JP2008192025A - Content search system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a content search system allowing a customer to check whether he/she already possesses content, which he/she consider purchasing/renting, or not at a shop. <P>SOLUTION: When the customer inserts a disc into a CD player 20, the CD player 20 transmits a search request including a disc specification information of a disk to a content server 10. The content server 10 carries out a search for checking whether the disc specification information included in the search request agrees with disk specification information stored in a possession information table or not and transmits a search result to a CD player 20. The search result is transferred to a cellular phone 30 to be displayed. Therefore, the customer can easily check whether he/she already possess the content stored in the disk, which he/she considers renting/purchasing, or not. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a content search system for searching whether or not a customer already owns content that the customer is considering purchasing or renting in a store.

  A music CD (hereinafter referred to as a CD) is rented at a rental shop, ripped to a device having an HDD such as a PC or a content server, and content (song data) is viewed. In recent years, content files have been purchased from a sales site on the Internet and downloaded to the HDD.

  Here, when a customer rents a CD at a rental shop, he / she does not remember whether or not the content recorded on the CD to be rented is already owned in the home PC, and as a result already owned There is a possibility that a CD on which the same content is recorded will be rented again.

  The following Patent Document 1 discloses the following contents. A content provision request including request source identification information and information identification information for identifying content is transmitted from the mobile phone terminal 3 to the content distribution server device 2, and the content distribution server device 2 supplies the content provision request to the content supply server. Transfer to server device 1. The content supply server device refers to the purchase history list in the purchase history storage unit 1R, and checks whether or not it is a duplicate purchase, and the result of the duplicate purchase inspection is sent to the mobile phone terminal 3 through the content distribution server device 2. Send to. The mobile phone terminal 3 notifies the user of the mobile phone terminal 3 that the purchase is a duplicate purchase when the transmitted result of the duplicate purchase inspection is a duplicate purchase.

  In the system of Patent Document 1, the previously purchased content is deleted, and even if the content is not currently owned, the user of the mobile phone terminal 3 is notified of the duplicate purchase. Therefore, it cannot be accurately determined whether or not the content is actually owned by the PC at home.

JP 2001-331661 A

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described conventional problems, and the purpose of the present invention is to search for whether or not a customer already owns content that the customer considers purchasing or renting in a store. Is to provide a system.

  A content search system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a disc specifying device for specifying disc specifying information of a disc on which content is recorded, a disc connected to the disc specifying device via a network, and specified by the disc specifying device. And an owned content search device for searching whether or not the user has already owned the content recorded. The disc specifying device includes: a reading unit that reads disc specifying information from a disc; a search request unit that transmits a search request including the disc specifying information to the owned content search device; Search result receiving means for receiving a search result as to whether or not the content recorded on the disc specified by the disc specifying information is already owned. The owned content search device includes: an ownership storage unit that stores disc specifying information of content owned by a user; a request receiving unit that receives a search request transmitted from the disc specifying device; and a disc specification obtained from the search request Search for determining whether or not the information matches the disk specifying information stored in the owning storage means, and setting the search result as owned if they match, and setting the search result as not owned if they do not match Means, and search result transmission means for transmitting the search result to the disk specifying device.

  When a customer inserts a disc into the disc specifying device, the disc specifying device transmits a search request including disc specifying information of the disc to the owned content searching device. The owned content search device searches whether the disc specifying information included in the search request matches the disc specifying information stored in the owning storage means, and transmits the search result to the disc specifying device. The disc specifying device notifies the customer of the search result by a predetermined method. Therefore, the customer can easily confirm whether or not the content recorded on the disc being rented or purchased is already owned. Here, “having the content recorded on the disc” includes that the disc itself is owned, and that the content file recorded on the disc is stored in the storage device and owned.

Preferably, the content search system further includes a portable terminal for accepting a user operation. The portable terminal includes: a second search request unit that transmits a search request to the disk specifying device according to a user operation; a unit that receives a search result from the disk specifying device; and a search result received from the disk specifying device. Display means for displaying. The disc specifying device further includes means for transmitting a search result received from the owned content search device to the portable terminal. The search request means transmits the search request to the owned content search device in response to the search request received from the mobile terminal.
In this case, the customer can easily confirm whether or not the content recorded on the disc being rented or purchased is owned by using the mobile terminal. Further, a plurality of customers can search for the presence or absence of content at the same time using a mobile terminal.

  Preferably, the mobile terminal further includes means for storing mobile identification information for identifying the mobile terminal, and means for storing search device identification information for identifying the owned content search device on a network. . The second search request means transmits a search request including the portable identification information and the search device identification information to the disk specifying means. The search request means transmits the search request further including the mobile identification information to the owned content search device specified by the search device identification information. The owned content search device further includes portable identification information storage means for storing the portable identification information. When the mobile identification information included in the search request received from the disk specifying device matches the mobile identification information stored in the mobile identification information storage means, the search means executes the search process.

  Since the owned content search device searches for the presence / absence of content only when the mobile identification information matches, it is possible to prevent the search result from being erroneously transmitted to another person's mobile terminal.

  Preferably, the search request transmitted by the search request unit further includes information indicating a type of the disc specifying information, and the type of the disc specifying information is TOC information, or an artist name and an album name, When the means stores a combination of an artist name and an album name corresponding to content owned by the user, and the owned content search device has the type of the disc specifying information as TOC information, the TOC information included in the search request And a means for obtaining the artist name and album name of the disc, and the search means stores the combination of the artist name and album name obtained from the search request in the possession storage means. Searches for a match with the combination of artist name and album name.

  By using the artist name and album name as the disc specifying information, the content downloaded via the telecommunication line can be managed as owned content by the possessing storage means.

  Preferably, the owned content search device further includes content storage means for recording a plurality of contents, and the owned storage means is associated with the disc specifying information and is specified by the disc specifying information. The number of contents recorded in the content storage unit among the plurality of contents recorded in the content storage unit is further stored, and the search result transmission unit transmits the search result further including the number of contents.

  In this case, the customer can know the number of contents stored in the content storage means among the plurality of contents stored on the disk, and can consider renting or purchasing the disk with reference to this information.

  A content search method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a step of reading disc identification information of a disc by a disc identification device installed in a store, and a disc from the disc identification device to an owned content retrieval device installed at a customer's home. A step of transmitting a search request including specific information, and whether the disc specifying information included in the search request matches the disc specifying information stored in the possessing storage means of the owned content searching device by the owned content searching device Determining whether or not the search results are owned, and setting the search results as owned if they do not match, and transmitting the search results from the owned content search device to the disc specifying device Including the step of.

  According to the present invention, the customer can easily confirm whether or not the content recorded on the disc being rented or purchased is already owned.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a content search system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The content search system includes an owned content search device 10 installed at home, a disc identification device 20 installed in a store (CD rental shop, CD sales shop, etc.), and a mobile terminal 30 that is always held by the user. Including. In the present embodiment, a case will be described where a CD is searched for whether a customer already owns a CD that the customer is considering to rent in the CD rental shop, but purchase is considered at the CD sales shop. The same applies to the case. Content is a general term for music data, video data, and still image data, but in the case of this example in which ownership of a CD is searched, the content is music data.

  The owned content search device 10 searches whether or not the customer already owns the content recorded on the CD that the customer is considering to rent in response to the search request packet transmitted from the disc specifying device 20. . The owned content search device is typically a content server (such as a PC or HDD recorder) incorporating a CD drive and HDD (hard disk drive). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the owned content search device 10 may not include the HDD. In addition, “the customer already owns the content recorded on the CD” means that the customer owns the same CD as the CD that is being rented or is considering renting. This means that the content recorded on the CD is stored in the content server HDD in the form of a content file.

  The disc identifying device 20 identifies the CD by inserting the CD that the customer is considering to rent, and searches the content server 10 to determine whether or not the content recorded on the CD is owned. Request. Typically, the disc specifying device 20 is a viewing CD player (hereinafter referred to as a CD player).

  The mobile terminal (for example, mobile phone) 30 transmits a search request to the CD player 20 in response to a user operation, displays the search result received from the CD player 20 on its operation display unit, and notifies the user. Is.

  Here, the outline of the present embodiment will be described. (1) A CD that is being rented by a customer is inserted into the CD player 20, and the CD player 20 specifies the inserted CD. (2) The search application (described later) of the mobile phone 30 is activated by the customer, and the mobile phone 30 transmits a search request to the CD player 20. (3) The CD player 20 transmits a search request packet to the home content server 10 in response to the search request from the mobile phone 30. (4) In response to the search request packet from the CD player 20, the content server 10 searches whether or not the content recorded on the CD is owned, and returns a search result packet to the CD player 20. (5) The CD player 20 transfers the search result packet to the mobile phone 30. (6) The mobile phone 30 displays the search result on the display unit according to the search result packet. As a result, it is possible to confirm whether or not the customer has owned the content recorded on the CD being considered for rental. Hereinafter, this embodiment will be described in detail.

[Content Server Configuration]
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the content server 10. The content server 10 includes a control unit 11, an HDD 12, a memory 13, a disk (CD) drive 14, an operation display unit 15, a playback unit 16, and a communication unit 17.

  The control unit 11 controls the operation of the entire content server 10 based on a program stored in the HDD 12 or the memory 13. The control unit 11 includes a packet analysis unit 11A, a search unit 11B, and a packet creation unit 11C. The packet analysis unit 11A analyzes the content of the search request packet received from the CD player 20. The search unit 11B searches whether the user owns the content recorded on the CD requested to be searched. The packet creation unit 11C creates a search result packet based on the search result by the search unit 11B.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a search request packet transmitted from the CD player 20 to the content server 10. The search request packet includes a service recognition ID, a type of CD identification information, a mobile phone unique ID (hereinafter referred to as a portable ID), and CD identification information. The service recognition ID indicates that the packet is a search request packet, and is information for the content server 10 to determine whether or not the content recorded on the CD needs to be searched. . The type of the CD identification information indicates whether the CD identification information is TOC information or metadata (in this example, artist name and album name). When the type of the CD identification information is TOC information, the CD identification information includes TOC information as shown in FIG. 3A. When the type of the CD identification information is an artist name and an album name, FIG. The artist name and album name are included as in b).

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a search result packet returned from the content server 10 to the CD player 20. The search result packet includes a mobile ID, a search result Ret value, an ownership form and the number of contents, an artist name, an album name, an album name not owned by the artist, a recommended artist name and an album name, Includes near artist and album names and jacket image data. In the search result Ret value, “Exist” indicating that the content recorded in the requested CD is owned or “NonExist” indicating that the content recorded on the CD is not owned is stored.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the HDD 12 stores a plurality of contents. The content recorded on the CD is read and ripped on the HDD 12 by the disk drive 14, or the content is purchased and downloaded from a sales site via the Internet.

  The HDD 12 further stores an ownership information table as shown in FIG. The ownership information table manages combinations of artist names and album names corresponding to the contents stored in the HDD 12. The ownership information table is a table for searching whether or not the search unit 11B owns the content recorded on the CD requested to be searched. If the combination of the artist name and album name of the requested CD is in the ownership information table, it is determined that the content recorded on the CD is owned. Otherwise, the content recorded on the CD is owned. It is judged that it is not. Further, as necessary, the ownership information table is not stored in the HDD 12 but is inserted into the disk drive 14 and manages the combination of the artist name and album name of the CD reproduced by the reproducing unit 16. As a result, a search result indicating that the search unit 11B owns the content recorded on the CD can be obtained even for the CD that the customer owns the CD but has not ripped on the HDD 12.

  The ownership information table includes an area for recording the artist name, an area for recording the album name, an area for recording the number of contents, and an area for recording the ownership form. In the area for recording the number of contents, the number of contents having the artist name and album name recorded in the HDD 12 is recorded. That is, it indicates how many pieces of content are recorded on the HDD 12 among the content recorded on the CD specified by the artist name and album name. The ownership form indicates the ownership form of the customer of the CD specified by the artist name and the album name. When the CD is reproduced by the reproducing unit 16 and registered in the possession information table, “CD insertion history exists (or even if the CD is owned) “CD” is recorded when the content is ripped on the HDD 12, and “download” is recorded when the content is purchased from the sales site and downloaded to the HDD 12.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the HDD 12 has an area for registering the mobile ID of the mobile phone 30 owned by the user. Only when the mobile ID that matches the mobile ID registered in the HDD 12 is included in the search request packet shown in FIG. 3, the content server 10 searches for the presence / absence of the content recorded on the CD, and the search The result packet is transmitted to the CD player 20. As a result, it is possible to prevent the information regarding whether or not the content recorded on the CD is transmitted to another person by mistake.

  The operation display unit 15 includes an operation key for inputting a user instruction, an LCD for displaying content information, and the like. The communication unit 17 communicates with the CD player 20 of the rental shop and the CDDB 40 via, for example, the Internet. That is, the communication unit 17 receives a search request packet from the CD player 20 and returns a search result packet to the CD player 20.

[Configuration of CD Player 20]
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the CD player 20. The CD player 20 includes a control unit 21, a memory 22, a disc (CD) drive 23, an operation display unit 24, an audio processing unit 25, a portable communication unit 26, and a communication unit 27.

  The control unit 21 controls the operation of the entire CD player 20 based on a program stored in the memory 22. The control unit 21 includes a packet creation unit 21A. The packet creation unit 21A creates a search request packet shown in FIG. 3 in response to a search request transmitted from the mobile phone 30. Further, the control unit 21 accesses the CDDB 40 via the communication unit 27, transmits the TOC information of the CD inserted in the disk drive 23 to the CDDB 40, and acquires the artist name and album name of the CD from the CDDB 40 (that is, CD specific information of CD is acquired).

  The memory 22 temporarily stores CD identification information (in this example, TOC information or artist name and album name) of the CD inserted in the disk drive 23. The CD specifying information stored in the memory 22 is used for creating the search request packet of FIG. The CD specifying information stored in the memory 22 is cleared when the CD is removed from the disk drive 23.

  When a CD is inserted by the user, the disk drive 23 reads the TOC information from the CD and supplies it to the control unit 21. Further, the disk drive 23 reads out music data from the CD and supplies it to the audio processing unit 25. The audio processing unit 25 performs D / A conversion on the music data and supplies an audio signal to an externally connected or built-in amplifier device and speaker.

  The operation display unit 24 includes operation keys for inputting user instructions, an LCD for displaying content information, and the like. The mobile communication unit 26 performs two-way communication with the mobile phone 30. For example, any communication such as Bluetooth or wireless LAN may be employed for communication with the mobile phone 30. The mobile communication unit 26 receives a search request from the mobile phone 30 and transmits a search result packet to the mobile phone 30. The communication unit 27 communicates with the home content server 10 and the external CDDB 40 via, for example, the Internet. That is, the communication unit 27 transmits a search request packet to the content server 10 and receives a search result packet from the content server 10.

[Configuration of mobile phone 30]
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the mobile phone 30. The mobile phone 30 includes a control unit 31, a memory 32, an operation display unit 33, a mobile communication unit 34, and a communication unit 35.

  The control unit 31 controls the overall operation of the mobile phone 30 based on a program stored in the memory 32. In addition, the control unit 31 activates the search application 32 </ b> A stored in the memory 32 and transmits a search request to the CD player 20 via the portable communication unit 34. The search application 32A is a service installed in the mobile phone 30 to search for whether or not the content recorded on the CD that is being considered for rental is already owned, and to display the search result on the operation display unit 33. This is an application program to be provided.

  The memory 32 stores its own mobile ID in advance. Further, specific information on the network of the content server 30 (in this example, an IP address but may be a host name) is registered in the memory 32. The IP address may be directly input to the mobile phone 30 by the user, or may be transmitted from the content server 10 to the mobile phone 30. The mobile ID and the IP address are transmitted from the mobile phone 30 to the CD player 20 together with the search request, and the CD player 20 creates a search request packet and uses it to transmit to the content server 10.

  The operation display unit 33 includes an operation key for inputting a user instruction and a display device (LCD, organic EL, etc.) for displaying a screen (GUI) of the search application 32A. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a search result screen displayed on the operation display unit 33. The search result screen includes at least an area 81 indicating whether or not the content recorded on the CD requested to be searched is owned. In addition, the search result screen is recommended to a person who prefers an area 82 for displaying an album name not owned by the user of the same artist as the requested CD and an artist of the requested CD as necessary. An area 83 for displaying the artist name and album name of the CD to be played, and an area 84 for displaying a CD that can be rented at the store where the CD player is installed among the CDs displayed in the areas 82 and 83. Including.

  Returning to FIG. 7, the portable communication unit 34 performs two-way communication with the CD player 20. For example, an arbitrary device such as Bluetooth or wireless LAN may be employed. The portable communication unit 34 transmits a search request to the CD player 20 and receives a search result packet from the CD player 20. The communication unit 35 communicates with, for example, an inventory management server (not shown) in the rental shop via the Internet.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the content search system of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

[Owner information table update processing]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the ownership information table update process of the content server 10. Referring to FIG. 9A, when the CD is reproduced by the disk drive 14 or when the content is registered in the HDD 12 (S11: YES), the control unit 11 of the content server 10 reads the reproduced CD. It is determined whether or not the combination of the artist name, album name, and ownership form (or the content registered in the HDD 12) exists in the ownership information table (S12). When it exists (S12: YES), S13 is skipped and it progresses to S14. On the other hand, if it does not exist (S12: NO), a combination of artist name, album name and ownership form is newly registered in the ownership information table (S13).

  Subsequently, the control unit 11 updates the number of contents in the ownership information table (S14). For example, when newly registering a combination of album name, artist name, and ownership form in the ownership information table (S12: NO, via S13, S14), the number of contents ripped (or downloaded) to the HDD 12 (or played back) The total number of contents recorded on the CD is newly registered. In addition, for a CD whose combination of album name, artist name, and ownership form has already been registered in the ownership information table, when other contents are additionally ripped (or downloaded) to the HDD 12 (S12: YES via S14), Add the number of contents ripped (downloaded) this time.

  For example, referring to FIG. 5, when ripping the contents of a CD with artist name BBB and album name yyy by adding two songs, the number of contents whose artist name BBB, album name yyy, and ownership type correspond to CD ripping are 8-10. Update to In addition, when playing a CD with artist name BBB and album name yyy, artist name BBB, album name yyy, and ownership status are newly added with CD insertion history, and the total number of contents of the CD is registered as the number of contents. To do.

  Referring to FIG. 9B, when content is deleted from HDD 12 (S21: YES), control unit 11 determines the number of content corresponding to the combination of artist name, album name, and ownership form of the deleted content. The number of deleted contents is subtracted and updated (S22). As a result of subtracting the number of deleted contents, when the number of contents becomes 0 (S23: YES), the control unit 11 deletes the combination of the artist name, album name, and ownership form of the deleted contents from the ownership information table. (S24).

[Content search operation]
FIG. 10 is a sequence chart showing content search processing. First, the content server 10 registers the mobile phone ID of the mobile phone 30 that should accept the search request in the HDD 12 (S101). This process is executed when the customer operates the content server 10 and the mobile phone 30 at home. When searching whether the customer has already owned a CD that the customer is considering renting at the rental shop, the search target CD is inserted into the CD player 20 (S201), and the search application 32A of the mobile phone 30 is operated according to the user operation. Is activated (S301).

  After the activation application 32A is activated, when a search instruction is input to the mobile phone 30 by a user operation, the mobile phone 30 performs a search including its own mobile ID stored in the memory 32 and the IP address of the content server 10 The request is transmitted to the CD player 20 via the portable communication unit 34 (S302). The CD player 20 receives the search request transmitted from the mobile phone 30 (S202), and temporarily stores the mobile ID and IP address included in the search request in the memory 22.

  Subsequently, the CD player 20 reads the TOC information, which is CD identification information, from the inserted CD and temporarily stores it in the memory 22 (S203). At this time, if necessary, the CD player 20 accesses the CDDB 40, transmits TOC information to the CDDB 40, and acquires the artist name and album name of the CD from the CDDB 40. The acquired artist name and album name are replaced with TOC information in the memory 22 and temporarily stored.

  The CD player 20 creates a search request packet shown in FIG. 3 on the basis of the mobile ID and CD identification information (either TOC information or artist name or album name) stored in the memory 22 and transmits it via the Internet. Then, it is transmitted to the content server 10 specified by the IP address (S204). Here, when the type of the CD identification information stored in the memory 13 is TOC information, the search request packet of FIG. 3A is created, and when the type of the CD identification information is an artist name and an album name, The search request packet shown in FIG. 3B is created.

  When the content server 10 receives the search request packet from the CD player 20 (S102), the content server 10 analyzes the content of the search request packet to search whether the user owns the content recorded on the CD requested to be searched. (S103). Further, the content server 10 creates a search result packet according to the search result and sends it back to the CD player 20 via the Internet (S103, S104).

  Details of S103 will be described with reference to FIG. First, after the packet analysis unit 11A of the content server 10 confirms that the service recognition ID is included, does the mobile ID included in the search request packet match the mobile ID registered in the HDD 12? It is confirmed whether or not (S401).

  If the mobile ID included in the search request packet is registered in the HDD 12 (S401: YES), since the content server 10 is a valid search request packet to be searched, the control unit 11 The search result Ret value is initialized to NonExist indicating that it does not own (S402). Subsequently, the packet analysis unit 11A determines whether or not the type of the CD specifying information of the second byte of the search request packet is TOC information (S403).

  If the type of the CD identification information is TOC information (S403: YES), the control unit 11 accesses the CDDB 40 and transmits the TOC information included in the search request packet to the CDDB 40. From the CDDB 40, the artist name of the CD The album name is acquired (S404). On the other hand, when the CD specifying information is the artist name and album name (S403: NO via S405: YES), the process skips S404 and proceeds to S406.

  The search unit 11B determines whether or not the user owns the content recorded on the CD requested to be searched (S406, S407). Specifically, the search unit 11B compares the combination of the artist name and album name obtained from the search request packet with the combination of the artist name and album name registered in the ownership information table of FIG. 5 (S406). Then, it is determined whether or not there is a matching combination (S407). If there is a matching combination of the artist name and the album name (S407: YES), it is determined that the user owns the content recorded on the CD requested to be searched. The Ret value is changed to Exist indicating possession (S408). On the other hand, if there is no matching combination of artist name and album name (S407: NO), it is determined that the user does not own the content recorded on the requested CD, so S408 is skipped ( The search result Ret value remains as NonExist), and the process proceeds to S409.

  In S409, based on the artist name and album name obtained from the search request packet, the control unit 11 sends the name of the album that is the same artist as the CD requested for search from an external server via the Internet and is not owned by the user. Also, an artist name and an album name recommended for a person who likes an artist of a CD for which a search request has been made, and an artist name and an album name close to the CD for which a search request has been made. Since the technology itself for acquiring such information is already provided with services, detailed description thereof is omitted here. In addition, a jacket image of a CD specified by the artist name and album name is acquired from an external server via the Internet. Note that the process of S409 is not essential.

  Subsequently, the packet creation unit 11C creates the search result packet illustrated in FIG. 4 including the search result Ret value and the like (S410). Specifically, the packet creation unit 11C includes the mobile ID confirmed in S401 in the first byte of the search result packet, the search result Ret value in the second byte, and the ownership form (the ownership form is the third and subsequent bytes). (Including the number of contents when ripping or downloading), the artist name to be searched, the album name, and each information acquired in S409. Finally, the control unit 11 returns the created search result packet to the CD player 20 (S411).

  In S401, if the mobile ID in the search request packet is not registered in the HDD 12 (S401: NO), the search request packet is erroneously transmitted, so the control unit 11 sets the search result Ret value to error. The search result packet is sent to the CD player 20 (S410, S411). Also, when the second byte of the search request packet is neither the TOC information nor the artist name and album name (S405: NO), the control unit 11 sets the search result Ret value to error (S412), and the search result packet Is transmitted to the CD player 20 (S410, S411).

  Returning to FIG. 10, the CD player 20 receives the search result packet from the content server 10 and transfers it to the mobile phone 30 specified by the mobile ID of the search result packet (S205). The mobile phone 30 receives the search result packet from the CD player 20 (S303). The mobile phone 30 accesses the inventory management server of the rental shop as necessary, and whether or not the recommended CD or the like acquired in S409 and included in the search result packet can be rented at this rental shop. Inventory information is acquired (S303).

  The mobile phone 30 creates a search result screen shown in FIG. 8 based on the search result packet and the inventory information acquired in S303 and displays it on the operation display unit 15. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing another display example of the area 81 representing the search result in FIG. When the search result Ret value of the search result packet is NonExist, a message “No content recorded on the CD” is displayed in the area 81 as shown in FIG. When the search result Ret value of the search result packet is “Exist” and the ownership type is “CD insertion history”, a message “CD has been inserted” is displayed in the area 81 as shown in FIG. Is done. When the search result Ret value of the search result packet is “Exist” and the ownership type is CD ripping, as shown in FIG. 12B, the area 81 has “8 CD songs (the number of songs is the search result). “The number of contents in the packet is displayed.)” Is displayed. When the search result Ret value of the search result packet is “Exist” and the ownership form is download, as shown in FIG. 12C, the area 81 has “7 songs on the CD (the number of contents includes the number of contents. The message “Ripped” is displayed.

  Through the above processing, the customer can confirm whether or not the content recorded on the CD to be rented has already been owned. In addition, even when only a part of a plurality of contents recorded on a CD is stored in the content server 10, the number of stored contents is displayed, which is used as reference information for rental. be able to.

  As mentioned above, although preferable embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to these embodiment. For example, the customer may input the IP address and password of the home content server to the CD player without using the mobile phone 30 and display the search result screen on the CD player 20 or a display device connected thereto. Similarly, a magnetic card or IC card such as a membership card in which the IP address and password of the content server are written may be used instead of the customer inputting the IP address to the CD player 20. In FIG. 10, the CD player 20 executes processing for accessing the inventory management server of the store in S303 and acquiring inventory information, and the CD player 20 creates the search result screen of FIG. May be sent to. Further, instead of comparing the combination of artist name and album name in the process of FIG. 10, the TOC information itself may be compared. In this case, TOC information is recorded in the possession information table instead of the artist name and album name, and the CD specifying information in the search request packet is TOC information. Even if the combination of the artist name and album name exists in the ownership information table, the search result may be set as not owned if the number of contents is less than the total number of contents of the CD. Further, the present invention may be provided in the form of a computer program for operating the content server, the CD player, and the mobile phone, and a recording medium on which the computer program is recorded.

  The present invention can be suitably applied to a service for confirming whether or not a customer has owned content recorded on a CD in a store such as a rental shop or a record shop.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the content search system by preferable embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a content server (owned content search apparatus). It is a figure which shows the data structure of a search request packet. It is a block diagram which shows the data structure of a search result packet. It is a figure which shows an ownership information table. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of CD player for viewing (disc specific device). It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a mobile telephone (mobile terminal). It is a figure which shows a search result screen. It is a flowchart which shows the update process of an ownership information table. It is a sequence chart of each apparatus which shows a content search process. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of S103. It is a figure which shows a search result screen.

Explanation of symbols

10 Content server (owned content search device)
20 CD player (disc specific device)
30 Mobile phone (mobile terminal)

Claims (6)

The disc identification device for identifying the disc identification information of the disc on which the content is recorded, and the user has already owned the content recorded on the disc identified by the disc identification device, connected to the disc identification device. An owned content search device for searching whether or not there is,
Reading means for reading the disk specifying information from the disk by the disk specifying device;
Search request means for transmitting a search request including the disc specifying information to the owned content search device;
Search result receiving means for receiving a search result transmitted from the owned content search device to determine whether or not the content recorded on the disc specified by the disc specifying information has been owned;
The owned content search device stores the disc specifying information of the content owned by the user;
Request receiving means for receiving a search request transmitted from the disk specifying device;
It is determined whether or not the disk identification information obtained from the search request matches the disk identification information stored in the possession storage means. If they match, the search result is set to owned, and the search is performed if they do not match. A search means to set the result as not owned,
A content search system comprising search result transmission means for transmitting the search result to the disc specifying device. A portable terminal for accepting user operations;
A second search request means for transmitting a search request to the disk specifying device in response to a user operation;
Means for receiving search results from the disk identification device;
Display means for displaying a search result received from the disk specifying device;
The disc specifying device further includes means for transmitting a search result received from the owned content search device to the mobile terminal;
The content search system according to claim 1, wherein the search request unit transmits the search request to the owned content search device in response to a search request received from the mobile terminal. Means for storing portable identification information for the portable terminal to identify the portable terminal;
Means for storing search device identification information for identifying the owned content search device on a network;
The second search request means transmits a search request including the mobile identification information and the search device identification information to the disk specifying means;
The search request means transmits the search request further including the mobile identification information to the owned content search device specified by the search device identification information;
The possessed content search device further includes portable identification information storage means for storing the portable identification information;
The search unit executes the search process when the mobile identification information included in the search request received from the disk specifying device matches the mobile identification information stored in the mobile identification information storage unit. The content search system described in 1. The search request transmitted by the search request means further includes information indicating a type of the disc specifying information, and the type of the disc specifying information is TOC information, or an artist name and an album name,
The possession storage means stores a combination of an artist name and an album name corresponding to content owned by the user;
The owned content search device further includes means for acquiring the artist name and album name of the disc based on the TOC information included in the search request when the type of the disc specifying information is TOC information,
The search unit searches for whether or not the combination of the artist name and album name obtained from the search request matches the combination of the artist name and album name stored in the possession storage unit. 4. The content search system according to any one of 3. The owned content search device further includes content storage means for recording a plurality of contents,
The possession storage means further stores the number of contents recorded in the content storage means among a plurality of contents recorded on the disc specified by the disc specification information in association with the disc specification information;
The content search system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the search result transmission unit transmits the search result further including the number of contents. A step of reading disc identification information of the disc by a disc identification device installed in the store;
Transmitting a search request including disc specifying information from the disc specifying device to an owned content search device installed at a customer's home;
The owned content search device determines whether or not the disc specifying information included in the search request matches the disc specifying information stored in the owned storage means of the owned content search device. Setting the to owned and if the search results do not match, set the search result to not owned,
Transmitting the search result from the owned content search device to the disc specifying device.

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