KR100621123B1 - System and method for managing playlist - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a method of generating a selection menu for each category by reading TOC information outputted from a storage medium, generating a playlist of a menu selected by a user among the generated category selection menus, and generating the playlist. Determining whether there are play objects having the same item at the time of reproduction; if there are play objects having the same item, setting the play order of the play objects based on a predetermined criterion; And a play object having a play object having the same item in a playlist generated when playing the audio file recorded on the storage medium, by using a predetermined criterion. Play only audio files with the best sound quality In this case, the same audio file is not provided to the user, and the user does not have to skip the same audio file.

Playlist, Metadata, Play Rank

Description

Playlist management system and method {SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING PLAYLIST}

1 is a schematic block diagram of a playlist management system according to the present invention;

2 is an overall flowchart schematically showing a playlist management method according to the present invention;

<Description of Symbols for Major Parts of Drawings>

100: disc drive unit 200: decoder

300: input unit 400: determination unit

500: display unit 600: control unit

The present invention relates to a playlist management system and method, and more particularly, to playlist management capable of effectively managing a playlist by checking whether a same item exists using a first criterion when playing an audio file recorded on a storage medium. System and method.

In general, a compact disc (CD) is an optical recording medium configured to store data such as text, audio, and video in track units so that data recorded in a track can be read out and played back as needed. Is a lead-in area in which TOC (Table Of Content) is recorded, which includes information about the number of tracks, the starting point, and the length of each track, according to the Red Book standard, and actual audio data is recorded. A program area and a lead-out area indicating the end of the disk.

In the case of an audio compact disc, the TOC of the lead-in area records the number of songs, the song name, and the playing time of the disc. When the audio compact disc is inserted, the TOC recorded in the lead-in area is read and recorded in the TOC. The audio data can be reproduced according to the information.

Recently, a study on the compact disc specification that can reduce the access time of the compact disc by reading the TOC in a short time, as well as provide a search function for audio songs by recording information on artists, genres, albums, etc. Is actively underway.

As one of the standards that can be used for such a compact disc, MultiAudio Specification, Revision 1.10, which can reproduce digital audio data compressed in a format independent of the file system and the storage medium, can be played on a storage medium other than a compact disc. 2002.9.18, OSTA, hereinafter referred to as MA) format, which can use a storage medium with compressed digital audio data such as MP3 or WMA as an audio compact disc that meets the standard Redbook standards. So one is a kind of audio data recording format. For this purpose, MA has a separate file (file name = TOC.MAU) corresponding to the TOC of the existing compact disc. In the separate file, a plurality of playlists, albums, artists, genres, and the like are recorded. Here, data such as albums, artists, genres, etc. are called metadata.

In addition, the MA rearranges the playlists according to the categories desired by the user so as to select / play the desired music, wherein the desired categories are divided into albums, artists, genres, and the like.

When the user selects a specific category, the user searches for all audio files corresponding to the category selected by the user in the plurality of playlists to create a new playlist.

In this case, in general, the same song may exist in multiple playlists. When the plurality of playlists are rearranged by important metadata (album, artist, genre) as described above, the same audio file may be included in the newly created playlist. This will be present continuously, and the user will hear the same audio file continuously while the new playlist is playing.

In particular, the MA is a standard for playing audio, and when playing a MA disc, a user tends to listen to only an audio device without turning on a display device, so that a user can determine whether the next song is the same as the current song. It is perceived after the song is actually played, and it causes a problem that it is not easy to know how many identical songs are consecutive.

Accordingly, there is a need for a playlist management system and method capable of efficiently skipping the same audio file by checking the existence of the same audio file in a playlist generated for each specific category according to a user's selection.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to determine whether a play object having the same item is present in a playlist generated when playing an audio file recorded on a storage medium, and determining a predetermined criterion. The present invention provides a playlist management system and method for reproducing an object of sound quality that is optimal for a current player among the same play objects.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a disk drive unit for picking up and outputting audio data and TOC information from a storage medium, a decoder for receiving and decoding audio data output from the disk drive unit, and a button selected by a user. As a result, an input unit for outputting a predetermined control signal and TOC information output from the disk drive unit are read to generate a selection menu for each category and a playlist according thereto, and control the operation of the storage medium according to the control signal output from the input unit. And a determining unit determining whether there are play objects having the same items in the playlist generated by the controller.

The method may further include generating a selection menu for each category by reading TOC information output from the storage medium, generating a playlist of a menu selected by the user among the generated category selection menus, and playing the generated playlist. Determining whether there are play objects having the same item at the time, and if there are play objects having the same item, setting the play order of the play objects based on a predetermined criterion and the play having the play rank set therein. And reproducing the object.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic block diagram of a playlist management system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, which includes a disc drive unit 100, a decoder 200, an input unit 300, a determination unit 400, a display unit 500, and It is configured to include a control unit 600.

The disc drive unit 100 picks up and outputs audio data and TOC information from a storage medium. The disc drive unit 100 picks up and outputs data and TOC information recorded on the compact disc A through focusing and tracking. . That is, when the compact disc A is inserted, the lead-in area of the inserted compact disc A is searched to transmit TOC information to the central control unit 600, and the program area is searched to deliver audio data to the decoder 200. do. Here, the TOC information includes album, artist, genre, song name, music number, music time, and playback time for all audio data recorded on the compact disc A. Additional information such as Time is recorded.

The decoder 200 receives audio data from the disc driver 100 and decodes the audio data. When the compressed audio data is input from the disc driver 100, the decoder 200 decodes the audio data to output an audio signal. After decoding the audio data, the decoded data is inversely quantized to reduce the quantization process performed in the encoding process, thereby outputting the original audio signal.

The input unit 300 outputs a predetermined control signal according to the button selected by the user. When the button input is input from the user, the input unit 300 transmits the predetermined control signal to the controller 600. For example, when the user selects a play button, a skip button, a pause button, a stop button, a play button, a volume control button, the input unit 300 controls the control signal according to the button selected by the user. In this case, the controller 600 can control the operation of the storage medium.

The controller 600 reads the information output from the disk driver 100 to generate a selection menu for each category and a playlist according thereto, and controls the operation of the storage medium according to the control signal output from the input unit 300. . That is, the information received from the disc drive unit 100 is read to generate a selection menu for each category, and items and playlists are generated accordingly. Here, the selection menu according to the category may be classified by album, artist, and genre, for example, and the user may select and play a specific menu from among the selection menus according to the category. For example, the album selection menu includes album items such as New Story, The Natual, Miracle, etc., and when the album item is selected, playlists according to the album items are listed. For example, it includes artist items such as Mariah Carey, Bon Jovi, Celine Dion, and when the artist item is selected, playlists according to the artist item are listed, and the genre selection menu includes, for example, ballad, dance, rock, Genre items such as R & B, classic, jazz, etc. are selected, and when the genre item is selected, playlists according to the genre item are listed.

The determination unit 400 determines whether there are play targets having the same item in the playlist generated by the controller 600. When the play target having the same item exists in the playlist, the play target is based on a predetermined criterion. Sets the playback order of the players and plays the play target according to the set playback order. Here, the predetermined criterion is set based on, for example, a bitrate. The bitrate represents the information transmission rate per second of the digital signal, and may be divided into 64 Kbps, 98 Kbps, 128 Kbps, 320 Kbps, and the higher the value, the better the sound quality.

For example, if there are a plurality of play targets S2 in the playlist according to the category selection menu, the play order of the play targets is sorted in the order of higher numerical value through a predetermined criterion, that is, bit rate, and among the sorted play ranks. Play the target S2 in the best order.

The display unit 500 displays a category selection menu and a playlist generated by the controller 600. That is, the controller 600 displays the category-specific selection menu generated by reading the information on the screen, and accordingly displays the items and playlists of the selection menu selected by the user on the screen.

For example, when the controller 600 reads the TOC.MAU file of the compact disc A to generate a selection menu by album, artist, and genre, the generated selection menu is displayed on the screen, and then the user If the artist selection menu is selected, for example, artist items such as Mariah Carey, Bon Jovi, Celine Dion, etc. according to the selected artist selection menu are displayed on the screen, and the user selects, for example, the artist items displayed on the screen. If Mariah Carey is selected, the controller 600 displays a playlist for Mariah Carey on the screen through the display 500. Here, the playlist includes additional information on the corresponding audio data such as a singer, a song number, a song name, an album name, and a playing time.

2 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a playlist management method according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, when a compact disc A is inserted, the disc drive unit 100 searches for a lead-in area of the inserted compact disc A. The information is transmitted to the control unit 600. Next, the controller 600 reads the received TOC information to generate a category selection menu (S100), and transmits the generated category selection menu to the display unit 500 to display the category selection menu. To be displayed on the screen. Here, the category selection menu is divided by album, artist and genre.

If a user selects a menu to be played among the selection menus according to the category (S102), an item for each category according to the selected menu is displayed on the screen, and if the user selects a specific item among the displayed items, the controller 600 generates and displays a playlist according to the item selected by the user (S104).

Next, a play target to be played is selected from the generated playlist (S106), and it is determined whether a play target having the same information as the selected play target exists (S108). Here, the determination of whether the play object is the same is determined through metadata such as an artist, an album name, and a genre of the play object.

Next, when there are play objects having the same information as a result of the determination, the play order of the play objects is set using a predetermined criterion (S110). That is, the bit rate of the play targets having the same information is checked to set the reproduction order. Here, the reason for setting the playback order based on the bitrate is that audio files of good sound quality can be selected according to the bitrate value.

Next, the play target to be played back is selected from among the play targets arranged according to the play order set through the predetermined criterion (S112). Here, the play target to be reproduced is selected in the order of the high bit rate according to the reproduction order set according to the predetermined criterion.

Thereafter, when the play target to be played is selected, it is determined whether the selected play target is in a playable state (S114). That is, it is determined whether the selected play object is played back by determining whether the selected play object is a format that can be played by the play device.

If the selected play object is reproducible as a result of the determination, the corresponding play object is reproduced (S114, S116). If the selected play object is not reproducible as a result of the determination, after selecting the play object of the next rank set according to the predetermined criteria, It is determined whether to play the selected play object of the next rank (S114, S120).

Thereafter, if it is determined whether the selected play object is to be played back and the selected play object is determined to be playable, the selected play object is played (S116). That is, it is determined whether to play in the order of the highest play order among the plurality of play targets having the same information to play only one play target and skip the remaining play targets. Here, by playing only one play object having the best sound quality among the play objects having the same information and skipping the other play objects, the same audio file is not provided to the user.

When playback of the selected play object is completed, the controller 600 determines whether the play object on which the play is completed is the last item of the generated playlist (S118).

If the result of the determination is that the play object on which the play is completed is the last item of the generated playlist, the play end of the play list is terminated (S118), and if the play object on which the play is completed is not the last item of the generated playlist, In the case of selecting the next item of the play object for which the reproduction is completed according to the order arranged in the playlist (S118, S122), it is determined whether the same play object for the selected item exists.

Thereafter, the processes of steps S108 to S122 are performed in the same manner.

Hereinafter, a specific embodiment applied to the present invention will be described. First, when the compact disc A is inserted, the disc drive unit 100 searches for a lead-in area of the inserted compact disc A to control the TOC information. When the controller 600 reads the received information to generate a category selection menu (by album, artist, and genre) and transmits the generated category selection menu to the display unit 500, The display unit 500 displays the received category selection menu, that is, the album, artist, and genre selection menus on the screen.

Next, when the selection menu for each album, artist, and genre is displayed on the screen through the display unit 500, the user selects an artist-specific menu to be played among the displayed selection menus.

Accordingly, the controller 600 displays the artist-specific data stored in the storage medium, and when the user selects, for example, Mariah Carey among the displayed artists, the controller 600 controls the audio data stored in the storage medium. Mariah Carey searches for audio data information that contains and creates and displays a playlist.

When the playlist for Mariah Carey is displayed on the screen, the controller 600 starts playback from the item having the song number 1 of the displayed playlists. Here, before reproducing the item having the song number 1, the controller 600 determines whether there is a play object identical to the selected play object (that is, the item having the song number 1) among the generated playlist. In operation 400, if the same play object as the selected play object does not exist, the selected play object is played. Here, whether the same play objects exist is determined based on metadata about the play object.

However, when there is a play object that is the same as the selected play object (that is, the item having the song number 1) in the generated playlist (that is, when the same song name exists), the control unit 600 determines through the determination unit 400. The bit rate of the play targets having the same information is checked to set the reproduction order. Here, as a result of checking the bit rate, the higher the value of the bit rate is, the better the sound quality is. Therefore, the reproduction order is set in order of the higher bit rate.

Next, a play object having a high play order, that is, a good play sound quality, is selected from among play objects arranged according to the play rank set through the bit rate, and it is determined whether to play. In this case, when the selected play object is not in a playable format, the controller 600 determines whether to play by selecting a play object having the second highest play order.

That is, only one play object is played by determining whether to play in order of high play order among a plurality of play objects having the same information, and the other play objects are skipped.

Next, when the playback of the selected play object is completed, it is determined whether the play object whose play is completed is the last item of the playlist.

If the play result of the play is the last item of the playlist as a result of the determination, the play of the playlist is terminated; if the play object of the play is not the last item of the playlist, the play object is arranged in the playlist. The next item of the play object for which the reproduction is completed is selected and played in the order of completion.

Although the present invention has been described in detail above, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may variously modify the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. It is apparent that the present invention may be modified or modified. Therefore, a simple change according to an embodiment of the present invention will not be possible without departing from the technology of the present invention.

According to the present invention having the above-described configuration, when an audio file having the same item (information) exists in a playlist generated according to a category-specific selection menu selected by the user, the audio files having the same item are selected using predetermined criteria. By setting the play order, and playing only the audio file having the best sound quality among the audio files having the same item according to the set play order and skipping the remaining audio files, the user does not provide the audio file with the same item. The user does not have to skip the audio file having the same item.

Claims (7)

A disk drive unit which picks up and outputs audio data and TOC information from a storage medium; An input unit configured to output a predetermined control signal according to a button selected by a user; A control unit which reads the TOC information output from the disk drive unit and generates a selection menu for each category and a playlist according thereto; It is determined whether there are play objects having the same item in the playlist generated by the controller, and if the play object having the same item exists as a result of the determination, the play order is set based on the bit rate of the play objects. Determination unit; And And a decoder which decodes and outputs audio data of the generated playlist and the item according to the play order. delete The method of claim 1, And a display unit for displaying a category selection menu generated by the controller and a playlist according thereto. Generating a selection menu for each category by reading the TOC information output from the storage medium; Generating a playlist of a menu selected by a user among the generated category selection menus; Determining whether there are play objects having the same item when playing the generated playlist; If there are play objects having the same item, setting a play order based on the bit rate values of the play objects; And And reproducing the play target for which the play order is set. The method of claim 4, wherein Determining whether there are play objects having the same item when playing the generated playlist, And determining whether there are play objects having the same item based on metadata about the play object. The method of claim 4, wherein If there are play targets having the same item, setting the play order based on the bitrate value of the play targets, Determining sound quality states of play objects having the same item; And And setting the ranking of the play objects according to the goodness of the sound quality state. The method of claim 4, wherein Reproducing the play target for which the play order is set, Selecting a play target to be played according to the set play order; Determining whether the selected play object is playable; And And if the selected play object cannot be played as a result of the determination, selecting the play object of the next rank.

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