproducing apparatus is performed through a remote controller (not shown) (corresponding to the operation control unit 1 in FIG. 1) capable of key operation and character input.

Here, the block of FIG. 1 is provided in each of the recording / reproducing apparatuses 1 to 4. However, the recording and reproducing device 1 for the server and the recording and reproducing device 2 for the client 2
4 is different from the control program stored in the storage unit 1 in FIG. 1 because different control is performed. In addition,
The recording and reproducing device 1 for the server and the recording and reproducing device for the client are connected by a system bus.

As shown in FIG. 3, the recording / reproducing apparatus 2, the recording / reproducing apparatus 3, and the recording / reproducing apparatus 4 include disks set in the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 having a function as a server. The recording / reproducing apparatus 1 manages the area so that the area is allocated equally. FIG. 3 does not show a physical division method.

Recording / reproducing apparatus 2 having client function
As for the disks to be set in (1) to (4), conditions that can be shared between the recording and playback devices are set in accordance with settings from the user, as described later. For example, the user sets only “sharing permission”, or “sharability” and “shareable capacity”, or further, “sharing permission”.
And “shareable date and time” or “shareable person” may be set.

In order to execute the sharing restriction control, a specific file is formatted on each disk. FIG. 4 shows the configuration of such a file format.

The "disk information file" stores disk-specific information such as the disk identification ID, the total recording capacity of the disk, the free space of the disk, the number and start address of data files, the user name, and the password.

The "recording control file" stores the sharable conditions described above. Here, the sharable condition is set by the user of each of the recording and reproducing devices 2 to 4 for the client via the remote controller. In the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 for the server, as shown in FIG. 3, a shared area for the recording / reproducing apparatuses 2 to 4 for the client is set.
A sharable condition is set.

The "attribute information file" records the name of the data file (for example, event. # 1.dat).

The "data file" stores main data such as movie information.

The above-described file generation processing is performed in response to an input from a remote controller. This processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The recording control file is generated or updated every time a disc is set in the recording / playback apparatus.

First, in step S1, it is determined whether a disk information file exists. Here, if the disc information file exists (Y), step S3
The process proceeds to step S9 if not present, and proceeds to step S9.

In step S3, it is determined whether or not the disk information file is to be changed. If the disk information file is not to be changed (N), the process proceeds to step S5. If it is to be changed (Y), the process proceeds to step S9. The change of the disc information file is executed when the user inputs a change command via the remote controller.

In step S9, a disk information file is generated and written to the disk. This file contains disk-specific information such as the disk number, owner name, and password input from the remote controller. After the writing is completed, the process proceeds to step S11.

On the other hand, in step S5, it is determined whether or not the recording control file exists. If the recording control file does not exist (N), the process proceeds to step S11, and if it does exist, the process proceeds to step S7.

In step S11, a recording control file is generated and written. This file includes information on recording control (sharing condition) input from the remote controller.

For example, if the capacity of the shared area of the disk is 50
To set up to 0MB, use “share-spac”
Press the “e” key, enter “500”, and then enter “ente
Press the "r" key. To allow sharing only for today,
Press the “share-time” key, press the “Today” key, and then press the “enter” key. The sharable time zone is "1
To specify from “0:00” to “15:00”, press the “share-time” key and “100001500”
And then press the “enter” key. To allow sharing only with a specific person, press the "share-person" key, enter "Taro Yamada" for example, and then enter "e
Press the “nter” key. If sharing is not allowed, press “non-
After pressing the "share" key, press the "enter" key.

When the above input is completed, information on the sharing condition is written to the recording control file through the recording medium control unit 7. At the same time, the value of the free space of the disk managed by the recording / playback device is written to the recording control file. Needless to say, the method of permitting sharing may be a combination of a plurality of the methods described above.

In step S7, it is determined whether or not the contents of the recording control file are to be changed (ie, whether or not the above-mentioned sharing condition has been input).
All processing ends. If it is to be changed (Y), the process proceeds to step 11, where the recording control file is generated and written to the disk as described above.

Next, the operation for performing scheduled recording on the disks of the respective recording / reproducing apparatuses 1 to 4 for which the sharing conditions have been set as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.
Here, for convenience, a recording operation in which a two-hour program reserved by the recording / reproducing apparatus 2 is recorded using another recording / reproducing apparatus will be described.

FIG. 6 shows the recording capacity of each disk. The total recording capacity of each disk is 6 GB. On the server disk set in the server recording / reproducing apparatus 1, a shared area is equally allocated to the recording / reproducing apparatuses 2, 3, and 4 by 2 GB. The free space in the shared area for the recording / reproducing device 2 in the server disk is 1.5.
GB. Similarly, the free space of the shared area (2 GB) of the recording and playback devices 3 and 4 is 0.5 GB each. In the client disk set in the recording / reproducing apparatus 2, no shared area is set, and the free space is 3 GB. Further, the discs set in the recording and playback devices 3 and 4 each have 1 G
The shared area of B is set, and the shared area is all free space.

The TV broadcast to be recorded is a digital broadcast having a bit rate of 8 Mbps. If recording is to be performed for 2 hours, 8 Mbit × 2 × 3600 (sec) / 8 bit =
7.2 GB of disk capacity is required.

In such a situation, when a recording reservation is made by the recording / reproducing apparatus 2, recording cannot be obviously performed on the disk set in the recording / reproducing apparatus 2. In this case, the recording / reproducing apparatus 2 warns the user by displaying a message such as “insufficient capacity” on a monitor (corresponding to the display unit in FIG. 1). If the user has a larger capacity disk that can record two hours, the user may set the disk again, but if the user does not have an appropriate disk, it is not shown. “Server-recording” on the remote control
By pressing the key, a request is made to the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 as a server to perform recording management. Upon receiving the request, the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 performs recording according to the flowchart in FIG.

First, in step S21, it is determined whether or not it is 5 minutes before the start of the program reserved for recording. If it is 5 minutes before (Y), recording preparation is started in the subsequent processing. If it is earlier than 5 minutes (N), it waits. Of course, the time is not limited to 5 minutes as in the present embodiment, but may be appropriately determined according to the system.

Next, in step S23, the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 as a server requests each recording / reproducing apparatus via the communication control unit 5 for the disk information file and the recording control file stored in each client disk. I do.

In step S25, the recording / playback apparatus 1
Is that the number of the disk set in the recording / reproducing apparatus 2 is “Q001” and its free space is 3 GB, and the numbers of the disks set in the recording / reproducing apparatus 3 and the recording / reproducing apparatus 4 are “R001” and “R001”. In S002 ", it is possible to obtain information that the free capacity of each shared area is 1 GB. At the same time, the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 obtains information on the free space of the disk set in its own recording apparatus 8.

In step S27, the recording / reproducing apparatus 1
Generates a recording procedure by selecting some available recording and playback devices based on the information obtained in step S25. Here, the order of the recording / reproducing devices to be used is determined in consideration of the sharing condition of each set disc.
In this case, the priority is given to the reserved recording and playback device,
Next, the recording / reproducing device having the server disk is prioritized. After that, they are used in ascending order of free space in the shared area of the disk. In the case of the present embodiment, since the free space of the shared area of the recording / reproducing device 3 and the recording / reproducing device 4 is the same, in such a case, the smaller management number of the recording / reproducing device is prioritized.

According to this rule, in the case of this embodiment,
The program is recorded in the order of the recording / reproducing device 2, the recording / reproducing device 1, the recording / reproducing device 3, and the recording / reproducing device 4. In accordance with this order, a recording management number is given to each recording / reproducing device. When 1 is given to the recording / reproducing device 2, 2 is given to the recording / reproducing device 1, 3 is given to the recording / reproducing device 3, and 4 is given to the recording / reproducing device 4, "1" is set to N in the figure as an initial value. , END
4 "is set. The result of the recording procedure generation is shown in FIG.

After the recording procedure is created in this way,
When the scheduled recording is actually started, the following step S29
Recording is executed according to the subsequent steps.

In step S29, it is determined whether or not the last recording / reproducing device (recording / reproducing device 4 in the present embodiment) included in the recording procedure has been activated. If the last recording / reproducing device has not been activated (N ), And proceed to step S31.
If the recording / playback device 4 has been activated (Y), step S3
Proceed to 7.

In step S31, when the recording start time of the recording / reproducing apparatus 2 given N = 1 is reached, the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 as a server sends a file name (“event”) to the recording / reproducing apparatus 2 through the communication control unit 5. # 11.dat ”) and a recording start request including the channel to be recorded and the recording end time.

In step S 33, the recording / reproducing apparatus 2 that has received the recording request transmits the T
Recording of the V broadcast to a data file named “event # 11.dat” is started.

In this way, while the recording on the recording / reproducing apparatus 2 is being executed, the recording of the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 in the next recording order is prepared in step S35. That is, the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 prepares for recording by itself (corresponding to N = 2) starting after 50 minutes (see FIG. 8), and proceeds to step S29. By repeating steps S29 to S35 in this way, each recording / reproducing apparatus starts recording one after another in the determined order. The recording end time is monitored by the main control unit 2 of each recording and playback device.

In step S37, it is determined whether or not the recording by the recording / reproducing apparatus 4, which is the last recording / reproducing apparatus, has been completed. If the recording has been completed (Y), the process proceeds to step S39. ), Continue monitoring end time.

In step S39, the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 serving as a server sends a message to all the recording / reproducing apparatuses used for recording.
The information of FIG. 8 is transmitted through the communication control unit 5. Each recording / reproducing apparatus records this information on the set disk through the recording medium control unit 7 as an attribute information file shown in FIG. The attribute information file records attribute information of a data file for storing the recorded TV broadcast. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the data file # 1 corresponds to the attribute information file # 1.

After the recording is completed in the above procedure, it is necessary to transfer each data file recorded over a plurality of devices to a new disk of the user who made the reservation. This data movement is performed between the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 and the recording / reproducing apparatus 2 which are servers. This process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

After the user sets a new disk in the recording / reproducing apparatus 2 and issues a file move command to the server recording / reproducing apparatus 1, in step S51, the server recording / reproducing apparatus 1 8 from the recording history information of FIG.
After creating a reproduction file generation procedure as shown by, and setting N = “1” and END = “4” as initial values, the process proceeds to step S53.

In step S53, it is determined whether or not the processing for all the disks has been completed. If the processing has been completed (Y), otherwise the flow proceeds to step S55.

In step S55, it is determined whether the disk corresponding to N = 1 (see FIG. 10) is set in the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 for the server by the disk number "Q001", and if it is set, the process proceeds to step S57. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S59, and a warning such as "Please replace the disk" is displayed on the monitor (corresponding to the display unit 10 in FIG. 1).

In the step S57, the disk number "Q0
The event # 11.dat file recorded on the disc No. 01 ”is taken out by the server recording / reproducing apparatus 1 and transmitted to the recording / reproducing apparatus 2.

In step S61, it is determined whether or not the file transfer has been completed.
Proceed to 63 and, if not completed (N), step S57
Return to and continue the transmission process.

In step S63, the file whose transfer has been completed is erased, and the next processing is prepared, and the process returns to step S53.

As described above, steps S53 to S
By repeating step 63, a series of information distributed on a plurality of disks is integrated into one disk. When reproducing, the file after integration is used.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment, and it goes without saying that various other modifications are possible.

For example, in the above embodiment, the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 has a function as a server. However, all the recording / reproducing apparatuses can be servers. The device may be configured to use both functions of the server and the client. In this case, the recording / reproducing device that needs the recording process may automatically become a server, and the other recording / reproducing devices may automatically become clients.

Although the server manages the recording start time, the server may transmit the recording start time from the server to the client to manage the recording start time.

Further, in generating the playback file, the file is moved between the recording and playback apparatus 1 and the recording and playback apparatus 2 which are the servers. However, the present invention is not limited to this. You may.

Further, in the above embodiment, four recording / reproducing apparatuses are connected on the network, but other number of recording / reproducing apparatuses may be connected. In this case, when the recording capacity of the server disk is equally allocated to the remaining recording / reproducing devices for the client, the entire recording capacity of the disk may be allocated according to the number of the remaining recording / reproducing devices. . However, it is not necessary to allocate the recording capacity of the server disk equally, and the allocation may be set by the user.

Although the above embodiment is an example in which the system is used for video recording, the data source can be not only video information but also other information such as audio information. In addition, not only rewritable disks but also various recording media such as tape media and memory cards can be used. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the sharable condition is written to the disk, but instead, the sharable condition may be set in the recording / reproducing apparatus itself. In such a case, there is an effect similar to the case where the sharable condition is uniformly set for an arbitrary disk.

[0080]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a series of information is recorded by sharing the recording / reproducing device arranged on the network, the capacity of the recording medium mounted on the recording / reproducing device is It does not decrease irrespective of the user's intention, and rational information recording reflecting the user's intention can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a network configuration diagram according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a disk use mode according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a file format according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a registration operation according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a disk use mode according to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a recording operation according to the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a recording operation according to the embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a playback file generation operation according to the embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a playback file generation operation according to the embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Operation control part 2 ... Main control part 3 ... Storage part 4 ... Channel selection part 5 ... Communication control part 6 ... Recording control part 7 ... Recording medium control part 8 ... Recording device 9 ... Display control unit 10 ... Display unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5C053 FA23 LA11 LA15 5C064 BC25 5D044 BC01 BC06 CC01 CC04 DE17 DE22 GK12 HL06 HL11 HL14 5D110 AA13 AA19 BB23 CA16 CA32 CB01 CB04 CC04 CD15 CF11 CF13 CL02 CL03 CL12

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A recording / reproducing system in which a plurality of recording / reproducing devices are connected on a network so that a recording area of a recording medium in one recording / reproducing device can be shared with another recording / reproducing device. And a sharing condition setting means for setting conditions for the recording and reproduction. 2. The recording / reproducing system according to claim 1, wherein said sharing condition setting means sets a condition for sharing for each of said recording / reproducing devices. 3. The recording / reproducing system according to claim 1, wherein the sharing condition setting means sets a sharing condition for a disc mounted on each of the recording / reproducing devices. 4. The information recording / reproducing system according to claim 1, wherein the condition for sharing is a sharable recording capacity. 5. The information recording / reproducing system according to claim 1, wherein the condition for sharing is a sharable date and time. 6. The information recording / reproducing system according to claim 1, wherein the condition for sharing is a shareable person. 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the condition for sharing is that the storage capacity of the recording medium is equally allocated to all other recording / reproducing apparatuses. Information recording and playback system. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein a procedure for recording a series of information is generated based on the set sharing condition, and the information is recorded according to the procedure. Information recording and reproducing system. 9. The recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a new disc is mounted on the one recording / reproducing apparatus, and the recorded medium on which the series of information is recorded is reproduced by another recording / reproducing apparatus in accordance with the procedure. An information recording / reproducing system, wherein a series of information is re-recorded on the new disk, and after the re-recording is completed, the series of information recorded on the recording medium is deleted. 10. A recording and reproducing system used in a recording and reproducing system configured to connect a plurality of recording and reproducing devices on a network and share a recording area of a recording medium in one recording and reproducing device with another recording and reproducing device. A medium,
A recording medium characterized by recording a sharing condition for setting the sharing condition. 11. The recording medium according to claim 10, wherein the condition for sharing is a sharable recording capacity. 12. The recording medium according to claim 10, wherein the condition for sharing is a sharable date and time. 13. The recording medium according to claim 10, wherein the condition for sharing is a shareable person. 14. The recording medium according to claim 10, wherein the condition for sharing is that the storage capacity of the recording medium is equally allocated to all other recording / reproducing devices.