JP2006114148A - Sound recording medium, sound reproducing apparatus, sound recording medium preparing apparatus, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an audio system which can reproduce sound of even a portable audio player having no hard disk drive or the like and an on-vehicle audio player independently of its specifications, and which can provide information about sound data to a user. <P>SOLUTION: Recording is performed for a compact disk with a format including an information file 33 to which address information in which attribute information such as artist names, titles, genre and a compressed sound file are recorded is associated in addition to a compression audio file group 32 in which sound data is encoded with the prescribed system. A disk player reads out the information file from the compact disk recorded with the format, presents a music selection list in which artist names, titles, genre or the like can be looked through to the user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a format for facilitating selection of audio, and in particular, an audio recording medium recorded in this format, an audio reproducing apparatus suitable for reproducing the audio recording medium, an apparatus for creating the audio recording medium, and , Related to the program.

  Conventional compact discs (hereinafter referred to as CDs) for storing CD-DA (Compact Disk Digital Audio) data generally record about 10 to 20 songs. There is a standard called CD-TEXT as a method for writing these pieces of music information in a recording medium. Title (Title), performer (Performer), songwriting (Songwriter), songwriting (Composer), arrangement (Arranger), genre (Genre) ) Etc. are recorded in the TOC (Table Of Contents) area of the CD, and can be read out and used on the playback device side.

  With the recent development of digital technology, digital audio playback devices such as CD and DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) players have been put into practical use. In particular, apparatuses for recording and reproducing compressed audio files such as MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer-3) and WMA (Windows Media Audio) on a recordable CD are rapidly spreading. If this kind of compressed audio technology is used, several tens to several hundreds of songs can be recorded on one CD track. However, in the CD-TEXT standard, only one information is allowed for one CD track. Therefore, song information cannot be given to each song.

  As described above, when the compressed audio technology is used, a very large number of music pieces can be stored in one recording medium, but there is no index for selecting a desired file (music piece), which is inconvenient. Yes. On the other hand, there are one in which the title information and the like are recorded together with the compressed audio data such as MP3 using a hard disk, and the other is written in the medium without using the hard disk.

  A device using the former hard disk is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-230945. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information recording / reproducing apparatus described in the publication. In FIG. 10, J11 is an information recording / reproducing apparatus, J12 is an optical disk, J13 is a reproducing unit, J14 is a hard disk, J15 is a recording / reproducing unit, J16 is a spindle motor, J17 is a pickup, J18 is a signal processing unit, J19 is a servo circuit, J110 is a first control unit, J111 is a second control unit, J112 is a hard disk drive, J113 is a decoder circuit, J114 is an output circuit, J115 is a transmission / reception unit, J116 is a system controller, J117 is an operation unit, and J118 is a display unit. . When the audio data Sa is reproduced from the optical disk J12 such as a CD and recorded on the hard disk J14, title information corresponding to the audio data Sa is retrieved from the database area DB in the hard disk J14, and the retrieved title information is stored in the audio data Sa. Attached and recorded in the storage area ST. Here, when the corresponding title information cannot be searched, flag information of “no title information” is appended and recorded.

  After that, when the updated title information is provided by the optical disc or the like and the updated title information is additionally recorded in the database area DB, the title information corresponding to the audio data which has been automatically “no title information” is automatically obtained. Added. It is also possible to connect to the Internet via the transmission / reception unit J115 and obtain title information.

  A device that does not use the latter hard disk is disclosed in JP-A-11-120675. In this publication, a music selection program, an audio information file, an image information file, a text information file, etc. are recorded on a CD-ROM, the music selection program and various files are loaded into the main memory, and the music selection, audio, It constitutes a music database device that reproduces text and images.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of a music database device described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-120675. In FIG. 11, J217 is a CD-ROM drive, J217a is a CD-ROM, J216 is a hard disk storage device, J213 is a display device, J214 is a keyboard, J218 is a speaker, J215 is a mouse, J211 is a CPU, J212 is a main memory, J221 is a selection program, J222 is audio information, J223 is image information, and J224 is text information. The CD-ROM J217a stores a music selection program J221, an audio information file J222, an image information file J223, and a text information file J224. Audio information is compressed to 1/20 to 1/10 and stored. The music selection program J221 and various files J222 to J224 stored in the CD-ROM J217a are directly loaded into the main memory J212 to select music, reproduce audio, text, and images, and store them on the hard disk. Without considering the free space of the device J216, it can be used as if playing a normal audio CD.

JP 2002-230945 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-120675

  However, in the method of Patent Document 1 described above, another recording device such as a hard disk is indispensable as the storage area ST as shown in FIG. 12 in addition to a normal CD reproducing device. In addition, it is necessary to store a large amount of title information in the database area DB of the hard disk, and this includes things that are not subject to playback and recording, and therefore cannot be said to be efficient.

  The method disclosed in Patent Document 2 does not require a separate recording device such as a hard disk, but has a problem in that the CPU and operating system (OS) are limited due to the direct execution of the music selection program. is there. In particular, in consideration of use in portable audio players and in-vehicle audio players other than personal computers (PCs), 4-bit and 8-bit CPUs are mainstream, and the programming language differs depending on the CPU. In many cases, is not used, and versatility in a broad sense is not high. Further, in the method of Patent Document 2, the capacity of the music selection program is expected to be a corresponding size, and there is a concern that the area where the audio information file can be recorded is further limited.

  Accordingly, there is a demand for a proposal of an audio system that can be played back regardless of the specifications of a portable audio player and in-vehicle audio player that do not have a hard disk drive or the like as well as a PC, and can provide information on audio data to the user. .

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a compressed audio file in which audio data is encoded by a predetermined method, and an information file in which at least attribute information of the audio data and head address information in which the compressed audio file is recorded are associated are retained. A music recording medium is provided. The audio reproduction device can read the information file from the audio recording medium recorded in the above format and output the attribute information of the audio data.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a playback device for an audio recording medium, an audio recording medium creation device, and a program that causes a computer to operate as each device.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain information on multiple compressed audio files recorded on the same recording medium. The reason is that an information file holding the attribute information of the audio data is stored in the music recording medium, and the information file can be read and reproduced.

  In the best mode for carrying out the present invention, the attribute information and sector address (absolute address of the compressed audio file recorded on the CD) of the compressed audio file (MP3, WMA, etc.) format recorded on the CD are used. A compiled information file (compressed audio file database) is created and recorded on the CD. During playback of this CD, the recorded information file is referred to, and the contents are displayed in an appropriate manner for the user, and the selection is made to select a compressed audio file to be played back, and playback is performed. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments in which the present invention is applied to a music CD will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

  The CD of the present embodiment is one in which a large number of compressed audio files (at least several tens of ordinary music pieces are possible) are recorded on one track of the CD. As described above, the information file is also recorded on the same disk, the information of the compressed audio file to be reproduced is called from the disk, a music reproduction list is constructed and presented to the user. The reproduction of a specific music piece is executed by directly accessing the data using the sector information of the music piece reproduction list.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a disc playback apparatus for playing back a music recording medium according to the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, the disk reproducing apparatus includes a CD 1, a motor 2, an optical pickup 3, a signal processing circuit 6, a microcomputer 7, an input / output device 8, a decoder circuit 13, and a switching circuit 14. Both uncompressed audio data and compressed audio files can be played back.

  CD1 is a disc-type information recording medium. The motor 2 rotates the disk at a predetermined rotation speed by servo control by the driver circuit 5. The optical pickup 3 moves to an arbitrary position on the CD 1 by servo control by the driver circuit 4 and reads the recorded information on the CD 1.

  The signal read from the optical pickup 3 is input to the signal processing circuit 6 and the switching circuit 14, and in the case of uncompressed audio data, it is converted into an analog signal for audio output. On the other hand, in the case of a compressed audio file, after the compressed audio data is restored by the decoder circuit 13, it is converted into an analog signal and audio output is performed.

  The microcomputer 7 receives a signal from the signal processing circuit 6, the input / output device 8 constituting the playlist output unit and the audio data selection unit, and gives a drive signal to the driver circuits 4 and 5, and a control circuit CPU 11 that performs various types of information processing based on information from 9, ROM 10 that stores various programs such as output of a music playback list, which will be described later, and storage of playback position, TOC information, CD-ROM information, etc. via CPU 11 And a RAM 12 to be used.

  Further, the signal processing circuit 6 gives a servo error signal and subcode signal / CD-ROM information to the microcomputer 7 from the signal read from the optical pickup 3. The microcomputer 7 gives a drive signal to the driver circuits 4 and 5 by the servo error signal from the signal processing circuit 6. Further, the microcomputer 7 stores the reproduction position information and TOC (Table Of Contents) information included in the subcode signal from the signal processing circuit 6, the file structure in the CD-ROM, and the path table information indicating the compressed audio file information in the RAM 12. The optical pickup 3 can be moved to an arbitrary position from the target music number given from the input / output device 8.

  2 and 3 are diagrams for explaining a recording format of data recorded on the CD 1 of FIG. 1 and its configuration. Referring to FIG. 2, a lead-in area 15 in which TOC information is recorded is provided on the innermost side of the disc, and a CD-ROM path table 16, a compressed audio file group 17, and an information file 18 are recorded on the outer side. Finally, a lead-out area 19 is provided. FIG. 3 is an equivalent diagram of FIG. 2, and following the lead-in area 30, an area for storing a CD-ROM path table 31 in which the file structure, file name, etc. of CD-ROM data are recorded is provided. Thereafter, a CD-ROM area is formed, a compressed audio file group 32 and an information file 33 (see FIG. 7) are stored, and finally, a lead-out area 34 is provided. Note that an image file, a text file, a computer program, and the like can be recorded in the CD-ROM area.

  Note that the creation of a music recording medium in the above-described recording format includes a writable disk drive such as a CD-R or CD-RW drive, and includes a compressed audio file writing process and an information file editing process to be described later. It can be performed by a computer having an executable computer program installed.

  Here, a subcode system including a subQ code (subcode Q channel) will be described. In a CD, all data, regardless of CD-DA data or CD-ROM data, are all managed by codes called subcodes. The sub code includes a P code, a sub Q code, and R to W codes. The P code is a code used for finding the beginning of a song, the sub Q code is a code related to the TOC that is the table of contents information of the disc and the absolute address of the data, and the R to W codes are used for CD-G line graphics or the like It is a code related to user bits. The sub-Q code is standardized as shown in FIG. 4 and includes a control code (CONTROL), ADDRESS (ADR), a DATA area, and the like. The DATA area includes the TNO representing the title number, the start address of the recorded track number in minutes, the MIN representing the absolute address in seconds, the SEC, and the minimum unit of audio data (1/75 seconds). It is constituted by FRAME indicating the second.

  The control code (CONTROL) 35 in FIG. 4 is composed of 4 bits and defines the type and attribute of data. When X is represented as 0 or 1, 00X0 represents a 2-channel audio signal to which no emphasis is applied, 01X0 represents a data track on which CD-ROM data is recorded, and XX0X represents a digital copy prohibition attribute.

  Next, the CD-ROM file system will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a file system configured on a CD-ROM. The CD-ROM in FIG. 5 is given a volume descriptor indicating that the disc is recorded according to the CD-ROM standard as a basic volume descriptor, the directory information holds the directory structure and folder name, and the file address. The information includes a file name and an absolute address on the disk in which the file is stored.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an information file. The information file in FIG. 6 includes recorded compressed audio file name, artist name of song, title, genre, song length, bit rate, number of playback channels, sampling frequency, data file size, as song attribute information. A reproduction start address that is an absolute address on the disc on which the file is recorded is held.

  This information file is given a predetermined name or extension so that it can be distinguished from other files. The information file is preferably stored in a predetermined location such as a root directory of the file system, a folder in the root directory, or the like.

  Next, an operation when reproducing the music recording medium described above will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the disk reproducing apparatus of FIG. Referring to FIG. 7, first, when the CD 1 on which data is recorded with the configuration illustrated in FIG. 3 is set in the optical disc playback device, the optical disc playback device reads the data in the lead-in area and reads the TOC information of the disc. (Step ST1). Subsequently, the optical disk playback device extracts the control code of each track from the read TOC information (step ST2), and determines whether CD1 is a CD-DA audio disk or a CD-ROM disk ( Step ST3). Here, when CD1 is a CD-DA audio disc, the optical disc playback apparatus performs a CD audio playback process (step ST12) based on the TOC information, and plays back music as a normal CD player.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the disc is a CD-ROM disc, the optical disc playback device reads the contents of the CD-ROM path table 31 and reads the file structure as a CD-ROM (step ST4). More specifically, the optical disc playback apparatus acquires the start address, directory name, file name, and the like of the compressed audio file group 32 and the information file 33 recorded in the CD-ROM area illustrated in FIG. Here, the optical disc playback apparatus checks the file structure acquired in step ST4, determines whether or not a compressed audio file exists from the file extension or the like (step ST5), and does not have a compressed audio file. If so, the process ends.

  Subsequently, the optical disc reproducing apparatus similarly checks whether or not the information file 33 illustrated in FIG. 6 exists from the file extension or the like (step ST6). Here, if the information file does not exist, the optical disk playback device refers to the path table 31 and extracts a compressed audio file based on the contents of the CD-ROM file system shown in FIG. 5 (step ST10). An audio playback program is started (step ST11), and compressed audio is played back.

  On the other hand, if an information file exists in step ST7, the optical disc playback apparatus reads the contents (step ST7) and creates a music playback list (step ST8). At the same time, the optical disc playback apparatus extracts each file name and playback start address from the playback list (step ST9).

  FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are output examples of a music reproduction list, in which JAZZ music and ROCK music are presented separately depending on the genre included in the information file. Each playlist contains the file name, the artist name of the audio data, the title, the song length, the bit rate of the compressed audio, the number of playback channels, the sampling frequency, the file size, and the absolute address on the disc where the file is recorded. The playback start address and the like are included. 8 and 9, the music reproduction list is created according to the genre, but it is also possible to display by artist, title, etc. using the attribute information of the music defined in the information file. It is.

  The optical disk playback device presents the music playback list as exemplified in FIGS. 8 and 9 to the user via the input / output device 8 and accepts selection of the music to be played back. The selected music is supplied from the control circuit 9 to the CPU 11 via the input / output device 8 of FIG. 1, and a compressed audio file is extracted from the reproduction start address for the file name extracted in step ST9 (step ST10). An audio playback program is started (step ST11), and compressed audio is played back.

  Thereafter, in response to the user's instruction, the process returns to step ST9 to reproduce the music. If a new CD1 is set in the optical disc playback apparatus, the process starts from step ST1.

  As described above, according to the music recording medium having the above configuration, it is not necessary to record the music selection program on the CD. In other words, the playback device need only have a playback function for a compressed audio file and a function for reading an information file and outputting necessary information as appropriate. Therefore, it is not necessary to specify a CPU or OS (operating system) as in the case of a conventional music CD, and a configuration for easily selecting music can be obtained even in an audio playback device other than a PC.

  As is clear from the above description, the information file is attribute information of the compressed audio file stored in the recording medium, and therefore can be suppressed to a sufficiently small size compared to the music selection program file described above. (1/10 to 1/100) As a result, a larger area for recording the compressed audio file can be secured.

  In addition, according to the above-described configuration, even in a device with a relatively slow music selection operation such as a CD-only playback device, a high-speed file music selection can be achieved by providing an information file handling function without requiring a hard disk or the like. And playback can be realized.

  In addition, the information file exemplified in the above embodiment is defined including the sound effect, volume setting, equalizer setting, sound field correction setting, etc. for each song, and displayed on the song playback list. The setting can be reflected. In this case, these setting processes may be performed together with the process of extracting the absolute address of the file to be reproduced in step ST9 of FIG.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, it has been described that different reproduction processing is performed depending on whether the recorded data is uncompressed audio data (CD-DA) or CD-ROM data, but these are mixed. In this case, the music reproduction list may be generated by integrating the TOC information and the information file.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the description has been given for an example in which “music” is a recording unit, but it can also be applied to conversational speech for language learning, lecture speech for prep school / distance education, etc. An information file corresponding to the recording unit can be created with an appropriate break inside.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, a compressed audio file can be played back only with at least the file name and sector information (sector address: absolute address on the disk indicating CD data), and detailed file system analysis is unnecessary. It becomes. And as the directory hierarchy and the number of files increase, the superiority becomes remarkable.

  Consider a case where a file system of 8 layers, 254 folders, and 999 files is analyzed. In a typical CD-ROM file system standard, as for folder information, information for one folder is recorded in one sector which is the minimum data unit of the CD-ROM. One sector is 2048 bytes of data. In addition, the data reading time for one sector is 13.3 ms at the standard reproduction speed. Therefore, for reading 254 folders, 1 folder information = 1 sector 13.3 ms × 254 sectors = 3378.2 ms = 3.4 seconds. By reading this folder information, information on the 999 file can also be read.

  On the other hand, the size of the information file according to the present invention is 80 bytes × 999 files = 79920 bytes even if 80 bytes are secured for one file, and 79920 bytes ÷ 2048 bytes = 39 sectors in terms of sectors. Since the address information of the information file can be recorded in one folder of the CD-ROM file system, the reading time of one folder is added 13.3 ms to the reading time of the information file. Then, the reading time is (13.3 ms × 39 sectors) + (13.3 ms × 1 sector) = 532 ms = 0.5 seconds.

  As described above, according to the conventional method involving the analysis of the file system, it takes about 3 seconds to grasp the 999 file recorded in the CD-ROM area. The information file can be read, and this can be done in about 0.5 ms.

It is a figure showing schematic structure of the apparatus which reproduces | regenerates the music recording medium based on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the music recording medium of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the recording format of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the structure of the read IN area | region of a recording format. It is a figure for demonstrating the file system comprised by the music recording medium of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure showing an example of the information file. It is a flowchart showing the flow of the music reproduction process of the music reproduction apparatus of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an example of the music reproduction list (jazz) generated from the information file of FIG. It is an example of another music reproduction list | wrist (lock) produced | generated from the information file of FIG. It is a block diagram showing the structure of the conventional music reproduction apparatus. It is a block diagram showing the structure of another conventional music reproduction apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating the problem of the music reproduction apparatus of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 CD
2 Motor 3 Optical pickup 4 5 Driver circuit 6 Signal processing circuit 7 Microcomputer 8 Input / output device 9 Control circuit 10 ROM
11 CPU
12 RAM
13 Decoder circuit 14 Switching circuit 15, 30 Read IN area 16, 31 (CD-ROM) Path table 17, 32 Compressed audio file group 18, 33 Information file 19, 34 Read OUT area 35 Control code (CONTROL)

Claims (9)

A compressed audio file in which audio data is encoded in a predetermined format;
Holding at least attribute information of the audio data and address information in which the compressed audio file is recorded, and
On the audio playback device side, based on the information file, at least attribute information of audio data can be output,
An audio recording medium characterized by the above. The address information is sector information in which each compressed audio file in the audio recording medium is recorded,
On the audio playback device side, an audio playback list is output based on the information file, sector information is extracted from the audio playback list, and audio can be selectively played back,
The audio recording medium according to claim 1. The information file is held at a predetermined position in a file system constructed on an audio recording medium;
The audio recording medium according to claim 1, wherein The audio data is music data, and the attribute information includes information on the genre of music,
The audio playback device outputs a genre-divided music playback list, extracts address information from the music playback list, and enables the music to be selectively played back,
The audio recording medium according to claim 1, wherein: The attribute information of the audio data includes information related to recommended settings when playing a compressed audio file,
The audio playback device can play back audio according to the recommended settings,
The audio recording medium according to claim 1, wherein: An information file reading unit that reads the information file from the audio recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A playlist output unit for generating and outputting an audio playlist from the information file;
An audio data selection unit that receives selection of audio to be reproduced based on the audio reproduction list;
An audio reproduction unit that reproduces the selected compressed audio file based on the address information recorded in the information file,
An audio reproducing device characterized by the above. A program for causing a computer to execute sound reproduction processing,
A process of reading out the information file from the audio recording medium according to claim 1;
Processing to generate and output an audio playlist from the information file;
Processing for accepting selection of a compressed audio file to be reproduced based on the audio reproduction list;
A program for causing the computer to execute each of the processes of reproducing a selected compressed audio file based on address information recorded in the information file. An attribute information editing section for editing the attribute information of the audio data;
A writing processing unit that writes a compressed audio file obtained by encoding the audio data by a predetermined method, and an information file that associates at least attribute information of the audio data with address information for recording the compressed audio file, on a recording medium; Providing
An audio recording medium creating apparatus characterized by the above. A program for causing a computer to write a plurality of compressed audio files to a recording medium,
Attribute information editing process for editing audio data attribute information;
A process of writing a compressed audio file obtained by encoding the audio data by a predetermined method, and an information file in which at least attribute information of the music and address information for recording the music file are associated with each other to a recording medium;
The program which makes the said computer perform each said process.

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