JP2006323684A - Content reproduction device and content reproduction method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a content reproduction device and a content reproduction method for realizing temporary stop intended by a user. <P>SOLUTION: Content data are received from a server, and the received content data are stored in a ring buffer for reception, and when the stored content data are read and reproduced, the reproduction of content is temporarily stopped, and the reception of the content data is stopped, and the content data are stored in a reception buffer in a predetermined time, and after the lapse of the predetermined time, communication with the server is disconnected, and reproduction lapse location information when the content is temporarily stopped is stored. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a content reproduction apparatus and a content reproduction method that have a communication function based on, for example, TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) and reproduce content such as music.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a reproduction system in which a client requests content stored in a server via a network, and the client reproduces the content by receiving content data requested by the client from the server.

  In such a playback system, in streaming playback in which a client performs playback while receiving data, the content being played back is paused by the server stopping transmission immediately before the paused image packet. The cancellation of the stop is realized by transmitting from the pause image packet (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-274619 A

  However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, since the server stores the position of the paused content in response to the pause request from the client, the pause intended by the user is not performed. It was. For example, when the pause is released, playback may not be started immediately, or playback from the paused position may not be performed.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a content reproduction apparatus and a content reproduction method that can realize a pause intended by a user.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a content reproduction apparatus according to the present invention requests a desired content data from a server storing content data, and reproduces the content while receiving the requested content data. , Requesting desired content data from the server and receiving the content data; a reception buffer holding the content data received by the communication unit; and reading the content data held in the reception buffer; A playback unit that plays back the content; and a control unit that controls playback of the content. When the playback of the content is paused, the control unit stops receiving the content data and stores the content in the reception buffer. Retain data for a specified time , After the predetermined time, it is characterized by holding the elapsed playback position information the content is paused while disconnecting the communication with the server.

  In addition, a content reproduction method according to the present invention requests a desired content data from a server storing the content data and receives the content data, and a reception buffer that holds the content data received by the communication unit. A content playback method of a content playback apparatus, comprising: playback means for reading content data held in the reception buffer and playing back the content; and control means for controlling playback of the content, wherein the content playback apparatus includes: When the reproduction of the content is paused, the reception of the content data is stopped and the content data is held in the reception buffer for a predetermined time. After the predetermined time has elapsed, communication with the server is disconnected and the content is Paused playback position It is characterized by holding the broadcast.

  In the present invention, when the reproduction of content is paused, the reception of the content data is stopped and the content data is held in the reception buffer for a predetermined time. After the predetermined time has elapsed, the communication with the server is disconnected and the content is temporarily stopped. By holding the playback elapsed time, if the pause is canceled within a predetermined time, the content data held in the reception buffer can be played immediately from the paused position, and the pause is released after the predetermined time has elapsed. In this case, since the reproduction can be performed from the position where the reproduction has been paused from the retained reproduction progress position information, the pause intended by the user can be realized.

  Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. A content reproduction system shown as a specific example is one in which a server that distributes content and a client that reproduces the content are connected via a network. In particular, it is based on streaming reproduction in which a client performs reproduction while receiving content data by a network protocol called TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) / IP (Internet Protocol).

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a content reproduction system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment will be described as a system for reproducing music content. The content reproduction system 1 includes a server 2 that stores music content, a client 3 that reproduces the music content, and a switching hub 4 that relays communication between the server 2 and the client 3. The content reproduction system 1 is connected via a LAN (Local Area Network) and performs communication according to TCP / IP. The TCP / IP is divided into five layers of a physical layer, a network interface layer, an internetwork layer, a transport layer, and an application layer, and a network management method is determined for each layer.

  The internetwork layer defines a mechanism for forwarding packets from one device to its final destination and the format of packets sent through the internetwork, and packets sent through the internetwork are called IP packets. An IP packet consists of an IP header and a data part. In the IP header, a destination IP address and a source IP address are described. Then, a packet between the server 2 and the client 3 is transmitted based on this IP address.

  The server 2 includes a content storage unit 21 that stores music content, a content information storage unit 22 that stores content information related to music content, a communication unit 23 that communicates with the client 3, and music content that provides a music content providing service. A providing unit 24 and a system control unit 25 that controls the entire server 2 are provided.

  The content storage unit 21 stores music content. The content information storage unit 22 stores information related to a plurality of music contents stored in the content storage unit 21, and as shown in FIG. 2, the name of the music content, the content type as the content format, and the sampling frequency , The number of channels, the number of bits, the playback time of the music content, the URL of the music content, and the like.

  The music content providing unit 24 provides the music content stored in the content storage unit 21 to the client 3. FIG. 3 schematically shows the processing of the music content providing unit 24. The music content providing unit 24 first reads content information from the content information storage unit 22. This content information is transmitted to the client 3 via the communication unit 23 (I). In the content information, the URL of the music content to be reproduced is described. The client 3 selects the music content to be reproduced from the content information and transmits the URL of the music content to the server 2 (II). The music content providing unit 24 reads the music content based on the URL received from the client 3 and transmits it to the client 3 (III).

  The client 3 communicates with the server 2, requests the necessary data from the server 2, controls the playback 32, and temporarily stores the music content input from the server 2. A ring buffer 33, a playback unit 34 having a converter that converts the music content received from the server 2 from a digital signal to an analog signal, an amplifier 35 that outputs the analog music signal to the speaker 36, and playback, stop, and pause from the user An input unit 37 such as a key for receiving an operation input such as a stop or a remote controller, and a display unit 38 are provided.

  The client 3 receives the music content from the server 2, converts the received music content from a digital signal to an analog signal, and reproduces it with the speaker 36. The music content transmitted from the server 2 is stored in the reception ring buffer 33. When a certain amount of music content is stored in the reception ring buffer 33, this music content is output to the playback unit 34. As a result, when music content is being played back, the music is played back continuously and seamlessly. The playback unit 34 converts, for example, a PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) digital music signal into an analog music signal and outputs the analog music signal to the amplifier 35. The analog music signal is amplified by the amplifier 35 and the music is output from the speaker 36.

  FIG. 4 shows a write / read operation in the reception ring buffer 33. A write pointer and a read pointer are set in the reception ring buffer 33. FIG. 4A shows a state of the reading operation. Data is read at regular intervals, and music content is output to the playback unit 34 at a constant speed. When music content is read by the reading pointer, the area becomes a writable area. FIG. 4B shows the state of the write operation. In the write operation, the write pointer moves in the writable area, and when the writable area decreases, reception waits until the read operation proceeds. As a result, the dependence on the communication speed can be reduced.

  The switching hub 4 analyzes the packet sent from the server 2 or the client 3 to detect the destination, and transmits the packet to the destination server 2 or the client 3.

  Next, playback in the above content playback system 1 will be described. First, the control unit 32 acquires content information from the server 2 and displays it on the display unit 38. Then, the user selects music to be reproduced from the displayed content information, and instructs the input unit 37 to reproduce. The control unit 32 requests the server 2 for the content data of the music for which the reproduction instruction has been received. The server 2 reads the content data of the music requested from the client 3 from the content storage unit 21 and distributes it to the client 3. The client 3 writes the content data in units of packets distributed from the server 2 in the reception ring buffer 33. Then, reproduction is started when a certain amount of reproducible content data has been written. As described above, the client 3 reproduces the content while receiving the content data.

  Next, in the above-described content reproduction system 1, the operation in the case where the client 3 receives music content from the server 2 and reproduces the music and instructs the pause to pause the music is shown in the flowchart shown in FIG. I will explain.

  When there is a pause instruction from the user at the client 3, the control unit 32 sets the TCP window size to 0, thereby stopping the reception of the content data and continuing the communication with the server 2. The server 2 that has received the window notification of 0 cannot transmit new data until the window is opened, but transmits a probe segment to the client 3 in order to maintain the connection. Client 3 receives this probe segment and continues the connection by notifying server 2 of the next expected sequence number and the current window (ie 0). Further, the control unit 32 stops reading the reception ring buffer 33 and sends data 0 to the reproduction unit 34 to make a silent state (step S1). Hereinafter, this state will be described as a pause state.

  In step S2, it is determined whether or not the above-mentioned pause state has passed for a certain time, for example, 30 seconds. Further, during the pause state, the communication with the server 2 is monitored, and it is determined whether or not the communication is disconnected from the server 2 side (step S3).

  In step S2, when the pause state has elapsed for a certain time, the control unit 32 disconnects communication with the server 2 (step S4), and proceeds to step S5. In step S3, the process also proceeds to step S5 when communication is disconnected from the server 2 side during the pause state. That is, when the communication between the server 2 and the client 3 is disconnected, the process proceeds to step S5.

  In step S5, the control unit 32 deletes the content data held in the reception ring buffer 33, and continues to send data 0 to the reproduction unit 34, thereby maintaining a silent state. In addition, the playback elapsed time so far is calculated from the amount of data sent from the reception ring buffer 33 to the playback unit 34, the sampling frequency, the number of channels, the number of bits, etc., and the information on the position where the playback was paused is held.

  In step S2 and step S3, when the communication is not disconnected from the server 2 side during the pause state and the fixed time for disconnecting the communication from the client 3 side has not elapsed, that is, the communication between the server 2 and the client 3 is not performed. If it is continued, the process proceeds to step S6 to detect the presence / absence of an instruction to cancel the pause state.

  If an instruction to release the pause state is detected in step S6, the reception of the content data from the server 2 is resumed, the content data is read from the reception ring buffer 33, and the content data is output to the playback unit 34 (step S6). S7) Resuming playback from the paused position. In the pause release in step S6, since the communication with the server 2 is not disconnected and the reception ring buffer 33 is not cleared, reproduction can be resumed immediately from the same position. If it is determined in step S6 that no pause release instruction has been detected, the process returns to step S2.

  In step S8, it is detected whether or not there is an instruction to cancel the pause state when communication between the server 2 and the client 3 is disconnected (step S5). In step S8, when the instruction to release the pause state is detected, the control unit 32 requests the server 2 for the content data of the packet including the elapsed playback time from the information on the temporarily stopped position held in step S5 (step S9). The server 2 transmits content data including a reproducible packet from this playback elapsed time, and the client 3 receives this content data (step S10). Then, a certain amount of reproducible content data is held in the reception ring buffer 33 (step S11). When a certain amount of content data is held in the reception ring buffer 33, the control unit 32 reads out the content data from the reception ring buffer 33 and outputs the content data of the elapsed reproduction time to the reproduction unit 34 (steps). S12) Resuming the reproduction from the position where it was temporarily stopped.

  In this way, when the client 3 controls the pause, when the user pauses the music that is currently being played at the playback position that the user 3 wants to listen to, the user 3 can cancel the pause pause state within a predetermined time. Playback from the position can be resumed quickly. Further, even when the currently played music is paused and the user leaves the playback device for a long time, the playback can be resumed from the same position by releasing the pause.

  In addition, for example, even when the suspension is continued for a long time or when the server 2 is disconnected from the server 2 by performing high priority processing during the suspension, the information on the position where the suspension is performed is retained. Therefore, playback can be resumed from the pause position.

  Further, as described above, not the server 2 but the client 3 holds the suspension information, so that any server 2 can realize the suspension intended by the user. Further, since the server 2 does not perform the process of holding the suspension information, the load on the server 2 can be reduced.

  In the above embodiment, when the communication between the server 2 and the client 3 is in a disconnected state, the information on the position where the pause has occurred is retained. However, when the pause instruction is given, the information on the position is retained. You may make it do.

  In addition, although the communication method of the above-described content reproduction system 1 is based on TCP / IP, other communication methods may be used. In the above embodiment, the content data received from the server is converted into an analog signal by the converter of the playback unit 34. However, the encoded content data from the server 2 is received, decoded, and converted into an analog signal. It is good also as composition to do.

  Further, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be applied to a moving image content playback apparatus.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a content reproduction system. It is a figure which shows an example of the information regarding a content. It is a figure which shows typically the process of the provision part of a music content. It is a figure which shows write / read operation in the ring buffer for reception. It is a flowchart which shows the temporary stop operation | movement of a client.

Explanation of symbols

1 content playback system, 2 server, 3 client, 4 switching hub, 21 content storage unit, 22 content information storage unit, 23 communication unit, 24 music content providing unit, 25 system control unit, 31 communication unit, 32 control unit, 33 Ring buffer for reception, 34 playback unit, 35 amplifier, 36 speaker, 37 input unit, 38 display unit

Claims (5)

In a content reproduction apparatus that requests desired content data from a server storing content data and reproduces the content while receiving the requested content data.
A communication unit that requests desired content data from the server and receives the content data;
A reception buffer for holding content data received by the communication unit;
Reproduction means for reading the content data held in the reception buffer and reproducing the content;
Control means for controlling the reproduction of the content,
When the reproduction of the content is paused, the control means stops the reception of the content data, holds the content data in the reception buffer for a predetermined time, and disconnects communication with the server after the predetermined time has elapsed. A content playback apparatus characterized by holding playback progress position information where the content is paused.   2. The content reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means retains reproduction progress position information at which the content is paused when communication with the server is disconnected within the predetermined time.   When the suspension is canceled in a situation where communication with the server is disconnected, the control means requests the server for the content data of the paused packet from the reproduction progress position information, and reproduces the content from the pause position. The content reproduction apparatus according to claim 1.   The content playback apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means acquires the playback progress position information based on content data held in the reception buffer. Requesting desired content data from the server storing the content data and receiving the content data, a reception buffer holding the content data received by the communication unit, and content data held in the reception buffer A content playback method of a content playback apparatus comprising: a playback unit that reads and plays back the content; and a control unit that controls playback of the content,
When the content reproduction device pauses the reproduction of the content, the content reproduction device stops the reception of the content data, holds the content data in the reception buffer for a predetermined time, and disconnects the communication with the server after the predetermined time elapses. And a playback progress position information in which the content is paused.

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