JPH10210446A - Data-centralized control type sound and dynamic image reproduction system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To smoothly reproduce images and sounds without such troubles as breaks, etc., by adding an auxiliary storage to every sound/dynamic image reproduction device and storing the sound/dynamic image data in the auxiliary storage before the reproduction of these data. SOLUTION: A Karaoke (accompaniment for recorded music) system has a shared hard disk device and plural sound/dynamic image reproduction devices 4, which are connected in a daisy chain to the hard disk device via SCSI buses 3. Every device 4 has an auxiliary storage 68. The sound/dynamic image data received from the hard disk device are stored in the storage device 68, before they are reproduced and then read out of the storage device 68 and reproduced. Thereby, the reading and reproduction are not affected for the sound/dynamic image data stored in the storage device 68, even if the transfer of data is delayed due to the congestion of accesses which are given to the shared hard disk from the devices 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data centralized sound / moving image reproducing system used for a communication karaoke system, a video server, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a video server, a communication karaoke system, or the like, a management device for collectively storing and managing sound and moving image data and a plurality of playback devices are connected by a two-way communicable network. By transferring data from the player to the playback device,
2. Description of the Related Art A centralized sound / moving image reproduction system capable of reproducing moving images has been constructed. As a network connection method in such a system, for example, SC
A method using an SI (Small Computer System Interface) bus or a method using a LAN (Local Area Network) can be exemplified.

[0003]

By the way, in the above-mentioned sound / moving picture reproducing system, the amount of moving picture data to be transferred is extremely large, and the capacity of the data buffer memory mounted on each reproducing apparatus is limited. Therefore, data transfer is usually performed from the management device to the playback device by a real-time method synchronized with playback. However, this method not only increases the processing load on the management device, but also causes a delay in data transfer when the access to the network is crowded, which directly leads to a break in video and sound in the playback device. There's a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a data-intensive management type sound / moving picture reproduction which can smoothly reproduce a picture or sound without troubles such as interruptions even when access to a network is crowded. It is to provide a system.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems and Functions / Effects In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a data centralized management type sound / moving image reproducing system according to claim 1 of the present invention is configured to have the following requirements. Features. Shared hard disk drive: stores sound data and moving image data (hereinafter, also collectively referred to as sound / moving image data). A plurality of sound / moving image reproducing devices: connected to the shared hard disk device and individually having a function of accessing the shared hard disk device for reading out sound / moving image data. Auxiliary storage device: provided for each audio / video reproduction device, and temporarily stores at least a part of audio / video data transferred from the shared hard disk device prior to its reproduction. Storage amount determination means: sound from shared hard disk drive
Based on the reading speed of the moving image data or its predicted value and the reproducing speed of the sound and moving image data in the sound and moving image reproducing device, the storage amount of the sound and moving image data in the auxiliary storage device is determined. Data accumulation control means: The sound / moving image data is accumulated in the auxiliary storage device according to the determined accumulation amount. And sound
The moving picture reproducing apparatus reproduces sound and moving pictures by reading the sound / moving picture data stored in the auxiliary storage device. The sound data may be sound or voice data such as music performance sounds and singing sounds, sound effects, dialogue, narration, and the like.

In the above configuration, an auxiliary storage device is provided in each audio / video reproduction device, and at least a part of the audio / video data from the shared hard disk device is stored in the auxiliary storage device prior to reproduction. After that, the data is read from the auxiliary storage device and reproduced. Therefore, for example, even if access to the shared hard disk device from the sound / moving image reproducing device becomes crowded and data transfer is delayed, the influence on reading / reproducing of sound / moving image data stored in the auxiliary storage device is exerted. Therefore, sound and moving images can be smoothly reproduced, and troubles such as interruption of video or sound hardly occur. In addition, the necessary and sufficient data storage amount to prevent troubles such as interruption of video and sound is appropriately determined based on the data read speed and the reproduction speed, and the waiting time from the start of data transfer to the start of reproduction is minimized. It can also be shortened.

In addition, the sound / moving picture reproducing apparatus performs a process of reproducing sound / moving picture data stored in the auxiliary storage device and a process of storing new sound / moving picture data in the auxiliary storage device in parallel. Can be configured. That is, when transferring a large amount of sound and video data from the shared hard disk device to the auxiliary storage device, it takes a long time to complete the transfer, so when a certain amount of data is stored in the auxiliary storage device, By starting reproduction of already stored data while storing new data in the auxiliary storage device, the waiting time from the start of data transfer from the shared hard disk device to the start of reproduction can be reduced. . Note that the parallel processing may include both processing of simultaneously reading and reproducing the sound / moving image reproducing apparatus, or processing of alternately performing reading and reproducing.

[0008] At least the moving picture data of the sound / moving picture data is stored in a compressed state in the shared hard disk drive, and is transferred from the shared hard disc drive to the sound / moving picture reproducing apparatus in the compressed state. Can be. In this case, each of the plurality of sound / moving image reproducing apparatuses may be provided with a decompression unit for decompressing the compressed state of the moving image data. Further, the storage amount determining means may determine the storage amount using a value converted into either a compressed state or a decompressed state as the reading speed and the reproducing speed (claim 2). According to this method, the audio / video data is stored in a compressed state on the shared hard disk device, and transferred to the individual audio / video playback devices in the compressed state, and then decompressed and reproduced for each device. Therefore, the storage capacity of the moving image data in the shared hard disk device can be reduced. Further, since the data amount is reduced by the compression, the data transfer can be performed in a short time, and the processing load for the transfer control can be reduced. In this specification, “compressed sound / moving image data” refers to a sound / moving image data in which both a sound data portion and a moving image data portion are compressed, and a sound / moving image data portion. It is also assumed that only one of them is compressed.

In this case, the auxiliary storage device may store the sound / moving image data in a decompressed state or a compressed state. For example, in the former case, the storage amount determining means may determine the storage amount of the sound / moving image data based on the read speed and the reproduction speed converted into the decompressed state. In the latter case, the storage amount of the sound / moving image data can be determined based on the read speed and the reproduction speed converted into a compressed state. Specifically, by multiplying the reading speed of the compressed audio / video data from the shared hard disk device or its predicted value by a predetermined data expansion rate, this can be converted to a value in the decompressed state. it can. Further, by multiplying the reproduction speed by a predetermined data compression ratio, this can be converted to a value in a compressed state. In this case, as the data expansion rate, for example, an average data expansion rate DC / DE obtained by dividing the data length DC of the audio / video data in the decompressed state by the data length DE in the compressed state is used. be able to. As the data compression ratio, an average data compression ratio DE / DC which is the reciprocal thereof can be used.

The data storage control means starts storing sound / moving image data in the auxiliary storage device prior to the determination of the storage amount by the storage amount determining means, and sets the data amount stored within a predetermined time. The speed of reading audio / video data from the shared hard disk device is measured based on the In this case, the storage amount determining means determines the storage amount using the measured reading speed (claim 3). As a result, the reading speed of the sound / moving image data from the shared hard disk device can be accurately obtained, and the optimal data storage amount can be more accurately determined.

The storage amount determining means determines the storage amount as D, the data length of the audio / video data, the reading speed of the audio / video data from the shared hard disk device, or the predicted value thereof as R.
Assuming that the playback speed of the sound / moving image data in the sound / moving image playback device is P, it is determined as a value equal to or greater than (D / RD-P / P) × R. 4). That is, the root cause of the interruption of sound or video is that the data reproduction speed P is not read, for example, when the access from the audio / video reproduction device to the shared hard disk device becomes crowded and data transfer is delayed. The speed R may be higher than the speed R.
In this case, assuming that the data length is D and the reading speed is R, the time required to read all data can be obtained by D / R. Similarly, the time required to reproduce all data is determined by D / P. Therefore, if P> R, the data reading is (D / RD-D /
Extra time is required for the time corresponding to P). Therefore, the data amount corresponding to the time, that is, (D
/ R−D / P) × R If reproduction is started after accumulating data equal to or more than R, data reading cannot catch up with reproduction, resulting in interruption of sound or moving images. No more trouble.

Next, as a specific system configuration in which each sound / moving picture reproducing apparatus can independently access the shared hard disk device, the following can be exemplified. That is, a plurality of sound / moving-image reproducing devices are connected in a linear manner to each other by a data bus, and the data bus is used between at least some of the plurality of sound / moving-image reproducing devices on the data bus. If conflicts occur,
Arbitration means for setting the right to use the data bus is provided for any one of the competing audio / video reproduction devices. Further, each sound / moving picture reproducing apparatus has a read command means for commanding reading of predetermined sound data and moving picture data to the shared hard disk drive, and only when the right to use the data bus is set by the arbitrating means. Read command control means for causing the read command means to execute the above-mentioned command to the shared hard disk device. Then, the shared hard disk device transfers the sound data and the moving image data via the data bus to the sound / moving image reproduction device to which the use right is set.

In the above configuration, the read command means provided in each sound / moving picture reproducing apparatus instructs the shared hard disc drive to read out the sound data and the moving picture data, so that individual access to the shared hard disc drive is achieved. It becomes possible. Here, when access to the shared hard disk device from a plurality of sound / moving image reproducing devices (that is, use of the data bus) conflicts, the arbitration means sends to any one of the sound / moving image reproducing devices according to a predetermined method. Since the right to use the data bus is set and only the playback device to which the usage right is set can instruct data reading to the shared hard disk device, for example, a large number of playback devices can simultaneously send data to the shared hard disk device. Even when an attempt is made to access the data, the data can be read and transferred smoothly and without error.

[0014] The sound data and the moving image data read from the shared hard disk device are transferred by a data bus connecting the playback devices in a straight line. Each audio / video playback device accesses the data bus if the right to use the data bus is set and receives the data to be transferred. If the right to use the data bus is not set, the access to the data bus is restricted. Configured as not doing. Thus, even if the shared hard disk device does not particularly recognize the data transfer destination, data transfer to a predetermined playback device can be reliably performed.

More specifically, a priority order regarding the use of the data bus can be fixedly set in advance among the plurality of sound / moving image reproducing apparatuses. Further, the arbitration means can be provided in each sound / moving-image reproducing device. In this case, each arbitration unit confirms the use status of the data bus, and checks its own corresponding sound / moving image reproducing apparatus with another sound / moving apparatus.
The use of the data bus is not competing with the video playback device, and another audio / video playback device which should be given priority over the corresponding audio / video playback device requests the right to use the data bus. Only when it is determined that the data bus has not been used, the right to use the data bus is set for the sound / moving image reproducing apparatus.

As a specific example of such a system, SCS
A system employing the I (Small Computer System Interface) standard can be given. In this case, each sound / moving picture reproducing apparatus is provided with a SCSI interface, and is connected to each other via a SCSI interface by a SCSI bus functioning as the data bus. This way,
The connection mechanism between the devices can be configured at a lower cost as compared with a conventional connection system using both a LAN and a coaxial cable. Further, there is an advantage that the data transfer speed can be increased as compared with the case where a LAN is used (at most about 4 Mbytes / sec). Note that the transfer speed differs depending on the type of the SCSI standard to be adopted.

In the present invention, the following SCSI standards can be adopted. SCSI-1: The SCSI bus is a parallel bus having a data width of 8 bits (+1 parity bit). The data transfer speed is about 5.0 Mbytes / sec at maximum for synchronous transfer.

SCSI-2: Includes the following three types. (1) Fast-SCSI: The SCSI bus has 8 bits (+
Although it is a parallel bus of 1 parity bit), the data transfer speed is about 10.0 Mbytes / sec at the maximum for synchronous transfer. (2) 16-bit Wide-SCSI: The SCSI bus is a parallel bus having a data width of 16 bits (+2 parity bits) and a maximum data transfer speed of 20.
It is about 0 Mbytes / sec. (3) 32-bit Wide-SCSI: The SCSI bus is a parallel bus having a data width of 32 bits (+4 parity bits) and a maximum data transfer speed of 40.000 for synchronous transfer.
It is about 0 Mbytes / sec.

SCSI-3: The following are included as parallel transfer methods. (1) Ultra-SCSI: Also referred to as Fast20. S
The CSI bus is a parallel bus having a data width of 8 bits (+1 parity bit), and has a data transfer speed of about 20.0 Mbytes / sec at maximum for synchronous transfer. (2) Ultra-2: Also referred to as Fast40. SCSI
The bus is a parallel bus having a data width of 8 bits (+1 parity bit) and a data transfer speed of up to 4 for synchronous transfer.
It is about 0.0 Mbytes / sec. (3) Ultra-3: Also referred to as Fast80. SCSI
The bus is a parallel bus having a data width of 8 bits (+1 parity bit) and a data transfer speed of up to 8 for synchronous transfer.
It is about 0.0 Mbytes / sec.

In the above three parallel transfer methods of SCSI-3, it is also possible to use a transfer method in which the data width is 16 bits (+2 parity bits) and the transfer speed is doubled. On the other hand, as SCSI-3, FiberChannel, IEEE1394,
A standard of a serial transfer method such as SSA (Serial Storage Architecture) can also be used. For example, Fibre
In the channel, the data bus is constituted by an optical fiber cable, and the data transfer rate is 100 to 800.
Since it is as large as about M bytes / sec, it is particularly effective for transferring moving image data.

When a plurality of sound / moving picture reproducing devices are connected to each other via a SCSI bus, a shared hard disk drive and a sound / moving picture reproducing device are connected.
Video playback devices can also be connected by a SCSI bus. Here, when the shared hard disk drive is composed of a plurality of hard disk drives, in the shared hard disk drive, all of the data buses serving as access paths from the audio / video playback devices to the individual hard disk drives are SCSI. It can be composed of a bus. On the other hand, a part of the data bus may be constituted by a data bus other than the SCSI bus, such as a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus. In the former case, all the hard disk drives in the shared hard disk device and the sound / moving image reproducing device can be connected by an inexpensive SCSI bus, so that the configuration cost of the connecting portion can be reduced. However, in the case of the SCSI standard of the parallel transfer method, the number of devices that can be connected to one SCSI bus cannot be larger than the number of data bus bits included in the SCSI bus. When a plurality of hard disk drives are used, the number of connectable sound / moving image reproducing devices decreases as the number of connected hard disk drives increases.

On the other hand, according to the latter configuration, since the SCSI bus forming an access path to each hard disk drive is replaced by a data bus other than the SCSI bus in the shared hard disk drive and becomes interrupted, the sound and There is an advantage that the number of connections of the moving image reproducing device can be increased. In this case, the SCSI bus connecting the plurality of hard disk drives in the shared hard disk device and the SCSI bus connecting the plurality of sound / moving image reproducing devices may be configured by different standards. SCSI-2 may be 16-bit Wide-SCSI, and the latter may be SCSI-2 Fast-SCSI. In addition, SCSI of serial transfer method
When the standard is used, the above-described restrictions do not occur, and for example, Fiber Channel using an optical fiber cable is used.
el, a maximum of 10 per SCSI bus
About 00 devices can be connected.

On the other hand, it is also possible to adopt a method in which fixed priorities regarding the use of the data bus are not particularly defined among the plurality of sound / moving image reproducing apparatuses. In this case, for a competing audio / video reproducing device, a method of randomly setting a reproducing device for setting a use right each time, a method of setting a use right for a device with the fastest access, and a method of setting a use right for a data bus. Various methods can be adopted, such as a method of determining a priority order according to the access results up to that time (for example, a round robin method in which a device with the latest access time in the past access results is higher in the priority order). Also, it is sufficient that at least one arbitration unit is provided on the data bus, and it is not always necessary to provide the arbitration unit in all sound / moving image reproducing devices.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1A is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a karaoke system as one embodiment of a data / centralized management sound / moving picture reproducing system according to the present invention. The karaoke system 1 has a shared hard disk drive 5 and a plurality of sound / moving picture reproducing devices 4 daisy-chain connected thereto via a SCSI bus 3.

The shared hard disk drive 5 is a so-called RA
As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of hard disk drives (hereinafter abbreviated as HDDs) 26 are arranged in a disk array 27, and a plurality of disk arrays 27 are daisy-chain-connected by the SCSI bus 15 as shown in FIG. Disk controller 6, direct memory access controller (hereinafter abbreviated as DMA controller) 52, control CPU 53, ROM 54, RAM 5
5, a SCSI controller 50 (which functions as a SCSI interface), a SCSI port 56 connected thereto, a data buffer memory 57, and a local bus (for example, PCI (Periferal Co
high-speed standard bus such as an mponent interconnect) bus 9. Then, the audio / video reproducing device 4 is connected to the SCSI controller 50 via the SCSI port 56.

Returning to FIG. 1, the shared hard disk drive 5
The music data storage unit 5a and the background video data storage unit 5
b and the lyrics data storage unit 5c. In the musical sound data storage section 5a, musical sound data of a large number of karaoke songs as sound data are stored in association with song names and song numbers. Music data of each music is, for example, MPEG1
Alternatively, it is configured as digital sound data compressed according to a known method such as MPEG2.

On the other hand, the lyrics data storage section 5c stores lyrics data in which the lyrics of each karaoke song are described in the form of character codes in association with the song names and song numbers in the same manner as the musical sound data. Based on the lyrics data, the lyrics telop of the karaoke song is displayed on the monitor 78 (FIG. 4) of the sound / video playback device 4 (described later). On the other hand, the background video data storage unit 5b stores moving image data of a plurality of background videos corresponding to the respective karaoke songs. Each moving image data is configured as compressed moving image data compressed according to a known method such as MPEG1 or MPEG2. As shown in FIG. 1B, image data of a plurality of moving image frames and reproduction of each frame are provided. And time stamp data defining timing.

The above-mentioned musical sound data, moving image data and lyrics data are to be read and written as a unit, for example, data corresponding to one karaoke tune (hereinafter referred to as original data) in a plurality of data blocks. Divided into multiple HDs of the shared hard disk drive 5
D26 is distributed and stored in data block units. Then, the original data is read and written in parallel to the plurality of HDDs 26 in units of the data blocks, thereby achieving high-speed data input / output.
Control of data input / output is performed by the control CPU 53 (FIG. 2). In this case, it can be seen that the musical sound data storage unit 5a, the background video data storage unit 5b, and the lyrics data storage unit 5c are formed over the plurality of HDDs 26.

In the shared hard disk drive 5 configured as a disk array, in order to improve data reliability, the divided data blocks are stored with redundant data added as error correction information, and are stored on the disk. The original data can be restored even if a part of the data is lost. As the redundant data, a parity, a Hamming code, a BCH code, a Reed-Solomon code, and the like are used. Also, one of the plurality of HDDs 26
One is a dedicated HDD (hereinafter referred to as a correction HDD) for storing error correction information created in advance based on the original data, and the data is stored in one of the data blocks stored in another HDD. When the block cannot be read, a process of restoring a lost data block from the error correction information stored in the correction HDD and a data block from another HDD that has been successfully read can be performed. I have. The data restoration process is performed by the control CPU 5
3 is performed by a control program stored in the ROM 54, for example.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3A, each sound / moving picture reproducing device 4 comprises a CPU 61, a ROM 62 and a RAM 6.
3, a SCSI interface 64 for daisy-chain connection with other audio / video playback devices 4, an interface for connecting peripheral devices (eg, IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) interface, SCSI interface, etc.) ) 65, a plurality of AV decoders 67, etc., which are connected via a bus 66, and a local hard disk drive (hereinafter abbreviated as L-HDD) 68 as an auxiliary storage device is connected to the interface 65. Have been. The L-HDD 68 is connected to the shared hard disk drive 5
The buffer functions as a buffer for temporarily storing the compressed tone data and background video data received from, and plays a role in preventing, for example, interruption of the reproduced sound or video when data reception is delayed.

The SCSI bus 3 is, for example, 1 in this embodiment.
A 6-bit Wide-SCSI standard is used. The sound / moving picture reproducing device 4 connected to the end of the SCSI bus 3 is provided with a terminator 3b (FIG. 1) for preventing noise from being generated due to signal reflection at the end of the bus. Further, each AV decoder 67 is connected to a reproduction output unit 69 arranged in each room of a karaoke box, for example.

Here, the above-mentioned musical sound data, compressed moving image data of background video and lyric data are supplied from the shared hard disk device 5 to the sound / moving image reproducing device 4 via the SCSI bus 3. CPU of control unit 60
Reference numeral 61 denotes an individual to the shared hard disk device 5 for reading out the data from the sound / moving image reproducing device 4 based on the control program 62a (FIG. 3B) stored in the ROM 62 using the RAM 63 as a work area. It fulfills the function of accessing.

The CPU 61 controls the writing of musical sound data, moving image data and lyrics data transferred via the SCSI bus 3 to the L-HDD 68, and performs sound / moving images such as playing karaoke songs and displaying background images. And controls the reading of the data from the L-HDD 68 to reproduce the data. Here, the CPU 61 is suitable for multitask processing so that writing and reading of data to and from the L-HDD 68 can be performed in parallel.
In addition, a modem 90 for communicating with the host computer 11 is provided in any of the plurality of sound / moving image reproducing devices 4. Thus, the sound / moving picture reproducing apparatus 4 receives new karaoke music data (including musical sound data, lyrics data, and moving picture data of the background video) from the host computer 11 via the modem 90 and the communication network NW such as a telephone line. (Hereinafter, also referred to as karaoke data), and
It plays a role of transferring to the shared hard disk device 5 via the I bus 3.

Further, as shown in FIG.
The OM 62 stores a read speed memory 62d and a reproduction speed memory 62e. The read speed memory 62d stores the value of the read speed R of the audio / video data from the shared hard disk device 5. Here, the reading speed R
May vary depending on the access status of each audio / video reproducing device 4 to the shared hard disk device 5 (or the usage status of the SCSI bus 3). In the present embodiment, for example, the smallest value assumed in actual use is adopted. Have been. The reproduction speed memory 62e stores the value of the reproduction speed P 'of the audio / video data.

The ROM 62 stores an accumulation amount determination program 62b and a data accumulation control program 62c. The storage amount determination program 62b multiplies the reproduction speed P ′ stored in the reproduction speed memory 62e by a predetermined data compression rate and converts the result into a reproduction speed P in a compressed state, and the converted reproduction speed value P This is for performing processing for determining the amount of karaoke data stored in the L-HDD 68 based on the read speed value R and the read speed value R. The data storage control program 62c is for executing processing for storing the determined amount of karaoke data in the L-HDD 68.

Next, as the data compression ratio, the average data compression ratio DE / DC (==) calculated by dividing the data length DE in the compressed state of each karaoke data by the data length DC also after decompression. A) can be used.
The average data compression ratio A can be calculated in advance and stored in a form associated with each karaoke data in a one-to-one correspondence, for example, in a header portion thereof. On the other hand, the data length DE in the compressed state of each karaoke data and the data length DC after decompression may be stored, and the average data compression ratio A may be calculated by DE / DC each time. In addition,
If the fluctuation of the data compression ratio for each karaoke data is not so large, the average data compression ratio A can be set to a constant value. In this case, the playback speed memory 62e
May store the value of the playback speed converted to a compressed state based on the fixed data compression ratio.

Next, the accumulation amount Q of the karaoke data in the L-HDD 68 is determined as follows. First,
The data length of each karaoke data is D, the reading speed of the audio / video data from the shared hard disk device is R, and the reproduction speed of the audio / video data in the audio / video reproducing device is P (both are converted to a compressed state). Value). In this case, as shown in FIG. 9, the time required to read out one piece of karaoke data (converted value in a compressed state) is obtained by D / R. Similarly, the time required to reproduce one piece of karaoke data is obtained by D / P. Then, since P> R, data read requires an extra time corresponding to (D / RD-P) than data reproduction. Therefore, if the data amount corresponding to the time, that is, data equal to or more than (D / RD-P / P) × R is accumulated and then the reproduction is started, the data reading can be performed. As a result, troubles such as interruption of sound and video do not occur. In this embodiment, (D / RD−D / P) × R
Is multiplied by a predetermined safety factor SR (> 1): Q = (D / RD-P) × R × SR ‥‥‥ (1) is used as the determined value of the storage amount.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the AV decoder 67 and the reproduction output unit 69. The AV decoder 67 includes a central control unit 70 having a CPU 71, a ROM 72, and a RAM 73, and a compressed moving image data decoder 74, a superimposed telop controller 75, a compressed sound data decoder 76, a serial driver 77, and the like connected thereto. ing. Here, the CPU 71 of the central control unit 70 controls the overall operation of the AV decoder 67, and transmits the musical sound data received via the bus 66 to the compressed sound data decoder 76, the moving image data to the compressed moving image data decoder 74, It plays a role of distributing the lyrics data to the superimposed telop controller 75.

The compressed moving image data decoder 74 and the compressed sound data decoder 76 decompress compressed sound data as compressed moving image data and musical sound data, respectively. Also, the superimposed telop controller 7
Reference numeral 5 denotes a font R as character image storage means therein.
The OM 75a receives the above-mentioned lyrics data, reads out character font data (character image data) corresponding to each character code included in the lyrics data from the font ROM 75a, generates video data of the lyrics telop of the music, and compresses it. It functions as video synthesizing means for synthesizing with the decompressed video data from the video data decoder 74. In addition, the display state of the displayed lyrics telop (for example, the display color of the lyrics telop, the display color of the background portion of the lyrics telop, etc.) is sequentially changed in synchronization with the progress of the music, and the singing portion corresponding to the user is changed. Also plays the role of notifying. Since the number of playback frames per unit time is fixed in moving image playback, if time stamp data (FIG. 1B) accompanying each frame is read out in synchronization with frame playback, The reading interval is almost constant. The change speed or timing of the display state of the lyrics telop can be determined with reference to the read time stamp data.

Next, the reproduction output unit 69 is connected to a monitor 78 connected to the superimpose telop controller 75 of the AV decoder 67 via a video output cable 78a, and a sound output cable 79a such as a stereo pin jack cable. An amplifier 79 connected to the compressed sound data decoder 76, a speaker 80 connected thereto, and a serial driver 77 via a signal transfer cable 81a.
, And a remote control unit 82 attached thereto.

As shown in FIG. 5, the remote control unit 82 has a music number input key 82a for inputting a music number and the like.
And a wireless transmission unit 82b for wirelessly transmitting the input data, and an ENTER key 82c.
For example, when a tune number is input using the tune number input key 82a and the ENTER key 82c is pressed for selecting a tune, the data of the tune number is wirelessly transmitted to the remote control receiving section 81 (FIG. 4), and the serial number of the AV decoder 67 The data is sent to the central control unit 70 via the driver 77. The music number data signal sent to the central control unit 70 via the serial driver 77 is further transferred to the sound / moving image reproducing device 4 as a request signal.

On the other hand, from the superimposed telop controller 75, the data of the synthesized background video and lyrics telop are converted into video signals by a monitor control unit (not shown), and then transmitted to the monitor 78 for video display. From the compressed sound data decoder 76, the decompressed musical sound data is sent to the amplifier 79 via a D / A converter (not shown), and is output as a karaoke performance sound to the speaker 80.
Output from

The operation of the karaoke system 1 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Figure 6 shows the sound
3 shows a flow of a reproducing process in the moving image reproducing device 4. That is, in the reproduction output unit 69 shown in FIG. 4, the music number input key 8 of the remote control unit 82 (FIG. 5)
When a music number is input from 2a, it is transmitted to the central control unit 60 of the sound / moving image reproducing apparatus 4 of FIG. 3 via the remote control receiving unit 81 and the serial driver 77. Then, the CPU 61 of the central control unit 60 transmits the received data to the SC
1 via the SI bus 3
(FIG. 6: S1).

As shown in FIG. 10, the SCSI bus 3
Each SCSI compatible device (ie, SCSI controller 5
0 and a data bus bit corresponding to the sound / moving image reproducing device 4) and a BUSY signal (a signal indicating that the bus is being used: hereinafter, BS)
Y signal) bus BSY, SELECT signal (some S
A signal indicating that the CSI device has secured a bus: a SEL signal (hereinafter, referred to as a SEL signal) includes a bus SEL and the like, and various state transitions of the SCSI are executed by a combination of these signals. The SCSI bus 3 is 1
Although the number of data bus bits is 16 since it is a 6-bit Wide-SCSI, it is assumed that only eight data bus bits DB0 to DB7 are shown for easy understanding. The data bus bits DB0 to DB7 have a voltage level lower than a predetermined value (hereinafter, referred to as a data bus bit DB0 to DB7).
It is assumed that the state can be in either of a state of being simply “L” or the like) and a state of a high voltage level (hereinafter simply referred to as “H” or the like). In this embodiment, “L” is “true”. And “H” is treated as meaning “false”. On the other hand, since each SCSI compatible device shares one bus signal bus BSY and one SELECT signal bus SEL, the other SCSI devices are in the “false” state.
In order not to prevent the use of those buses from I-compatible devices,
The buses are released in a "high impedance" state in which neither "L" nor "H" is output.

The SCSI bus 3 initially has all sounds and
All the SCSI compatible devices including the moving image reproducing device 4 are in the bus free phase in which no bus is used, and both the BSY signal and the SEL signal are false. And
An arbitration phase is executed so that the sound / moving picture reproducing apparatus 4 which is about to send the music number data acquires the right to use the SCSI bus 3 (FIG. 6: S2). In the SCSI standard, the use priority order of the SCSI bus 3 for each SCSI-compatible device is defined, and the use of the bus is prioritized for a device having a larger ID number. And a SCSI bus 3 from a SCSI-compatible device.
When the use (access) of the device conflicts, only the device having the highest priority, that is, the device having the largest ID number, has the right to use the SCSI bus 3. Here, ID = 0 is assigned to the SCSI controller 50 and ID
= 1 to 7 are assigned to the respective sound / moving image reproducing apparatuses 4. The determination procedure is as follows.

First, there is a case where only one sound / moving picture reproducing apparatus 4 uses the SCSI bus 3, for example, FIG.
When the device with ID = 1 tries to use the SCSI bus 3 as shown by 0, the device becomes an initiator and sets the output of the data bus bit DB1 corresponding to its own ID number to “true (L)”. BSY is set to “true (L)” (arrow A). After a lapse of a predetermined time, the sound / moving image reproducing device 4 with ID = 1 confirms that the other data bus bits of the SCSI bus 3 are not “true (L)”, and sets SEL to “true (L)”. (Arrow B). As a result, the sound / moving image reproducing apparatus 4 with ID = 1 has acquired the right to use the SCSI bus 3 (FIG. 6: S3).

Next, referring to FIG. 11, the two sound / moving image reproducing devices 4 perform arbitration, and the SCSI bus 3
The case of acquiring the right to use is described. That is,
The sound / moving picture reproducing apparatus 4 of ID = 1 that intends to use the SCSI bus 3 sets the data bus bit DB1 corresponding to its own ID number to “true (L)” and sets the BSY signal to “true (L)”. (Arrow C). Next, the sound / moving picture reproducing device 4 of ID = 2 trying to use the bus at the same timing has the data bus bit DB corresponding to its own ID number.
2 and BSY are set to “true (L)” (arrow D). And
In the SCSI arbitration phase, the bus with the higher priority is given to the device having the larger ID number.
Therefore, the device with ID = 2 confirms that the data bus bit larger than its own ID number is not “true (L)” after a certain period of time has elapsed, and has acquired the right to use the SCSI bus 3. Then, SEL is set to “true (L)” (arrow F). On the other hand, the SCSI-compatible device with ID = 1 has a data bus bit DB2 larger than its own ID number.
Is "true (L)"
Knowing that the acquisition of the right to use the SI bus has failed, the data bus bits DB1 and BSY are set to “false” (“H” and “high
Impedance ”)” (arrow E or G).

Now, the arbitration is completed and the SC
When the right to use the SI bus 3 is secured, the process proceeds to the selection phase. The selection phase is
This is a phase in which the initiator, that is, the sound / moving picture reproducing apparatus 4 which has obtained the right to use the SCSI bus 3 selects its own target. In this case, the target is (the SCSI controller 50 of) the shared hard disk device 5.

For example, as shown in FIG. 12, when the sound / moving picture reproducing device 4 with ID = 3 as the initiator acquires the SCSI bus 3 at the arrows A and B, the target device with ID = 0 (ie, The shared hard disk device 5) sets the data bus bit DB0 of the device of ID = 0 to “true (L)” at the timing of the arrow C after a certain time has elapsed since the SEL signal was set to “true (L)”, and At the timing of arrow D, BSY is set to “false (high impedance)”. Thereafter, the device with ID = 0 knows that the data bus DB0 has been selected as the target because the data bus DB0 is “true (L)”, and sets BSY to “true (L)” (arrow E). ). When BSY becomes “true (L)”, the initiator releases SEL, and the selection phase ends (arrow F).

When the initiator and the target are determined in this way, the process proceeds to the data out phase, and the data of the music number is transmitted from the sound / moving image reproducing device 4 as the initiator to the shared hard disk device 5 as the target.

Upon receiving the above data, the shared hard disk drive 5 stores the musical sound data, the background video data and the lyrics data corresponding to the music number in the corresponding storage sections 5a and 5a.
b, 5c (FIG. 1). Hereinafter, an outline of the data read / transfer process will be described with reference to FIG. That is, the audio / video playback device 4 sends the SCSI controller 50
Is sent from the SCSI controller 50 to the RAM 5 via the DMA controller 52.
5, and the control CPU 53 is notified of the reception of the music number by interrupt processing or polling (). Next, the control CPU 53 issues an instruction to each disk controller 6 to cause each HDD 26 to read the data storage sector corresponding to the music number (). The read data is temporarily stored in the data buffer memory 57 (), and when reading of all data is completed, this is notified to the control CPU 53 by interrupt processing or polling (). In response, the control CPU 53 issues an instruction to the SCSI controller 50 and the DMA controller 52, and transfers the data in the data buffer memory 57 to the SCSI controller 50 ().

The SCSI controller 50 transfers the received data to the sound / moving picture reproducing device 4 which is an initiator (data-in phase). The central control unit 60 (FIG. 4) of the sound / moving image reproducing device 4 transmits the received data to the L-HDD 6
8 and store it.

In response to the music number inputted from the remote control unit 82, the central control unit 60 (FIG. 3) of the sound / moving picture reproducing apparatus 4 performs karaoke data (musical sound data, lyrics data and moving picture data) corresponding to the music number. (FIG. 6: S
4) The process proceeds to S5 to perform a data storage amount determination process.

FIG. 7 shows the details of the data storage amount determination processing. First, in S10, each value of the average data compression ratio A and the data length D is read from the header portion of the received karaoke data. Then, the reproduction speed memory 62e
By multiplying the reproduction speed P ′ stored in FIG. 3 by the average data compression ratio A, a reproduction speed P converted to a compressed state is obtained. Then, in S11, the read speed memory 6
The L-HDD for the karaoke data is calculated from the read speed R in 2d and the reproduction speed P by the above-mentioned equation (1).
68 (FIG. 3A) is determined, and in S12, L
-Start storing the karaoke data in the HDD 68.

As shown in FIG. 6, if the karaoke data reaches the storage amount Q or more in S6, the central control unit 6
0 starts reading data from the L-HDD 68 and transfers it to the AV decoder 67 that has received the music number. The AV decoder 67 performs the music performance by decompressing the received musical sound data and outputting it to the amplifier 79, while the superimpose telop controller 75 performs the lyrics based on the background video and the lyrics data based on the decompressed moving image data. The telop is synthesized and output to the monitor 78 (S
8). When the karaoke performance ends, the process proceeds to S9,
If the end signal is detected in S9, the reproduction process ends. If the end signal is not detected, the process returns to S1 and the same process is repeated.

Next, FIG. 8 shows a modification of the data storage amount determination processing. The main point of the processing shown in FIG. 8 is that the data storage in the L-HDD 68 is started before the karaoke data storage amount Q is determined, and the timer 40 shown in FIG. 3A measures a predetermined time t. The point is that the reading speed R is measured based on the amount of data read in the meantime. In this case, RO
The reading speed memory 62d of M62 can be omitted. Hereinafter, the flow of the data storage amount determination process will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, in S20, accumulation of karaoke data in the L-HDD 68 is started, and time measurement by the timer 40 is started. When the measured value reaches a predetermined time t, the process proceeds from S21 to S23, and the reading speed R is determined by the data amount E read during the time t.
Is calculated as E / t. Next, at S24, the converted value P in the compressed state is obtained by multiplying the reproduction speed P 'stored in the reproduction speed memory 62e by the average data compression rate A. Then, in S25, the storage amount Q of the karaoke data in the L-HDD 68 is determined on the basis of the read speed R and the reproduction speed P based on the above equation (1).

In this embodiment, the karaoke data is L
-The compressed data is stored in the HDD 68 in a compressed state. For example, a compressed moving image data decoder and a compressed sound data decoder are provided in the shared hard disk device 5 so that sound data (musical sound data) and moving image data are not stored. If it is configured to output to each AV decoder 67 in a compressed state,
It is also possible to store data in the L-HDD 68 in a decompressed state. In this case, the data storage amount for the L-HDD 68 can be determined based on the read speed and the reproduction speed converted to the decompressed state. On the other hand, karaoke data may be stored in the shared hard disk drive 5 in an uncompressed state. in this case,
The process of converting the reproduction speed into a value in a compressed state becomes unnecessary.

Further, in the above embodiment, the reading speed R is all fixed values.
In the case where the value of the read speed R fluctuates due to the state of access to the shared hard disk device 5 or the like, a configuration in which the read speed R is predicted as a fluctuated value in real time is also possible.

Next, the music data is compressed digital sound data in the above embodiment, but this is
It is also possible to use I (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) data. The MIDI data includes signal data such as at least pitch, sound intensity, sound length, timbre, etc. of each sound constituting the music, and includes a dedicated data decoder (ie, a MIDI sequencer or a MIDI sequencer). To a built-in MIDI-compatible instrument or synthesizer) and converted into a sound signal. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the AV decoder 67 is provided with a MIDI sequencer 91 as the data decoder in place of the compressed sound data decoder 76 or together with the compressed sound data decoder 76. Convert to amplifier 7
9 can be configured.

As shown in FIG. 13, a configuration is also possible in which the sound / moving picture reproducing device 4 and all the HDDs 20 included in the shared hard disk device 5 are daisy-chain connected by one SCSI bus 3. In this case, the shared hard disk drive 5 does not constitute a disk array, and neither the above-described data division nor the distributed storage in a plurality of HDDs is performed.

The sound / moving picture reproducing system of the present invention is not limited to the karaoke system shown in the above-mentioned embodiment, but also to a video server system for providing sound / moving picture information such as movies and programs. Can be applied in exactly the same way.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment of a karaoke system of the present invention, and an explanatory diagram showing a data configuration of background video data.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example in which the shared hard disk device is configured by a disk array.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a sound / moving image reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an AV decoder and a reproduction output unit.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a remote control unit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of a reproducing process of the karaoke system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of a data storage amount determination process.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a modification of the data storage amount determination process.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a calculation formula for determining a data accumulation amount.

FIG. 10 is a timing chart when one SCSI-compatible device acquires the right to use a SCSI bus.

FIG. 11 is a timing chart when two SCSI-compatible devices perform arbitration.

FIG. 12 is a timing chart when performing selection.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a modification of the karaoke system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 Karaoke system (Sound / video playback system with centralized data management) 4 Audio / video playback device 5 Shared hard disk drive 26 Hard disk drive 27 Hard disk group 61 CPU (storage amount determination means, data storage control means) 67 Compressed video data decoder (compression) Release means) 68 Local hard disk drive (auxiliary storage device)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A shared hard disk device that stores sound data and moving image data (hereinafter, also collectively referred to as sound / moving image data), connected to the shared hard disk device, and A plurality of sound / moving image reproducing devices each having a function of accessing the shared hard disk device for reading, and the sound / moving image provided for each sound / moving image reproducing device and transferred from the shared hard disk device An auxiliary storage device for temporarily storing at least a part of the data prior to the reproduction thereof; a reading speed of the audio / video data from the shared hard disk device or a predicted value thereof; Storage amount determining means for determining a storage amount of the audio / video data in the auxiliary storage device based on a reproduction speed of the audio / video data; Data storage control means for storing the sound / moving image data in the auxiliary storage device based on the determined storage amount, wherein the sound / moving image reproducing device stores the sound / moving image data stored in the auxiliary storage device. A data centralized management sound / moving image reproduction system characterized in that sound and moving images are reproduced by reading the data. 2. The audio / video data is stored in a compressed state in the shared hard disk device, and is transferred from the shared hard disk device to the audio / video reproduction device in the compressed state. The plurality of sound / moving image reproducing devices are provided with decompression means for decompressing the compressed state of the sound / moving image data, respectively, and the storage amount determining means determines the read speed and the reproducing speed as the compressed state. And determining the storage amount using a value converted into one of a decompression state and a decompression state.
The described sound / video playback system. 3. The data accumulation control means starts accumulation of the sound / moving image data in the auxiliary storage device prior to determination of the accumulation amount by the accumulation amount determination means, and within a predetermined time. Based on the amount of data stored in the shared hard disk drive.
3. The sound / moving image reproduction system according to claim 1, wherein a reading speed of the moving image data is measured, and the storage amount determining means determines the storage amount using the measured reading speed. 4. The data length of the audio / video data is D, the reading speed of the audio / video data from the shared hard disk drive or its predicted value is R, and the audio / video data in the audio / video playback device is Assuming that the reproduction speed is P, the accumulation amount determining means calculates the accumulation amount as (D / RD-P / P) × R
4. The sound / moving image reproduction system according to claim 1, wherein the sound / moving image reproduction system is determined as a value equal to or larger than the following.