JP2008257627A - Content reproduction method and portable terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable terminal with a relatively small-capacity storage part, capable of appropriately accessing a server storing contents as needed without troubling a user even when moving outdoors to successively acquire necessary contents, and reproducing a plurality of contents without interruption as much as possible. <P>SOLUTION: The portable terminal 10 receives a content identification information list from content servers 20 and 40 by a predetermined trigger, and stores it in a storage part. The terminal thereafter starts reproduction of contents according to the content identification information list in response to a user's instruction. When all contents to be reproduced are not stored in the storage part after starting the reproduction, adjacent base stations 50 and 80 are automatically detected, and access to the content servers is performed from the base stations to acquire the contents according to the space capacity of the storage part. The contents completed in reproduction are deleted from the storage part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a content playback method for acquiring and playing back content from a content server connected to a home network in a mobile terminal, and a mobile terminal therefor.

  The “content playback system” disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a server that stores content on a network connected to the Internet, a client (playback-only machine), a client (portable music playback-only machine, etc.), and a portable terminal ( PDA). The portable terminal can be used freely at a desired place in the home by wireless with a network via a LAN / IrDA card. These clients and mobile terminals can selectively reproduce the content recorded on the server via the network. In addition, the client is configured to acquire a content list from the server, display the content list, and perform selective reproduction. Furthermore, the client and the mobile terminal are provided with a memory area for storing bookmark information including the content name, the content location, and the content viewing time, so that the continuous playback of the content can be resumed. Yes.

  Also, DLNA (Digital Living Network Association) has been proposed as a technical specification for connecting and using audio / visual devices, personal computers (PCs), information appliances, and the like in a home LAN. . DLNA-compatible devices can be automatically used from other devices simply by connecting to a network, and content can be transmitted and received.

In such a DLNA network, contents (photos, videos, music, etc.) stocked on a server in the home are sequentially transferred to a player (renderer) who wants to play back, so that the server from a remote location in the home can send to the renderer. Enables playback. For example, it can be said that a moving picture is stocked in a video at home and is played back on a television receiver in a bedroom.
JP 2004-128597 A

  According to the prior art described in Patent Document 1, when a portable terminal as a content player is always connected to a network, it is necessary to follow the content list after taking the content list inside. The content may be received and reproduced via the network.

  However, when the user of the mobile terminal wants to enjoy the content group stored in the content server at home when he / she goes out, there are the following problems.

  That is, in such a case, it is necessary to move the content group to the storage unit of the mobile terminal. However, the capacity of the storage unit of the mobile terminal is usually relatively small, and many contents are stored at once. Have difficulty. In addition, it takes a considerable amount of time to store a large amount of content, and there is a case where sufficient time is not available for going out.

  In addition, as described in Patent Document 1, it is always possible for a communication network to capture only a content list in a mobile terminal, receive content sequentially on the go, and continue playback without interruption while moving. This is possible if connected, but not easy otherwise. That is, when a certain content is reproduced according to the content list and the next content is requested when the reproduction is completed, there is a case where the communication network cannot be connected.

  In addition, since the DLNA-compatible device is assumed to be used in the house, it is necessary to select a file to be reproduced on the spot. Therefore, if you want to use it from outside the house, you must log in to the DLNA server at home using VPN (Virtual Private Network) etc. and select the file you want to play on the spot.

  In addition, when content is played back according to a playlist, it is necessary to transfer all the content to be played back into the mobile terminal in advance, which requires a large-capacity storage medium. It is difficult to continue playing content without interruption with a relatively small storage capacity such as a storage unit of a mobile phone terminal.

  The present invention has been made in such a background, and it is necessary for a server that stores content in a mobile terminal having a relatively small storage unit without bothering the user even when moving out. Access is sometimes made appropriately, and necessary contents are sequentially acquired so that a plurality of contents can be reproduced without interruption as much as possible.

  The content playback method according to the present invention is a content playback method for acquiring and playing back content from a content server connected to a home network in a mobile terminal, and content identification information comprising a plurality of pieces of content identification information at a predetermined opportunity Receiving a list from the content server and storing it in a storage unit; starting playback of content according to the content identification information list in response to a user's instruction; and If the base station is not stored in the storage unit, a step of determining whether or not the base station belongs to the home network based on a signal transmitted from a neighboring base station; and If it belongs to the home network from the base station Connecting and accessing the content server to acquire the content according to the free capacity of the storage unit, and if the base station does not belong to the home network, the base station connects the external communication network. Connecting to the home network via the network, accessing the content server, obtaining the content according to the free space of the storage unit, and erasing the content that has been played back from the storage unit It is characterized by that.

  When reproducing a plurality of contents according to the content identification information list, the portable terminal first acquires only the content identification information list in the storage unit. If this process is periodically performed at a predetermined opportunity, the content identification information list in the portable terminal and the content identification information list on the content server side can be synchronized.

  After that, after the reproduction is started, when not all the contents to be reproduced are stored in the storage unit, the subsequent content is sequentially acquired within the range allowed by the free space of the storage unit, and the content that has been reproduced is Erase from storage. Therefore, if the necessary content can be acquired sequentially as the reproduction progresses, the reproduction can be continued without interruption even with the limited storage capacity of the storage unit. For this purpose, content acquisition automatically detects the presence of a base station of a mobile terminal based on a signal transmitted from a nearby base station, and determines whether the base station belongs to a home network. . As a result of the determination, if the base station belongs to the home network, the base station connects to the home network and accesses the content server. When the base station does not belong to the home network, the base station connects to the home network via the external communication network and accesses the content server.

  A portable terminal according to the present invention is a portable terminal that can be connected to a content server connected to a home network via a wireless interface and can be connected via an external communication network. Short-distance communication means for performing short-distance communication with a base station, and a connection to the content server via the short-distance communication means at a predetermined opportunity, and receiving and storing a content identification information list including identification information of a plurality of contents A content acquisition means for sequentially acquiring the content to be reproduced in the storage unit when reproducing the content in accordance with the content identification information list; Content reproducing means for erasing the content that has been reproduced from the storage unit; That. The content acquisition means, when the reproduction of the content is started, when not all the content to be reproduced is stored in the storage unit, the content acquisition means, based on a signal transmitted from a nearby base station, If the base station belongs to a home network, the base station connects to the home network to access the content server. If the base station does not belong to the home network, the base station To the home network via the external communication network to access the content server.

  “Near field communication means” is typically a wireless LAN, and the base station is a wireless LAN access point, but the present invention is not limited to these.

  Other configurations and operational effects of the present invention will be described in detail below.

  Conventionally, in order to take content at home to the outside by a portable terminal, it has been necessary to perform a predetermined process for taking it out, but according to the present invention, only the content identification information list is stored in the terminal, The content itself can be received via the communication network, so that the home content can be received sequentially without bothering the user even when moving out.

  In addition, by sequentially receiving content and erasing the reproduced content, it is possible to reproduce a plurality of content as much as possible without interruption even on a portable terminal having a relatively small storage unit. .

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the entire content reproduction system for implementing the content reproduction method according to the present embodiment.

  A PC 20, a digital camera 30, a video deck (recording / playback apparatus) 40, a wireless LAN access point (AP: base station) 50, a router 60, and the like are connected to a home network 90 that is a local area network. The home network 90 is, for example, a DLNA network. It is assumed that at least the PC 20 and the video deck 40 are DLNA compatible devices. In the present embodiment, the PC 20 and the video deck 40 function as a content server that provides content to the mobile terminal 10. It is assumed that content such as music data is stored in the PC 20. Further, it is assumed that content such as moving image data is stored in the video deck 40. As described above, the “content” in the present invention is typically music or a moving image, but does not exclude other forms of content such as text, still images, moving images, and the like.

  A portable device such as the digital camera 30 can be connected to the home network 90 by connecting to another device (for example, a PC) via a USB interface or the like via a connector or a cradle.

  The home network 90 is connected to the Internet 70 which is an external communication network via a router 60. Connected to the Internet 70 are hot spots 80 which are public wireless LAN access points installed at various places. The portable terminal 10 is assumed to have a wireless LAN connection function and a content reproduction function for reproducing content in order to perform wireless communication with the AP. In addition, the mobile terminal 10 may be capable of performing cable connection or cradle connection using another USB interface or the like to another device (for example, the PC 20).

  FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration example of the mobile terminal 10. Here, the portable terminal 10 is an example of a portable telephone terminal that functions as a portable player that reproduces content.

  The control unit 100 includes a CPU, and performs various controls of the terminal and various processes according to the present embodiment via the control line 106 based on the OS and various programs stored in the storage unit 105.

  The communication antenna 101 transmits and receives signal radio waves for communication and packet communication with a mobile phone base station. The communication unit 102 performs frequency conversion, modulation, demodulation, and the like of transmission / reception signals.

  When the call voice reception data is supplied from the communication unit 102, the voice processing unit 112 decodes the call voice reception data, and sends the decoded call voice data to the speaker 110 via the data line 107. .

  The speaker 110 is an ear receiver or ringer (ringing tone) provided for a mobile phone terminal, a speaker for music playback and alarm sound output, and includes a digital / analog converter and an amplifier. Sound and playback music data are digital / analog converted and amplified before being output. As a result, call voice, ringer sound, and reproduced music can be obtained.

  The microphone 111 is a microphone for transmission and includes an analog / digital converter and an amplifier. The speech voice signal input via the microphone 111 is amplified to a predetermined level by an amplifier, converted to digital voice data by an analog / digital converter, and sent to the voice processing unit 112 via the data line 107. After being encoded, the data is sent to the communication unit 102 via the data line 107, subjected to various processes such as modulation and frequency conversion, and transmitted from the communication antenna 101.

  The display unit 103 is a user interface unit that visually provides information to the user, and includes a display composed of an LCD or the like and a display driving circuit for driving the display. The display driving circuit drives the display based on the image signal supplied from the image processing unit 113. Thereby, an image, a character, etc. are displayed on a display.

  The image processing unit 113 is a part that performs processing of an image displayed on the display unit 103. Further, the image processing unit 113 performs decompression decoding or the like on the compressed and encoded image data read from the storage unit 105 under the control of the control unit 100, image data acquired via the Internet, or the like. Then, the decompressed and decoded image data is sent to the display unit 103 via the data line 107 and displayed.

  The operation unit 104 is a user interface unit for inputting user instructions, data, and the like. The operation unit 104 is an operation device such as a keyboard provided on the housing of the mobile terminal according to the present embodiment, and the operation of the operation device. And an operation signal generator for generating an operation signal according to the above.

  The storage unit 105 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory) as memories used by the control unit 100. The ROM stores an OS (Operating System), various application programs, various data, and the like. This ROM includes a rewritable nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory or an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), and can store arbitrary data. The RAM stores data as needed as a work area or a temporary data storage area when the control unit 100 performs various data processing. The “storage unit” may include a storage medium such as a removable memory card.

  The player unit 114 is a part that reproduces music data in a specific format, and sends the reproduced music data to the speaker 110.

  The wireless LAN communication unit 116 is a part that imparts a wireless LAN communication function to the mobile terminal 10, and performs wireless communication with a wireless LAN access point via the antenna 115.

  In addition, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted in FIG. 2, the terminal of this Embodiment is also provided about each component with which a general mobile telephone terminal is provided.

  In the present embodiment, among the contents stored in the content server, it is not necessary to download a group of contents to be played back on a mobile terminal at home, and even when the user is away from home, , So that you can play without interruption.

  Therefore, when the user is at home, only a content identification information list such as a content list or a playlist is received and stored via DLNA via a wireless LAN or USB interface. The “content list” is list information of all contents stored in the server. On the other hand, the “play list” is content list information in which arbitrary content selected from the content list is collected. For example, the playlist acquired from the outside by the mobile terminal is arbitrarily created by the user as drive music (music for driving a car), quiet music, favorite music, and the like. In the present embodiment, when there are a plurality of content servers at home, it is assumed that playlists stored in all the servers are taken into the terminal, but some of them are set by the user's settings. You may make it limit to the server of.

  When the mobile terminal 10 is connected to the home network 90, the playlist is acquired by, for example, searching for a DLNA-compatible device using the UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) function, and all the playlists held by the detected device are obtained. Receive (download). By this download, the playlist in the portable terminal is synchronized with the playlist at home (however, the content itself has not been received yet).

  As a trigger for receiving the playlist, the mobile terminal 10 (1) searches for and finds the home access point 50, (2) when it is attached to the cradle, (3) a predetermined time (midnight, etc.) ), (4) when removed from the cradle, etc. The cradle is a stand-type device connected to a PC or the like with a cable, and enables data communication between the portable terminal 10 placed on the cradle and the PC or the like. As a communication interface, (4) is a wireless interface, and the other is a wired or wireless interface.

  FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing operations between the respective units in the system of FIG. 1 in time series.

  The SSID of the home access point is registered in the portable terminal, and if it is within the coverage of the home access point 50, the content can be downloaded directly without performing the VPN connection. A VPN connection is made to the SSID of an access point other than home, and the content is downloaded. VPN is a service that allows a public line to be used as if it were a dedicated line, and a user can use this via a hot spot to connect to the DLNA network from the outside. At that time, security is ensured by user authentication, data encryption, and the like. For user authentication, use of the MAC address of the terminal, use of an electronic certificate, use of a password, and the like can be considered.

  Here, it is assumed that a play list is selected at home, and after the reproduction of the content is started, the user goes out while continuing the reproduction. In this case, immediately after you go out, even if you can't download the content outside the radio range of your home access point, there is a certain amount of content downloaded on your mobile device via your home access point, The content can be reproduced. Further, even when the play list is started to play after going out and the content cannot be downloaded, it can be played if the corresponding content exists in the mobile terminal 10.

  The access point 80 periodically transmits a beacon frame at a set time interval. This beacon frame includes an SSID (Service Set IDentifier) set for the access point. The SSID is identification information for identifying an access point, and thus functions as identification information for the wireless LAN network.

  When the mobile terminal 10 enters the wireless LAN communication range (coverage range) of the access point 80, the mobile terminal 10 receives the beacon frame and determines whether it is an access point that can be used based on the type of the access point known from the SSID. Determine. Therefore, a plurality of SSIDs are registered in advance in the storage unit of the mobile terminal 10. If available, the access point 80 is connected according to a predetermined procedure. When the access point 80 is a public access point, that is, a hot spot, a VPN connection is started, and the access point 80 connects to the home router 60 via the Internet. If the access point 80 is a home access point, the step “in the case of a hot spot” is omitted.

  Thereafter, the mobile terminal 10 makes an acquisition request for the content 1 to be acquired next to a predetermined content server that stores the content included in the playlist being reproduced, and receives the content 1. Next, an acquisition request for the content 2 to be acquired next is made, and the content 2 is received. Furthermore, subsequent contents are requested and received as necessary. The content received in this way is temporarily stored in a memory (buffer) in the mobile terminal 10.

  For example, when acquisition of necessary content is completed for the time being, or when the free space has reached a predetermined usage level, such as when the buffer is full, the VPN is disconnected from the hot spot and the home The connection to the router 40 is stopped.

  In this way, even if the mobile terminal 10 moves with the user, the contents of the playlist can be additionally downloaded sequentially as long as the mobile terminal 10 can enter the hot spot coverage with a predetermined frequency. As a result, it is not necessary to receive all the content data of the playlist in advance, and a large storage area is not required, and the content group in the home content server is played back without interruption according to the playlist. be able to.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a display screen 400 at the time of content playback of the mobile terminal 10. This figure corresponds to the case where reproduction of a playlist of music content is started within the coverage of the access point 50 at home. The display screen 400 includes, in order from the top, an area 410 for displaying a reception state, a remaining battery level, and the like, an area 420 indicating information on the currently playing content, an area 430 showing the contents of the currently playing playlist, and software An area 440 for displaying operation guidance such as keys is included.

  In the left half of the area 420, thumbnails such as the jacket of the album being played are displayed. In the right half, the artist name, title, playback time, next song information, etc. of the currently playing song are displayed. The display form of the area 420 differs depending on the type of content. For example, in the case of video content, the entire area 420 may be used for displaying a moving image.

  In the play list area 430, contents information (in this example, artist name and title) of contents (in this case, songs) included in the play list are displayed in a list. The graphic on the left of the artist name and title text is an icon indicating that this content is music content. Other icons (not shown) are displayed for other types of content. In the example shown in the figure, only the information of the music that has not been played back at the time after the start of playback of the playlist is displayed, and the information of the content being played back is displayed in the area 420. Information on the content that has been reproduced disappears from the screen 400. The content itself in the buffer is also erased (or invalidated). However, the content of the playlist itself is retained as it is. The information of each content in the playlist area 430 differs in the display mode of the content information depending on whether the content is downloaded or not. In this example, downloaded ones are displayed at normal normal luminance, and undownloaded ones are displayed at low luminance.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, a state in which a subsequent piece of the playlist is downloaded from the home access point 50 while a certain piece of music is being played on the mobile terminal 10 is illustrated. In the example of the figure, it can be seen from the display mode that the contents of the subsequent two songs have been downloaded and the subsequent songs are in an undownloaded state.

  FIG. 5 shows the state of the display screen 400 that is playing the last downloaded content when the content of the playlist is continued even after the mobile terminal 10 is out of the coverage of the home access point 50. Show. That is, all the content information in the playlist area 430 is displayed with low luminance.

  FIG. 6 shows a change in the display screen 400 when the mobile terminal 10 enters the cover range of the hot spot 80 from the state of FIG. When the mobile terminal 10 enters the coverage of the hotspot 80, it automatically connects to the home content server (DLNA device) corresponding to the playlist using VPN, and a certain amount according to the created playlist. Receive data content.

  FIG. 6 shows a state in which four contents following the currently reproduced content are downloaded via the hot spot 80. Thereby, the reproduction of the content of the playlist can be continued.

  Note that the processing to be performed when the situation in which the content to be played back has not yet been downloaded after the mobile terminal 10 is out of the coverage of the home access point 50 is not particularly limited. For example, measures such as interrupting playback and playing back downloaded content again can be considered. What measures are taken may be fixedly determined in advance, or may be selected and set by the user.

  The mobile terminal 10 can correct the playlist captured by the mobile terminal 10 in accordance with a user instruction. Accordingly, new content can be downloaded according to a new playlist.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of screen transition when a specific item (content) in the playlist is deleted. As shown in FIG. 7A, the user selects an item by moving a cursor 701 for designating one item in the playlist with a selection key (not shown) of the operation unit of the mobile terminal 10. . The selected item is shown in gray in its entirety. The display form is not limited to gray, and is arbitrary such as reverse display. As shown in FIG. 7 (b), when an item is selected with the select key and then deleted with the delete key (DELETE), the item is deleted from the playlist as shown in FIG. 7 (c). The

  In FIG. 7, all the content information in the playlist area 430 is shown as being displayed at normal luminance. However, as described above, content information that has not been downloaded is displayed at low luminance. be able to. The same applies to the next screen shown in FIG.

  FIG. 8 shows a list update example in which items are added to the playlist. When the user performs a predetermined operation (here, “LIST” is selected) on the screen displaying the playlist as shown in FIG. 8A, as shown in FIG. The acquired content list is displayed. In the example of the figure, “video decoder” and “PC” folders as content servers are displayed, and contents in the PC folder are displayed as a list. When the user selects a desired item (content) on the screen of FIG. 8B and performs a predetermined operation (here, “DONE” is selected), as shown in FIG. Return to the screen and determine where to insert the item on this screen in response to a user operation. Thereby, as shown in FIG.8 (d), a new item is added to a play list. The content of this item is handled in the same way as an existing item in the playlist.

  The following can be considered as a specific user usage mode of the playlist reproduction of the present embodiment including such a playlist change.

  For example, a user obtains only a program list of programs automatically recorded on a video deck in a portable terminal before going out to work in the morning. When waiting for a train at a station, a VPN connection is made, and contents recorded at home are sequentially downloaded. Watch content using a mobile device on the train and download the next content when you arrive at the next station. If the hot spot can be used at each train station, the playlist content can be received without interruption. Content that you don't want to see at the moment is deleted on the spot, and the playlist is updated to automatically receive the next content that the user wants to play in the background while viewing the current content. Can do.

  Conventionally, in order to take out the content at home, a predetermined process for taking out the content had to be performed. However, according to the present embodiment, only the playlist is received, and the content itself passes through the wireless LAN. By performing network download, home content can be received on demand without any troublesome processing.

  With reference to FIG. 9, an example of a procedure for acquiring content lists and playlists from the server by the mobile terminal 10 will be described.

  When the mobile terminal 10 detects a predetermined trigger, the mobile terminal 10 starts this process as a trigger. As described above, the predetermined trigger is, for example, when connected to the home access point 50, when connected to the cradle, when a predetermined time arrives, when removed from the cradle, or the like.

  When this process is started, first, a list of devices connected to the home network 90 is acquired (S11), and the following loop processing is repeated for the number of devices (S12 to S18).

  In the loop processing, first, a device name is acquired (S13), and it is checked whether or not it is a content list acquisition target (S14). Whether or not it is a content list acquisition target depends on whether or not the device can be a content server. Furthermore, a target device (or its type) may be specified in the mobile terminal 10 and a device corresponding to this may be determined as a content list acquisition target.

  If the device is not a content list acquisition target, the processing proceeds to the next device.

  If the device is a content list acquisition target, a content list and a playlist are acquired from the device (S15). Next, the acquired content list and playlist are compared with the content list and playlist already stored in the terminal, and the difference is detected (S16). When this difference is detected, the content in the terminal updates the list and playlist so that they match those in the device (S17).

  Such processing is repeated for the number of devices.

  With the processing in FIG. 9, the content list and playlist stored in the mobile terminal 10 are synchronized so as to match the content list and playlist in the server in the home network 90. Here, it is assumed that the list in the mobile terminal 10 is synchronized with the list in the server, but for the playlist, conversely, the list in the server is matched with the list in the mobile terminal. Also good. Alternatively, the user may select and set which one to match.

  FIG. 10 shows a procedure example of processing executed when the mobile terminal 10 receives a beacon frame. However, if this process is already being executed when the beacon frame is received, this process will not be started again. This process is performed in parallel with the content reproduction process during the content reproduction.

  When the mobile terminal 10 receives the beacon frame, the mobile terminal 10 detects the SSID contained therein and compares this SSID with each SSID in the registered SSID list stored in the terminal (S21). If the detected SSID is not a registered SSID, this process ends.

  If the detected SSID matches the SSID registered in the portable terminal, it is confirmed whether there is a predetermined free space in the buffer for storing the content in the terminal (S23). If there is no predetermined free space, this process is terminated.

  If there is a predetermined free capacity, connection to the access point is attempted (S24). If the connection fails, this process is terminated.

  If the connection is successful, it is confirmed whether or not the access point is a hot spot (S26). If it is not a hot spot, the process proceeds to step S29 described later.

  If it is a hot spot, the VPN connection as described above is started (S27). If this connection fails, the process is terminated. If the VPN connection is successful, the loop processing of S29 to S33 is repeated for the number of contents of the playlist currently being reproduced.

  In this loop process, first, the first content of the content to be acquired in the playlist is acquired (downloaded) (S30). Thereafter, it is confirmed whether or not the acquired content has sufficient buffer capacity (S31). If not, the process proceeds to step S24. If it is sufficient, the content is stored in the buffer (S32).

  When this loop processing ends or exits from this loop processing, it is checked whether or not the connected access point is a hot spot (S34), and if it is a hot spot, the VPN is disconnected (S35). The process ends. If it is not a hot spot, this process is terminated as it is.

  Note that the portable terminal may go out of the access point cover range even during the loop processing of steps S29 to S33. In such a case, communication between the mobile terminal and the access point cannot be performed, and the download of the content is stopped even in the middle. In such a case, both the terminal side and the server side determine that a time-out has occurred for a predetermined time or more and the communication is terminated. The mobile terminal downloads again from the content being downloaded during communication with the next access point.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but various modifications and changes other than those mentioned above can be made.

  For example, a DLNA network using DLNA-compatible devices has been described as an example, but the home network in the present invention is not limited to such a specific network.

  Although an example in which content is reproduced by a playlist has been shown, the present invention does not exclude the case where the content list itself is used as a playlist.

  The user can also create a playlist from the content list on the mobile terminal and download the content according to the playlist.

It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of the whole content reproduction system in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of the portable terminal in FIG. It is the sequence diagram which showed the operation | movement between each part in the system of FIG. 1 in time series. It is a figure which shows the example of the display screen at the time of the content reproduction of the portable terminal in embodiment of this invention. When the mobile terminal in the embodiment of the present invention continues to play the content of the playlist even after the mobile terminal is out of the coverage of the home access point, the state of the display screen that is playing the last downloaded content is displayed. FIG. It is a figure which shows the state by which four content following the content currently being reproduced in embodiment of this invention was downloaded via a hot spot. It is a figure which shows the example of a transition of a screen in the case of deleting the item (content) of the play list in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the list update example which adds an item to the play list in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a procedure of the acquisition process of the content list and play list from the server by the portable terminal in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a procedure of the process performed at the time of the beacon frame reception of the portable terminal in embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Portable terminal, 30 ... Digital camera, 40 ... Video deck (recording / reproducing apparatus), 50 ... Access point, 60 ... Router, 70 ... Internet, 80 ... Hot spot (public access point), 90 ... Home network, 100 ... Control unit 101 ... Communication antenna 102 ... Communication unit 103 ... Display unit 104 ... Operation unit 105 ... Storage unit 106 ... Control line 107 ... Data line 110 ... Speaker 111 ... Microphone 112 ... Audio processing 113: Image processing unit, 114: Player unit, 116: Communication unit, 400 ... Display screen, 410 ... Area, 420 ... Area, 430 ... Area, 440 ... Area, 701 ... Cursor

Claims (4)

In a mobile terminal, a content playback method for acquiring and playing back content from a content server connected to a home network,
Receiving a content identification information list including identification information of a plurality of contents at a predetermined opportunity from the content server, and storing the list in a storage unit;
In response to a user instruction, starting the reproduction of content according to the content identification information list;
If not all the contents to be played are stored in the storage unit after the playback is started, it is determined whether or not the base station belongs to the home network based on a signal transmitted from a neighboring base station Steps,
If the base station belongs to a home network, connecting to the home network from the base station and accessing the content server to obtain the content according to the free space of the storage unit;
When the base station does not belong to the home network, the base station connects to the home network via the external communication network, accesses the content server, and according to the free capacity of the storage unit Acquiring content,
And a step of erasing the content that has been reproduced from the storage unit. A portable terminal that can be connected to a content server connected to a home network via a wireless interface and can be connected via an external communication network,
Near field communication means for performing near field communication with a base station via a wireless interface;
A list acquisition unit that connects to the content server via the short-range communication unit at a predetermined opportunity, receives a content identification information list including identification information of a plurality of contents, and stores the list in a storage unit;
A content acquisition means for sequentially acquiring content to be reproduced in the storage unit when reproducing the content according to the content identification information list;
Content playback means for playing back the acquired content and erasing the played back content from the storage unit;
The content acquisition means, after the content reproduction is started, when not all the content to be reproduced is stored in the storage unit, the content acquisition means, based on a signal transmitted from a nearby base station, If the base station belongs to the home network, the base station connects to the home network and accesses the content server. If the base station does not belong to the home network, the base station The mobile terminal is connected to the home network via the external communication network to access the content server.   The list acquisition means performs synchronization at a predetermined timing so that the content identification information list in the portable terminal matches the content server after the content identification information list is once stored in the storage unit. Item 3. A portable terminal according to Item 2.   The portable terminal according to claim 2, further comprising: a list updating unit that updates the content identification information list according to a user instruction during content reproduction by the content reproduction unit.