JP2007096664A - Data reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data reproducing device that improve operability when a user views desired contents through an AV home network. <P>SOLUTION: The data reproducing device 103 when receiving data from a server through the network and reproducing them acquires current use information and reservation information from a current use/reservation information storage part 214 for server equipment by a server equipment selection part 305 to determine server equipment suitable for the reproduction, and calculates an evaluated value of the server equipment by referring to a calculating method stored in a server evaluation rule storage part 312 to evaluate whether the server equipment is usable. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a data processing apparatus, and more particularly to a technique for processing data relating to moving images, music, still images and other AV contents.

  With the development of digital processing technology, it has become common to connect a plurality of information devices such as home appliances in the home or office devices in the office via a digital network. Between devices connected to the network, it is possible to acquire data stored in other devices and reproduce the acquired data.

  For example, a device connected to a home network by using a protocol based on a universal plug and play standard established by the Universal Plug and Play Forum (see Non-Patent Document 1, hereinafter referred to as “UPnP” (registered trademark)). There are known methods for managing the functions and contents of the devices and operating each device. In a home network system using UPnP, when playing back content, the user must select a server having the content to be played back, and the user must select a device for playback, which is troublesome for the user. There were problems with the user interface.

  In addition, a method has been proposed that reduces the burden on the user when searching for desired content by synthesizing a list of contents existing in each of a plurality of servers on the network and presenting the list as a single content list. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

An information processing system that, when a certain information processing device cannot be used because it is used by another user, checks the usage status of the other information processing device by communication means, and reserves the use of a vacant information processing device, and its A control method, an information processing apparatus, and a method thereof have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
“UPnP Forum”; Universal Plug and Play Forum; <URL: http: // www. upnp. org />; 1999 JP 2004-128597 A JP 9-34819 A

  However, in both Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, the server device existing on the network may be used by other than the data reproducing device operated by the user, and at the time when the user selects the server device. Even if the device is available, the priority is given to recording reservations, etc., and the server device becomes unavailable during viewing, and it is necessary to redo the device selection. There was a problem.

  Therefore, the present invention evaluates whether or not a server can be used based on usage information including reservation information when processing data via a home network, and uses the server by server evaluation even in an environment where there are a plurality of servers having contents. It is an object of the present invention to provide a data reproducing apparatus that facilitates selection of a server device to be used based on availability and allows a user to easily view desired content.

  In view of such circumstances, the data reproducing apparatus according to the first invention is a data reproducing apparatus that is connected to a plurality of servers via a network, receives and reproduces data, and includes reservation information from the plurality of servers. Usage information acquisition means for acquiring usage information, and evaluation value calculation means for calculating an evaluation value for evaluating whether or not the server can be used from the data reproducing device in order to determine a server from the usage information. Features.

  With this configuration, when a user operates the data playback device to play back data, when there are multiple server devices, the use of the server device takes into account not only the current use status of each server device but also the reservation status. It becomes possible to evaluate whether it is possible.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data reproducing apparatus comprising server determining means for determining one of the servers that can be used based on the evaluation value.

  With this configuration, the data reproducing apparatus according to the present invention can automatically select and determine an available server device.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data reproduction apparatus comprising server candidate selection list output means for outputting available server candidates based on the evaluation value.

  With this configuration, the data reproducing apparatus according to the present invention outputs a list of available server devices, and thus can assist the user in selecting and selecting server devices.

  In the data reproducing device according to the fourth invention, the reservation information includes a reservation start time and a reservation end time, and when the current time is after the reservation start time and before the reservation end time, the evaluation value of the server Is a value indicating that the server cannot be used.

  With this configuration, the data reproducing apparatus according to the present invention can select only the currently usable devices by excluding the unusable server devices.

  In the data reproducing apparatus according to the fifth invention, the reservation information includes a reservation start time, and when the current time is before the reservation start time, the time from the current time to the reservation start time is calculated, and the calculated time The evaluation value of the server is calculated from the value of.

  With this configuration, the data reproduction device according to the present invention can select a more suitable server by calculating an evaluation value in consideration of the length of time that can be used from the present among server devices that are currently available. Is possible.

  In the data reproducing apparatus according to the sixth invention, the reservation information includes a reservation start time, and when the current time is before the reservation start time, the time from the current time to the reservation start time is calculated, and the calculated time The evaluation value is set so that the longest server is determined.

  With this configuration, the data reproducing apparatus according to the present invention can select a server device that can be used for a longer time from currently available server devices.

  In the data reproducing device according to the seventh invention, the reservation information includes a reservation start time, and when the current time is before the reservation start time, the time from the current time to the reservation start time is calculated, and the calculated time Is shorter than a predetermined time, the evaluation value of the server is a value indicating that the server cannot be used.

  With this configuration, the data reproducing apparatus according to the present invention can determine a server device that can be used for a time shorter than a predetermined time among currently available server devices.

  In the data reproducing device according to the eighth invention, the reservation information includes a reservation start time, and when the current time is before the reservation start time, the time from the current time to the reservation start time is calculated, and the calculated time Is equal to or longer than a predetermined time, the evaluation value of the server is a value indicating that the server can be used.

  With this configuration, the data reproducing apparatus according to the present invention can determine a server device that can be used for a predetermined time or more from currently available server devices.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the reservation information includes a reservation start time and a reservation end time, and further comprises data reproduction time acquisition means for acquiring a time required for data reproduction, wherein the current time and the current If any time between the time obtained by adding the time required for data reproduction to the time coincides with any time between the reservation start time and the reservation end time, the evaluation value of the server is set. It is characterized by a value indicating that the server cannot be used.

  With this configuration, the data reproduction device according to the present invention can determine which server device can be used for the time required to reproduce the desired data to the end among the currently available server devices.

  According to the present invention, when there are a plurality of servers on the network, the data reproducing device can extract the optimum server for receiving data by evaluating the availability of the server device, The user can easily reproduce desired data.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  The “data playback device” described below is a device having a network connection function and capable of acquiring and playing back AV content data via a network, and refers to, for example, a personal computer, a network compatible AV player, and the like. In the following description, content will be described as an example of “data”.

A home network system 101 shown in FIG. 1 includes a content server 104, a content server 105, a content server 106, and a data playback device 103, which are connected to the network 102.
Each device is connected to the network 102 by, for example, a wired LAN based on Ethernet (registered trademark), FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface), a wireless LAN based on the standard 802.11b, or the like.

  The content servers 104, 105, and 106 store AV content data such as moving images, music, and still images, and transfer the content data upon receiving a content distribution request from another device on the network.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the internal configuration includes a transmission / reception unit 202 that communicates with other devices on the network, a data storage unit 210 that stores various types of information to be described later, an antenna, etc. A tuner unit 204 that receives data, an encoder unit 203 that converts data received by the tuner unit 204 into a media format that can be handled by the content server, and a control unit 201 that controls the entire device, including an arithmetic processing device and a timer (not shown).

  The data reproducing device 103 acquires and reproduces content data stored on any content server on the network by a user operation. As shown in FIG. 3, the internal configuration includes a transmission / reception unit 302 that communicates with other devices on the network, a decoding unit 303 that performs decoding corresponding to each media format, and the decoded data that is built-in or externally attached. A data reproduction output unit 304 for outputting to a display, a speaker, etc., a data storage unit 310 for accumulating various types of information to be described later, a server device selection unit 305 for selecting a server device based on a predetermined procedure to be described later, It comprises a user interface unit 306 for performing such operations, and a control unit 301 that controls the entire device including a CPU and a timer (not shown).

The data reproduction device 103 communicates with each of the content servers 104, 105, and 106, and acquires information on the attributes of each server device and information on the contents of each server device. This communication is performed according to a protocol based on UPnP.
Further, HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) defined by RFC1945 and RFC2616 is used for transmission / reception of content data.

  Note that the form shown in FIG. 1 is an example, and the number of servers and data reproduction apparatuses may be any number of 1 or more. Further, the protocol for managing functions and contents is not limited to the above UPnP, and may be based on, for example, HAVi (Home Audio / Video interoperability) of network specifications of consumer digital devices. Further, a protocol other than HTTP may be used for transmission / reception of content data.

  Further, the content servers 104, 105, and 106 do not necessarily include any one of the tuner unit 204 and the encoding unit 203, or the content data storage unit 213 described later. For example, the broadcast received by the tuner is placed on the network. It may be a device having only a function to distribute, or a device having only a function of distributing content stored in advance on the network.

  Next, information stored in the data storage unit 210 by the content servers 104, 105, and 106 will be described. In the following description, only the part related to the moving image content is described as an example. Since the basic mechanism and flow are the same for music content and still image content, they are omitted.

  The server device information storage unit 211 stores information indicating the attribute of the device. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the servers 104, 105, and 106 have information of 410, 420, and 430, respectively. “Server name” represents a name that can be easily recognized by the user, and “IP address” represents an address for identifying the device on the network.

  The content list storage unit 212 stores content list information that is a list of contents that can be distributed by the server device at the present time. The content list information is each piece of information shown in FIG. 5, that is, video content (hereinafter referred to as “broadcast content”) that can be received by the tuner and distributed on the home network, or recorded and stored in advance. “Type” indicating whether the video content can be distributed on the network (hereinafter referred to as “recorded content”), “Broadcast” indicating the channel in the case of broadcast content, “ “Title”, “Time” indicating the broadcast time or viewing time of the content, “URI (Uniform Resource Identifier)” which is an address for designating the resource of the content on the network, and the actual data of the content on the server device "Real" to specify Data path ".

  Information such as “title”, “channel”, and “time” of the broadcast content can be obtained by using an EPG (electronic program guide) or the like. For example, assume that when the current time is “June 20, 13:20”, the content list storage unit 212 of the server 104 stores the information indicated by 510 in FIG. That is, the server 104 has two pieces of information of “World Soccer” indicated by 511 and “13:00 News” indicated by 512 for broadcast contents, and only “Cinema Special” information indicated by 513 for recorded contents. Shall. Similarly, it is assumed that information indicated by content information 520 is stored in the content list storage unit 212 of the server 105, and information indicated by content information 530 is stored in the content list storage unit of the server 106.

  The content data storage unit 213 stores content data as files. For example, moving image content is stored in MPEG format, music content is stored in MP3, AAC format, and still image content is stored in JPEG format. Content data can also be handled as a file in the same way as recorded content by taking a method of encoding received content in real time and creating a file.

  The current usage / reservation information accumulation unit 214 accumulates usage information that is information relating to the state of the server device at a certain time, that is, “current usage information” and “reservation information”. The “current usage information” is stored together with information on whether or not the device is currently in use, and when the use start time and use end time are fixed. “Reservation information” is information related to a use reservation registered in the device, and for example, information on a time period in which the device is occupied by timer recording or the like is stored as a reservation start time and a reservation end time. For example, when the current time is “June 20, 13:20”, the current use / reservation information storage unit of the server 104 is assumed to store information indicated by 610 in FIG. In other words, it is assumed that the server 104 is in use from 13:00 to 15:00, and further has two reservations for use from 20:00 to 21:00 and from 22:00 to 23:00.

  Here, “reservation information” is stored as the reservation start time and reservation end time, and “current use information” is not necessarily stored as the use end time. For example, even if it is known that a certain server device is currently being used for viewing broadcast content by another playback device, it is difficult to determine to what point the user who is viewing continues to use it. In this case, it is managed by “current use information”. In this embodiment, it is assumed that each server device cannot be used simultaneously from a plurality of data reproducing apparatuses.

  The server device information shown in FIG. 4 and the content list information shown in FIG. 5 are always updated to the latest state inside the server device. For example, when the recorded content is newly added, the information is updated, or the time when the content of the program received by the tuner is switched by using EPG or the like is detected and updated at that time.

Next, a flow from when the user selects a desired content to start viewing will be described.
As described above, the following series of data exchange is performed in accordance with the UPnP protocol, and various types of information held by the server devices 104, 105, and 106 are sent to the data reproduction device 103 in an XML (extensible Markup Language) format. .

In the following description, it is assumed that the current time is “June 20, 13:20” as an example.
First, when the user operates the user interface unit 306 on the data playback device 103 to instruct acquisition of a moving image content list on the network, the data playback device 103 sends a search request message on the network by broadcasting. Upon receiving this message, the content servers 104, 105, and 106 return a response message to the data reproduction device 103. Thereby, the data reproducing apparatus 103 can discover the content servers 104, 105, 106 connected on the network.

  The data reproduction device 103 sends a server device information acquisition request message to each of the found content servers 104, 105, and 106. The server device that has received the server device information acquisition request message sends information stored in the server device information storage unit 211 to the data reproduction device 103.

  Next, the data reproduction device 103 sends a content list acquisition request message to each of the found server devices. Upon receiving this message, the server device sends information stored in the content list storage unit 212 to the data reproduction device 103.

  After acquiring server device information and content list information from all server devices on the network in this way, the data reproduction device 103 analyzes the collected information and constructs an integrated content list. For example, when the information of the above-mentioned 410, 420, 430 and 510, 520, 530 is acquired from the servers 104, 105, 106, the integrated content list shown in FIG. Accumulated in.

  This is based on the information shown in FIG. 5, where the same content is grouped if there is any, and the server information corresponding to the content is combined for each content. Note that the determination of whether or not the content is the same may be, for example, a method of comparing channels and titles for broadcast content.

  The integrated content list data of FIG. 7 acquired in the above procedure is output from the integrated content list storage unit 311 to the user interface unit 306 and displayed as a moving image content list on the network in the user interface unit 306 as shown in FIG. Is done.

  The user selects one moving image content to view from the displayed content list. For example, a list of contents is displayed by pressing a specific button on the remote control, and the user selects one content to be viewed with the up and down buttons on the remote control and determines by pressing the enter button on the remote control. Can be considered.

  In FIG. 8, based on the integrated content list of FIG. 7, content that can be distributed on the network at present is displayed as a list of four titles, and the user selects one of them “World Soccer” Indicates the situation.

  When the content is specified by the user, the server device selection unit 305 follows all the server devices that can deliver the specified content (hereinafter referred to as “all candidates for used servers”) according to the flowchart of FIG. Then, the degree of availability of all the use server candidates is evaluated, and the server to be used is determined based on the evaluation value.

First, in step S910, the server device selection unit 305 refers to a timer built in the control unit 301 and acquires the current time.
Next, in step S920, the server device selection unit 305 collects the current use / reservation information of the server devices possessed by all the use server candidates from the server device. Details of this processing will be described later.

  Next, in step S930, the server device selection unit 305 evaluates the degree of availability of all the use server candidates according to a predetermined rule. Details of this processing will be described later.

  Next, in step S940, the server device selection unit 305 checks whether there is a usable server from the result of step S930. If there is a server that can be used, the process proceeds to step S950.

  In step S950, the server device selection unit 305 determines one device to be used based on the evaluation result of each device. Details of this processing will be described later.

  In step S960, the server device selection unit 305 determines that there is no usable server, and ends the server selection process.

  As described above, according to the flowchart of FIG. 9, the server device selection unit 305 evaluates the degree of availability of all the use server candidates, and the server to be used is determined based on the evaluation value.

<Obtaining usage information>
Next, a detailed portion of the processing in step S920 in the flowchart of FIG. 9 described above will be described. A method of collecting the current use / reservation information of the server devices possessed by all the use server candidates will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S1010, the server device selection unit 305 searches for a server device that exists on the network through network communication. As described above, this search is performed using, for example, the UPnP mechanism. When the search for the server device existing on the network is completed, the server device selection unit 305 performs the following steps S1020 and S1030 for all the found use server candidates.

  In step S1020, the server device selection unit 305 communicates with the server device and acquires the current use / reservation information stored in the current use / reservation information storage unit 214.

  The current use information of the current use / reservation information of the server device is updated to “in use” when the use of the server device is started, and is updated to “not in use” when the use of the server device is finished. The

  In step S1030, the server device selection unit 305 refers to the current use / reservation information acquired from the server device that is not currently in use, and extracts and stores the current use / reservation information that is closest to the current time. . For example, when the servers 104, 105, and 106 have the current use / reservation information of 610, 620, and 630 shown in FIG. 6 as in the above example, the server device selection unit 305 creates a table as shown in FIG. Created and stored in the server reservation information storage unit 313.

<Evaluation of server availability>
Next, a detailed portion of the processing in step S930 in the flowchart of FIG. 9 described above will be described. A method shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12 will be described as one form of a method for evaluating the degree of availability of each server device. The server device selection unit 305 evaluates all the use server candidates by the following steps S1210, S1220, and S1230.

  In step S1210, the server device selection unit 305 compares the current time T with the reservation start time Ts of the server candidate device of interest. If T is a time before Ts, the server device selection unit 305 indicates that the server can use the evaluation value for the server candidate device in step S1220, for example, 1. If T is the same time as Ts or a time after Ts, the server device selection unit 305 sets the evaluation value for the server candidate device in step S1230 to indicate that the server is unusable, for example, 0. When the evaluation is performed for all the used server candidates, the process is completed.

  In other words, this evaluation method can extract only usable server devices by setting the evaluation value to 0 for devices that are already in use, and setting the evaluation value to 1 for devices that are not in use.

  Next, a method shown in the flowchart of FIG. 13 will be described as another form of a method for evaluating the degree of availability of each server device. The server device selection unit 305 evaluates all the use server candidates by the following steps S1310, S1320, and S1330.

  In step S1310, the server device selection unit 305 compares the current time T with the reservation start time Ts of the server candidate device of interest. If T is a time before Ts, the server device selection unit 305 sets the evaluation value for the server candidate device as a numerical value representing the time from T to Ts in minutes in step S1320, for example.

  From the calculated evaluation value, for example, by setting the server device selection unit 305 to extract a server having the longest time from T to Ts, it is possible to determine a server device that can be used for a longer time.

  If T is the same time as Ts or a time later than Ts, the server device selection unit 305 sets the evaluation value for the server candidate device in step S1330 to indicate that the server is unusable, for example, 0. When the evaluation is performed for all the used server candidates, the process is completed.

  In other words, this evaluation method is a method in which the evaluation value is 0 for devices that are already in use, and “the time from the current time to the reservation start time” for devices that are not in use. This makes it possible to select a more suitable server device by calculating an evaluation value in consideration of the length of time that can be used from now.

  Next, a method shown in the flowchart of FIG. 14 will be described as another form of the method for evaluating the degree of availability of each server device. The server device selection unit 305 evaluates all the use server candidates by the following steps S1410, S1420, S1430, S1440, and S1450.

  In step S1410, the server device selection unit 305 compares the current time T with the reservation start time Ts of the server candidate device of interest. If T is the same time as Ts or a time later than Ts, the server device selection unit 305 sets, in step S1420, the evaluation value for the server candidate device indicating that the server is unusable, for example, 0. If T is a time before Ts, the server device selection unit 305 compares a predetermined threshold Lmin with a numerical value representing the time from T to Ts in minutes in step S1430. Lmin is set in advance, for example, “30 minutes”. If the time from T to Ts is shorter than Lmin, the server device selection unit 305 sets the evaluation value for the server candidate device at step S1440, for example, a numerical value representing the time from T to Ts in minutes. If the time from T to Ts is not shorter than Lmin in step S1430, the server device selection unit 305 indicates that the evaluation value for the server candidate device is unusable in step S1450, for example, 0. . When the evaluation is performed for all the used server candidates, the process is completed.

  In other words, this evaluation method uses an evaluation value of 0 for a device that is already in use and a device that is not in use but has a reservation start time during the time represented by the threshold value Lmin. For a device that does not reach the reservation start time, the evaluation value is “time from the current time to the reservation start time”. As a result, server devices that can be used only for a shorter time than the predetermined time can be excluded from candidates among currently available server devices, and server devices that can be used for a longer time can be extracted.

  Next, a method shown in the flowchart of FIG. 15 will be described as another form of a method for evaluating the degree of availability of each server device. The server device selection unit 305 evaluates all the use server candidates by the following steps S1510, S1520, S1530, S1540, and S1550.

  In step S1510, the server device selection unit 305 compares the current time T with the reservation start time Ts of the server candidate device of interest. If T is the same time as Ts or a time later than Ts, the server device selection unit 305 sets, in step S1520, the evaluation value for the server candidate device indicating that the server is unusable, for example, 0. If T is a time before Ts, the server device selection unit 305 compares a predetermined threshold Lmax with a numerical value representing the time from T to Ts in minutes in step S1530. Lmax is set in advance, for example, “300 minutes”. If the time from T to Ts is equal to or greater than Lmax, the server device selection unit 305 sets the evaluation value for the server candidate device to a numerical value representing the time from T to Ts in minutes in step S1540, for example. If the time from T to Ts is less than Lmax in step S1530, the server device selection unit 305 sets the evaluation value for the server candidate device to infinity (or a value representing optimum) in step S1550. When the evaluation is performed for all the used server candidates, the process is completed.

  In other words, this evaluation method uses an evaluation value of 0 for a device that is already in use, and an evaluation value of “reservation start from the current time” for a device that is not in use but has a reservation start time during the time indicated by the threshold Lmax. This is a method of setting the evaluation value to infinity (or a value representing optimum) for a device that is not in use and does not become a reservation start time during the time represented by the threshold value Lmax. This makes it possible to extract server devices that can be used for a predetermined time or more from currently available server devices.

  Next, a method shown in the flowchart of FIG. 16 will be described as another form of a method for evaluating the degree of availability of each server device. This method can be applied when the time L required to view the content selected by the user is known, and the server device selection unit 305 acquires the time L in step S1610.

  The method of acquiring the time L refers to the “time” in the integrated content list of FIG. 7 generated by the above-described method, and when the selected content is broadcast content, the time from the current time to the broadcast end time There are a method of calculating L to L and a method of setting L to the time required for viewing when the selected content is recorded content. Subsequently, the server device selection unit 305 evaluates all the use server candidates by the processing of the following steps S1620, S1630, and S1640.

  In step S <b> 1620, the server device selection unit 305 compares the time P at which L time has elapsed from the current time T with the reservation start time Ts of the server candidate device of interest. If P is a time before Ts, the server device selection unit 305 indicates that the server can use the evaluation value for the server candidate device in step S1630, for example, 1. If P is the same time as Ts or a time later than Ts, the server device selection unit 305 sets, in step S1640, the evaluation value for the server candidate device to 0, for example, indicating that the server is unusable. The server device selection unit 305 completes the process when all the use server candidates are evaluated.

  In other words, this evaluation method uses an evaluation value of 0 for devices that are already in use or devices that reach the reservation start time before the selected content has been viewed to the end. For a device that can be viewed to the end, the evaluation value is 1. As a result, it is possible to extract a server that can be used for the time required for viewing desired data to the end from currently available server devices.

  Moreover, when P is the time before Ts, you may calculate the numerical value which represented the time from P to Ts in the unit of minutes, for example as an evaluation value. In this case, for example, by setting to select the one with the lowest value, it is possible to efficiently use the reserved space of the server.

<Select server>
Next, a detailed portion of the processing in step S950 in the flowchart of FIG. 9 described above will be described. Here, there is either a method in which the final decision is automatically performed by the playback apparatus as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 17 or a method in which the final decision is left to the user as shown in the flowchart of FIG.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 17, the server device selection unit 305 first compares the evaluation results of the candidates in step S1710. In step S1720, the server device selection unit 305 checks whether there are a plurality of devices having the highest evaluation value. If there are not a plurality of devices, that is, if there is only one device, the server device selection unit 305 uses the one server device in step S1730. If there are a plurality of devices, one device is randomly selected as a device to be used in step S1740. This makes it possible to automatically select and determine an available server device.

Next, a method of leaving the final decision to the user as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
In the flowchart of FIG. 18, the server device selection unit 305 uses the user interface unit 306 in step S1810 based on the evaluation result of each candidate, with a certain number in order from the highest evaluation value, for example, up to three units. Present to the person. If available devices are less than the above-mentioned fixed number, all available devices are presented. The user selects and decides one device to be used from the presented items. As a result, the data reproducing apparatus according to the present invention assists the user in determining server device selection by outputting a list of available server devices.

  As described above, when the server device to be used is determined according to the procedure described above, the data reproducing apparatus 103 designates the URI corresponding to the content designated by the user for the selected server device, and issues a content data acquisition request with the http-get command. The server device that has received the request distributes the specified content data to the data reproduction device 103, and the data reproduction device 103 decodes the received data by the decoding unit 303 and outputs it to the data reproduction output unit 304. As a result, the user can view desired content.

  Note that the data reproducing apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is needless to say that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

It is the figure which showed the home network system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the content server which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the data reproduction apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the server apparatus information which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the content list which the server apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention accumulate | stores. It is the figure which showed the present use / reservation information of the said apparatus which the server apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention accumulate | stores. It is the figure which showed the integrated content list which the data reproduction apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention produces | generates. It is the figure which showed the content list which the data reproducing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention produces | generates and shows to a user. It is a flowchart of the server apparatus selection process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the current use / reservation information aggregation processing of all servers according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the list information produced by consolidating the reservation of all the servers which concern on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the degree evaluation process of the availability of the server which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the degree evaluation process of the availability of the server which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the degree evaluation process of the availability of the server which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the degree evaluation process of the availability of the server which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the degree evaluation process of the availability of the server which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the use server final decision process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the use server final decision process which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Home network system 102 Network 103 Data reproduction apparatus 104,105,106 Content server 201 Control part 202 Transmission / reception part 203 Encoding part 204 Tuner part 210 Data storage part 211 Server apparatus information storage part 212 Content list storage part 213 Content data storage part 214 Current use / reservation information storage unit 301 Control unit 302 Transmission / reception unit 303 Decoding unit 304 Data reproduction output unit 305 Server device selection unit 306 User interface unit 310 Data storage unit 311 Integrated content list storage unit 312 Server evaluation rule storage unit 313 Server reservation list Information storage units 410, 420, 430 Server device attribute information 510, 520, 530 Server device content list information 511, 512, 513 Server device container Tsu individual information 610, 620, 630 server devices currently use / reservation information 701, 702, and 703 integrated content list individual information

Claims (9)

A data reproduction apparatus that connects to a plurality of servers via a network, receives and reproduces data,
Usage information acquisition means for acquiring usage information including reservation information from the plurality of servers;
An evaluation value calculating means for calculating an evaluation value for evaluating whether or not the server can be used from the data reproducing device in order to determine a server from the use information;
A data reproducing apparatus comprising:   2. The data reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising server determining means for determining one of the servers that can be used based on the evaluation value.   The data reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising server candidate selection list output means for outputting server candidates that can be used based on the evaluation value. The reservation information includes a reservation start time and a reservation end time,
4. The data according to claim 1, wherein when the current time is after the reservation start time and before the reservation end time, the evaluation value of the server is a value indicating that the server cannot be used. Playback device. The reservation information includes a reservation start time,
4. The time from the current time to the reservation start time is calculated when the current time is before the reservation start time, and the evaluation value of the server is calculated from the calculated time value. A data reproducing apparatus according to any one of the above. The reservation information includes a reservation start time,
6. The time from the current time to the reservation start time is calculated when the current time is before the reservation start time, and the evaluation value is set so that the server with the longest calculated time is determined. The data reproducing apparatus described. The reservation information includes a reservation start time,
If the current time is before the reservation start time, the time from the current time to the reservation start time is calculated. If the calculated time is shorter than the predetermined time, the evaluation value of the server is set to a value indicating that the server cannot be used. 6. A data reproducing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein: The reservation information includes a reservation start time,
If the current time is before the reservation start time, the time from the current time to the reservation start time is calculated, and if the calculated time is equal to or longer than the predetermined time, the evaluation value of the server is set to a value indicating that the server can be used The data reproducing apparatus according to claim 5. The reservation information includes a reservation start time and a reservation end time,
It further comprises data reproduction time acquisition means for acquiring the time required for data reproduction,
When any time between the current time and the time obtained by adding the time required for data reproduction to the current time matches any time between the reservation start time and the reservation end time, the server 4. The data reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation value is a value indicating that the server cannot be used.

Images