JPH05233722A - Data retrieving controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a data retrieval controller which can be economically constituted, and by which the retrieval of data can be speedily attained. CONSTITUTION:A control part 12 allows a multimedia fetching part 11 to fetch multimedia data, controls the storage of the leading part of the data in an RAM disk device 3 whose retrieving speed is high from a storage and reading control part 15, and controls the storage of the data after the leading part in an magneto-optical disk device 4 from a storage and reading control part 16. At the time of retrieving the stored data, the control part 12 controls the supply of retrieval information to the RAM disk device 3 and the magneto- optical disk device 4, controls the fetch of the multimedia data of the reproduced leading part from the RAM disk device 3, and then controls the fetch of the reproduced data after the leading part from the magneto-optical disk device 4 whose retrieval is completed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data search control device for efficiently controlling data search using data storage devices having different search speeds.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, multimedia devices capable of simultaneously handling moving images, still images, voices, etc. have become widespread.

For example, a VTR, a laser disk device,
There are CD-ROM devices and other disk devices.

[0004] Multimedia data is being edited for various purposes and is being used for providing information. When performing editing at such times, different types of devices as described above may be used. Further, in the above-mentioned device or the like, desired multimedia data can be searched and output by supplying a time signal, a frame number, and other information in order to search recorded multimedia data.

[0005]

However, the search speeds of the above-mentioned devices are different from each other. For example, compared to a RAM disk device, a magneto-optical disk device or CD-
ROM devices are generally said to have a slow search speed. It is considered that this is because the seek time and the like becomes relatively long due to the disk attaching / detaching mechanism. Also HD (Har
d Disk) devices and RAM disk devices have a small storage capacity, whereas magneto-optical disk devices and CD-ROM devices have a large storage capacity. The unit price per unit storage capacity is cheaper in the magneto-optical disk device and the CD-ROM device.

For example, even if the RAM disk device can output the multimedia data of the frame number instantly when the frame number to be searched is supplied in the RAM disk device at the above retrieval speed, the retrieval is performed under the same condition. It is in a state where it can be output after 1 to 2 seconds when the device is used.

For this reason, when editing multimedia data, there is a problem that it takes a long time to edit because of a slow search time. In the case of information provision, information is provided after a search command is supplied. There is a problem that the user's consciousness of use is reduced if the time to get to is longer.

Further, if a device having a high search speed and a device having a slow search speed are mixed, it is difficult to use them efficiently. Further, if all the multimedia data are recorded in a RAM disk device or an HD device having a fast search speed, the search time is fast but the memory capacity is large, so that the device scale becomes large and the price becomes expensive. ..

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a data search control device capable of quick data search and economically constructed.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention stores data and information for searching the data in data storage devices having different search speeds, and searches the data in the data storage device. The data retrieval control device for controlling has been improved with the following characteristic configuration. In other words, at least the data of the head portion including the data search information is stored in the data storage device having a high search speed, and the data including the data search information after the head portion is stored in the data storage device of the low search speed. The present invention is characterized by comprising a control means, a data storage device having a high search speed, and a search control means for supplying data search information to the data storage device having a slow search speed to search for desired data.

[0011]

According to the present invention, at least the data of the head portion including the data retrieval information is stored in the data storage device having a fast retrieval speed, and the data including the data retrieval information after the head portion has a slow retrieval speed. Since the data is stored in the data storage device described above, the search can be performed quickly with the data storage device having a high search speed. The data after the first part can be reproduced and output.

Therefore, it is possible to realize a data search control device which is economical and can search and reproduce quickly.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention applied to a multimedia control device will be described with reference to the drawings.

The purpose of this embodiment is to provide a multimedia control device capable of efficiently searching and reproducing various kinds of multimedia data (for example, moving images, still images, audio signals, etc.) stored in the multimedia device. To be realized.

To achieve this object, when the multimedia data is stored in a multimedia device, the multimedia including search information (information name, frame number, time information, etc.) for each type of multimedia data. The head portion of the data is stored in the RAM disk device having a fast search speed, the multimedia data including the search information after the head portion is stored in the magneto-optical disk device having a slow search speed, and the data thus stored is stored. When searching for, supply a search command to the above two disk devices,
The head portion of the reproduced multimedia data is fetched from the RAM disk device having a fast search speed, and the data after the head portion of the above data is fetched from the magneto-optical disk device having a slow search speed.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a multimedia control apparatus according to this embodiment.

In FIG. 1, the multimedia control device 1 includes a multimedia data acquisition unit 11, a control unit 12, a command input unit 13, a display unit 14, and storage / readout control units 15 and 16. , A selection unit 17 and a voice generation unit 18. The multimedia data capturing unit 11 captures multimedia data from the laser disk device 2 based on a capture control signal supplied from the control unit 12, and supplies the leading portion of the multimedia data to the storage / readout control unit 15. Then, the multimedia data after the head portion is supplied to the storage / readout control unit 16.

The storage / readout control unit 15 supplies the data of the head portion of the multimedia data to the RAM disk device 3 based on the storage control signal from the control unit 12. In addition, based on the search control signal supplied from the control unit 12, the RAM disk device 3 is supplied with search information, a read control signal, etc., and the multimedia data read from the RAM disk device 3 is fetched and supplied to the selection unit 17. To do.
The storage / readout control unit 16 causes the magneto-optical disk device 4 to supply data after the head portion of the multimedia data based on the storage control signal from the control unit 12. Further, based on the search control signal supplied from the control unit 12, search information, a read control signal, etc. are supplied to the magneto-optical disk device 4, the multimedia data read from the magneto-optical disk device 4 is fetched, and the selection unit 17 Supply to.

The selection unit 17 selects either the reproduction multimedia data supplied from the storage / readout control unit 15 or 16 based on the selection signal supplied from the control unit 12 to separate the image signal and the audio signal. The audio signal is supplied to the audio generation unit 18, and the image signal is supplied to the display unit 14. The control unit 12 takes in a command signal from the command input unit 13 and supplies a reproduction control signal to the laser disk device 2,
An acquisition control signal is supplied to the multimedia data acquisition unit 11, a storage control signal and a search control signal are supplied to the storage / readout control units 15 and 16, a selection signal is supplied to the selection unit 17, and a display unit 14 is provided. Supply display data and so on.

The command input unit 13 inputs commands for multimedia data acquisition control, storage control, read control, and input of search information, and supplies them to the control unit 12. The display unit 14 displays the image signal supplied from the selection unit 17, the display data supplied from the control unit 12, and the like. The voice generation unit 18 converts the voice signal supplied from the selection unit 17 into voice and outputs the voice.

The operation of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the operation flowchart of FIG. 3 described later.

FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram when the multimedia control device of FIG. 1 is realized by a workstation.

In FIG. 2, the workstation 5
Is a CPU 51, a disk device 52, and a main memory 53.
An interface section 54, a display 55,
It is composed of a keyboard 56 and a voice generator 57.

The disk device 52 causes the main memory 53 to load a program or the like for the control unit 12 to control each unit. The CPU 51 realizes the function of the control unit 12. The main memory 53 stores various programs for the control unit 1 to control each unit. The interface unit 54 realizes the multimedia data acquisition unit 11, the storage / readout control units 15 and 16, the selection unit 17, and the like. The display 55 realizes the display unit 14. The keyboard 56 realizes the command input unit 13. The sound generating unit 57 can be realized by being configured by a D / A converter, an amplifier, a speaker, etc. (not shown) in order to output the reproduced sound signal as sound.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of this multimedia control apparatus.

In FIG. 3, the control unit 12 controls the laser disk device 2 to reproduce and output the multimedia data, which is taken in by the multimedia data taking-in unit 11 (S31). The control unit 12 supplies the multimedia data fetched by the multimedia data fetching unit 11 to the storage / readout control units 15 and 16, and the storage / readout control unit 1
From 5, the scenes 1-2 of this multimedia data
Is supplied to and stored in the RAM disk device 3 (S32). Further, the storage / readout control unit 16 supplies the multimedia data, for example, the data of scenes 3 to N to the magneto-optical disk device 3 for storage (S33). That is, the scene data subsequent to the scene data stored in S32 is stored in S33.

When the multimedia data is shared and stored as described above, the control unit 12 next determines whether or not to execute the search (S34). If the search is to be executed, the search information input from the command input unit 13 is used as the control unit 1.
2 is taken in (S35). For example, in the case of multimedia data for skiing area information guidance, as shown in FIG.
Enter. The retrieval information fetched in this way is supplied to the storage / readout control units 15 and 16, and is supplied to the RAM disk device 3 and the magneto-optical disk device 4 from there (S36).

Next, the control unit 12 determines whether or not the RAM disk device 3 has completed the search (S37). When the search is completed, the control unit 12 causes the storage / readout control unit 15 to supply a reproduction command to the RAM disk device 3, and the reproduced multimedia data of the head portion is taken into the storage / readout control unit 15. Is supplied to the selection unit 17, where it is separated into an audio signal and an image signal, the image signal is supplied to the display unit 14 for image display, and the audio signal is supplied to the audio generation unit 18 for audio output (S38). ).

Next, it is judged whether or not the search for the magneto-optical disk device 4 is completed (S39). When the search is completed, the control unit 12 causes the storage / readout control unit 16 to supply a reproduction command to the magneto-optical disk device 4, and the reproduced multimedia data after the head portion is stored / readout control unit 16
And is supplied from here to the selection unit 17, where it is separated into an audio signal and an image signal, and the image signal is displayed on the display unit 14.
To display an image, and the audio signal is supplied to the audio generation unit 18 for audio output (S40). When the reproduction of the multimedia data is completed in this way, it is determined whether another search is to be performed next (S41). If done, the above S35
~ Repeat S40. If not performed, the search / playback process ends.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the search and reproduction operation relationship of this multimedia control apparatus.

FIG. 4 shows the operational relationship between the RAM disk device 3 and the magneto-optical disk device 4 in the above search and reproduction. When a search command is supplied to the RAM disk device 3 and the magneto-optical disk device 4 at time t1, the search is started. However, the RAM disk device 3 having a high search speed ends the search at time t2. And this time t
2 to reproduce the multimedia data of the head portion stored in the RAM disk device 3. Next, the magneto-optical disk device 4 ends the search at time t3. On the other hand, the time t
When the reproduction of the multimedia data of the head portion stored in the RAM disk device 3 is completed at time t4 after the time T from 2 on, the reproduction of the multimedia data after the head portion of the magneto-optical disk device 4 is started. Let In this way, the head portion of the multimedia data can be reproduced from the RAM disk device 3 having a high search speed, and the multimedia data after the head portion can be reproduced from the magneto-optical disk device 4 having a low search speed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example when the search information is input in the multimedia control device. In this FIG.
The search information of "Zao Ski Resort" is input to the skiing guide information displayed on the display of the display unit 14 when the search information is input. Based on this search information, the head part (for example, scenes 1 and 2) of the "Zao skiing area guide information" is reproduced from the RAM disk device 3 having a high search speed, and the magneto-optical disk device 4 having a low search speed and the subsequent parts (for example, scenes 1 and 2) are reproduced. This indicates that scenes 3 to N) are reproduced.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the data storage format of this multimedia control device.

In FIG. 6, the RAM disk device 3
The multimedia data of scenes (composed of moving images and audio) 1 and 2 is stored after the search information (for example, a ski resort name), and the magneto-optical disk device 4 stores the search information (for example, a ski resort name). After that, the multimedia data of scenes 3 to N after the above scene is stored.

According to the above embodiment, the head portion of the stored multimedia data can be fetched from the RAM disk device 3 having a high retrieval speed, and the multimedia data after the head portion can be retrieved by the magneto-optical device having a low retrieval speed. It can be imported from a disk device.

Therefore, desired multimedia data can be searched quickly, the expensive RAM disk device 3 can be realized with a small capacity, and a relatively inexpensive magneto-optical disk device can be mainly constituted.

In the above embodiment, the multimedia control device for searching multimedia data has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be naturally applied to a data search control device that targets only data to which a search index (frame number, time signal, information name, etc.) is added.

In the above embodiment, the RAM disk device 3 having a high search speed and the magneto-optical disk device 4 having a low search speed have been described as examples, but the present invention is not limited to this relationship. It can also be applied to other data storage devices.

The functional blocks of the multimedia control apparatus of FIG. 1 according to the above embodiment are not limited to this configuration. This multimedia control device can be realized not only by a workstation but also by another personal computer system or the like.

In FIG. 1 of the above embodiment, the RAM is
Although it is realized by a configuration including one disk device 3 and one magneto-optical disk device 4, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, the present invention can also be applied to a case in which there are two or more configurations depending on the storage capacity of multimedia data.

In FIG. 6 of the above embodiment, the storage format is not limited to this. For example, it can be realized by actually adding search information to each of a plurality of types of data and storing them. Further, in FIG. 6, the search information stored in the RAM disk device 3 and the magneto-optical disk device 4 need not be exactly the same information as long as there is a correspondence relationship between both information. For example, the RAM disk device 3 may store the search information by the frame number, and the magneto-optical disk device 4 may store the search information by the time information corresponding to the frame number.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the storage control means and the search control means are provided, the data can be searched and reproduced quickly, and the structure is economical. A data search control device can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a multimedia control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram when a multimedia control device according to an embodiment of the present invention is realized by a workstation.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of a multimedia control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a search and playback operation relationship diagram of the multimedia control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example when the search information is input in the multimedia control device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an example diagram of a data storage format of a multimedia control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Multimedia control device, 3 ... RAM disk device, 4 ... Magneto-optical disk device, 11 ... Multimedia data acquisition part, 12 ... Control part, 13 ... Command input part, 1
5, 16 ... Storage / readout control unit, 17 ... Selection unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A data search control device in which data and information for this data search are stored in data storage devices having different search speeds, and a data search control device for controlling the search of data in the data storage device includes at least the data search information. Storage control means for storing the data of the head part in a data storage device having a high search speed, and storing the data including the data search information after the head part in a data storage device having a low search speed; A data search control device comprising a storage device and a search control means for supplying data search information to the data storage device having a slow search speed to search for desired data.