JP5164534B2 - Content data playback device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a content data reproducing apparatus that reproduces content data, and more particularly to a content data reproducing apparatus having a function of creating a reproduction (play) list of content data stored in an external medium.

  In-vehicle audio apparatus has a function of reproducing music data stored in an external medium by connecting an external medium (eg, USB memory, SD card, etc.) in addition to a function of reproducing data stored in a CD or DVD. It has. A typical external medium is a flash memory that can repeatedly read, write, and erase data, and can retain data even when the power is turned off. In particular, a USB memory including a flash memory is used as a medium for copying data with a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC), an in-vehicle audio device, or the like.

  An external medium such as a USB memory has an increased storage capacity and can store a large amount of music data. Increasing the number of music data that can be stored leads to improved convenience, but on the other hand, finding desired music data from external media becomes complicated. In order to facilitate this, desired music data is registered in advance in a playlist, and music data included in the playlist is automatically reproduced.

  Several reports have been made regarding such playlists. For example, in Patent Document 1, when transferring a playlist and a data file necessary for reproduction of the playlist, trimming processing is performed such that only a necessary portion of the data file to be copied is extracted, and only the trimmed data file is obtained. Is disclosed. Patent Document 2 creates a playlist and a shortcut of a file included in the playlist in the folder, and when copying the file of the playlist to another playback device or the like, by copying the folder, It makes it possible to find related files from a single folder.

JP 2004-172877 JP 2006-185543 A

  FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a method for creating a playlist of music data in a conventional audio apparatus. First, the user uses a dedicated software 4 for creating a playlist, and creates a playlist in which the music data stored in the PC 3 and the reproduction order thereof are determined. Then, the created playlist is stored in the external medium 2, and then the external medium 2 is connected to the audio device 1. The audio apparatus 1 reproduces music data according to the playlist created by the PC 3.

  The playlist 5 created by the PC includes a directory or path indicating the storage location of the music data, for example, as shown in FIG. When the external device 2 is connected, the audio device 1 adds the playlist 5 to its own playlist database 6 and also adds music data to the music database 7, so that the audio device 1 can play the playlist 5. The music data is played based on the above.

  As described above, in order to use the playlist created on the PC in the audio device, the dedicated creation software 4 is indispensable, and the purchase of the dedicated creation software 4 and the download from the server are necessary. Furthermore, for creating a playlist, the user has to describe the storage locations in the desired order while checking the storage locations of the music files one by one, which is also complicated.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a content data reproducing apparatus that can solve the above-described conventional problems and can easily create a reproduction list of content data.

  A content data reproducing apparatus according to the present invention includes a connection unit that connects an external medium that stores content data and shortcut information including address information indicating a storage location of the content data, and an external medium connected to the connection unit. A shortcut detection unit for detecting the stored shortcut information, a playlist creation unit for creating a playlist of content data based on the detected shortcut information, and a display for displaying the playlist created by the playlist creation unit Part.

  The address information is, for example, a content data path or a root directory. The shortcut detection unit detects the shortcut information using, for example, the position where the shortcut information is stored or the extension of the shortcut information. The content data playback device further includes a playback unit that plays back the content data according to the playback list. Preferably, the content data includes attribute information indicating an attribute of the content, and the reproduction list creation unit determines a reproduction order of the content data based on the attribute information. The attribute information includes, for example, the title, artist, album, and genre of the content data, and the reproduction list includes at least one of the attribute information to represent the content data.

  Preferably, the shortcut information includes date and time information when the shortcut is created, and the playlist creation unit determines a playback order of the content data based on the date and time information. The playlist creation unit may divide the playlist into a plurality when the number of content data exceeds a threshold value.

  The content data playlist creation method according to the present invention includes storing content data and shortcut information including address information indicating a storage location of the content data in an external medium, and connecting the external medium to the content data playback apparatus. And a step of detecting the shortcut information in the connected external medium, a step of creating a playlist of content data based on the detected shortcut information, and a step of displaying the created playlist. Preferably, the shortcut information is created in an information processing terminal device connected to the external medium.

  According to the present invention, since the playlist for content data is created based on the shortcut information, the shortcut creation function of existing or general-purpose software installed in a PC or the like can be used, and the playlist can be used. No dedicated software is required to create As a result, a reproduction list of content data can be created on a PC or the like more easily than in the past.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  In the present embodiment, an example will be described in which a music data reproduction list is created on a PC and used in an in-vehicle audio apparatus via an external medium such as a USB memory. A typical data structure in the PC is a tree structure or a hierarchical structure. Folders or files are created hierarchically from the root, and desired data is stored in the folders or files. Access to stored data can be reached by following a hierarchical file or folder, and in this specification, address information for accessing the data is referred to as directory or path data.

  When creating a playlist, first, an external medium such as a USB memory is connected to the PC. The user selects music data to be registered in the reproduction list from a large number of music data stored in the PC, and stores this data in the external medium. Preferably, a folder or file for storing music data on an external medium is created. In addition, a shot cut file for the music data stored in the external medium is created and stored in the external medium. Preferably, a folder (hereinafter referred to as a dedicated folder) for storing a shortcut file in an external medium is created, and the shortcut file is stored therein. As will be described later, the shot cut file includes directory or path data indicating the storage destination of the music data, and file creation date / time information as an attribute thereof.

  When the storage of all the music data to be registered in the playlist and the storage of the shortcut files for the external media is completed, the external media is then removed from the PC and connected to the in-vehicle audio apparatus. The external media is connected when the user desires to create a reproduction list in the vehicle-mounted audio device.

  The in-vehicle audio device detects a shortcut file from a dedicated folder on the external medium, specifies a storage location of music data based on the shortcut file, and creates a reproduction list of the specified music data. The in-vehicle audio apparatus can display the created reproduction list on the display and automatically reproduce the music data according to the reproduction order of the reproduction list. When playing music data, the in-vehicle audio device can directly read out the music data stored in the external media, but in addition to this, the in-vehicle audio device transfers the music data stored in the external media to the in-vehicle audio device. The transferred music data may be read out.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of the external medium. As shown in the figure, a folder (Folder) A, a folder (Folder) B, and a dedicated folder (Folder) C are formed in the root of the external media. The folder A stores music data AAA.mp3, BBB.mp3, and CCC.mp3, and the folder B stores music data DDD.mp3 and EEE.mp3. In the dedicated folder C, shortcut files AAA.lnk, BBB.lik, DDD.lnk are stored. For example, folder A and folder B classify artists and genres of music data. Such a data structure is an example, and can be appropriately changed according to user's preference and convenience.

FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of music data. The music data 100 includes main body data 110 indicating the music itself and attribute data 120 indicating attributes of the music data. The attribute data 120 includes, for example, a song title 122, an album 124, an artist 126, a genre 128, and the like. FIG. 4B is a table showing a specific example of attribute data. For example, the music file AAA.mp3 shown in FIG. 3 includes attribute data of title AAA, album A, artist AA, and genre POPS. The music file BBB.mp3 includes attribute data of title BBB, album A, artist AA, and genre name POPS. The music file DDD.mp3 includes attribute data of title DDD, album B, artist BB, and genre JAZZ.

  FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a shortcut file. The shortcut file 130 includes path data 132 that indicates the storage location of the music data, and creation date data 134 that indicates the date and time when the shortcut file was created.

  FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a specific example of the shortcut file stored in the dedicated folder in FIG. The path data of the shortcut file AAA.lnk is \ Folder A \ AAA.mp3, and the creation date / time data is 11:33 on Oct. 30, 2007. The path data of the shortcut file BBB.lnk is \ Folder A \ BBB.mp3, and the creation date / time data is 18:45 on November 1, 2007. Similarly, the path data of the shortcut file DDD.lnk is \ Folder B \ DDD.mp3, and the creation date / time data 134 is October 31, 2007, 16:20. The unit for creating the shortcut file may be one piece of music data or a music file including a plurality of pieces of music data.

  Next, the configuration of the in-vehicle audio apparatus according to the present embodiment is shown in FIG. The in-vehicle audio device 200 includes an input unit 210 for inputting an instruction from a user through a touch panel or key input, a reproduction unit 220 for reproducing music data, an audio output unit 230 for outputting the reproduced audio signal from a speaker, and data and programs. , A display unit 250 for displaying a playlist of music data on a display, an external interface (hereinafter referred to as an external I / F) 260 for connecting an external medium, and a program memory for storing a program to be executed 270, a data memory 280 that temporarily stores data, and a control unit 290 that controls each operation according to a program.

  The external I / F 260 may be connected to a medium such as a USB memory by a connector, or may be connected using a wireless LAN, an infrared communication device, Bluetooth, or the like.

The program memory 270 has a playlist creation program 300 for creating a playlist based on shortcut files stored in the external media when the external media is connected.

  FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of the playlist creation program 300. The playlist creation program 300 includes a shortcut file detection unit 310 that detects a shortcut file stored in an external medium, a shortcut file analysis unit 320 that analyzes the detected shortcut file, and an attribute from music data corresponding to the analyzed shortcut file. It has an attribute data extraction unit 330 that extracts data, and a playlist creation unit 340 that creates a playlist of music data.

Preferably, when an external medium is connected to the external I / F 260 , the shortcut file detection unit 310 detects a shortcut file from the data structure of the external medium in response to this connection. As described above, when a dedicated folder is created in the external medium as described above, the dedicated folder is searched and a shortcut file included therein is extracted. If a dedicated folder is not created, the shortcut extension may be used as an identifier for detection. For example, if the operating software (OS) of the PC is Windows (registered trademark), the shortcut file is “file name.lnk”.

  The shortcut file analysis unit 320 analyzes the detected shortcut file and specifies the storage location of the music data from the path data 132. The attribute data extraction unit 330 extracts the attribute data 120 included in the specified music data. The playlist creation unit 340 creates a playlist of music data using attribute data of music data corresponding to all shortcut files stored in the dedicated folder. As the reproduction order of the music data, attribute data can be used. For example, the title data can be arranged in the order of 50 notes or albums in alphabetical order. In addition to this, the creation date and time data of the shortcut file may be referred to and the creation date and time may be arranged in order of newest.

  Next, the operation of creating a playlist in the in-vehicle audio apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, an external medium is connected to the PC (step S101), and a dedicated folder is created on the external medium (step S102). Next, the music data stored in the PC is copied to an external medium (step S103), and a shortcut of the copied music data is created in the dedicated folder (step S104). The user copies all music data to be registered in the reproduction list and creates a shortcut file thereof.

  When the above operation is completed, the external media is removed from the PC, and the external media is connected to the in-vehicle audio apparatus (step S105). In response to the connection of the external medium, the shortcut file detection unit 310 detects the shortcut files created in the dedicated folder and counts the number of them (step S106).

  The detected shortcut file is analyzed by the shortcut file analysis unit 320 for the path data where the music data is stored, and the attribute data extraction unit 330 extracts the attribute data (step S107). These operations are performed for all shortcut files in the dedicated folder.

  Next, the playlist creation unit 340 determines the playback order of the music data based on the attribute data, and creates a playlist (step S108). The reproduction list is displayed on the display by the display unit 250 (step S109), the reproduction unit 240 reproduces the music data in accordance with the reproduction order of the reproduction list (step S110), and the sound is output from the audio output unit 230.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of creating a reproduction list. The reproduction list includes a reproduction order, a title, an album, an artist, and a genre. This reproduction list corresponds to the shortcut file of folder C shown in FIG. The reproduction order of the music data can be determined using the attribute data, but is not limited thereto, and the user may be able to set conditions. Also, the play list does not necessarily display all the attribute data of the music data, but may display, for example, one attribute data desired by the user (title).

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, if there is a large amount of music data included in the reproduction list, there is a drawback that it is difficult to confirm the music data to be reproduced. Therefore, in the second embodiment, the number of music data included in the reproduction list is limited, and when the number of music data exceeds the threshold, the reproduction list is divided into a plurality of displays. A default value is prepared for the threshold value, but can be arbitrarily changed by a user setting.

Figure 10 is a functional block diagram of a playlist creation program according to the second embodiment, the identical to the first embodiment will not be described bear the same reference numbers. The second embodiment newly includes a music data number calculation unit 350. The song data number calculation unit 350 calculates the number of song data to be included in the playlist, compares the calculated song data number with a threshold value, and provides the comparison result to the playlist creation unit 340. The playlist creation unit 340 divides the playlist into two pages when the number of music data exceeds the threshold value. When a plurality of threshold values are set, the playlist may be divided into a plurality of pages according to the comparison result with each threshold value.

  FIG. 11 is an operation flow for creating a content list according to the second embodiment. The music data number calculation unit 350 counts the number of music data to be included in the reproduction list (step S201). Next, it is determined whether or not the number of music data is greater than or equal to a threshold value (step S202). If the number of music data is greater than or equal to the threshold value, the play list creation unit 340 divides the play list into a plurality of pieces (step S203), and determines the play order for each play list (step S204). The playlist can be divided based on the attribute data and the creation date / time data of the shortcut file. For example, it can be divided so as to include the same artist, album, or genre, or can be divided so as to include those with a similar shortcut file creation date. The created reproduction list is displayed on the display unit 250 as in the first embodiment, and the music data is reproduced by the reproduction unit 220 (steps S205 and S206).

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above. However, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments according to the present invention, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims. Deformation / change is possible.

  In the above embodiment, an audio device is used as an example, but it may be a playback device that plays back video data as well as audio. In this case, the playlist may be video data as well as music data. Good. Furthermore, although the said Example illustrated the vehicle-mounted audio apparatus, it is not necessarily restricted to vehicle-mounted.

It is a figure explaining the creation method of the reproduction list in the conventional PC. It is a figure explaining the creation method of the reproduction | regeneration list | wrist in the conventional audio apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of a data structure of the external media based on the Example of this invention. 4A shows an example of the composition of music data, and FIG. 4B shows an example of attribute data of music data. FIG. 5A shows a configuration example of a shortcut file, and FIG. 5B shows a specific example of a shortcut file. FIG. 6A is a block diagram showing the configuration of the in-vehicle audio apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of the reproduction list creation program shown in FIG. 6. It is a flowchart of the operation | movement of the play list preparation based on 1st Example of this invention. It is an example of the reproduction | regeneration list | wrist produced by the 1st Example. It is a functional block diagram of the reproduction | regeneration list preparation program based on 2nd Example of this invention. It is a flowchart of the operation | movement of the reproduction | regeneration list preparation based on 2nd Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1: Audio device 2: External media 3: PC 4: Dedicated software 100: Music data 110: Body data 120: Attribute data 130: Shortcut file 132: Path data 134: Creation date / time data

Claims (8)

A connection unit for connecting an external medium storing content data and shortcut information including address information indicating a storage destination of the content data;
A shortcut detection unit for detecting the shortcut information stored in an external medium connected to the connection unit;
A shortcut analysis unit that analyzes the detected shortcut information and identifies a storage destination of content data from the analyzed address information;
An attribute data extraction unit that extracts attribute data included in the content data of the specified storage location;
A playlist creation unit that creates a playlist of content data using the extracted attribute data ;
A display unit for displaying the playlist created by the playlist creation unit;
A content data reproducing apparatus having: The content data reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a reproducing unit that reproduces content data in accordance with the reproduction list. The content data reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the content data includes attribute information indicating an attribute of the content, and the reproduction list creating unit determines a reproduction order of the content data based on the attribute information. The attribute information includes at least one of a title, artist name, album name, and genre name of content data, and the playlist includes at least one of the attribute information to represent content data. The content data reproducing device described in 1. The content data playback device according to claim 1, wherein the shortcut information includes date information when the shortcut is created, and the playlist creation unit determines a playback order of the content data based on the date information. The content data reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reproduction list creating unit divides the reproduction list into a plurality of pieces when the number of content data exceeds a threshold value. Storing shortcut information including content data and address information indicating a storage location of the content data in an external medium;
Connecting external media to the content data playback device;
Detecting the shortcut information in the connected external media;
Analyzing the detected shortcut information and identifying a storage location of content data from the analyzed address information;
Extracting attribute data included in the content data of the specified storage location;
Creating a playlist of content data using the extracted attribute data ;
Displaying the created playlist,
A method for creating a playlist of content data. A reproduction list creating program executed by a content data reproducing apparatus capable of connecting an external medium storing content data and shortcut information including address information indicating a storage destination of the content data,
  Detecting the shortcut information in the connected external media when the external media is connected to the content data playback device;
  Analyzing the detected shortcut information and identifying a storage location of content data from the analyzed address information;
  Extracting attribute data included in the content data of the specified storage location;
  Creating a playlist of content data using the extracted attribute data;
  Displaying the created playlist,
A playlist creation program.

Images