JP2007193899A - Content recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent such situation that new contents cannot be recorded due to the shortage of capacity of a recording medium in a recorder, without burdening the user. <P>SOLUTION: When a free space of the recording medium becomes the arbitrarily set threshold or less, a use status of an own device is checked to extract an available time. Also, the free space of the recording medium of a device of moving destination, a recorded contents information or the available time are acquired, and by referring to these information and the available time of the own device, the content to be moved is automatically selected from among the recorded contents in the own device. Then, the selected content is divided for file in a predetermined unit, and a schedule for moving each file is formed and executed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a large-capacity recording device that records and reproduces content such as digital broadcasts on a hard disk device (hereinafter referred to as HDD), and in particular, moves the recorded content on the HDD to a removable recording device (hereinafter referred to as move). Related to the function.

With the development of digital video signal processing technology in recent years, digital TV receivers (hereinafter referred to as DTV) that receive digital broadcasts and digital recording devices that record and play back digital broadcast programs (for example, HDD recorders, DVD recorders, etc.) AV devices are being commercialized one after another.
In addition, these digital AV devices can transmit digital contents using IEEE 1394 or Ethernet (registered trademark). In this case, a DTCP (Digital Transmission Content Protection) system is defined as a technique for preventing unauthorized copying on a transmission path. In the DTCP system, copy control information (for example, “Copy Free” (copy unlimited), “Copy Never” (copy prohibition), “Copy One Generation” (copy one generation allowed) ), “No More Copies” (no copy), etc.), and the digital recording device can record only “Copy Free” or “Copy One Generation” content, and “Copy One Generation” content. Is recorded, the copy control information is changed to “No More Copies”, and further recording is prohibited. In the current digital broadcasting, the content ratio of “Copy One Generation” is high.

  Here, recently, HDD recorders that record content using a large-capacity HDD are rapidly spreading. However, since such HDD recorders have a limited disk capacity that is fixed in the apparatus, the user cannot use a disk recorder. When the free space of the disk becomes smaller, it is necessary to be able to store the contents to be stored on a storage medium such as a tape or a DVD.

  In view of such a situation, in the DTCP method, a “moving function” that moves content by copying or deleting the content of “No More Copies” once recorded on the recording medium to another recording medium. ". The move function can only be performed on one built-in or digitally connected recording medium. During the move operation, both the move source and the move destination can play back content longer than 1 minute at the same time. It is forbidden to be. As a technique for implementing the move function, there is a technique described in Patent Document 1, for example.

JP 2004-326892 A

However, it is very troublesome for the user to move the recording device to another recording medium every time the free capacity of the recording device is reduced. In some cases, the reserved program cannot be recorded due to insufficient capacity.
Further, since the content at the move source is deleted at the end of the move, if the move fails due to a shortage of recording media at the move destination or an incorrect operation, the user may not be able to view the content again.
Furthermore, since it takes the same time as viewing content depending on the recording format, it may not be possible to perform operation / execution such as program reservation during the move.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a content recording / reproducing apparatus having a function capable of performing a move as safely as possible, reliably and easily for a user.

In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention,
When the free capacity of a recording medium such as an HDD falls below an arbitrarily set threshold value, the usage status of the device (for example, reserved recording or program update setting status) is checked, and free time is extracted.
Also, the free space of the recording medium of the move destination device, the already recorded content information, and the free time are acquired, and the information and the free time of the self device are referred to, and the recorded content in the self device is selected. Automatically select content to move.
Then, the selected content is divided into files in a predetermined unit (for example, about every 1 minute), and a schedule for moving each file is generated and executed.

  In addition, when a device other than the move source and the move destination issues a relatively high load request such as a content viewing request to the move source or the move destination device, the move is interrupted, and the move Update the schedule.

  According to the content recording apparatus of the present invention, it becomes possible to keep the free capacity of the recording medium in the own apparatus at a predetermined value without the user's operation, and prevent a situation in which new content cannot be recorded due to insufficient capacity. Can do.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an embodiment for explaining the present invention, and shows the configuration of an AV system including a plurality of content recording / playback apparatuses. The AV system is assumed to be used in a home network environment, and the DTV 100 with built-in HDD, the HDD recorder 200, the DTV 300A, and 300B are digitally connected to each other via the hub 30 by the Ethernet (registered trademark) 20. Assume that the DTV 100 and the HDD recorder 200 are installed in the room A, the DTV 300A is installed in the room B, and the DTV 300B is installed in the room C. In this embodiment, Ethernet (registered trademark) is used, but a digital interface such as IEEE 1394, wireless, or USB can also be used.

The DTV 100 can view a digital broadcast program received by the antenna 10 and can store the broadcast program in a built-in HDD. Also, digital output of broadcast programs and transmission / reception of control commands can be performed via Ethernet (registered trademark) 20 to other HDD recorders 200 and DTVs 300A and 300B.
The HDD 200 includes a built-in or removable HDD, and can record content received via the Ethernet (registered trademark) 20.
The DTVs 300 </ b> A and 300 </ b> B can view the content recorded in the DTV 100 or the HDD 200 in the room A via the Ethernet (registered trademark) 20.

  Next, one configuration of the DTV 100 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The DTV 100 includes a tuner processing unit 101, a descrambler 102, a demultiplexer 103, a decoder 104, an input processing unit 105, a timer management unit 106, a recording / playback processing unit 107, a digital I / F 108, an HDD 109, a monitor 110, a control unit 111, It consists of a digital input / output terminal 112.

The tuner processing unit 101 is a part that selects a desired channel from a plurality of channels received from a broadcasting station and demodulates a digitally modulated program.
The descrambler 102 is a part for releasing the scramble of the broadcast program that is set to be able to receive only the channel contracted with the service provider.
The demultiplexer 103 is a part that extracts audio data and video data from a broadcast program.

  The decoder 104 is a part that decodes compressed audio data and video data, which are contents recorded in the broadcast program and HDD 109, and expands the original audio signals and video signals. These signals are output to the monitor 110. The input processing unit 105 is a part where the user operates the DTV 100 using a remote controller, a touch panel, or the like. The timer management unit 106 manages current time information and timer reservation for broadcast programs. The recording / playback processing unit 107 is a part that performs recording control for recording the received broadcast program in the HDD 109 and playback control for playing back the broadcast program recorded in the HDD 109.

  The digital I / F 108 is a part that transmits and receives content and control commands to and from other AV devices (for example, HDD 200, DTV 300A, 300B) connected via Ethernet (registered trademark) 20 via the digital input / output terminal 112. Also, the content to be transmitted is encrypted and the received encrypted content is decrypted. The HDD 109 is a built-in memory that records broadcast programs. In addition, a removable HDD, an optical disk, a memory card, and a hybrid form combining these can be considered. The monitor 110 is a part that displays broadcast programs and contents recorded in the HDD 109. Instead of being built-in, it is also possible to have a form external to DTV 100. The control unit 110 is a part that comprehensively controls the operation of each unit in the DTV 100.

  Similarly, a configuration of the HDD recorder 200 will be described with reference to FIG. The HDD recorder 200 includes an input processing unit 201, a digital I / F 202, a timer management unit 203, a recording / playback processing unit 204, a recording memory 205, a control unit 206, and a digital input / output terminal 207. The input processing unit 201 is a part where the user operates the HDD recorder 200 using a remote controller, a touch panel, or the like.

  The digital I / F 202 is a part that transmits / receives contents and control commands to / from other AV devices (for example, the DTV 100, DTV 300A, and 300B) connected by the Ethernet (registered trademark) 20 via the digital input / output terminal 207. Also, the content to be transmitted is encrypted and the received encrypted content is decrypted.

  The timer management unit 203 is a part that manages current time information and timer reservation for broadcast programs. The recording / playback processing unit 204 is a part that performs recording control for recording the content received via the digital input / output terminal 207 in the HDD 205 and playback control for playing back the content recorded in the HDD 205. The HDD 205 is a built-in or detachable memory that records content. In addition, an optical disk, a memory card, and a hybrid form combining these can be considered. The control unit 206 is a part that comprehensively controls the operation of each unit in the HDD recorder 200. The DTVs 300A and 300B have the same configuration as the DTV 100 except that the timer management unit 106, the recording / playback processing unit 107, and the HDD 109 of the DTV 100 are not installed.

  Next, in the AV system shown in FIG. 1, a broadcast program recorded in the HDD 109 of the DTV 100 installed in the room A, which is a home server, is moved to the HDD 205 of the HDD recorder 200 via the Ethernet (registered trademark) 20. The preparatory steps for doing this are described below.

  First, a procedure 400 necessary for the DTV 100 to execute the move process at an appropriate timing will be described with reference to FIG. The control unit 111 of the DTV 100 constantly monitors the free capacity of the HDD 205, and when the free capacity falls below a preset threshold (for example, 20% of the total capacity of the HDD) (step 401), the registered move destination device is It is checked whether or not there is (step 402). If there is no registered device, the user is notified and set it, or it is automatically detected whether there is a device with HDD on Ethernet (registered trademark) 20, and given priority The move destination device is registered in accordance with the rank (for example, preferential registration from a device existing in the room A or a device having a removable HDD) (step 403). In the present embodiment, the move destination device is the HDD recorder 200.

  Thereafter, the control unit 111 of the DTV 100 acquires the reservation information managed by the timer management unit 106 and extracts the free time of the own device (step 404). At the same time, various types of information are acquired from the registered move destination device (HDD recorder 200) via the Ethernet (registered trademark) 20. For example, the free space of the HDD 205 of the HDD recorder 200, information relating to already recorded content, reservation information managed by the timer management unit 203, and the like are acquired (step 405).

Next, based on the genre of the content already recorded in the HDD 205 of the move destination device 200, the genre of the content recorded in the HDD 109 in the own device, the number of times of playback, the recording date and time, etc., The target content is selected (step 406). Then, the content is divided into files by a predetermined unit. In this embodiment, as an example, it is assumed that the content is divided in units of about one minute and N files are generated (step 407). Thereafter, a time schedule for executing the move is generated based on the idle time of the own device 100 and the move destination device 200, and is registered in the timer management unit 106 (step 408).
Finally, in order to notify the user that the move schedule has been automatically generated, a screen display as shown in FIG. 7 is performed as an example.

  FIG. 7A notifies the user that a move schedule has been generated, such as blinking an arbitrary mark 700 on the monitor 110 of the DTV 100. When the user designates the mark 700 with the remote controller 701, a move schedule content 702 as shown in (b) is displayed on the monitor 110. As a result, the user can confirm the automatically generated schedule, and can change the contents by instructing [Change] on the screen.

Next, a procedure 500 in which the DTV 100 executes a move process with the HDD recorder 200 based on the schedule will be described with reference to FIG.
The timer management unit 106 of the DTV 100 notifies the control unit 111 when the move start time set by the generated time schedule is reached. The control unit 111 notifies the HDD recorder 200 of the start of content movement through the digital I / F 108. On the other hand, when HDD recorder 200 requests information about the content to be moved from DTV 100, DTV 100 returns the name, genre, number of file divisions, and the like of the content (step 501).

Next, an identifier n for managing the number of times of movement (that is, the number of file divisions) is initialized (n = 1) (step 502), and is transferred from the HDD recorder 200 on the Ethernet (registered trademark) 20 via the digital I / F 112. When the TCP connection establishment request is received, the control unit 111 of the DTV 100 waits for a move start request from the move destination apparatus 200 (step 503).
Here, for example, an HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) GET request is assumed as a wait for a move start request. When the move start of the nth file among the N files divided from the HDD recorder 200 is requested, the DTV 100 deletes or disables the reproduction of the (n-1) th file. For example, when the HDD recorder 200 requests a third file, the DTV 100 deletes the second file (step 504).

  Thereafter, the DTV 100 starts transmitting the nth file to the HDD recorder 200 via the digital I / F 108 (step 505). The HDD recorder 200 records the received file on the HDD 205. When the DTV 100 transmits the nth file to the end, the DTV 100 increments the identifier n (step 506) and checks whether the value of n is the same as N + 1 (step 507).

As a result, if n <N + 1, it is determined from the schedule whether or not the move of the (n + 1) th file is to be continued (step 508), and if so, the n + 1th file from the HDD recorder 200 is determined. It waits for a move start request (step 503). On the other hand, when transmission of all N files is completed or when the move process is temporarily interrupted based on the schedule, the connection established between the HDD recorders 200 is discarded (step 509).
Here, in order to notify the user that the move process has been started, the HDD recorder 200 displays a screen as shown in FIG. 8 as an example.

  FIG. 8A notifies the user that the move process has started / executed, for example, by flashing an arbitrary mark 800 on an external monitor screen of the HDD recorder 200. When the user designates the mark 800 with the remote controller 801, a move execution status 802 as shown in (b) is displayed. Similar contents can be displayed on the monitor 110 of the DTV 100. As a result, the user can check the status of the automatically started move process at any time.

Next, a procedure 600 for interrupting the move process will be described with reference to FIG.
When the DTV 100 and the HDD recorder 200 are executing a move process, the DTV 300A installed in the room B or the DTV 300B installed in the room C is recorded on the HDD 109 in the DTV 100 via the Ethernet (registered trademark) 20 When a content viewing request is issued (step 601), the control unit 111 of the DTV 100 considers the current load status of the move process and the load status when transferring the requested content, and determines whether to interrupt the move process. Is determined (step 602).

  For example, if a high-quality content with a high transfer rate is being moved and a viewing request for content with a high transfer rate is received, the processing load on the DTV 100 is high, and the move process such as video being interrupted may fail. Therefore, it is assumed that the situation will be interrupted. In this case, the control unit 111 of the DTV 100 interrupts the move process by discarding the connection between the HDD recorders 200 or notifying the interruption (step 603). Then, after deciding when to resume the move process for the content of the interrupted move process and updating the current move schedule, transmission of the desired content to the DTV 300A or DTV 300B is started.

Here, when resuming the interrupted move process, the DTV 100 resumes transmission from the beginning of the n-th file that was transmitted when it was interrupted. The HDD recorder 200 deletes the nth file received at the time of the interruption, and resumes recording of the newly received content.
Accordingly, the move process can be safely interrupted / resumed without any user operation, and it is possible to respond to a viewing request from another device.

1 is a configuration example of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block configuration example of a DTV with built-in HDD according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block configuration example of an HDD recorder according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a procedure for automatically generating a move schedule in the HDD built-in DTV according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a move process execution procedure between the HDD built-in DTV and the HDD recorder according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure for interrupting a move process between the HDD built-in DTV and the HDD recorder according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an example of a screen displayed to notify that the HDD built-in DTV according to the embodiment of the present invention has automatically generated a move schedule. FIG. An example of a screen displayed to notify that the move process is being executed by the HDD recorder according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

10. Antenna 20 ... Ethernet (registered trademark)
30 ... Hub 100 ... HDD DTV
200 ... HDD recorder 300A, 300B ... DTV
104 ... Decoder 105, 201 ... Input processing unit 106, 203 ... Timer management unit 107, 204 ... Recording / playback processing unit 108, 202 ... Digital I / F
109, 205 ... HDD (built-in / detachable)
110: Monitor 111, 206: Control unit 112, 207: Digital terminal

Claims (7)

A content recording / playback apparatus including a recording medium for recording or playing back content,
A recording unit for digitally recording content on the recording medium;
A playback unit for playing back the content recorded in the recording unit;
An output unit that digitally outputs the content recorded in the recording unit to another device;
A timer management unit for managing reservation information for performing reproduction or recording of the content at a predetermined time;
A control unit that monitors the free space of the recording medium, moves arbitrary content to another recording medium or another preset recording device via the output unit, and makes the free space substantially constant. ,
When the control unit detects that the free space of the recording medium is equal to or less than a preset threshold, the control unit obtains reservation information from the timer management unit, extracts the free time of the own device, and records it on the recording medium A content for moving to another recording medium or another preset recording device is selected from the content, and the selected content is moved from the output free time from the output unit. A content recording / reproducing apparatus that generates a schedule and executes a move in accordance with the schedule.   The selected content is divided into a predetermined size to generate one or more files, and a schedule for moving the files from the output unit from the extracted free time is generated. Item 2. A content recording / reproducing apparatus according to Item 1.   The control unit, when selecting content to be moved, confirms a free capacity of the recording medium of the another recording medium or a preset recording device, and selects content of an appropriate size. 3. The content recording / reproducing apparatus according to either 1 or 2.   When the content to be moved is selected by the control unit, the type of the content recorded on the recording medium of the other recording medium or a preset recording device is confirmed, and a similar type of content is selected. The content recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 3. It further includes a built-in or external display that displays content and operation screens to the user,
2. The content recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the move schedule is generated, the display unit displays the fact and notifies the user.   When the time of the generated schedule is reached, the move is started to the preset recording device, and information including at least a content name and a divided file name related to the content to be moved is notified. The content recording / playback apparatus according to claim 2. After moving one of the divided files, when the next file move request is received from the preset recording device, the one file is deleted or set to be unplayable. The content recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 6.

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