JP2010044491A - Recording medium, recording medium management system and management method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To rapidly search for a medium storing an objective content without necessity to install an medium to a body one by one. <P>SOLUTION: In step S11, a list of a library is displayed. In S12, a desired memory card is selected from the list of the library. A cursor is positioned on an icon drawn with a thumb nail corresponding to the memory card desired to be used, and a determination key is pressed. In S13, a medium ID of the selected memory card is wirelessly transmitted. In S14, the transmitted medium ID is received by the memory card. In S15, accordance between two medium IDs is detected, and an LED (Light Emitting Diode) is turned on in step S16 when the accordance is decided. In S17, the memory card wherein the LED is turned on is inserted in the body. An image signal is read from the inserted memory card. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording medium that is detachable from an information processing apparatus, a recording medium management system that manages the recording medium, and a management method.

  Various memory cards, optical disks, magnetic disks, and the like are used as recording media that can be attached to and detached from the information processing apparatus (hereinafter referred to as removable media). Such a removable medium is attached / detached to / from the information processing apparatus. An example of the information processing apparatus is a digital camera.

  In order to search for a removable medium in which desired content is stored, it is necessary to know an information signal (hereinafter referred to as content) stored in the removable medium. Content is a whole piece of information that can be viewed by people on websites and media. Specifically, music, movies, texts, comics, games, web pages, etc. In order to know the content stored in the removable medium, it is necessary to read the content stored on the main body side of the information processing apparatus. When the number of removable media is large, it is necessary to load each piece of content on the main body to read each content, which is troublesome.

  Further, Patent Document 1 below describes that shooting data and index information of a digital camera are recorded on a removable medium, and electronic paper is provided on the removable medium. In the one described in Patent Document 1, the index information is displayed by electronic paper so that the recorded contents can be easily understood.

JP 2004-040471A

  Further, it is conceivable to browse the content of the content by transmitting the content recorded on the removable medium to the information processing apparatus by wireless communication.

  Providing electronic paper on each removable medium and displaying an index of recorded content is not a suitable method for managing a large number of removable media. That is, it takes time to check the electronic paper of a large number of removable media one by one. Furthermore, the method of wirelessly transmitting content to the information processing apparatus has a problem that if the data size of the content is large, the time required for transfer becomes long and power consumption during that time increases.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording medium, a recording medium management system, and a management method that can quickly identify a removable medium in which desired contents are stored.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention provides a storage device that is controlled by a control unit and exchanges information signals with an information processing apparatus,
A wireless communication unit that is controlled by the control unit and performs wireless communication with the information processing apparatus;
When the control unit determines that the media identifier received from the information processing apparatus through the wireless communication unit matches the stored media identifier, the recording medium includes a notification unit that generates a notification.

  Preferably, an information signal is exchanged with the information processing apparatus through a connector.

  Preferably, an information signal is exchanged with the information processing apparatus by wireless communication.

  Preferably, the notification unit performs notification by at least one change of light, sound, and vibration.

  Preferably, the power generation unit further includes a power generation unit that generates a power from an electrical signal supplied from a non-contact external device.

The present invention is a recording medium management system comprising an information processing apparatus and a recording medium that is detachable from the information processing apparatus,
Information processing device
An interface between the recording media and
An information signal processing unit for recording an information signal on a mounted recording medium and reproducing the information signal from the recording medium;
Create a library showing the correspondence between the media identifier of the installed recording medium and the information signal recorded on the recording medium, store the created library in a nonvolatile memory,
Display the media selection screen reflecting the library on the display,
A non-volatile memory, a display unit, and a first control unit that controls the first communication unit so that the media identifier of the media selected on the media selection screen is wirelessly communicated by the first communication unit;
Recording media is
A storage device controlled by the second control unit and transmitting an information signal via an interface of the information processing apparatus;
A second communication unit that is controlled by the second control unit and performs wireless communication with the information processing apparatus;
A recording medium comprising: a notification unit that generates a notification when the second control unit determines that the media identifier received from the information processing device through the second communication unit matches the stored media identifier It is a management system.

Preferably, the library indicates a correspondence relationship between the media identifier and a representative signal of the recorded information signal,
A representative signal is played on the media selection screen.

The present invention includes a step of attaching a recording medium to the information processing apparatus;
Obtaining a media identifier of the recording media;
Recording an information signal on a recording medium;
Creating a library showing the correspondence between the media identifier of the recording medium and the information signal recorded on the recording medium, and storing the created library in a nonvolatile memory;
Displaying a media selection screen reflecting the library on the display unit, and selecting a recording medium on which a desired information signal is recorded on the media selection screen;
Wirelessly communicating the media identifier of the media selected on the media selection screen by the first communication unit;
The media identifier transmitted by the first communication unit is received by the second communication unit of the recording medium;
And a step of generating a notification by the notification unit when it is determined that the media identifier received from the information processing apparatus through the second communication unit matches the stored media identifier. .

  According to the present invention, in order to search for removable media in which desired contents are stored, it is not necessary to attach the removable media to the main body one by one, and labor and labor can be saved. Furthermore, it is possible to quickly find a removable medium in which target content is stored. Furthermore, it is not necessary to access the content in the removable medium by wireless communication, the processing time until the content is displayed can be shortened, and the power consumption can be reduced.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The embodiments described below are preferred specific examples of the present invention, and various technically preferable limitations are given. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the present invention in the following description. Unless otherwise specified, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment.

[Camera Recorder]
An embodiment of the present invention will be described. An example of a video camera recorder (an apparatus in which a video camera and a recorder are integrated) as an information processing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied will be described with reference to FIG. The video camera recorder records a captured moving image signal or still image signal (hereinafter simply referred to as an image signal when it is not necessary to distinguish both) on a removable medium such as a memory card. Hereinafter, an example will be described in which recording is performed on a plurality of memory cards by one video camera recorder and image signals recorded on desired memory cards of the plurality of memory cards are reproduced by the video camera recorder.

  A memory card is a thin external memory device that looks like a card. An interface for connecting a storage element such as a flash memory, a hard disk, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory and the like to the main body is provided. As will be described later, the memory card to which the present invention is applied further includes a wireless communication device, a user interface, and the like.

  Subject light that has passed through the optical lens unit 1 enters a photoelectric conversion unit 2 such as a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS). An electrical signal (imaging signal) is output from the photoelectric conversion unit 2. The photoelectric conversion unit 2 includes a driver for the photoelectric conversion unit and a preprocessing circuit.

  The preprocessing circuit performs, for example, a CDS (Correlated Double Sampling) process on the imaging signal from the CCD to improve the S / N ratio, performs an AGC (Automatic Gain Control) process, and controls the gain. And the imaging signal made into the digital signal is formed by A / D (Analog / Digital) conversion.

A digital imaging signal from the photoelectric conversion unit 2 is supplied to the image signal processing unit 3. The image signal processing unit 3 performs camera signal processing such as AF (Auto Focus), AE (Auto Exposure), and AWB (Auto White Balance) on the imaging data. Further, the image signal processing unit 3 performs image signal compression / decompression processing. MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group Phase) -4H. Compression using H.264 / AVC (Advanced Video Coding), compression using MPEG-2, or the like is used. JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is used for still image compression.

  An image input / output unit 4 is provided in association with the image signal processing unit 3. A video signal is input from the outside via the image input / output unit 4. The image input / output unit 4 is, for example, HDMI (High-definition multimedia interface). A video signal from the image signal processing unit 3 is supplied to the liquid crystal display 5, and an image being captured or an image read from an external memory card is displayed on the liquid crystal display 5.

  Audio signals are input / output via the audio input / output unit 6. The audio input / output unit 6 includes a microphone that captures an audio signal during imaging, an interface that inputs / outputs an audio signal to / from an external device, and the like. An audio processing unit 7 is connected to the audio input / output unit 6. The audio processing unit 7 performs compression / decompression processing of the audio signal. For example, an MPEG audio compression method is used.

  The image signal processing unit 3, the audio signal processing unit 7, and the camera function control unit 8 are connected to the control unit 9, respectively. The control unit 9 controls the image signal processing unit 3 and the audio signal processing unit 7 to input / output video signals and audio signals. The camera function control unit 8 receives a control signal from the control unit 9 and controls the focus mechanism, shutter mechanism, iris (iris) mechanism, and the like of the optical lens unit 1.

  The control unit 9 is configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit). In association with the control unit 9, a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory 10, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, and an operation input unit 13 are provided. The CPU of the control unit 9 functions as a microcomputer in cooperation with these memories. The flash memory 10 stores a library automatically created when recording.

  The library is information indicating a correspondence relationship between an identifier of a memory card and information indicating the storage contents of the memory card, for example, a thumbnail. The library may be recorded in another nonvolatile memory such as a hard disk. In one embodiment of the present invention, it is assumed that the memory card is not recorded by another recording device. That is, if recording by another recording apparatus is allowed, the library information may be different from the substance. However, the reproduction of the memory card may be performed by another reproduction device.

  The ROM 11 and the RAM 12 store various programs executed by the CPU, data necessary for processing, and the like. The operation input unit 13 is, for example, a button (key) provided on the housing of the main body. An operation signal generated by the button operation is supplied to the control unit 9, and a control operation corresponding to the button operation is performed. The operation input unit 13 may have a touch panel configuration provided in association with the liquid crystal display 5.

  An interface unit 14 is connected to the control unit 9. In one embodiment of the present invention, two external devices can be mounted by the interface unit 14. As an external device, a memory card, another video camera recorder, or the like can be connected to the video camera recorder via the interface unit 14. The interface unit 14 corresponds to an original standard interface corresponding to a memory card, a general-purpose interface such as ATA (AT attachment).

  In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to management of a memory card attached to the interface unit 14. However, the present invention can be applied to management of other removable media. Furthermore, the interface unit 14 is not limited to a mechanical contact configuration between terminals, and may be a wireless interface configuration. For example, an interface configuration using short-range wireless transfer technology may be used. In this case, a large-capacity file such as a photograph or a moving image can be transferred from the mobile device such as a mobile phone, a digital camera, or a digital video camera to the main body only by bringing it close to the main body.

Further, a communication unit 15 is connected to the control unit 9. The communication unit 15 supports both wired communication and wireless communication. Specifically, the wired communication is Ethernet (registered trademark), USB, or the like. The wireless communication is specifically IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11a / b / g, Bluetooth, or the like. Furthermore, a power source 16 is provided for supplying power to the video camera recorder.

〔Memory card〕
FIG. 2 shows the appearance of a memory card 21 as an example of a removable medium to which the present invention is applied. The memory card 21 has an external connector 22 for connection to the main body and an LED (Light Emitting Diode) 23 as a notification unit. The memory card 21 has a circuit unit configured as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the memory card 21 has a recording device 31 and a built-in memory (RAM 32 and ROM 33). The recording device 31 is connected to the control unit 35 via the interface unit 34. The control unit 35 is configured by a CPU. In association with the control unit 9, a RAM 32 and a ROM 33 are provided. The CPU of the control unit 35 functions as a microcomputer in cooperation with these memories. The ROM 33 stores an identifier (referred to as a media ID) of the memory card 21. The media ID is information unique to the memory card, such as a serial number assigned when the memory card is manufactured.

  The recording device 31 is a recording medium of a memory card. Specifically, a flash memory, a small hard disk, and the like. The interface unit 34 corresponds to an original standard interface corresponding to the recording device 31 and a general-purpose interface such as ATA and USB.

  Further, an interface unit 36 and a communication unit 37 are connected to the control unit 35. The interface unit 36 is an interface for connection to an external host (information processing apparatus) such as the video camera recorder shown in FIG. An external connector 22 is included in the interface unit 36. The interface unit 6 corresponds to an original standard interface corresponding to a memory card, and a general-purpose interface such as ATA and USB.

  The communication unit 37 performs wireless communication with the video camera recorder of the external host. Specifically, the wireless communication is IEEE802.11a / b / g, Bluetooth, or the like. Further, the light emission of the LED 23 is controlled by the control unit 35. The media ID transmitted from the video camera recorder is received by the communication unit 37.

  The control unit 35 compares the received media ID with its own media ID stored in the ROM 33, and turns on the LED 23 only when both media IDs match. The lighting state of the LED 23 continues until the supply of power is cut off. Alternatively, it is turned off when inserted into the video camera recorder. Further, a power supply unit 38 for supplying power to the memory card is provided.

  The human interface (man machine interface) may be anything that can be sensed by the user's five senses. That is, in addition to a light emitting element such as an LED, notification by sound (speaker, buzzer), notification by vibration (vibrator), or the like may be used.

  The memory card 21 having the above-described configuration is stored in, for example, a holder provided in a storage case. A large number of holders are arranged in the storage case, and a large number of memory cards can be stored. As an example, the power supply unit 38 is configured to be able to supply power in a contactless manner with the memory card 21 mounted in the holder of the storage case.

  FIG. 4 is an example of such a power supply unit 38. A primary U-shaped core 41 is provided on each of a plurality of holders of the storage case, and a secondary core 2 is provided inside the memory card 21. An AC signal is supplied to the coil 43 wound around the core 41. A coil 44 is wound around the core 42, and an AC signal similar to the AC signal supplied to the primary side of the coil 44 is induced. Therefore, a power source can be generated by rectifying the AC signal in the memory card 21. When a memory card is mounted on a video camera recorder as an information processing apparatus, the configuration shown in FIG. 4 is used as a configuration for supplying power. In this case, the primary core 41 and the coil 43 are provided in the video camera recorder.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the configuration of the power supply unit 38, and various configurations including a simple battery (small coin-type battery) are possible. For example, a solar cell may be attached to the surface of the memory card, and power may be supplied to the circuit unit by the solar cell.

[Create Library]
A removable media management system including the above-described video camera recorder (see FIG. 1) and a memory card (see FIGS. 2, 3, and 4) will be described. A memory card 21 is attached to the interface unit 14 of the video camera recorder. Then, an imaging signal acquired by the optical lens unit 1 and the photoelectric conversion unit 2 and generated by the image signal processing unit 3 is recorded on the memory card 21 under the control of the control unit 9. When the imaging signal is recorded, a library is automatically created by the control unit 9, and the created library is stored in the flash memory 10 of the video camera recorder.

  An example of library creation processing will be described with reference to FIG. In step S1, a memory card is inserted into the memory card mounting portion of the video camera recorder. The control unit 9 of the video camera recorder communicates with the control unit 35 of the memory card, reads the media ID stored in the ROM 33 in step S2, and stores the read media ID in the medium, for example, the RAM 11.

  In step S <b> 3, the recording operation is started when the user presses a recording button provided in the operation input unit 13. The captured image signal is compressed and recorded on the recording device 31 of the memory card 21 via the interface unit 14. In step S <b> 5, the recording operation ends when the user presses a recording stop button provided in the operation input unit 13.

  In step S5, a library is created under the control of the control unit 9. The created library is stored in the flash memory 10 under the control of the control unit 9. The library is information indicating a correspondence relationship between a media ID and a representative image (for example, a reduced image (referred to as a thumbnail)) of a recorded image signal. The contents of the recorded image can be understood from the thumbnail. For example, an image at the start of recording is used as the thumbnail of the moving image signal. When recording music instead of image signals on a memory card, the beginning of the music or the impressive part of the music is stored as a library.

[Search memory card]
FIG. 6 shows a flow of processing for searching for a desired memory card among a plurality of memory cards. In FIG. 6, the processing of the control unit 9 of the video camera recorder is shown on the left side as viewed in the figure, and the processing of the control unit 35 of the memory card is shown as shown on the right side. In the first step S 11, when the user selects a memory card search menu by operating a button, a list of libraries stored in the flash memory 10 is displayed on the liquid crystal display 5.

  The list of libraries is a thumbnail of the memory card previously used for recording. In step S12, the user selects a desired memory card in the library list. For example, the cursor is positioned on an icon (button) on which a thumbnail corresponding to a memory card to be used is drawn, and the enter key is pressed. In step S13, the media ID of the selected memory card is transmitted by the communication unit 15 wirelessly.

  In step S14, the transmitted media ID is received by the communication unit 37 of the memory card. In FIG. 6, only the processing in one memory card is shown, but the same processing as the processing shown in FIG. 6 is performed in each of the plurality of memory cards.

  When the media ID is received, the own media ID stored in the ROM 33 is read, and in step S15, it is determined whether or not the received media ID matches the own media ID. If it is determined that the two media IDs match, the LED is turned on in step S16. If it is determined that the two media IDs do not match, the LED is not lit.

  In step S17, the memory card whose LED is lit is inserted into the video camera recorder. When the playback button is operated, for example, an image signal is read from the inserted memory card, processed by the image signal processing unit 3, and the playback image is displayed on the liquid crystal display 5. The user can reproduce the image signal from the memory card specified in the library list.

  The search for the memory card will be described more specifically. For example, when recording is performed on two memory cards, the display shown in FIG. 7A is displayed on the screen of the liquid crystal display 5 in the display of the library list in step S11. P1 is an icon of a memory card having a media ID (0001). A thumbnail is drawn on the icon. The 4-digit number of the media ID is merely an example. An icon P2 of a memory card with a media ID of (0002) is also displayed.

  Next, a new memory card with a media ID of (0003) is inserted into the video camera recorder as shown in step S1 of FIG. 5, and recording is performed on this memory card. As described with reference to FIG. 5, when recording is completed, a library is automatically created and stored in the flash memory 10. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7B, the display of the library list is changed to include the icon P3 on which the thumbnail of the new memory card is drawn.

  As shown in FIG. 8, three memory cards 21a, 21b, and 21c are stored in a memory card storage case, for example. Each memory card has external connectors 22a, 22b, and 22c, and LEDs 23a, 23b, and 23c, respectively.

  When the user opens the memory card search menu in the video camera recorder, a list of libraries as shown in FIG. 7B is displayed on the screen of the liquid crystal display 5 (step S11 in FIG. 6). For example, when it is desired to reproduce the image signal recorded on the memory card of the icon P2, the icon P2 is selected by operating the direction key and the enter key (step S12 in FIG. 6). Therefore, the media ID (0002) is wirelessly transmitted (step S13 in FIG. 6).

  Each of the memory card 21a, the memory card 21b, and the memory card 21c receives the media ID (0002) (step S14 in FIG. 6). In each memory card, it is determined whether or not the received media ID matches its own media ID (step S15 in FIG. 6).

  Since the media ID of the memory card 21b itself matches the media ID transmitted by the video camera recorder, the LED 23b of the memory card 21b is lit (step S16 in FIG. 6). Other memory card LEDs do not light up. Therefore, the user knows that the memory card 21b whose LED 23b is lit is the target memory card. Therefore, the memory card 21b is inserted into the video camera recorder (step S17 in FIG. 6).

  In this way, the user can find out the target memory card 22b without sequentially inserting removable media such as a memory card into the video camera recorder.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications based on the technical idea of the present invention are possible. For example, when a plurality of contents are recorded on one removable medium, a plurality of thumbnails may be displayed for one medium in the library list. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the library list is created on the media on which recording has been performed at least once. However, the media ID of the blank media before recording may be registered in advance as a library.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, it is also possible for the information processing apparatus to perform communication using the communication unit provided in the removable medium without having the communication unit. That is, communication is performed using a communication unit of a removable medium inserted into the information processing apparatus. In this case, it is easy to search for a blank medium during recording. Furthermore, the present invention can also be applied to an information processing apparatus such as a video deck and a personal computer other than the video camera recorder.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the video camera recorder in one embodiment of this invention. It is a basic diagram which shows the external appearance of the memory card in one embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the memory card in one embodiment of this invention. It is a connection diagram showing a configuration for supplying power to a memory card in a non-contact manner. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the library creation process of one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process which searches the memory card of one embodiment of this invention. It is a basic diagram which shows the example of a display of the list of libraries in one embodiment of this invention. It is a basic diagram which shows three memory cards for describing one embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Optical lens part 2 ... Photoelectric conversion part 3 ... Image signal processing part 5 ... Liquid crystal display 7 ... Audio | voice processing part 9 ... Control part 10 ... Flash memory 14 ... Interface unit 15 ... Communication unit 21 ... Memory card 22 ... External connector 23 ... LED
31 ... Recording device 35 ... Control unit 37 ... Communication unit

Claims (9)

A storage device that is controlled by the control unit and exchanges information signals with the information processing apparatus;
A wireless communication unit that is controlled by the control unit and performs wireless communication with the information processing apparatus;
A recording medium comprising: a notification unit that generates a notification when the control unit determines that a media identifier received from the information processing apparatus through the wireless communication unit matches a stored media identifier.   The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the information signal is exchanged with the information processing apparatus by a connector.   The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the information signal is exchanged with the information processing apparatus by wireless communication.   The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit performs notification by at least one change of light, sound, and vibration.   The recording medium according to claim 1, further comprising a power generation unit that generates power from an electrical signal supplied from a non-contact external device. A recording medium management system comprising an information processing apparatus and a recording medium that is detachable from the information processing apparatus,
The information processing apparatus
An interface between the recording media and
An information signal processing unit that records an information signal on the mounted recording medium and reproduces the information signal from the recording medium;
Creating a library showing a correspondence relationship between the media identifier of the mounted recording medium and the information signal recorded on the recording medium, storing the created library in a nonvolatile memory;
Display the media selection screen reflecting the above library on the display,
A first control unit that controls the non-volatile memory, the display unit, and the first communication unit so that the media identifier of the media selected on the media selection screen is wirelessly communicated by the first communication unit; Have
The above recording media are
A storage device controlled by a second control unit and transmitting an information signal via the interface of the information processing apparatus;
A second communication unit controlled by the second control unit to perform wireless communication with the information processing apparatus;
A notification unit that generates a notification when the second control unit determines that the media identifier received from the information processing apparatus through the second communication unit matches the stored media identifier. Recording media management system provided. The library shows the correspondence between the media identifier and a representative signal of the recorded information signal,
The media management system according to claim 6, wherein the representative signal is reproduced on the media selection screen. A step of attaching a recording medium to the information processing apparatus;
Obtaining a media identifier of the recording medium;
Recording an information signal on the recording medium;
Creating a library indicating the correspondence between the media identifier of the recording medium and the information signal recorded on the recording medium, and storing the created library in a nonvolatile memory;
Displaying a media selection screen reflecting the library on the display unit, and selecting a recording medium on which a desired information signal is recorded on the media selection screen;
Wirelessly communicating the media identifier of the media selected on the media selection screen by the first communication unit;
The media identifier transmitted by the first communication unit is received by the second communication unit of the recording medium,
A recording medium management method comprising: generating a notification by a notification unit when determining that the media identifier received from the information processing apparatus through the second communication unit matches the stored media identifier . The library shows the correspondence between the media identifier and a representative signal of the recorded information signal,
The media management method according to claim 8, wherein the representative signal is reproduced on the media selection screen.

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