KR20030044954A - Apparatus and method for searching digital audio data file from media where digital audio data files are recorded - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An apparatus and method for searching a recording medium recording digital audio data files for a digital audio data file are provided to search digital audio data recorded in a recording medium at a high speed. CONSTITUTION: For all directories recorded in a directory information recording area, a directory database composed of fields including directory names and recording positions on the directory information recording area is constructed. The recording positions on the directory information recording area are accessed for all directories recorded in the directory database to construct a file database composed of fields including lower file names and recording positions of lower files on a data recording area. Index information to be used as a keyword when a digital audio data file is searched is recorded as a field of the file database. The index information is recorded in the directory information recording area.

Description

Apparatus and method for searching digital audio data file from media where digital audio data files are recorded}

The present invention relates to a digital audio data recording and reproducing system, and more particularly, to a digital audio data recording and reproducing system capable of retrieving digital audio data recorded on a recording medium at high speed.

As a widespread digital audio reproduction system, there is a compact disc reproduction system. The compact disc can store approximately 650 Mbytes of audio data, which is enough to record about 72 minutes of WAV format digital audio data sampled at 44.1KHz of analog audio data. Therefore, a compact disc can record up to 20 pieces of digital data corresponding to analog audio data of approximately 4 minutes in general. The display unit of such a compact disc playback system displays the serial number of the recorded digital audio data, and allows the user to select the serial number of the audio data to be listened to.

In addition to the compact disc system, there is an MP3 reproducing system capable of reproducing digital audio data in MP3 format, that is, MPEG2 Layer 3, which is a method of compressing digital audio data in WAV format. MP3 format digital audio data has a feature that can compress 12 times the amount of digital audio data described above in WAV format while maintaining the original audio quality almost intact. When recording such digital audio data in MP3 format onto a compact disc, approximately 850 minutes of analog audio data can be recorded. This corresponds to a capacity of recording approximately 200 minutes of analog audio data of about 4 minutes.

In the case of playing digital audio data recorded in the MP3 format as described above, by using the traditional song selection method adopted in the conventional compact disc playback system, about 300 pieces of audio data can be displayed, selected, and separated by only a serial number. If so, it will take considerable time to select the audio data that the user wishes to listen to among the 300 pieces of recorded audio data. In addition, due to the limitation of the human memory capacity, it is difficult to select the desired audio data by simply referring to the serial number as the number of recorded audio data becomes larger.

As a solution to this problem, there may be a method of displaying the file name of the digital audio data recorded in the MP3 format on the display unit and selecting the desired audio data therefrom. However, this method requires that a human person memorize the file name of the audio data desired to be listened to, and furthermore, selecting audio data desired to be listened from among about 300 different file names requires the desired audio data by the serial number described above. There is no difference in the selection and its difficulty.

In addition, there may be a method using an audio data related information tag defined in the MP3 format, that is, an ID3 tag. The ID3 tag refers to additional information about the audio data in the MP3 format, and this ID3 tag is inserted inside the file in the MP3 format. The portion in which the ID3 tag is inserted in the MP3 format file is called the ID3 tag recording area. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the format of a typical MP3 file. As shown in FIG. 1, a typical MP3 file includes an ID3 tag recording area 103 in addition to the audio data recording area 101.

The method using the ID3 tag refers to displaying recorded audio data with reference to each ID3 tag and allowing the user to select desired audio data with reference to the displayed ID3 tag information. However, the method using the ID3 tag should refer to and display the ID3 tag recording area 103 of all audio data recorded on the compact disc. The larger the number of audio data, the more the ID3 tag recording area 103 of all audio data is displayed. There is a problem that the time required for access is long. In addition, ID3 tag information is not necessarily recorded in the ID3 tag recording area of the MP3 digital audio data. As described above, in the case of digital audio data in MP3 format in which additional information about audio data, that is, ID3 tag information is not recorded, the function using the ID3 tag is practically useless.

As a solution to this problem, the inventor of the present application has completed the invention relating to a method of displaying data in a digital audio reproduction system, and filed a patent application as Korean Patent Application No. 1999-001553 dated January 20, 1999. . The data display method in the digital audio reproduction system disclosed in Patent Application No. 1999-001553 utilizes a recording medium in which MP3 compression audio data files are hierarchically stored in a directory structure. According to the method, the display window of the playback system is composed of a directory structure display unit for displaying information on the directory structure and a selection item display unit for displaying information about the selected directory or file. The directory structure display unit displays the name of the hierarchical directory immediately above the selected directory, the number of subdirectories and files included in the upper hierarchical directory, and the selection item display unit displays the sequence number and playback time of the selected directory or file. In this way, the user can easily select a desired file from a recording medium in which audio data is recorded in a hierarchical directory structure.

In addition, the inventor of the present application completed the invention relating to a method for classifying and reproducing audio data stored in a digital audio recording medium, and filed a patent on February 24, 1999 as Korean Patent Application No. 1999-6058. The invention disclosed in patent application No. 1999-6058 is to provide a method capable of efficiently classifying and reproducing by making a database of additional information on audio data stored in a digital audio recording medium and a position on the recording medium of audio data. A method for classifying and reproducing audio data stored in a digital audio recording medium disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 1999-6058 includes: storing, by database, additional information about each audio data stored in the recording medium and a location on a recording medium of data. ; And searching for and reproducing the data desired by the user according to the field value of the database stored in the above step.

As disclosed in Patent Application No. 1999-6058, it is necessary to record additional information on a recording medium. As a first embodiment for this purpose, a file is recorded on the recording medium itself, which records a field necessary for constructing a database for the additional information. Discuss the method. In this case, when audio data is recorded on the recording medium, a file relating to additional information is recorded together, and the additional information file is read during reproduction to be used for audio data classification and reproduction.

As a second embodiment in which additional information is recorded on a recording medium, a method of inserting fields necessary for constructing a database relating to additional information into a file name or a directory name is disclosed. In this case, a field relating to additional information is inserted in the file name or directory name, and an additional information database is constructed from the file name or directory name during reproduction and used for audio data classification and reproduction.

The present invention is a further improvement of the prior art as described above, wherein additional information is inserted together when recording digital audio data on a recording medium, and the additional information is retrieved and reproduced by using the additional information in the retrieval and reproduction operation of the digital audio data. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus capable of speeding up operation.

Further, the present invention converts the format of a digital audio data file recorded on a recording medium, but converts the format of the digital audio data file into a format in which index information for use in retrieval of the digital audio data file is inserted, thereby speeding up the retrieval of the digital audio data file. And an apparatus.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method capable of efficiently reproducing by making a database of additional information on audio data stored in a digital audio recording medium and a position of the audio data on a recording medium.

In order to achieve this object, according to the present invention, a data recording area in which data of a file is recorded in accordance with a directory information recording area in which information on a directory is recorded and information on subordinate files of a directory recorded in the directory information recording area. A plurality of digital audio data files are recorded in a first recording medium including a file name, wherein the file name field included in the digital audio data file is recorded in the directory information recording area, and the data field and the additional information tag field are the data. A method of constructing a database for use in retrieving the plurality of digital audio data files from a first recording medium recorded in a recording area is provided. The method comprises the steps of (a) constructing a directory database comprising fields for all the directories recorded in the directory information recording area, the field including a name of the directory and a recording position on the directory information recording area, and (b) the directory. Accessing the recording position on the directory information recording area for all the directories recorded in the database to construct a file database consisting of fields including a name of a lower file and a recording position where the lower file is recorded on the data recording area; And (c) an index information recording step of recording, as a field of the file database, index information to be used as a keyword when searching the digital audio data file.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a directory information recording area in which information on a directory is recorded, and a data recording area in which data of a file is recorded in accordance with information about a subordinate file of a directory recorded in the directory information recording area. A plurality of digital audio data files are recorded in the first recording medium, wherein the file name field included in the digital audio data file is recorded in the directory information recording area, and the data field and the additional information tag field are the data recording area. A method is provided for retrieving a predetermined digital audio data file from a first recording medium recorded in the document. The method comprises: (a) constructing a directory database comprising a field including a name of the directory and a recording position on the directory information recording area, for all the directories recorded in the directory information recording area, and recording on the second recording medium; (B) accessing the recording position on the directory information recording area for all the directories recorded in the directory database to a field including the name of the lower file and the recording position where the lower file is recorded on the data recording area. Constructing and recording a file database on the second recording medium, (c) inserting index information to be used as a keyword when searching for the digital audio data file into the file database as a field of the file database, 2 recorded on recording media Information recording step, (d) receiving a name of the searched digital audio data file, (e) a file having the same name as the name of the input searched digital audio data file from the file name field of the file database. Searching and reading a recording location field corresponding to the retrieved file name field.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a directory information recording area in which information on a directory is recorded, and a data recording area in which data of a file is recorded according to information on subordinate files of a directory recorded in the directory information recording area. A plurality of digital audio data files are recorded in the first recording medium, wherein the file name field included in the digital audio data file is recorded in the directory information recording area, and the data field and the additional information tag field are stored in the data recording area. A method is provided for retrieving a predetermined digital audio data file from a recorded first recording medium. The method comprises: (a) constructing a directory database comprising a field including a name of the directory and a recording position on the directory information recording area, for all the directories recorded in the directory information recording area, and recording on the second recording medium; (B) accessing the recording position on the directory information recording area for all the directories recorded in the directory database to a field including the name of the lower file and the recording position where the lower file is recorded on the data recording area. Constructing and recording a file database on the second recording medium, (c) inserting index information to be used as a keyword when searching for the digital audio data file into the file database as a field of the file database, 2 recorded on recording media The information recording step, the access to the (e) step of receiving a search target index information, (f) the file database, and a step of retrieving a file having index information matching the inputted search target index information.

1 is a conceptual diagram showing the format of a typical MP3 file.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of an apparatus for reading and reproducing digital audio data from a recording medium on which digital audio data to which the present invention is applied is recorded.

3 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a digital audio data file.

4 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a digital audio data file is recorded on a recording medium.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of a database stored in the root directory of an ISO-9660 format CD in the playback apparatus of the digital audio recording medium shown in FIG.

6 is a conceptual diagram of a directory structure in which field values for constructing a database are put in a file name in another embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a flowchart showing background processing for configuring a database in a memory of a playback system.

8 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of a directory database constructed according to the present invention;

9 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of a file database constructed in accordance with the present invention.

10 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of a genre database constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a conceptual diagram showing a state in which a database constructed in accordance with the present invention is recorded on a recording medium.

12 illustrates an example of a computer display input window employed by a program for receiving a digital audio data file and converting the digital audio data file into a digital audio data file format according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

401: disc information recording area

403: Root directory information recording area

405: file information

407: Subdirectory Information

409: subdirectory information recording area

415: data recording area

419: route information recording area

1. Digital audio data, recording media and playback devices

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of an apparatus for reading and reproducing digital audio data from a recording medium on which digital audio data to which the present invention is applied is recorded.

The reproducing apparatus 200 shown in FIG. 2 is an apparatus for reading and reproducing digital audio data while driving the recording medium 201. The digital audio data reproducing apparatus 200 to which the present invention is applied includes a recording medium reading unit 203 for reading recording information from the recording medium 201, and a digital processing unit 205 for extracting digital information from the read recording information and performing appropriate processing. ), A decoding unit 207 for decoding a digital information signal to generate a digital audio signal, a digital analog converter 209 for converting a digital audio signal into an analog signal and providing the same to an audio signal output device, and a recording medium 201. A drive unit 211 for moving the recording medium 201 or the reading means in synchronization with the recording medium reading operation to change the reading position on the input unit, an input unit 213 for receiving a predetermined command from the user, and the recording medium 201. Information about the display unit 219 and the recording medium 201 for displaying information relating to the digital audio data or additional information. A main memory 215 and a sub memory 217 for recording audio data or additional information or information temporarily generated in association with them, and a control unit 231 for controlling the respective parts. The main memory 215 is a volatile memory, and is preferably a type of memory in which stored contents are erased while the reproducing apparatus is not operated. On the other hand, the sub memory 217 is a nonvolatile memory, and is preferably a type of memory that retains the stored contents even when the reproducing apparatus does not perform a reproducing or searching operation. The database for the audio data file recorded on the recording medium, which will be described later, is recorded in the sub memory 217 when the recording medium is first inserted, and when the recording medium is inserted thereafter, the sub memory 217 does not perform a construction operation of the database. ). A DRAM or the like may be used as the main memory 215, and a flash memory or the like may be used as the sub memory 217.

The recording medium 201 includes all of the recording medium 201 capable of recording digital data such as a compact disk (CD), an optical or magnetic disk such as MD, DVD, MO, or the like. If digital data can be recorded, a medium such as a hard disk or diskette is also included in the recording medium 201 according to the present invention.

In this specification, a unit for recording an audio signal to be continuously reproduced is referred to as a digital audio data file. That is, when one file is played back, the digital audio data recorded in the file is defined to be continuously played unless otherwise indicated. Usually, in the case of digitizing music, one song is recorded in the form of one file. The digital audio data file has a format in which an audio signal is digitized without data compression such as the PCM scheme, and a format digitized with data compression such as the MP3 scheme.

3 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of one digital audio data file. Each digital audio data file may be composed of a file name (FN) field, a file attribute (FA) field, a data (FD) field, an additional information tag (FT) field, and the like.

The digital audio data file having the structure as shown in FIG. 3 can be recorded on various recording media, which are recorded according to the rules of the file system according to the characteristics of the recording medium. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a state where a plurality of digital audio data files are recorded on a recording medium according to a predetermined file system rule. The recording medium of Fig. 4 shows an optical recording medium for one write multiple read, for example, a CD-ROM.

As shown in Fig. 4, the recording medium includes a disc information recording area 401 including a table of contents (TOC), a root directory information recording area 403, a subdirectory information recording area 409, and a data recording area. 415 and the like are assigned.

In the disc information recording area 401, information unique to the recording medium such as the name of the recording medium, the total recording capacity, and the recording time point is recorded. This disc information recording area 401 may include a TOC and a volume presenter VD. In particular, the volume presenter VD has information indicating the position of the directory path information recording area 419 which will be described later.

In the root directory information recording area 403, file information 405 and lower directory information 407 included in the highest directory, that is, the root directory, are recorded. The subdirectory information recording area 409 includes file information 411 included in the directory and subdirectory information 407 of the subdirectory of the root directory and subdirectories such as the subdirectory. In the data recording area 415, data and tags related to the file information 405 and 411 included in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409 are recorded. The recording medium may further include a directory path information recording area 419. The directory path information recording area 419 records path information of all directories recorded on the recording medium. The directory path information recording area 419 can be read with reference to the volume presenter VD as described above.

In the directory information recording areas 403 and 409, file information 405 and subdirectory information 407 recorded in the directory are recorded. The file information 405 includes a file name field FN, a file attribute field FA, a data recording address field FC, and the like. The subdirectory information 407 includes a directory name field DN and a directory attribute field DA. ), And the like. Depending on the file system employed, an extra field FE may be further provided in the file information 405 and the subdirectory information 407. Data FD and tag information FT associated with the file information 405 are recorded at an address on the data recording area 415 indicated by the data recording address field FC of the file information 405.

Although FIG. 3 mainly describes an optical recording medium for one write multiple read as an example, a file system using a file allocation table (FAT) can be employed in the case of multiple write multiple read write media such as a hard disk and a floppy disk. have. That is, the data recording address field FC may not point directly to an address on the data recording area, but may point to an address on the file allocation table FAT and the file allocation table FAT to point to a position on the recording area.

That is, as shown in Fig. 3, the file name FN, file attribute FA, data FD, and additional information tag FT constituting the digital audio data file are shown in Fig. 4 on the recording medium. Similarly, the directory information recording areas 403 and 409 and the data recording area 415 are recorded in accordance with file system rules suitable for the recording medium.

When a digital audio data file is recorded according to the file system as shown in Fig. 4, a process of accessing a predetermined digital audio data file will be described. Such a file system is typically managed by a computer and an operating system operating on the computer. It can also be managed by a digital audio reproduction device as shown in FIG. In some cases, the computer, operating system, or application program operable on the digital audio data reproducing apparatus will handle the digital audio data file access procedure. In this specification, a computer, an operating system, a digital audio data reproducing apparatus, or an application program that manages a file system as shown in FIG. 4 is referred to as a management system.

First, a process of receiving a file name and accessing the file name as a keyword will be described. Upon receiving the file name, the management system searches the sub directory information recording area 409 one by one starting from the root directory information recording area 403, and retrieves the input file name from the file information in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409. Comparison is made with the file name field FN in (405, 411). As a result of the comparison, when a file name field FN in which a file name identical to the input file name is recorded is found, referring to the data address recording field FC corresponding to the file name field FN, desired digital audio on the data recording area 415 is obtained. Data FD can be accessed.

Secondly, the process of accessing a file by receiving additional information as a keyword will be described. This process is utilized when the user cannot store the file name of the audio data to be accessed and stores only the additional information related to the audio data, for example, the name of the song, the composer or the performer, or the genre. When the management system receives the additional information, the management system retrieves the file information recorded in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409, starting from the root directory information recording area 403 and searching all the sub directory information recording areas 409 one by one. With reference to all, the data address recording field FC in each file information is extracted. Then, the additional information tag field FT on the data recording area 415 indicated by each data address recording field FC is searched. When the tag field FT in which additional information identical to the input additional information is recorded is found, the desired digital audio data FD can be accessed on the data recording area 415 with reference to the data address recording field FC. .

As is clear from the above description, the access procedure is different in the case of referring to a file name and in the case of referring to additional information in order to access desired digital audio data. That is, when referring to the file name, only the directory information recording area 403 in the file system needs to be searched. However, when referring to the additional information, not only the directory information recording area 403 but also the data recording area 415 are searched and the additional information is referred to. All tag fields 417 must be read. As a result, it can be seen that accessing a file with reference to additional information takes much more time than referring to a file name.

2. Digital audio data file format

According to the present invention, in recording the file name (FN), file attribute (FA), data (FD), and additional information tag (FT) constituting the digital audio data file on the recording medium, the file name (FN), file The attribute FA is recorded in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409, and the data FD and the additional information tag FT are recorded in the data recording area 415, together with retrieval of the digital audio data. Additional information to be used as a keyword is recorded in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409. In this specification, the format of the digital audio data file in which the additional information to be used as a keyword when retrieving digital audio data recorded on the recording medium is recorded in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409 is defined as a FIF format. In addition, additional information to be used as a keyword in the FIF format is defined as index information.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, index information to be used as a keyword when retrieving digital audio data is recorded, particularly in the file name field FN, of the directory information recording areas 403 and 409. In this case, in a predetermined operating system, for example, DOS or Windows, index information of the digital audio data can be represented by a file name.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, index information to be used as a keyword when retrieving digital audio data is recorded in the predetermined fields of the directory information recording areas 403 and 409 except for the file name field FN. That is, index information to be used as a keyword is recorded in the attribute field FA or the redundant field FE. In this case, in a predetermined operating system, for example, DOS or Windows, index information of the digital audio data is recorded in the form of hidden information that cannot be recognized through the file name. The recording medium thus recorded appears to have recorded a digital audio data file having a conventional file name through a conventional computer, an operating system, or a digital audio data reproducing apparatus. However, if a specific application program according to the present invention is used, it is possible to display additional information together with the file name in addition to the usual file name.

According to the present invention, when retrieving the desired digital audio data by using the additional information of the digital audio data to be reproduced as a keyword, the reproduction device 200 only needs to read up to the directory information recording areas 403 and 409 of the recording medium. It is sufficient and there is no need to access the data recording area 415. Thus, the retrieval time of digital audio data can be significantly shortened. According to the present invention, as described later, information about digital audio data recorded on a recording medium can be made into a database and recorded in the sub memory 217. Even in this case, the playback apparatus 200 only needs to access up to the directory information recording areas 403 and 409 to construct the database, so that the database construction time can be considerably shortened. Detailed description thereof will be described later.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, as the keyword for digital audio data retrieval, it is possible to use the song name, composer or performer of music formatted in the audio data file, and additional information about the genre of music. In this case, each additional information is preferably separated through a predetermined delimiter. For example, in the embodiment using the so-called FIF format in which the additional information is recorded in the file name field FN, the case where the additional information is distinguished using the file names field FN using "[" and "]" is an example. Can be mentioned. In this case, in a predetermined operating system, for example, DOS or Windows, the file name of the digital audio data file in the FIF format can be expressed in the form of [[playing artist] [song name] [genre] .extension]. The type and insertion order of the index information for digital audio data retrieval are not limited to the above embodiments and various forms and applications are possible, and the spirit of the present invention should not be interpreted limitedly to the contents disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, the file name of the digital audio data file may be in the form of "[song name] [singer] [genre] .extension", and "[song name] [singer] [genre] [other additional information] .extension" The form of is also possible.

3. Method, device, and program to insert index information

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method, apparatus, and program are provided for converting a digital audio data file into the above-described FIF format. The present method records the file name (FN), file attribute (FA), data (FD), and additional information tag (FT) constituting the digital audio data file on the recording medium, wherein the file name (FN), file The attribute FA is recorded in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409, and the data FD and the additional information tag FT are recorded in the data recording area 415, together with retrieval of the digital audio data. Additional information to be used as a keyword is recorded in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, additional information to be used as a keyword when retrieving digital audio data is recorded in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409, particularly in the area where the file name field FN is recorded. According to another embodiment of the present invention, additional information to be used as a keyword when retrieving digital audio data is recorded in a predetermined area of the directory information recording areas 403 and 409 except for the area in which the file name field FN is recorded. do. That is, the additional information to be used as a keyword is recorded in the attribute field FA or the extra field FE.

At this time, as a method of acquiring additional information to be used as a keyword when searching the digital audio data, there may be a method of directly inputting from a user and a method of extracting additional information from the additional information tag FT.

According to the former case, in the case of using a song name, composer or performer of music formatted with the audio data file as a keyword for digital audio data retrieval, and additional information about the genre of music, the song name, composer or performer, and Additional information about the genre of music is directly input by the user. In the latter case, these additional information is obtained by reading from the song name, composer or performer of the additional information tag FT of the digital audio data file, and the genre field of music.

12 illustrates an example of a computer display input window employed by a program for receiving a digital audio data file and converting the digital audio data file into a digital audio data file format according to the present invention. The input window shown in FIG. 12 includes a conversion complete file display window 1201, an additional information input required conversion target file display window 1203, and additional information obtainable conversion target file display window 1205.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, for a file that the user wants to convert, the file to which the method of acquiring the additional information should rely on the input by the user as described above requires additional information input required conversion target file display window ( The list is displayed in 1203, and the list that can be extracted from the additional information tag FT attached to the digital audio data file is displayed on the additional information obtainable conversion target file display window 1205 even if the user does not input it. .

Additional Information Input Required When the user inputs additional information on the file displayed on the conversion target file display window 1203, the file format is converted accordingly, and the format of the converted file, for example, the file name of the file, is displayed in the right window. For the file displayed in the additional information obtainable conversion target file display window 1205, the format of the conversion expected file, for example, the file name, is displayed in the right window.

Subsequently, when the user inputs a command that he or she wishes to convert, the program converts the file displayed on the file display windows 1203 and 1205 to the file format displayed on the right window and lists it on the converted file display window 1201.

An input window as shown in FIG. 12 and a process of managing the same may be included as some routines of the index information insertion apparatus and the program as described above. The input window and related processes as shown in FIG. 12 include an apparatus and program for converting digital audio data formats, which will be described later, an apparatus and program for recording digital audio data on a recording medium, and conventional CD audio data according to the present invention. Apparatus and program for converting to a format may be applied in the same manner as described above, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

4. Methods, devices, and programs for converting digital audio data formats

According to the present invention, there is provided a method, apparatus and program for converting a conventional digital audio data format into a digital audio data format in an indexed format according to the present invention.

In this method, a file name (FN), a file attribute (FA), data (FD), and an additional information tag (FT) constituting a digital audio data file are recorded on a recording medium, but the file name (FN), file attribute ( FA) is recorded in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409, and when the data FD and the additional information tag FT are recorded in the data recording area 415, keywords are retrieved when the digital audio data is retrieved. By recording additional information to be used in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409, the format of the digital audio data is converted into the format according to the present invention.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, format conversion is performed by recording additional information to be used as a keyword when retrieving digital audio data, particularly in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409, in which the file name field FN is recorded. do. According to another embodiment of the present invention, additional information to be used as a keyword when retrieving digital audio data is recorded in a predetermined area of the directory information recording areas 403 and 409 except for the area in which the file name field FN is recorded. By doing format conversion. That is, the additional information to be used as a keyword is recorded in the attribute field FA or the extra field FE.

At this time, the method of obtaining additional information to be used as a keyword when searching the digital audio data may be applied as it is to the method of applying the additional information and the apparatus described above. Therefore, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

5. Method, apparatus, and program for recording digital audio data on recording medium

According to the present invention there is provided a method, apparatus, and program for recording a digital audio data file on a recording medium in the form of a format according to the present invention.

The method records a file name (FN), a file attribute (FA), data (FD), and an additional information tag (FT) constituting a digital audio data file on a recording medium, but the file name (FN), file attribute (FA). ) Is recorded in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409, and the data FD and the additional information tag FT are recorded in the data recording area 415, and the additional information to be used as a keyword when searching the digital audio data is added. Information is recorded in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of receiving a digital audio data file recorded on a first recording medium and recording the same in an FIF format according to the present invention on a second recording medium. In the first recording medium, the file name FN and file attribute FA constituting the digital audio data file are recorded in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409, and the data FD and the additional information tag FT. Is recorded in the data recording area 415. While recording this on the second recording medium, the file name FN and the file attribute FA are recorded in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409, and the data FD and the additional information tag FT are in the data recording area 415. ), And additional information to be used as a keyword when retrieving the digital audio data is recorded in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409. This embodiment is particularly useful when the first recording medium and the second recording medium have different file systems. In the case where the first recording medium is a floppy disk and the second recording medium is a hard disk, the digital audio data file recorded on the floppy disk is copied to the hard disk while the file format is converted into the FIF format according to the present invention for recording. It is.

6. Program that automatically converts conventional CD data into compressed digital audio data

According to the present invention, a method, an apparatus, and a program for converting digital audio data recorded on a CD in a CD audio format to an FIF format according to the present invention are provided.

The method reads a digital audio data file recorded in a CD audio format on a CD, extracts the digital audio data, encodes the data into a desired format, generates the target data (FD), and generates a file name, file attribute ( FA) and the additional information tag (FT), and record the file name (FN), file attribute (FA), data (FD), and additional information tag (FT) on the recording medium, but the file name (FN), file The attribute FA is recorded in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409, and the data FD and the additional information tag FT are recorded in the data recording area 415. When searching for the digital audio data, the keyword FA is used as a keyword. Additional information to be used is generated and recorded in the directory information recording areas 403 and 409.

According to one embodiment of the invention, it is preferable to perform data compression with a predetermined compression algorithm before recording the digital audio data recorded on the CD in the CD audio format on the recording medium. For example, the digital audio data recorded in the CD audio format may be a file modulated by the PCM method or a file in the WAV format, or may be recorded on a recording medium after data compression such as an MP3 compression algorithm. In this case, for example, the MP3 compression algorithm can be adopted as the compression algorithm.

At this time, as a method of obtaining additional information to be used as a keyword when searching the digital audio data, there may be a method of directly inputting from a user and a method of accessing and extracting a CD information database.

According to the former, in the case of using a song name, composer or performer of music formatted as the audio data file as a keyword for digital audio data retrieval, and additional information about the genre of music, the song name, composer or performer, and Additional information about the genre of music is directly input by the user. In the latter case, the CD information database is accessed to obtain the name, composer or performer of the digital audio data file, and genre of music using information unique to the audio CD as a keyword.

The CD information database refers to a database in which various additional information about the audio CD is recorded based on unique information of each audio CD. Such a database is typically accessible through a communication network such as the Internet. In addition, in the CD information database, information about a number of audio CDs, such as a song name, a composer or a player, and a genre of music, is recorded. A user who wants to obtain detailed information about a given audio CD accesses the CD information database through a communication network and transmits the unique information of the audio CD to the CD information database. The CD information database matches the transmitted unique information with the audio. Retrieve the data and send additional information about it to the user.

As the information unique to the audio CD for distinguishing various audio CDs from the CD information database, in the case of the file system as shown in FIG. 4, the name and total recording capacity of the audio CD recorded in the disc information recording area 401 Information unique to the audio CD such as recording time and recording time can be used.

7. Method and apparatus for constructing a database from a recording medium having digital audio data recorded thereon

The digital audio data retrieval and reproduction apparatus according to the present invention uses a directory database, a file database, and an index information database constructed from a recording medium on which digital audio data is recorded. According to one embodiment of the invention, the index information database comprises a musician database and a genre database.

(1) database structure

Hereinafter, the structure of the directory database, file database, and index information database employed by the digital audio data retrieval and reproduction apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The directory database records the directory structure of the recording medium on which digital audio data is recorded according to the present invention. As shown in Fig. 8, the directory database includes a directory index (Dir Index), a directory name size (Dir Name Size), a directory name (Dir Name), a parent directory index (Parent Dir Index), and a directory information recording area position (Dir). Rec Position, Sub Dir Index, Number of Sub Dir, Sub File Index, and Number of Sub File fields.

The directory index (Dir Index) is a serial number for referring to a directory registered on the database. The directory name size is a field in which the size of the name of the directory is recorded. The directory name (Dir Name) is assigned according to the size recorded in the directory name size field and is a field in which the name of the directory is recorded. The size of the directory name field is variable and can be checked by referring to the directory name size field. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 8, a directory having an index of 3 has a directory name size of 5, and thus a directory name field having a size corresponding to 5 is allocated. In the directory name field, a directory name "B_dir" having a size of 5 is recorded.

The Parent Dir Index field stores the index on the directory database of the parent directory of the directory. For example, it can be seen that the upper directory of the directory having the index 3 is the directory having the index 2.

The directory information recording area position (Dir Rec Position) field stores a position where information on the directory is recorded on the recording medium. With reference to the directory information recording area position field, the position on the recording medium storing information about the desired directory can be browsed.

The Sub Dir Index field and the Number of Sub Dir field store the number of the first index and the sub directory in which the sub directory of the directory is recorded on the directory database. Refer to the Sub Dir Index to search the location in the directory database where information about subdirectories of the directory is recorded, and refer to the Number of Sub Dir field with the Subdirectory Index field. Thus, it is possible to extract only the area on the directory database in which information on subdirectories of the directory is recorded.

The Sub File Index field and the Number of Sub File field store the number of the first index and the sub file in which the sub file of the directory is recorded on the file database. Refer to the Sub File Index to search the location in the file database where information about subfiles in the directory is recorded, and refer to the Number of Sub File field with the Subfile Index field. Thus, it is possible to extract only the area on the file database in which information on the lower file of the directory is recorded.

The file database records information of all audio data files recorded on the recording medium on which digital audio data is recorded according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, the file database includes a file index, a parent directory index, a file size, a file position, a title size, a title name. (Title), an index information index, for example, an artist index (Dir Rec Position), and a genre index (Genre Index) field.

File Index is a serial number for referring to a file registered on a file database. The Parent Dir Index field stores an index on the directory database of the parent directory of the file. For example, it can be seen that the upper directory of the file having index 3 is the directory having index 2 in the directory database as shown in FIG. 8.

The file size is a field for recording the recording capacity of the audio data file on the CD. The File Position field is a field for recording the position where the audio data file is recorded on the recording medium. With reference to the file position field, the position on the recording medium storing information about the desired file can be browsed.

Title Size is a field in which the title of the audio data, i.e., the title size, is recorded. Title is assigned according to the size recorded in the title size field and is a field in which the title is recorded. The size of the title field is variable and can be checked with reference to the title size field. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 9, a file having an index of 3 has a title size of 8, and thus a title field having a size corresponding to 8 is allocated. The title field "C_title" having a size of 8 is recorded in the title field.

The file database records and indexes the index information to be used when searching for the file. As illustrated in FIG. 8, a file database according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an artist index field and a genre index field as index information fields. The artist index field and the genre index field record the indexes of the artist and genre on the index information database which will be described later with respect to the artist and genre of the audio data file.

10 is a diagram illustrating the structure of an index information database according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 10 shows the structure of, for example, a genre database in the index information database. In the following, the genre is described as an example of index information.

As shown in FIG. 10, the genre database includes a genre index, a genre name, and a number of files field. Genre Index is a serial number for referring to a genre registered on a genre database. The Genre Name field stores the name of the genre. The Number of Files field stores the total number of files recorded as index information for searching the genre among audio data files recorded on the recording medium.

(2) Initial operation and database construction process when the recording medium is first inserted into the playback apparatus

An operation in the case where a recording medium recorded in the format of a digital audio data file according to the present invention is first inserted into a reproduction apparatus will be described. In the following description, a case where the digital audio data file having the above-described format according to the present invention is recorded on the recording medium by the file system as shown in FIG.

When a recording medium on which digital audio data is recorded is inserted into the file system as shown in FIG. 4, the reproduction apparatus first accesses the disc information recording area 401. FIG. The reproducing apparatus reads out information unique to the recording medium such as the name of the recording medium, the total recording capacity, the recording time point, and the like recorded in the disc information recording area 401.

Subsequently, it is determined whether part or all of the read information is the same as the information recorded in the sub memory 217. As a result of determination, when the same information is not recorded, the inserted recording medium is regarded as being inserted first, and the following operations are performed. The form in which the information unique to the recording medium is recorded in the sub memory 217 will be described later with reference to FIG.

When the inserted recording medium is regarded as being inserted for the first time, information unique to the recording medium read out from the disc information recording area 401 is recorded in the sub memory 217.

Subsequently, a directory database as shown in FIG. 8 is constructed and recorded in the sub memory 217. At this time, it is preferable that the directory database is recorded at a position associated with a position at which unique information is recorded on the recording medium.

The following describes the process of building a directory database. First, the directory path information recording area 419 is accessed with reference to the disc information recording area 401, especially the volume presenter VD. From the directory path information recording area, the positions where the directory information recording areas 403 and 409 are recorded for all the directories recorded on the recording medium are read. Subsequently, for all directories recorded in the directory path information recording area 419, the directory information recording areas 403 and 409 are read to construct respective fields of the directory database.

The size of the directory name is calculated and recorded in the directory name size field (Dir Name Size), and then the directory name field is assigned based on this. The directory name is recorded in the assigned directory name field based on the directory name size field. The other fields on the directory database are filled with reference to the directory path information recording area 419 or the directory information recording areas 403 and 409.

After the directory database is constructed or at the same time as the directory database, a file database as shown in FIG. 9 is constructed and recorded in the secondary memory 217. At this time, it is preferable that the file database is recorded at a location associated with the information unique to the recording medium or the location where the directory database is recorded.

The following describes the process of building a file database. For each directory recorded in the directory database, if there is a sub file, the sub file is registered in the file database, and the index on the file database is recorded in the sub file index field (Sub File Index) on the directory database. For each directory recorded in the directory database, the field information recording areas 403 and 409 are referred to to fill in each field of the file database.

According to the present invention, in order to build a file database, it is not necessary to access the file recording area 415 in which each file is actually recorded. In particular, since index information for reading digital audio data from the recording medium is recorded in the directory information recording area, it is possible to access the directory information recording area and fill in the index information recording field of the file database.

In addition to constructing a file database, an index information database as shown in FIG. 10 is constructed and recorded in the secondary memory 217.

Hereinafter, a process of constructing a genre database among index information, in particular, will be described with reference to FIG. 10. While constructing the file database, information on the genre of the file is read from the directory information recording areas 403 and 409. Subsequently, it is determined whether the read genres match the genres recorded in the genre database, and if there is a match, the genre index is recorded in the genre index field of the file database. In addition, the number of files recorded in the file number field of the genre database is increased by one. If there is no genre recorded in the genre database that matches the genre of the file, a new genre entry is created in the genre database. In addition, the index of the newly created genre item is recorded in the genre index field of the file database. The file number field of the newly created genre item is set to 1.

As described above, when various databases are constructed from a recording medium on which digital audio data is recorded, they are recorded in the sub memory 217. 11 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a form in which various databases are recorded in the sub memory 217. As shown in Fig. 10, the sub-memory 217 has information 1103, a directory path information recording area 419, and a directory information recording area unique to the recording medium read from the disc information recording area for each recording medium. The directory database 1105 constructed from 403 and 409, the file database 1107 constructed from the directory information recording areas 403 and 409, the genre database 1109 and the musician database 1111 created while constructing the file database are recorded. do. According to one embodiment of the present invention, an index 1101 for every recording medium can be recorded. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, information 1113, such as a database construction time or an update time, can be recorded for each recording medium.

(3) Initial operation and database construction process when the secondary recording medium is inserted into the playback device

Hereinafter, according to the present invention, a digital audio recording medium is inserted into a reproduction apparatus, a database as shown in FIGS. 8 to 10 is constructed and recorded in the sub memory 217 as shown in FIG. The operation when the medium is inserted again will be described.

When a recording medium on which digital audio data is recorded is inserted into the file system as shown in Fig. 4, the reproduction apparatus first accesses the disc information recording area 401 as described above. The reproducing apparatus reads out information unique to the recording medium such as the name of the recording medium, the total recording capacity, the recording time point, and the like recorded in the disc information recording area 401.

Subsequently, it is determined whether part or all of the read information is the same as the information recorded in the sub memory 217. In particular, it is determined whether or not all recording media recorded in the sub memory 217 are the same as the information 1103 unique to the recording media. As a result of the determination, when the same information is recorded, the inserted recording medium may be regarded as having completed the construction of the database at the time of the first insertion, and thus the above-described database construction operation of the recording medium can be omitted.

Subsequently, a process of retrieving and reproducing digital audio data from the recording medium is described later.

(4) a method and apparatus for retrieving and reproducing digital audio data recorded on a recording medium

Hereinafter, as described above, a method for retrieving or reproducing audio data from the recording medium using the database after the database for the recording medium has been established and recorded in the sub memory 217 is described. In the following description, the operation after the database is constructed when the recording medium is first inserted into the reproducing apparatus is the same as the operation after the database for the recording medium is found to be instrumental after being inserted.

A case where a user wants to search for a desired audio data file by using the music name of the audio data as a keyword will be described. The reproduction device 200 accesses the file database recording area 1107 of the sub memory 217 and displays a list of files recorded in the file database 1107 through the display driver 219. When the user selects a desired file from the file list displayed on the display device, the playback device 200 reads the file position field from the file database of the secondary memory 217 to locate the location on the recording medium of the file selected by the user. Access. Subsequently, data of a capacity corresponding to the file size is read and reproduced with reference to a file size field.

The case where the user wants to search for audio data by using index information rather than a file name, for example, a genre name as a keyword, will be described. The reproduction device 200 accesses the recording area of the genre database 1109 of the sub memory 217 and displays the list of genres recorded in the genre database 1109 through the display driver 219. At this time, the number of songs of the genre can be displayed together. When the user selects a desired genre from the list of genres displayed on the display device, the playback device 200 reads the Genre Index field from the file database of the secondary memory 217, while the index on the genre database of the genre selected by the user is read. Search for files that have indexes matching their names. When a file set to the same genre as the genre selected by the user is searched, the title of the file is read from the title field and displayed on the display unit. According to the present invention, when the number of files corresponding to the genre is searched by the number of files recorded in the file number field with reference to the Number of Files field of the genre database in order to minimize the search time, the subsequent search of the file database is performed. Quit. The title of the retrieved file is then displayed on the display unit.

If the user wants to reproduce a file corresponding to the genre selected by the user, the file database is accessed for all files included in the list, and the file position field is referred to to access the file on the recording medium of the file. Subsequently, the process of reading and reproducing data corresponding to the file size corresponding to the file size with reference to the File Size field is repeated for all files included in the list.

If the user wants to select and play only a predetermined file among files corresponding to the selected genre, the search and reproduction process using the file name as described above is performed. Detailed description thereof will be omitted.

8. Method of classifying and playing back audio data stored in digital audio recording media

In the following description of the invention, 'audio data' refers to the digitized audio signal itself, and 'additional information' refers to the classification and reproduction of audio data such as the artist, genre, year of publication, album, song name, and classification symbol that produced the audio data. Means information for In addition, "positional information" means positional information for accessing audio data on a recording medium. In addition, the term "database" refers to a database having fields for additional information and position information for classification-based reproduction of audio data.

The first embodiment of the method according to the invention is a method of making a database on the recording medium itself. For example, when organizing a CD by storing songs on a CD, a database is created as a file and stored on the CD. The playback system reads this file to find out all the information needed for the classification playback on the CD. Corresponds to a playback request for each category.

FIG. 5 is an example of the contents of a database stored on an ISO-9660 format CD in the reproduction system of the digital audio recording medium shown in FIG.

As shown in Fig. 5, the database stored in the CD can store the song name, singer, genre, classification number, year, album, and positional information on the CD of the song.

When placed in the root directory of a CD, such a database can be quickly accessed from the CD, and once read at the first time, it has databaseized information for classification playback. Therefore, you can sort the configured database without having to access the ID3 tag of each file for playback of each song's classification, and go directly to the song using the location information stored in the database. do.

For example, if the user wants to play a classification by singer at the time of playback, the playback system shows a list of singers in the database, and if the user wants to play only songs of the singer 'A', the playback system may use the singer ' A list of songs will be displayed. In the database as shown in FIG. 5, the song 1 and the song 2 are displayed, and when the user selects the song 1, the user directly accesses the location of the song 1 using the location information of the song 1 in the database. Tables, directory information, and audio data can be analyzed to reduce the time required to find a song.

In another embodiment of the method for classifying and reproducing audio data stored in a digital audio recording medium according to the present invention, a database is composed of only a file name or a directory name by inserting fields necessary for database configuration into a file name or a directory name. This is a method of configuring a database in memory by using the location information of a file in a file name or a directory name and the location information of a file by using the location information of each file in the file. That is, when constructing and producing a CD, additional information necessary for classification and reproduction is put in a file name or a directory name, and a database is constructed in the memory of the reproduction system using the file name or directory name, and the classification and reproduction are performed through this. In this way, it is possible to fill each field information of the database simply by searching the route table and directory information without having to search the ID3 tag in each song. Since it has additional information and song position information, it is possible to play a song with one random access after the classification.

Figure 6 shows an example of a directory structure in which field values of a database are put in a file name in another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is an example of a directory structure created by using a long file name using an extension of the ISO-9660 file system. Songs under each directory display additional information such as song name, artist, album name, genre and classification number, and year of publication in the file name.

The playback system reads the CDD's PVD to determine the location of the path table, reads the CD's directory structure, and reads each directory record to read the file name contained in the directory. At this time, the database is constructed in the memory by the location information of the file contained in the directory record and the database field value information included in the file name. The configured database makes it possible to play back files by classification according to the needs of users.

In this way, the playback system can have a database for classification-specific playback using only the ISO-9660 route table and directory information, thus eliminating the time for directly acquiring and comparing additional information for all audio data by accessing the respective audio data. can do.

As such, configuring the database in the memory of the playback system is also possible with background processing.

When a CD is first inserted into a playback system, the playback system uses a PVD and a path table to determine the directory structure, and then enters a user input standby mode and reads and sorts files.

The data rate required to play the file selected by the user's request is 16KByte / sec when the file is encoded at 128Kbps. Therefore, the remaining 134KByte / sec is transmitted when performing the 1x speed operation (speed of about 150KByte / sec) You can use the available time to construct a database. In the same way, when double speed is used, the time to transfer 284 KByte / sec can be used to construct a database. In the present invention, this is referred to as 'background processing'.

7 shows background processing for configuring a database in a memory of a playback system.

In Fig. 7, the details of the CD unit, the micro-control unit, and the MP3 decoder unit are the portions that operate simultaneously. The CD unit reads and buffers the song 1, and after the micro-controller transmits the buffered data, finds the song 2, reads and classifies the ID3 tag, and reads and buffers the song 1 again. This operation continues in the same manner while reading and classifying the song 3, so that playback by additional information for classifying playback after the entire database has been completed is possible.

As described above, according to the present invention, by constructing a database of additional information about audio data stored in a digital audio recording medium and location information of audio data, a field-specific search constituting the database can be performed. There is an advantage that the user can find and play the desired song quickly.

In addition, when acquiring additional information in a directory name or a file name when acquiring a database from a CD-ROM (or a digital recording medium) to provide a classification reproducing function, the reproducing system reads the necessary information for the database if only the directory recording is read. Since all of them can be obtained, it is possible to save the time required to search all files individually than the conventional method, so that it is possible to respond to the user's classification and display requirements in a very short time.

According to the present invention, index information is inserted together when recording digital audio data on a recording medium, and the search and playback operations can be speeded up by using the index information during the search and playback operations of the digital audio data.

According to the present invention, when retrieving the desired digital audio data by using the additional information of the digital audio data to be reproduced as a keyword, the reproduction device 200 only needs to read up to the directory information recording areas 403 and 409 of the recording medium. It is sufficient and there is no need to access the data recording area 415. Thus, the retrieval time of digital audio data can be significantly shortened.

According to the present invention, there is also provided a method, apparatus, and program for converting digital audio data recorded on a CD in a conventional CD audio format into an FIF format according to the present invention. The recording medium converted to the FIF format according to the present invention enables audio data retrieval using additional information as a keyword, which was not possible in the conventional CD audio format. In addition, data retrieval using additional information as a keyword can be performed at high speed.

Claims (4)

A plurality of digital audio data files on a recording medium including a directory information recording area in which information about a directory is recorded and a data recording area in which data of a file is recorded in accordance with information about subordinate files of a directory recorded in the directory information recording area. The file name field included in the digital audio data file is recorded in the directory information recording area, and the data field and the additional information tag field are stored in the plurality of digital audio data from the recording medium recorded in the data recording area. In the method of building a database for use in retrieving data files, (a) constructing a directory database comprising fields for all the directories recorded in the directory information recording area, the field including a name of the directory and a recording position on the directory information recording area; (b) a file comprising a field including a name of a lower file and a recording position where the lower file is recorded on the data recording area by accessing the recording position on the directory information recording area for all directories recorded in the directory database. Building a database, and (c) an index information recording step of recording, as a field of the file database, index information to be used as a keyword when searching the digital audio data file. And index information to be used as a keyword when searching for the digital audio data file is recorded in the directory information recording area on the recording medium. The method of claim 1, The index information recording step includes accessing a recording position on the directory information recording area to read the index information and to record it as a field of the file database. Recording method comprising a. The method of claim 1, Constructing an index information database composed of the index information and a field containing a total number of files corresponding to the index information. How to include more. A plurality of digital audio data files on a recording medium including a directory information recording area in which information about a directory is recorded and a data recording area in which data of a file is recorded in accordance with information about subordinate files of a directory recorded in the directory information recording area. The file name field included in the digital audio data file is recorded in the directory information recording area, and the data field and the additional information tag field are stored in the plurality of digital audio data from the recording medium recorded in the data recording area. A computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a computer executable program for constructing a database for use in retrieving a data file, comprising: (a) constructing a directory database comprising fields for all the directories recorded in the directory information recording area, the field including a name of the directory and a recording position on the directory information recording area; (b) a file comprising a field including a name of a lower file and a recording position where the lower file is recorded on the data recording area by accessing the recording position on the directory information recording area for all directories recorded in the directory database. Building a database, and (c) an index information recording step of recording, as a field of the file database, index information to be used as a keyword when searching the digital audio data file. Computer-readable recording medium having a program recorded thereon.