WO2003085978A1

WO2003085978A1 - Information recording medium, information recording device and method, information reproducing device and method, information recording/reproducing device and method, computer program for control of recording or reproduction, and data structure including control signal

Info

Publication number: WO2003085978A1
Application number: PCT/JP2003/004453
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nobuyuki Takakuwa; Takeshi Koda; Tohru Kanegae; Masanori Nakahara; Takao Sawabe; Yasuko Fukuda; Akira Imamura
Original assignee: Pioneer Corporation
Priority date: 2002-04-08
Filing date: 2003-04-08
Publication date: 2003-10-16
Also published as: AU2003236341A1; JP2003304485A

Abstract

A whole stream comprising partial streams each of which is composed of content information including still picture information is multiply recorded in units of a packet on an information recording medium. The information recording medium contains a file where object data composed of packets each of which holds pieces of content information is stored and a file where correspondence definition information defining the correspondence relationship between packets to be multiplexed and partial streams is stored. The correspondence definition information includes, from a partial stream to another, between two adjacent packets in a series of mere packets the positions of which are specified by address information, a flag indicating if there is still picture information and a flag indicating if there is still picture control information.

Description

Specification

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an information recording medium, an information recording apparatus and method, an information reproducing apparatus and method, an information recording and reproducing apparatus and method, a computer program for recording or reproducing control, and a data structure including a control signal.

The present invention relates to an information recording medium such as a high-density optical disk capable of recording various types of information such as main video, audio, sub-video, and reproduction control information at a high density, an information recording apparatus for recording information on the information recording medium, and Method, information reproducing apparatus and method for reproducing information from the information recording medium, information recording and reproducing apparatus and method capable of both recording and reproducing, computer program for recording or reproducing control, and reproducing The present invention relates to the technical field of a data structure including a control signal for control. Background art

DVDs have become popular as optical discs on which various information such as main video, audio, sub-video, and playback control information are recorded. According to the DVD standard, main video information (video data), audio information (audio data), and sub-video information (sub-picture data) are packetized together with playback control information (navigation data), and high-efficiency coding is performed. It is multiplex-recorded on the disc in the program stream format of the MPEG 2 (Moving Picture Experts Group 2) standard, which is an advanced technology. Of these, the main video information contains data compressed according to the MPEG video format (IS013818-2) for one stream in one program stream. On the other hand, audio information is recorded in multiple formats (ie, linear PCM, AC-3 and MPEG audio, etc.), and up to 8 streams can be present in one program stream. . The sub-picture information is defined by a bitmap and recorded by compression in a run-length system, and up to 32 streams can exist in one program stream. As described above, in the case of DVD, the use of the program stream format enables a plurality of streams of selectable audio information (for example, one stream of main video information to one stream of one movie). In addition to teleo audio or surround audio, original English audio, a dubbed version of the original language, a stream of… etc.) and multiple streams of selectable sub-video information (eg Japanese subtitles, English) Subtitles,… etc.) are multiplex-recorded. On the other hand, the Transport Stream format of the MPEG 2 standard has been standardized, which is suitable for data transmission. According to this transport stream format, a plurality of elementary stream streams are transmitted simultaneously. For example, a plurality of programs or programs, such as a large number of satellite digital broadcast television channels, are multiplexed in a time-division manner and transmitted simultaneously on one satellite wave. Disclosure of the invention

However, in the above-described DVD, only one stream of main video can be multiplex-recorded together with audio information and sub-video information of a plurality of streams, and the main video of a plurality of streams cannot be multiplex-recorded. That is, a DVD that performs recording in accordance with the MPEG 2 program stream format cannot essentially multiplex-record a plurality of programs or programs simultaneously transmitted in the above-described MPEG 2 transport stream format. There is a problem.

Also, even if there is a disc with a high transfer rate and a large recording capacity or high density recording that can simultaneously record a plurality of programs or a plurality of programs transmitted in the MPEG 2 transport stream format, Frequently recording and reproducing a huge amount of still image information such as the bitmap data described above on the reproduction time axis is not appropriate from the viewpoint of data efficiency. In particular, if only a broadcast is received in real time and displayed and output via a tuner, the display processing of such still image information can be relatively simple, but the still image information is one of the elementary streams. After being recorded on a disc, it is subject to special playback such as time search and chapter search or interactive playback by the user due to its nature. For this reason, the load on the reproduction and display processing of still image information and the like consisting of bitmap data having a huge data amount sometimes becomes extremely large. In order to deal with this, hardware performance etc. must be specified exclusively for processing the still image information. A technical problem arises when the necessity to significantly increase the image quality or when the image quality of the static image information is reduced or when the special reproduction interactive reproduction is restricted is restricted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and allows still image information having a relatively large data amount to be multiplex-recorded together with moving image information, audio information, and the like. Information recording medium, information recording apparatus and method, information recording apparatus and method, information recording and reproducing apparatus and method, computer program for recording or reproduction control, and control for reproduction control while reproducing the still image information It is an object to provide a data structure including a signal.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the information recording medium of the present invention is designed so that an entire stream including a plurality of partial streams each composed of a series of content information is physically accessible. An information recording medium which is multiplex-recorded in a packet unit, and which is a logically accessible unit and stores object data composed of a plurality of packets including packets each storing a fragment of the content information. The multiplexing includes: an object data file to be stored; a reproduction sequence information file that stores reproduction sequence information that specifies a reproduction sequence of the object data; and reproduction control information for controlling reproduction of the object data. Defining the correspondence between a plurality of buckets to be created and the plurality of partial streams. An object information file for storing correspondence definition information, wherein at least one of the plurality of partial streams is a still image information which is one of the content information. And a plurality of buckets for storing fragments of the still image control information for controlling the display of the still image information, respectively, and the corresponding definition information is divided into the plurality of partial streams for each of the plurality of partial streams. Address information relating to a packet that satisfies a predetermined condition among a plurality of packets; and for the at least one partial stream, (i) a plurality of packets constituting the at least one partial stream; In the packet only, the position of which is specified by the address information, in the entry section specified by two adjacent packets, the static To a group of still picture information identification flag indicating whether or not the top packet of the bucket bets are present and (ii) the entry a section for storing image information, a group including the still picture control information A control information identification flag indicating whether or not the first packet of the packet exists. According to the information recording medium of the present invention, for example, the entire stream such as at least a part of the transport stream of MPEG 2 includes a plurality of partial streams such as the elementary stream. The partial stream is composed of a series of contents that can be reproduced by the information reproducing apparatus, such as video information or sub-video information (for example, video data or sub-picture data) or audio information (for example, audio data). Each is composed. That is, in the present application, one “partial stream J” refers to one piece of data such as an elementary stream, such as a video stream, an audio stream, and a sub-picture stream that form a series of contents. On the other hand, in the present application, one “whole stream” refers to a data array or an information array in which a plurality of partial streams are bundled. The entire stream may be a transport stream in which m (here, m is a natural number of 2 or more) elementary lease streams in MPEG 2 are bundled, and n (where n is 2 It may be a data array or an information array formed by bundling the (element numbers) and elementary streams. In the present invention, the entire stream includes at least one partial stream (for example, a sub-picture stream) composed of still surface information and still image control information.

The entire stream configured as described above is multiplex-recorded on the information recording medium in units of packets (for example, TS packets described later) that are units physically accessible by the information reproducing apparatus. Here, the object data file is a unit logically accessible by the information reproducing apparatus and stores object data composed of a plurality of buckets for storing fragments of content information. The reproduction sequence information file stores reproduction sequence information (for example, play list information) that specifies a reproduction sequence of the object data stored in the object data file. The object information file includes correspondence definition information that defines the correspondence between a plurality of multiplexed packets and a plurality of partial streams (for example, an ES map table described later and an ES_PID (ES Bucket ID), ES address information, or AU table. Therefore, at the time of reproduction, a desired or a plurality of partial streams of the entire stream can be selectively reproduced based on the correspondence definition information. At this time, based on the reproduction sequence information, the reproduction sequence scheduled to be reproduced is performed. You can run as it is. Various types of information stored in the object information file and the reproduction sequence information file are not multiplexed on the information recording medium in the unit of the packet unlike the case of the object data file. Therefore, based on the reproduction control information and the reproduction sequence information, the reproduction of the object data in the information reproducing apparatus can be relatively easily executed.

In the present invention, in particular, the correspondence definition information is, for each of a plurality of partial streams, address information relating to a packet that satisfies a predetermined condition among a plurality of buckets (for example, a leading packet of only an I-picture in the MPEG2 standard). including. Therefore, the data amount of the address information to be included in the correspondence definition information can be reduced compared to the case where the address information is unconditionally included in the correspondence definition information for all of a plurality of packets.

Moreover, in the present invention, particularly, the correspondence definition information includes a still image information identification flag and a control information identification flag for a partial stream (for example, a sub-picture stream) relating to the still image information and the still image control information. Here, the “still image information identification flag” is a flag indicating whether or not the first bucket (for example, SPD described later) of a group of packets storing still image information exists in one entry section. "The control information identification flag J is a flag indicating whether or not the first packet (for example, SCP described later) of a group of packets storing still image control information exists in the entry section.

Therefore, at the time of reproduction, for still image information or still image control information, the address information is not directly specified by referring to the corresponding definition information, but instead, the entry section in which they exist is determined. Specified. Then, after the entry section in which the still picture information or the still picture control information exists is specified, the section is actually a multiplexed packet in the object file, and the specified entry section is used. By searching for items in the list, still image information or still image control information can be easily and quickly searched (for example, by finding its header, identifier, or the like).

More specifically, during playback, the stillness in the entry section including the display start time If the presence of the image control information can be confirmed by the control information identification flag, the still image control information whose existence has been confirmed is nothing but the still image control information corresponding to the display start time. On the other hand, if the presence of the still image control information in the entry section including the display start time cannot be confirmed by the control information identification flag, for example, the area ahead of this entry section (address or packet with a smaller serial number). The control information identification flag in the entry section in () is checked sequentially. In any case, by referring to the control information identification flag, it is possible to specify the approximate position of the still image control information to be acquired, that is, the entry section including this. Then, the display is started by searching for the still image information in the specified entry section and searching for the corresponding still image information in the entry section or the preceding entry section. Still images to be reproduced at the time can be efficiently reproduced.

In this way, for the purpose of executing still image reproduction at an arbitrary display start time, for example, address information of still image information composed of bitmap data or JPEG data is compared with a case where address information of frame-based still image information is included in the corresponding definition information. However, the data amount of address information to be included in the correspondence definition information can be further reduced. By the way, if it is assumed that such address information is registered in the corresponding definition information for all the frames of the still image, the data amount for the address information is about five times as large as that of the main video or moving image (main picture). It becomes necessary. Conversely, by adopting the configuration of the present invention, for the main video information, the data amount required for the address information for one entry point in the correspondence definition information is about 32 bits. Thus, by adopting a configuration in which only two types of flags are used in the present invention, the data amount can be reduced to a maximum of about 2 bits.

In the present invention, an “entry point” refers to a packet whose position is specified by ES address information. The “entry section” refers to each section on the TS object specified by two adjacent packets in the arrangement of only packets whose recording positions are specified by the ES address information, and is preferably Such an entry section is not described as between two consecutive numbers related to two packets, but as between the display start times of the still image information related to the two packets. With this description, some packets are removed by editing work, etc. Therefore, even if there is a deviation from the beginning in the serial number of the packet, there will be no deviation between the display times, and there will be no change in the entry section. However, in an environment where such editing work or the like can be ignored, one entry section may be described as between two consecutive numbers related to the two packets.

Further, in the present invention, “specifying the entry section” in the object data file executed at the time of reproduction is performed, for example, by setting the serial number to “0” or “1” in each object data file. The packet address that defines each end of one section of an entry is determined by the order of the packet from the reference packet (hereinafter referred to as “reference packet” as appropriate), such as the packet recorded in You only need to specify it. Then, according to the specified address, it is possible to access a packet having an arbitrary serial number in the object data file, that is, to access an arbitrary entry section. For example, such serial numbers start from the serial number "0" of the reference bucket in the object data file at the time of multiplex recording, and continue in ascending order according to the recording order. Therefore, it is not necessary to add information indicating a packet serial number to each packet itself. The packet address mentioned here may be a physical address, but is more generally a logical address, and the actual physical address is uniquely identified from the logical address by the management of the file system. It is of the nature to be done.

Furthermore, in the present invention, the information such as the still image information and the still image control information is “included in one entry section or located in the entry section” when all the packets storing the information are the same. In addition to the meaning included in one entry section, the first packet storing the information is included in the entry section. In other words, in the present application, the position of the still image information or the still image control information or the like usually means the position of the first packet (SPD or SCP described later) unless otherwise specified. However, it is also possible to substitute such a leading packet with a terminal packet, a central packet, or a packet located at a predetermined position from the beginning.

As a result, the still image information included as at least one partial stream (for example, a sub-picture stream) in the entire stream can be used together with other main video information and audio information or alone. Still included in one partial stream Reproduction can be appropriately performed based on the image control information. At this time, even when performing special playback such as time search, chapter search, fast forward, and rewind, that is, even when playback is started from an arbitrary time, still image playback can be performed. In this case, in particular, still image information such as a bitmap or JPEG having a relatively large amount of data can be efficiently reproduced together with moving surface information and audio information in any case. The increase in burden has been effectively suppressed.

The entire stream in the present invention may include two or more partial streams (that is, video streams) including main video information as content information. Alternatively, the entire stream is composed of a partial stream including main video information as content information, and a partial stream including corresponding sub-video information (that is, a sub-picture stream) and a partial stream including audio information. A stream (ie, an audio stream).

In one aspect of the information recording medium of the present invention, the address of the first packet of a group of buckets storing still image control information for controlling the i-th still image information is i + 1st still image The buckets storing the still image information and the still image control information are arranged so as to be smaller than the address of the first bucket of the group of buckets storing the still image control information for controlling the information. I have.

According to this aspect, since the packet arrangement is performed in accordance with the specific rule, at the time of the reproduction, (i) one entry section from the entry section including the reproduction start time in the correspondence definition information with respect to the reproduction time axis is set to one. Each time, the still image information identification flag or the control information identification flag is referred to, (ii) the still image information and the still image control information whose presence is indicated by them are specified, and (iii) these are further converted to object data. If a file is searched for and read within the corresponding entry section, the still image information and still image control information necessary for still image reproduction after the display start time are almost read. For example, at some point after the start of playback, there is almost no need for still image information or still image control information that is recorded ahead of the playback time axis and has not yet been read in order to play back still images. Does not occur.

In addition, in this embodiment, in the still image control information, position information indicating the recording position of the still image information to be controlled (for example, the entry section It is recommended to add (address information indicating). With such a configuration, at the time of reproduction, it is located before the still image control information corresponding to the display start time and after the still image information to be controlled, and the still image identification information flag is used. If all the still image information indicating the presence is read, it means that the still image information and still image control information necessary for the still image reproduction after the display start time have been read without lack. For example, at some point after the start of playback, a situation in which still image information or still image control information that has been recorded ahead of the playback time axis and has not yet been read is needed for still image playback Does not occur.

Alternatively, in the information recording medium of the present invention, the address information may include a serial number of a packet that satisfies the predetermined condition and a display start time corresponding to the serial number. With this configuration, at the time of reproduction, the position of the bucket in the object data file can be specified based on the serial number of the packet and the display start time, and the desired partial stream can be appropriately reproduced. In particular, an entry section related to the still image identification flag and the control information identification flag in the correspondence definition information can be defined in a form corresponding to the display start time.

Further, in this case, the address information includes a serial number of a packet relating only to the packet that satisfies the predetermined condition and a display start time corresponding thereto, and controls the i-th still image information. The serial number of the first packet of a group of packets for storing still image control information to be used is the head of a group of packets for storing the still image control information for controlling the (i + 1) th still image information. The buckets storing the still image information and the still image control information may be arranged so as to be smaller than the serial number of the bucket. With this configuration, since the packet arrangement is performed according to the specific rules, at the time of reproduction, (i) the entry section including the reproduction start time in the correspondence definition information is set to the entry section with respect to the reproduction time axis. Refer back to the still image information identification flag or control information identification plug one by one, (ii) identify the still image information and still image control information whose presence is indicated by them, and (iii) further convert them to object data. If the file is searched for and read within the corresponding entry in the file, the still image information and still image control information necessary for reproducing the still image after the display start time are generally read. In addition, in this embodiment, position information indicating the recording position of the still image information to be controlled (for example, a serial number of a packet indicating an entry section), such as structure information described later, is added to the still image control information. It is good to add it. With such a configuration, at the time of reproduction, it is positioned before the still image control information corresponding to the display start time and after the still image information to be controlled, and exists by the still image identification information flag. If all the still image information indicated by is read, the still image information and the still image control information necessary for the still image reproduction after the display start time are completely read.

In another aspect of the information recording medium of the present invention, when the content information includes video information based on the MPEG-2 standard, the address information includes a serial number of a bucket related to an I picture and a corresponding number. And a display start time.

According to this aspect, at the time of reproduction, the address of the bucket can be specified based on the serial number of the packet related to the I picture, and based on the display start time corresponding to this.

Play I-pictures. Further, based on the I picture, a B picture and a P picture can be reproduced, and if there is audio information corresponding to such video information, the audio information can be reproduced. That is, it is possible to access the packet related to the I picture, and it is also possible to access the packet related to the video information and audio information related to the accessed I picture. It will be possible to play back again. At this time, it is not particularly necessary to describe the address information of the packet relating to the B picture and the P picture and the address information of the packet relating to the corresponding audio information, so that the entire information is recorded on the information recording medium. The amount of information can be reduced.

In another aspect of the information recording medium of the present invention, the still image control information includes a display start time of a still image displayed based on the still image information and information indicating a display time of the still image.

According to this aspect, based on the display start time and the information indicating the display time of the still image included in the still image control information, the still image reproduction using the corresponding still image information is performed according to the intention of the maker. Can be executed for a desired time.

In the information recording medium of the present invention, the correspondence definition information includes a packet identification number uniquely assigned to a plurality of packets multiplexed at the same time, as the partial stream. It may have table information shown separately. With such a configuration, the desired reproduction time can be set for any reproduction time by referring to table information (for example, an ES map table or ES address information described later) indicating the packet identification number for each partial stream. It is possible to quickly identify which packet the partial stream corresponds to. As a result, a desired partial stream can be reproduced.

In another aspect of the information recording medium of the present invention, the plurality of packets constituting the at least one partial stream include a still image information including at least one of the still image information and the still image control information. Each set includes a bucket for storing a fragment of the set of still image information further including structure information indicating the structure thereof.

According to this aspect, the still image information and the still image control information have a structure integrated as a still image information set together with the structure information, and the structure is indicated by the structure information. . For this reason, in the object data file, if the first packet in an arbitrary still image information set is accessed to acquire the structure information, all the buckets constituting the still image information set are each structured. Identified based on information (eg, by counting within the structure). In other words, it is possible to reduce the data amount of the address information in the correspondence definition information necessary to specify the address of the still image information or the still image control information or the entry section to be stored in the object information file.

In the aspect according to the still image information set, the still image information set includes: (i) a first still image information set including the three items of the still image information, the still image control information, and the structure information. (Ii) a second still image information set including the still image control information and the structure information and not including the still image information; and (iii) a second still image information and the structure information. Of at least one of the first and third still image information sets and the second still image information set among the third still image information sets that include a user and do not include the still image control information. May be included.

With this configuration, there are a maximum of three types of static surface information sets, and in each case, by specifying the first packet, each static image information set can be identified. Can be specified based on the structural information. In addition, if three types of still image information sets are used, the same still image information can be duplicated. It is also possible to suitably execute display control in different formats by the number of still image control information and display control of a plurality of different still image information by the same still image control information.

Furthermore, in a simple case, still image playback can be executed by combining the still image information and still image control information included in the same still image information set, and in this case, the address is specified by the same first packet. It can be easily implemented by specifying. In this case, the data amount of address information in the correspondence definition information necessary for specifying the still image information or the address of the still image information or one section of the entry to be stored in the op-image information file is further reduced. it can.

In the aspect according to the still image information set, the packet storing the structure information may be arranged at the top of the plurality of packets according to the still image information set. With this configuration, the structure of the still image information set can be specified by searching for and reading the first packet of the still image information set in the object data file during reproduction. This makes it possible to easily specify a packet that stores the still image information and the still image control information that make up the still image information set.

If the amount of information in the structure information is smaller than the packet, the entire structure information and part of the still image information or still image control information may be stored in the same first bucket. Alternatively, the structure may be such that only the structure information is stored in one head packet. Alternatively, if the amount of information in the structure information is large compared to the packet, the structure information may be configured to be stored in a plurality of packets. In the aspect according to the still image information set, the structure information includes an identifier of the still image information, a data length of the still image control information, a data length of the still image information, and a recording position of the still image information. At least the identifier may be included in the indicated location information. With such a configuration, each still image information set can be relatively quickly and quickly searched by searching for the “identifier” of the still image information set in the object data file, focusing on the specified entry section 內. Easy to find. In particular, with respect to the first still image information set, the buckets for storing such information are arranged based on the data length of the still image control information and the data length of the still image information. Can be identified. For the second still image information set, the data length of the still image control information Based on this, it is possible to specify how many buckets storing this information are arranged. For the third still image information set, it is possible to specify how many packets storing this information are arranged based on the data length of the still image information. As described above, according to the data length of the still image information and the data length of the still image control information, which are structural information, even if one still image information set is divided into a plurality of or many packets, the first bucket By specifying the address, the address of all the packets of the still image information set can be specified. In other words, the amount of data in the correspondence definition information, particularly the address information of the bucket, to be stored in the object information file can be reduced.

In the case of the second still image information set, the “position information indicating the recording position of the still image information” is position information indicating the recording position of the still image information to be display-controlled (for example, entry Section). On the other hand, in the case of the first or third still image information set, the position information of the still image information is unnecessary because the still image information itself is included. In this case, for example, information indicating that the location information is invalid is described.

In addition, setting the data length of the still image information to “0” or a predetermined value indicating invalidity may indicate that the still image information set is the second still image information set. Alternatively, the data length of the still image control information may be set to “0” or a predetermined value indicating invalidity, thereby indicating that the still image information set is the third still image information set. In order to solve the above problems, the information recording apparatus of the present invention physically converts an entire stream including a plurality of partial streams each composed of a series of content information items into an information recording medium. What is claimed is: 1. An information recording apparatus for multiplex-recording data in a packet unit, which is a unit that can be logically accessed, and a plurality of buckets including a bucket that stores the fragment of the content information together with the unit that is logically accessible. First recording means for recording an object data file for storing object data composed of object data, second recording means for recording a reproduction sequence information file for storing reproduction sequence information defining a reproduction sequence of the object data, Multiplexed as reproduction control information for controlling reproduction of the object data. A third recording unit that records an object information file that stores correspondence definition information that defines a correspondence between a plurality of buckets and the plurality of partial streams; At least one partial stream is And a plurality of packets each storing still image information, which is one of the content information, and a fragment of the still image control information for controlling the display of the still image information. The information includes, for each of the plurality of partial streams, address information relating to a packet that satisfies a predetermined condition among the plurality of packets. Further, for the at least one partial stream, (i) The still image information is included in one entry section specified by two adjacent packets in the arrangement of only the buckets whose positions are specified by the address information among a plurality of buckets constituting one partial stream. A still image information identification flag indicating whether or not there is a first packet of a group of packets storing the still image control information in the entry section. It contains a control information identification flag that indicates whether or not there is a leading bucket of a group of packets that include. .

According to the information recording apparatus of the present invention, for example, an object data file for storing object data is recorded by first recording means such as a system controller, an encoder, a TS object generator described below, and an optical pickup. A reproduction sequence information file for storing reproduction sequence information is recorded by a second recording means such as a system controller, an encoder, a TS object generator, and an optical pickup, which will be described later. An object that stores, as reproduction control information, corresponding definition information that defines the correspondence between a plurality of multiplexed packets and a plurality of partial streams by a third recording unit such as a tart generator or an optical pickup. Record the information file. At least one partial stream is configured to include a plurality of packets each storing a fragment of still image information and still image control information. The correspondence definition information includes address information on a bucket satisfying a predetermined condition for each partial stream, and further includes a still image information identification flag and a control information identification flag for at least one of the partial streams. Therefore, on the information recording medium of the present invention, various types of content information including still image information such as bitmaps and JPEG, such as at least a part of the transport stream of MPEG2, can be multiplex-recorded.

Incidentally, the information recording apparatus of the present invention can also adopt various aspects in correspondence with the various aspects of the information recording medium of the present invention described above. In order to solve the above problems, the information recording method of the present invention physically accesses, on an information recording medium, an entire stream including a plurality of partial streams each composed of a series of content information items. What is claimed is: 1. An information recording method for multiplex-recording data in buckets, which are possible units, comprising: a plurality of buckets each of which stores a fragment of the content information together with a logically accessible unit. A first recording step of recording an object data file for storing object data, a second recording step of recording a reproduction sequence information file for storing reproduction sequence information defining a reproduction sequence of the object data, Multiplexed as reproduction control information for controlling the reproduction of And a third recording step of recording an object information file that stores correspondence definition information that defines a correspondence relationship between the plurality of partial streams and the plurality of partial streams. At least one partial stream is composed of a plurality of pieces of still image information, which is one of the content information, and a plurality of pieces of still image control information for controlling the display of the still image information. The correspondence definition information includes, for each of the plurality of partial streams, address information relating to a bucket that satisfies a predetermined condition among the plurality of packets. For at least one partial stream, (i) a packet whose position is specified by the address information among a plurality of buckets constituting the at least one partial stream. A still image information identification flag indicating whether or not the first packet of a group of buckets storing the still image information is present in one entry section specified by two adjacent buckets in the row (Ii) a control information identification flag indicating whether or not a head bucket of a group of packets including the still image control information exists in the entry section.

According to the information recording method of the present invention, an object data file storing object data is recorded in a first recording step, and a reproduction sequence information file storing reproduction sequence information is recorded in a second recording step. In the third recording step, an object information file storing correspondence definition information that defines the correspondence between a plurality of multiplexed packets and a plurality of partial streams is recorded as reproduction control information. At least one partial stream is composed of still image information and still image control. It is configured to include a plurality of buckets each storing a piece of control information. The correspondence definition information includes address information on a packet that satisfies a predetermined condition for each partial stream, and further includes, for at least one partial stream, a still image information identification flag and a control information identification flag. Therefore, the above-described information recording medium of the present invention can multiplex-record various types of content information including still image information such as bitmaps and JPEG data, such as at least a part of the MPEG-2 transport stream. .

Incidentally, the information recording method of the present invention can also adopt various aspects in correspondence with the various aspects of the information recording medium of the present invention described above.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an information reproducing apparatus of the present invention is an information reproducing apparatus for reproducing the recorded content information from the above-described information recording medium (including various aspects thereof), Reading means for physically reading information from an information recording medium; and information included in the information read by the reading means based on the reproduction control information and the reproduction sequence information included in the information read by the reading means. Reproducing means for reproducing the object data to be reproduced.

According to the information reproducing apparatus of the present invention, information is physically read from the information recording medium in packet units or the like by reading means such as an optical pickup and a demodulator. Then, based on reproduction control information and reproduction sequence information included in the read information, object data included in the read information is reproduced by reproducing means such as a sysdem controller, a demultiplexer, and a decoder. Therefore, the content information multiplex-recorded on the information recording medium of the present invention can be appropriately reproduced as a series of content information. At this time, in particular, still image information such as bitmaps and JPEGs having a relatively large data amount can be efficiently reproduced, and the increase in the load in the reproduction process is effectively suppressed.

Incidentally, in response to the various aspects of the information recording medium of the present invention described above, the information reproducing apparatus of the present invention can also adopt various aspects.

In one aspect of the information reproducing apparatus of the present invention, when a display start time is given, the reproduction unit refers to the control information identification flag to correspond to the display start time in the still image control information. Identify one section where one still image control information exists The reading means includes means for accessing and reading the one piece of still image control information within the specified entry section in the object data.

According to this aspect, first, by referring to the control information identification flag in the correspondence definition information, a rough position of the still image control information to be acquired, that is, an entry section including this, is specified. Therefore, the still image control information can be quickly obtained by subsequently searching for the specified entry section in the object file.

In this aspect, if the presence of the still image control information in the entry section including the display start time can be confirmed by the control information identification flag, the still image control information whose existence has been confirmed is one still image control information corresponding to the display start time. It is nothing but image control information. On the other hand, if the presence of the still image control information in the entry section including the display start time cannot be confirmed by the control information identification flag, the area ahead of the entry section (the side where the address or packet serial number is smaller) The control information identification flag in one section of the entry in) is checked sequentially. As a result, the still image control information confirmed to be closest to the front from the entry section including the display start time is set as one still image control information corresponding to the display start time. In any case, by referring to the control information identification flag in the correspondence definition information, it is possible to specify a rough position of the still image control information to be acquired, that is, an entry section including this. In this aspect, the reading means is a pair of or a pair with the one still image control information of the still image information and records one still image information to which the one still image control information is to act. The information processing apparatus may further include a unit that accesses the one piece of still image information to be operated based on the position information indicating the position and reads the information.

With this configuration, even if the address information of the still image information that may be displayed at each time is not sequentially described in the corresponding definition information, for example, the still image information set described above in the object data can be used. Based on position information (for example, an entry section) indicating the recording position of one piece of still image information to which one piece of still image control information corresponding to the display start time is to act, such as the structure information in FIG. Quick access to the best still image information.

In this case, further, the reproduction means refers to the still image identification flag, Between the entry section containing one still picture information to be recorded and the entry section containing the one still picture control information, an entry where other still picture information of the still picture information exists The apparatus may further include means for specifying a section, and the reading means may include means for accessing and reading the other still image information in the specified entry section in the object data.

With such a configuration, first, by referring to the still image information identification flag in the correspondence definition information, a rough position of the still image information to be acquired, that is, an entry section including this, is specified. Therefore, the still image information can be quickly obtained by subsequently searching for the specified entry section in the object file. In particular, if other still image information is read at this point, other display control information reproduced next to or after the display control information corresponding to the display start time is applied to the other still image information. However, since the other still image information has already been read, it can be displayed quickly without any problem.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an information reproducing method according to the present invention is an information reproducing method for reproducing the recorded content information from the information recording medium (including various aspects thereof) according to the present invention. A reading step of physically reading the information from the information recording medium; and, based on the reproduction control information and the reproduction sequence information included in the information read in the reading step, included in the information read in the reading step. Reproducing the object data to be reproduced.

According to the information reproducing apparatus of the present invention, in the reading step, information is physically read from the information recording medium in packet units or the like. Then, in the reproducing step, the object data included in the read information is reproduced based on the reproduction control information and the reproduction sequence information included in the read information. Therefore, the content information multiplex-recorded on the information recording medium of the present invention can be appropriately reproduced as a series of content information. At this time, in particular, still image information such as bitmaps and JPEGs having a relatively large data amount can be efficiently reproduced, and an increase in the load in the reproduction processing is effectively suppressed.

Incidentally, the information reproducing method of the present invention can also adopt various aspects in correspondence with the various aspects of the information recording medium of the present invention described above. In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention records the content information on the information recording medium of the present invention (including various aspects thereof) and reproduces the recorded content information. An information recording / reproducing apparatus, comprising: first recording means for recording the object data file; second recording means for recording the reproduction sequence information file; and third recording means for recording the object information file. Reading means for physically reading information from the information recording medium; and information read by the reading means based on the reproduction control information and the reproduction sequence information contained in the information read by the reading means. Reproducing means for reproducing the contained object data.

According to the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, similarly to the above-described information recording apparatus of the present invention, the first recording means records the object data file, and the second recording means records the reproduction sequence information file. Record, and record the object information file by the third recording means. Thereafter, similarly to the above-described information reproducing apparatus of the present invention, information is physically read from the information recording medium by the reading means, and the reproduction control information and the reproduction sequence information included in the read information are read by the reproducing means. The object data included in the read information is reproduced based on the information. Therefore, various types of content information including still image information such as bitmaps and JPEG, such as at least a part of the MPEG-2 transport stream, can be multiplex-recorded on the above-described information recording medium of the present invention. The multiplex-recorded content information can be appropriately reproduced, including reproduction of a still image.

Incidentally, the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention can also adopt various aspects in correspondence with the various aspects of the information recording medium of the present invention described above.

In order to solve the above problems, an information recording / reproducing method of the present invention records the content information on the information recording medium of the present invention (including various aspects thereof) and reproduces the recorded content information. An information recording / reproducing method, comprising: a first recording step of recording the object data file; a second recording step of recording the reproduction sequence information file; and a third recording step of recording the object information file. A reading step of physically reading information from the information recording medium; and a reproduction control information and a reproduction sequence information included in the information read in the reading step. A reproducing step of reproducing the object data included in the information read in the reading step.

According to the information recording / reproducing method of the present invention, similarly to the above-described information recording method of the present invention, an object data file is recorded in a first recording step, and a reproduction sequence information file is recorded in a second recording step. Record, and record the object information file in the third recording step. Thereafter, similarly to the above-described information reproducing method of the present invention, the reading step physically reads the information from the information recording medium, and the reproducing step executes the reproduction control information and the reproduction sequence information included in the read information. The object data included in the read information is reproduced based on the information. Therefore, various types of content information including still image information such as bitmaps and JPEG, such as at least a part of the MPEG-2 transport stream, can be multiplex-recorded on the above-described information recording medium of the present invention. The multiplex-recorded content information can be properly reproduced, including still image reproduction.

Incidentally, the information recording / reproducing method of the present invention can also adopt various aspects, corresponding to the various aspects of the information recording medium of the present invention described above.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a recording control computer program of the present invention is a recording control computer program for controlling a computer provided in the above-described information recording apparatus of the present invention (including its various aspects). Wherein the computer functions as at least a part of the first recording unit, the second recording unit, and the third recording unit.

According to the recording control computer program of the present invention, the computer program is read from a recording medium such as a ROM, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or a hard disk that stores the computer program, and executed by the computer. If the computer program is executed after being downloaded to the computer via the communication means, the above-described information recording apparatus according to the present invention can be realized relatively easily.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a computer program for reproduction control of the present invention is a computer program for reproduction control for controlling a computer provided in the above-mentioned information reproducing apparatus of the present invention (including its various aspects). And the convenience store Data function as at least a part of the reproducing means.

According to the computer program for reproduction control of the present invention, if the computer program is read from a recording medium such as a ROM, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or a hard disk storing the computer program and executed by the computer, Alternatively, if the computer program is executed after being downloaded to a computer via communication means, the above-described information reproducing apparatus according to the present invention can be realized relatively easily.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a computer program for recording / reproducing control according to the present invention is a computer program for controlling a computer provided in the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention (including its various aspects). And causing the computer to function as at least a part of the first recording unit, the second recording unit, the third recording unit, and the reproducing unit.

According to the recording / playback control computer program of the present invention, the computer program can be read from a recording medium such as a ROM, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or a hard disk for storing the computer program and executed. Alternatively, if the computer program is executed after being downloaded to a computer via the communication means, the above-described information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention can be realized relatively easily.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the data structure including the control signal according to the present invention solves the above-described problem by physically forming an entire stream including a plurality of partial streams each composed of a series of content information. It is multiplexed and recorded in packet units that are accessible units, and stores object data consisting of a plurality of buckets that include logically accessible units and packets that respectively store fragments of the content information. An object data file to be reproduced, a reproduction sequence information file storing reproduction sequence information defining a reproduction sequence of the object data, and reproduction control information for controlling reproduction of the object data. Define the correspondence between a plurality of packets and the plurality of partial streams And an object information file for storing response definition information, one part stream at least one of said plurality of partial streams, the content information And a plurality of buckets each storing a fragment of still image control information for controlling the display of the still image information, which is one of the information, and the correspondence definition information includes: For each of the plurality of partial streams, address information relating to a bucket that satisfies a predetermined condition among the plurality of packets is included. For the at least one partial stream, (i) the at least one partial stream The still image information is stored in only a bucket whose position is specified by the address information among a plurality of packets constituting a stream, and in a section of an entry specified by two adjacent packets. Image information identification flag indicating whether or not there is a first bucket of a group of packets to be transmitted and (ii) a group of packets including the still image control information in the entry section. Including control information identification flag indicating whether or not the top packet of Ketchen bets are present.

According to the data structure including the control signal of the present invention, as in the case of the above-described information recording medium of the present invention, still image information such as a bit map or JPEG is compliant with the MPEG-2 transport stream, for example. It is possible to multiplex-record complex content information including, and to reproduce it including still image reproduction.

Incidentally, the data structure including the control signal of the present invention can also adopt various aspects, corresponding to the various aspects of the information recording medium of the present invention described above.

A first program storage device of the present invention is a program storage device that can be read by a computer provided in an information recording device, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem. It explicitly embodies a computer program capable of executing the program.

A second program storage device according to the present invention is a program storage device readable by a computer provided in an information reproducing device, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem. It explicitly embodies a computer program capable of executing the program.

A third program storage device of the present invention is a program storage device readable by a computer provided in an information recording / reproducing device for solving the above-mentioned problem. A computer program capable of executing a recording / reproducing method is explicitly embodied.

According to the first, second, or third program storage device of the present invention, the computer The computer program is read from a program storage device such as a ROM, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or a hard disk for storing the program and executed by the computer, or the computer program is transmitted to the computer via communication means. If the program is executed after being downloaded, the above-described information recording method, information reproducing method, or information recording / reproducing method according to the present invention can be realized relatively easily. A computer data signal embodied by the first transmission wave according to the present invention is a series of computer data signals for causing a computer provided in an information recording apparatus to execute the information recording method according to the present invention. Indicates an instruction.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a computer data signal embodied by the second transmission wave of the present invention is a series of computer data signals for causing a computer provided in an information reproducing apparatus to execute the above-described information reproducing method of the present invention. Indicates an instruction.

A computer data signal embodied by the third transmission wave according to the present invention is configured to cause a computer provided in an information recording / reproducing apparatus to execute the above-described information recording / reproducing method of the present invention in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. Here is a simple sequence of instructions.

According to the computer data signal embodied by the first, second or third transmission wave of the present invention, the computer program is downloaded to a computer by a computer data signal via a computer network or the like, and is executed. For example, the above-described information recording method, information reproducing method, or information recording / reproducing method according to the present invention can be realized relatively easily.

The operation and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the embodiments explained below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a basic structure of an optical disc which is an embodiment of the information recording medium of the present invention. An upper part is a schematic plan view of an optical disc having a plurality of areas, and a lower part corresponding thereto is: It is a schematic conceptual diagram of the area structure in the radial direction. Fig. 2 is a schematic conceptual diagram of the conventional MPEG 2 program stream (Fig. 2 (a)) and a schematic conceptual diagram of the MPEG 2 transport stream used in this embodiment (Fig. 2 (b)). ). FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a data structure recorded on the optical disc of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing details of a data structure in each object shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 shows that the elementary stream for the upper program # 1 and the elementary stream for the middle program # 2 in this embodiment are multiplexed, and the transport stream for these two programs is multiplexed. FIG. 3 is a diagram conceptually showing how is configured with the horizontal axis as a time axis.

FIG. 6 conceptually shows an image of TS packets multiplexed in one transport stream in the present embodiment as a packet arrangement along time.

FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating a logical configuration of data on an optical disc in the embodiment, focusing on development from a logical hierarchy to an object hierarchy or a physical hierarchy.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a recording operation (No. 1) of the information recording / reproducing apparatus in the present embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a recording operation (No. 2) of the information recording / reproducing apparatus in the present embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a recording operation (part 3) of the information recording / reproducing apparatus in the present embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing a recording operation (part 4) of the information recording / reproducing apparatus in the present embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a reproducing operation of the information recording / reproducing apparatus in the present embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a data structure in the ES address information relating to the video stream constructed in the ES map table in the object information in the embodiment.

Figure 15 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the position of the TS bucket registered in the ES address information of the video stream on the TS object with respect to the time axis. It is a reminder.

FIG. 16 is a conceptual diagram showing the contents of SP data, SP control information, and structure information according to the method of acquiring SP data and SP control information in the embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a sub-picture structure according to the embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a conceptual diagram showing a packet arrangement condition used in the acquisition method according to the embodiment on a time axis of a TS object.

FIG. 19 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an acquisition procedure in the acquisition method according to the embodiment. FIG. 20 is a conceptual diagram showing the data structure of the ES address information related to the sub-picture stream in the TS object shown in FIG.

FIG. 21 is a diagram conceptually showing the entire access flow at the time of reproduction in relation to the logical structure of the optical disc in the present embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a diagram schematically illustrating a specific example of the data configuration of the disk information file in a specific example according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a diagram schematically illustrating a specific example of a data configuration of a title information table included in a disk information file in a specific example according to the present embodiment. FIG. 24 is a diagram schematically illustrating a specific example of a data configuration in a playlist information table constructed in a playlist information file in a specific example according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a diagram schematically illustrating a specific example of the data configuration of the AU table constructed in the object information file and the ES map table associated therewith in a specific example according to the present embodiment. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(Information recording medium)

An embodiment of the information recording medium of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, the information recording medium of the present invention is applied to an optical disk of a type capable of recording (writing) and reproducing (reading).

First, the basic structure of the optical disc of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. This FIG. 1 shows the structure of an optical disk having a plurality of areas on the upper side in a schematic plan view, and shows the area structure in the radial direction on the lower side in association with a conceptual diagram.

As shown in FIG. 1, the optical disc 100 can be recorded by various recording methods, such as a magneto-optical method and a phase change method, which can record (write) plural times or only once. Like the DVD, on the recording surface of the disc body with a diameter of about 12 cm, from the inner circumference to the outer circumference centered on the center hole 102, the read area 104, the data area 106 and the lead-out area 1 0 8 is provided. In each area, for example, a group track and a land track are provided alternately in a spiral or concentric manner around the center hole 102, and this group track may be coupled. Prepits may be formed on one or both of these tracks. Note that the present invention is not particularly limited to an optical disk having such three tiers.

Next, the configuration of a transport stream (TS) recorded on the optical disc of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Here, Fig. 2 (a) schematically shows the configuration of an MPEG 2 program stream in a conventional DVD for comparison, and Fig. 2 (b) shows the MPEG 2 transport stream ( TS) is shown schematically.

In FIG. 2A, one program stream includes only one video stream for video data as main video information along the time axis t, and further includes an audio stream for audio data as audio information. It contains a maximum of eight streams and a maximum of 32 sub-picture streams for sub-picture data as sub-picture information. That is, the video data multiplexed at an arbitrary time tX relates to only one video stream. For example, a plurality of video streams corresponding to a plurality of television programs or a plurality of movies are simultaneously transmitted. It cannot be included in the program stream. To multiplex and transmit or record television programs with video, etc., at least one video stream is required for each television program, so only one video stream exists. In the DVD program stream format, it is not possible to multiplex and transmit or record multiple TV programs, etc. You can't.

In FIG. 2 (b), one transport stream (TS) includes a plurality of video streams as elementary streams (ES) for video data as main video information, and further includes audio information. It includes a plurality of audio streams as an elementary stream (ES) for audio data, and includes a plurality of sub-picture streams as an elementary stream (ES) for sub-picture data as sub-picture information. That is, the video data multiplexed at an arbitrary time tX relates to a plurality of video streams. For example, a plurality of video streams corresponding to a plurality of television programs or a plurality of movies are simultaneously transported. It can be included in the trim. In the transport stream format in which a plurality of video streams exist, a plurality of television programs and the like can be multiplexed and transmitted or recorded. On the other hand, digital broadcasts that use the current transport stream do not transmit sub-picture streams.

In FIG. 2 (a) and FIG. 2 (b), the video stream, the audio stream, and the sub-picture stream are arranged in this order from the top for convenience of explanation, but the bucket is arranged in this order as described later. It does not correspond to the order of multiplexing in units. In transport stream, conceptually, for example, one program corresponds to a group consisting of one video stream, two audio streams, and two sub-picture streams. .

The optical disc 100 of the present embodiment described above is capable of multiplex-recording a transport stream (TS) including a plurality of elementary streams (ES) within the limitation of the recording rate. That is, a plurality of programs or programs can be simultaneously recorded.

Next, the structure of data recorded on the optical disc 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 3 schematically shows the data structure recorded on the optical disk 100, and FIG. 4 schematically shows the details of the data structure in each object shown in FIG. It is shown.

In the following description, “Title” refers to the continuous execution of multiple “Playlists”. This is a unit of playback that has a logically large unit, such as one movie or one TV program. A “playlist” is a file storing information necessary for reproducing an “object”, and is a plurality of “items” each storing information regarding a reproduction range of an object for accessing the object. It is configured. More specifically, each item describes "IN point information" indicating the start address of the object and "OUT point information" indicating the end address. Each of the “IN point information” and the “OUT point information” may directly indicate an address, or may indirectly indicate an address such as time or time on a reproduction time axis. The “object” is the entity information of the content that constitutes the above-described MPEG-2 transport stream. In FIG. 3, the optical disk 100 has a logical structure of a disk information file 110, a play (P) list information file 120, an object information file 130, and an object data file 14 0 files are provided, and a file system 105 for managing these files is further provided. Although FIG. 3 does not directly show the physical data arrangement on the optical disc 100, the arrangement order shown in FIG. 3 must be recorded so as to correspond to the arrangement order shown in FIG. That is, it is also possible to record the file system 105 etc. in the data recording area 106 following the lead-in area 104, and further record the object data file 140 etc. in the data recording area 106. It is. Even without the lead-in area 104 and the lead-out area 108 shown in FIG. 1, the file structure shown in FIG. 3 can be constructed. ,.

The disc information file 110 is a file that stores comprehensive information on the entire optical disc 100, and includes the disc overall information 112, the title information table 114, and other information 118. Store. The disc total information 112 stores the total number of titles in the optical disc 100, for example. The title information table 114 stores, as logical information, the type of each title (for example, sequential playback type, branch type, etc.) and the play (P) list number that constitutes each title for each title. I do.

The playlist information file 120 contains a playlist indicating the logical configuration of each playlist. Stores the play (P) list information table 122, which includes the play (P) list general information 122, the play (P) list pointer 124, and a plurality of play (P) list 1 2 6 (P list #l to #n) and other information 1 28. This playlist information table 122 stores logical information of each playlist 126 in order of playlist number. In other words, the storage order of each playlist 1 26 is the playlist number. In the above-mentioned title information table 114, the same playlist 126 can be referenced from a plurality of titles. That is, even when the title #n and the title #m use the same playlist #p, the playlist #p in the playlist information table 12 1 and the title information table 11 1 It may be configured to point at 4.

The object information file 130 stores the storage location (that is, the logical address to be reproduced) in the object data file 140 for each item included in each playlist 126, and the information of the item. Various attribute information related to playback is stored. In the present embodiment, in particular, the object information file 130 includes an AU tape storage 13 including a plurality of AU (association unit) information 13 21 (AU # 1 to AU # q) described later in detail. 1 and ES (elementary stream) map table 134 and other information 1 38 are stored.

The object data file 140 contains the TS object 142 (TS # 1 object to TS #s old object) of another transport stream (TS), that is, the entity data of the content to be played back immediately. Store multiple.

The four types of files described with reference to FIG. 3 can be further divided into a plurality of files and stored, and all of them can be managed by the file system 105. For example, it is possible to divide the object data file 140 into a plurality of object data files # 1, # 2,...

As shown in FIG. 4, the TS object 142 shown in FIG. 3, which is a logically reproducible unit, is divided into a plurality of aligned units 144 each having a data amount of, for example, 6 kB. It becomes. The beginning of the aligned unit 144 coincides with the beginning of the TS object 142 (aligned). Each aligned unit 1 4 3 Is further divided into a plurality of source packets 144 each having a data amount of 19 B. The source packet 144 is a physically reproducible unit, and at least video data, audio data and sub-picture data of the data on the optical disk 100 are multiplexed in this unit, ie, packet unit. Other information may be multiplexed in the same manner. Each source packet 144 controls the playback of a bucket rival time stamp or the like, which has a data amount of 4 B and indicates the playback processing start time of a TS (Transport Stream) packet on the playback time axis. Control information 145 and a TS packet 146 having a data amount of 188 B. The TS bucket 146 has a bucket header 144a at the beginning thereof and has a packet payload as an actual data part following the bucket header, and the video data is bucketed to be a "video packet". The audio data is packetized into an “audio packet”, the sub-picture data is packetized into a “sub-picture packet”, or other data is packetized. Be transformed into

Next, referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, video data, audio data, sub-picture data, etc. in the transport stream format as shown in FIG. 2 (b) are used for the TS packet 1 shown in FIG. With reference to 46, the point of multiplex recording on the optical disc 100 will be described. Here, Fig. 5 shows that the elementary stream (ES) for the upper program # 1 (PG1) and the elementary stream (ES) for the middle program # 2 (PG2) are multiplexed. The transport stream (TS) for these two programs (PG 1 & 2) is conceptually shown using the horizontal axis as the time axis. It conceptually shows the image of a TS bucket multiplexed in the transport stream (TS) as a bucket arrangement [J] along time.

As shown in Fig. 5, the elementary stream for program # 1 (upper row) is composed of, for example, a TS packet 146 in which video data for program # 1 is bucketed on the time axis (horizontal axis). On the other hand, they are arranged discretely. The elementary stream for program # 2 (middle) is, for example, a TS packet 146, in which video data for program # 2 is packetized, is discrete with respect to the time axis (horizontal axis). Array I get it. Then, these TS packets 146 are multiplexed to construct a transport stream (lower part) for these two programs. Although omitted in FIG. 5 for convenience of explanation, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), the TS packet in which audio data is packetized is actually used as the elementary stream for program # 1. Stream consisting of a TS bucket in which sub-picture data is packetized may be similarly multiplexed, and in addition to these, an elementary stream for program # 2 As an alternative, an elementary stream composed of TS packets in which audio data is packetized and a sub-picture stream composed of TS packets in which subpicture data is packetized may be similarly multiplexed.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the present embodiment, one TS stream is constructed from a large number of TS packets 146 multiplexed in this way. Then, a large number of TS buckets 146 are multiplexed and recorded on the optical disc 100 with information of a packet arrival time stamp and the like 145 added in such a multiplexed form. In FIG. 6, j (j = l, 2, ...) is assigned to a TS packet 1 46 consisting of data constituting program # i (i = l, 2, 3). "E lement (i0j)" is a number indicating the order of each stream to be configured. This (i0j) is the identification number of TS packet 146 for each elementary stream. It is a packet ID. This bucket ID is unique among a plurality of TS buckets 146 multiplexed at the same time so that even if a plurality of TS buckets 146 are multiplexed at the same time, they can be distinguished from each other. Value has been assigned.

In FIG. 6, a PAT (Program Association Table) and a PMT (Program Map Table) are also packetized and multiplexed in units of TS packets 146. Of these, the PAT stores a couple of bucket IDs of the PMTs. In particular, it is defined in the MPEG2 standard that a PAT is given a (0000) as a predetermined bucket ID as shown in FIG. That is, from among a large number of packets multiplexed at the same time, the TS bucket 146 having a packet ID of (00 0) is detected as a 'TS bucket 146', and the TS bucket 146 in which the PAT is packetized is detected. Is configured. The PMT is responsible for one or more programs. In addition, a table that indicates the bucket ID of each elementary stream constituting each program is stored. An arbitrary bucket ID can be assigned to the PMT, and those bucket IDs are indicated by the PAT that can be detected as the bucket ID force S (00) as described above. Therefore, of the many packets multiplexed at the same time, the TS packet 146 whose PMT is packetized (that is, the packet ID (100), (200), (3 TS packet to which 0 0) is assigned 1 4 6) Force S, configured to be detected by PAT.

When the transport stream as shown in FIG. 6 is transmitted digitally, the tuner refers to the PAT and the PMT configured as described above to select a desired element from among the multiplexed packets. It is possible to extract those corresponding to the tally stream and demodulate them.

In the present embodiment, such a PAT or PMT packet is included as the TS bucket 146 stored in the TS object 142 shown in FIG. That is, when the transport stream as shown in FIG. 6 is transmitted, there is obtained a great advantage that the data can be recorded on the optical disc 100 as it is.

Further, in the present embodiment, the PAT or PMT recorded in this manner is not referred to when the optical disc 100 is reproduced, and instead the AU table 13 1 and the ES shown in FIG. By referring to the map table 134, more efficient reproduction can be performed, and complicated multi-vision reproduction can be dealt with. For this reason, in the present embodiment, for example, the correspondence between the elementary stream and the bucket obtained by referring to the PAT and PMT at the time of demodulation and recording is described in the AU table 131 and the ES map table 134. It is stored in the object information file 130 in a form that is not packetized or multiplexed.

Next, the logical configuration of data on the optical disc 100 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, FIG. 7 schematically shows the logical configuration of data on the optical disc 100, focusing on the development from the logical layer to the object layer or the entity layer. In FIG. 7, one or more titles 200, which are logically large groups of, for example, one movie and one television program, are recorded on the optical disc 100. Each title 200 is logically composed of one or more playlists 126. I have. Within each title 200, a plurality of playlists may have a sequential structure or a branch structure.

In the case of a simple logical configuration, one title 200 is composed of one playlist 126. It is also possible to refer to one playlist 126 from a plurality of titles 200.

Each playlist 1 26 is logically composed of a plurality of items (play items) 204. In each playlist 126, the plurality of items 204 may have a sequential structure or a branch structure. It is also possible to refer to one item 204 from a plurality of playlists 126. The reproduction range of the TS object 142 is logically specified by the above-mentioned IN point information and OUT point information described in the item 204. Then, by referring to the object information 130d for the playback range logically specified, the playback range of the TS object 142 is physically specified finally through the file system. Is done. Here, the object information 134 d is attribute information of the TS object 142, and TS object information such as ES address information 134 d necessary for data search in the TS object 142. 2 includes various information for reproducing (the ES map table 134 shown in FIG. 3 includes a plurality of such ES address information 134d).

When the information recording / reproducing apparatus described later reproduces the TS object 142, the physical address to be reproduced in the TS object 142 is obtained from the item 204 and the object information 130d. Then, the reproduction of the desired elementary stream is executed.

As described above, in this embodiment, the ES map described in the ES map table 13 4 (see FIG. 3) of the IN point information and the OUT point information described in the item 204 and the object information 130 d is described. According to the dress information 134d, the logical hierarchy in the reproduction sequence is associated with the object hierarchy, and the elementary stream can be reproduced.

As described above in detail, in the present embodiment, multiplex recording is performed in units of TS packets 146 on the optical disc 100, and as a result, as shown in FIG. The transport stream, which includes a number of elementary streams, can be multiplex-recorded on the optical disk 100. According to the present embodiment, when a digital broadcast is recorded on the optical disc 100, a plurality of programs or a plurality of programs can be recorded simultaneously within the limit of the recording rate. A method of multiplexing and recording a plurality of programs or a plurality of programs into 2 is adopted. Hereinafter, an embodiment of an information recording / reproducing apparatus capable of executing such a recording process will be described.

(Information recording / reproducing device)

Next, an embodiment of the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the information recording / reproducing apparatus, and FIGS. 9 to 13 are flowcharts showing the operation.

In FIG. 8, an information recording / reproducing apparatus 500 is roughly divided into a reproducing system and a recording system, and is capable of recording information on the optical disk 100 described above and transmitting information recorded thereon. It is configured to be reproducible. In this embodiment, the information recording / reproducing device 500 is for recording / reproducing as described above. However, basically, the embodiment of the recording device of the present invention can be constituted from its recording system part. First, an embodiment of the information reproducing apparatus of the present invention can be constructed from the reproducing system.

The information recording / reproducing device 500 includes an optical pickup 502, a service unit 503, a spindle motor 504, a demodulator 506, a demultiplexer 508, a video decoder 511, and an audio decoder 5. 1 2, Sub-picture decoder 5 1 3, Adder

514, System controller 520, Memory 530, Memory 540, Modulator 606, Formatter 608, TS object generator 610, Video encoder

6 11, an audio encoder 6 12 and a sub-picture encoder 6 13. The system controller 520 includes a file (File) system / logical structure data generator 521 and a file (File) system / logical structure data reader 522. Further, a memory 530 and a user interface 720 for performing user input such as title information are connected to the system controller 520.

Of these components, demodulator 506, demultiplexer 508, video A reproduction system is generally constituted by the coder 511, the audio decoder 5 12, the sub-picture decoder 5 13, the adder 5 14, and the memory 540. On the other hand, among these components, the modulator 606, the formatter 608, the TS object generator 610, the video encoder 611, the audio encoder 612, and the sub-picture encoder 613 Generally, a recording system is configured. Then, a user for inputting a user such as an optical pickup 502, a servo unit 503, a spindle motor 504, a system controller 520, a memory 530, and title information. The interface 720 is generally used for both the reproduction system and the recording system. Further, with respect to the recording system, a TS object data source 700, a video data source 711, an audio data source 71 12, and a sub-picture data source 71 are prepared. The file system / logical structure data generator 521 provided in the system controller 520 is mainly used in a recording system, and the file system logical structure reader 522 is mainly used in a reproducing system. Can be

The optical pickup 502 irradiates the optical disc 100 with an optical beam LB such as a laser beam at the first power as read light at the time of reproduction, and at the second power at the time of recording at the second power at the time of recording. Irradiation is performed with modulation. The servo unit 503 performs a focus servo and a tracking servo in the optical pickup 502 under the control of the control signal Sc1 output from the system controller 52 at the time of reproduction and recording. At the same time, the spindle motor 504 performs spin / reserve. The spindle motor 504 is configured to rotate the optical disc 100 at a predetermined speed while receiving spindle servo from the servo unit 503.

(i) Configuration and operation of recording system:

Next, with reference to FIG. 8 to FIG. 12, a specific configuration and operation of each component constituting the recording system in the information recording / reproducing apparatus 500 will be described for each case.

(i-1) When using the created TS object:

This case will be described with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 8, the TS object data source 700 is a video tape, It is composed of recording storage such as memory and stores TS object data D1. In FIG. 9, first, information of each title logically configured on the optical disc 100 using the TS object data D1 (for example, the configuration of the playlist) is transmitted from the user interface 720 to the title information. The user input I 2 is input to the system controller 520. Then, the system controller 520 fetches a user input I2 such as title information from the user interface 720 (Step S21: Yes and Step S22). At this time, the user interface # 20 receives control based on the control signal Sc4 from the system controller 520, and responds to the content to be recorded, for example, selection via the title menu screen. Input processing is enabled. If the user input has already been executed (step S21: No), these processes are omitted.

Next, the TS object data source 700 outputs TS object data D1 under the control of the control signal Sc8 instructing data read from the system controller 520. Then, the system controller 520 fetches the TS object data D1 from the TS object source 700 (step S23), and uses the TS analysis function in the file system / logical structure data generator 521. For example, based on the PAT, PMT, etc. packetized together with the video data as described above, the data array (eg, recording data length, etc.) in the TS object data D1, and the configuration of each elementary stream are analyzed. (For example, understanding of ES—PID (elementary stream packet identification number) described later) and so on (step S24). · Subsequently, the system controller 520 generates a file system / logical structure data generator 5 based on the user input I 2 such as the captured title information and the data array of the TS object data D 1 and the analysis result of each elementary stream. The disk information file 110, the playlist information file 120, the object information file 130, and the file system 105 as logical information file data D4 according to 21 (see FIG. 3). Is created (step S25). The memory 530 is used when creating such logical information file data D4.

The data array of TS object data D1 and each elementary tree Of course, various variations, such as preparing data on system configuration information and the like, are conceivable, but they are also within the scope of the present embodiment.

In FIG. 8, a formatter 608 is a device for performing a data array format for storing both the TS object data D 1 and the logical information file data D 4 on the optical disc 100. More specifically, the formatter 608 includes a switch Sw 1 and a switch Sw 2, and is subjected to switching control by a switch control signal Sc 5 from the system controller 520, and When the data D 1 is formatted, the switch Sw 1 is connected to the ① side and the switch Sw 2 is connected to the ① side, and the TS object data D 1 from the TS object data source 700 is connected. Is output. Note that the transmission control of the TS object data D1 is performed by a control signal Sc8 from the system controller 520. On the other hand, when the logical information file data D4 is formatted, the formatter 608 is switching-controlled by the switch control signal Sc5 from the system controller 520, and connects the switch Sw2 to the ② side. It is configured to output logical information file data D4.

In step S26 in FIG. 9, the switching control by the formatter 608 configured as described above allows (i) the file system Z logical structure data generator 521 from the file system Z logical structure data generator 521 in step S25. The data D4 or (ii) TS object data D1 from the TS object data source 700 is output via the formatter 608 (step S26).

The selected output from the formatter 608 is sent to the modulator 606 as the disk image data D5, modulated by the modulator 606, and then transmitted to the optical disk 100 via the optical pickup 502. It is recorded (step S27). The disk recording control at this time is also executed by the system controller 520.

If both the logical information file data D4 generated in step S25 and the corresponding TS object data D1 have not been recorded, the process returns to step S26 to continue recording. (Step S28: No). The recording order of the logical information file data D4 and the corresponding TS object data D1 may be either earlier or later. On the other hand, if both of these are already recorded, it is determined whether or not to end recording on the optical disc 100 based on the presence or absence of an end command (step S29). S29: No) Return to step S21 and continue the recording process. On the other hand, if it is to be ended (Step S29: Yes, a series of recording processing is ended.

As described above, the information recording / reproducing device 500 performs the recording process when using the created TS object.

In the example shown in FIG. 9, after the logical information file data D4 is created in step S25, the logical information file data D4 and the corresponding TS object data D1 are created in step S26. Although the data output is executed, the output of the TS object data D1 and the recording on the optical disc 100 are executed before step S25, and after this recording or in parallel with this recording, It is also possible to generate and record the logical information file data D4.

(i-12) When receiving and recording a transport stream being broadcast: This case will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 10. In FIG. 10, the same steps as those in FIG. 9 are denoted by the same step numbers, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

In this case as well, almost the same processing is performed as in the above-mentioned "when a created TS object is used". Therefore, the following description focuses on the differences.

In the case of receiving and recording the transport stream being broadcast, the TS object data source 700 comprises, for example, a receiver (set top box) for receiving the digital broadcast being broadcast, and the TS object data. D1 is received and transmitted to the formatter 608 in real time (step S41). At the same time, reception information D3 including program configuration information decoded at the time of reception and ES_PID information to be described later (that is, information corresponding to data transmitted through the interface between the receiver and the system controller 520). ) Is taken into the system controller 520 and stored in the memory 530 (step S444).

On the other hand, the TS object data D 1 output to the formatter 608 is output to the modulator 606 by the switching control of the formatter 608 (step S42), and recorded on the optical disc 100 (step S43).

In parallel with these, the file system / logical structure generator 5 2 1 is used by using the program configuration information and ES-PID information contained in the reception information D 3 fetched at the time of reception and stored in the memory 530. To create logical information file data D4 (step S24 and step S25). After completion of the recording of the series of TS object data D1, the logical information file data D4 is additionally recorded on the optical disk 100 (steps S46 and S47). The processing in steps S24 and S25 may be performed after step S43.

Further, if necessary (for example, when editing a part of a title), the user input I2 such as title information from the user interface 720 is stored in the program stored in the memory 530. By adding the logical information file data D4 to the configuration information and the ES-PID information by the system controller 520, the logical information file data D4 may be additionally recorded on the optical disk 100.

As described above, the information recording / reproducing device 500 performs the recording process when the transport stream being broadcast is received and recorded in real time. If all received data at the time of broadcasting is temporarily stored in the archive device and is used as the TS object source 700, the same processing as in the above-mentioned "when using a created TS object" is sufficient. .

(i-13) Recording video, audio and sub-picture data: This case will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 11. In FIG. 11, the same steps as those in FIG. 9 are denoted by the same step numbers, and the description thereof is omitted as appropriate.

When recording video data, audio data and sub-picture data separately prepared in advance, the video data source 711, the audio data source 712, and the sub-picture data source 713 are, for example, video tapes, respectively. And video and video data DV, audio data DA, and sub-picture data DS.

These data sources are controlled by a control signal Sc8 for instructing data reading from the system controller 520, and are supplied with video data DV and audio data. The data DA and the sub-picture data DS are sent to the video encoder 611, the audio encoder 612 and the sub-picture encoder 613, respectively (step S61). Then, a predetermined type of encoding process is executed by the video encoder 611, the audio encoder 612, and the sub-picture encoder 613 (step S62).

The TS object generator 610, under the control of the control signal Sc6 from the system controller 520, converts the data encoded in this way into TS object data forming a transport stream ( Step S63). At this time, the data arrangement information (for example, recording data length, etc.) of each TS object data and the configuration information of each elementary stream (for example, ES_PID described later) are transmitted from the TS object generator 6110 to the information I. 6 is sent to the system controller 520 and stored in the memory 530 (step S666).

On the other hand, the TS object data generated by the TS object generator 610 is sent to the switch SW1 of the formatter 608 at the ② side. That is, when the TS object data from the TS object generator 610 is formatted, the formatter 608 is controlled by the switch control signal Sc5 from the system controller 520, and the switch Sw1 Is set to the ② side and the switch Sw 2 is connected to the 当該 side to output the TS object data (step S64). Subsequently, the TS object data is recorded on the optical disc 100 via the modulator 606 (step S65).

In parallel with these, the file system / logical structure generator 52 is used by using the data arrangement information of each TS object data and the configuration information of each elementary stream, which are taken into the memory 530 as the information I6. The logical information file data D4 is created by 1 (step S24 and step S25). After the recording of the series of TS object data D2, this is additionally recorded on the optical disk 100 (steps S67 and S68). Note that the processing of steps S24 and S25 may be performed after the end of step S65.

Further, if necessary (for example, when editing a part of a title), the user input 12 such as title information from the user interface 720 is stored in these memories 5. The logical information file data D 4 may be created by the file system / logical structure generator 521 by adding to the information stored in the optical disk 100, and the logical information file data D 4 may be additionally recorded on the optical disk 100.

As described above, the information recording / reproducing device 500 performs the recording process when recording separately prepared video data, audio data, and sub-picture data.

Note that this recording process can also be applied when recording any content owned by the user.

(i-4) When recording data by authoring:

This case will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 12. In FIG. 12, the same steps as those in FIG. 9 are denoted by the same step numbers, and the description thereof is omitted as appropriate.

In this case, by combining the recording processes in the above three cases, the authoring system generates a TS object, generates logical information file data, etc. in advance (step S81), and then executes the formatter. The processing up to the switching control performed in step 608 is completed (step S82). After that, the information obtained by this operation is sent as disc image data D 5 to the modulator 606 provided before and after the disc mastering machine (step S83), and the master machine uses this mastering machine. Creation is performed (step S84).

In this embodiment, in particular, in the case of (i) the configuration and operation of the recording system described above, in each case (i-1) to (i-4), the still image is included in the sub-picture data. Information and data relating to the control information (for example, SP data, SP control information, their structural information, a header, etc., which will be described later) are multiplex-recorded on the optical disc 100. Further, data (SP data identification flag, SCP identification flag, etc.) relating to the control information of the still image is generated in the generation of the logical information file data in step S25, and the object is generated via the formatter 608. It is recorded in a part of the information file 130 (see FIG. 3) or the like in a form associated with the still image information (for example, in a table format associated with “entry section” described later).

(ii) Configuration and operation of the reproduction system: Next, with reference to FIG. 8 and FIG. 13, a specific configuration of each component constituting the reproducing system of the information recording / reproducing device 500 and an operation thereof will be described.

In FIG. 8, a user interface 720 inputs the title to be reproduced from the optical disc 100 and the reproduction condition thereof to the system controller as user input I2 such as title information. At this time, the user interface 720 receives the control by the control signal Sc4 from the system controller 520, and responds to the content to be reproduced, for example, selection via the title menu screen. Input processing is enabled.

In response to this, the system controller 520 controls the disk reproduction for the optical disk 100, and the optical pickup 502 sends the read signal S7 to the demodulator 506.

The demodulator 506 demodulates the recording signal recorded on the optical disc 100 from the read signal S7 and outputs it as demodulated data D8. Logical information file data as an unmultiplexed information portion included in the demodulated data D8 (that is, the file system 105, disk information file 110, and P list information file 1 shown in FIG. 3). 20 and the object information file 130) are supplied to the system controller 520. Based on the logical information file data, the system controller 520 executes various reproduction controls such as a reproduction address determination process and a control of the optical pickup 502.

On the other hand, the TS multiplex data as a multiplexed information portion included in the demodulated data D 8 is demultiplexed by the demultiplexer 508 under the control of the control signal Sc 2 from the system controller 520. Multipletas. Here, when access to the playback position address is completed by the playback control of the system controller 520, the control signal Sc2 is transmitted so as to start the demultipletus.

From the demultiplexer 508, a video packet, an audio packet, and a sub-picture packet are respectively transmitted and supplied to the video decoder 511, the audio decoder 511, and the sub-picture decoder 513. Is done. Then, the video data DV, the audio data DA, and the sub-picture data DS are respectively decoded. Note that the packets in which the PAT or PMT is included in the transport stream shown in FIG. 6 are each included as a part of the demodulated data D8, but are discarded by the demultiplexer 508. Is done.

The adder 514 is decoded by the video decoder 511 and the sub-picture decoder 513, respectively, under the control of the control signal Sc3 instructing the mixing from the system controller 520. The video data DV and the sub-picture data DS are mixed or superposed at a predetermined timing. The result is output as a video output from the information recording / reproducing device 500 to, for example, a television monitor.

On the other hand, the audio data DA decoded by the audio decoder 512 is output from the information recording / reproducing device 500 as an audio output, for example, to an external speaker.

Here, a specific example of the reproduction processing routine by the system controller 520 will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 13, as the initial state, the recognition of the optical disk 100 by the playback system and the recognition of the volume structure and file structure by the file system 105 (see FIG. 3) have already been performed by the system controller 520 and its inside. It is assumed that the processing has been completed by the file system / logical structure reader 5 22 of the above. Here, the processing flow after acquiring the total number of titles from the disc total information 112 in the disc information file 110 and selecting one of the titles will be described.

First, a title is selected by the user interface 720 (step S11), and the reading result of the file system logical structure reader 522 is used to determine the reproduction sequence by the system controller 520. Acquisition of information is performed. Specifically, processing of the logical hierarchy (that is, acquisition of information indicating a playlist structure and information of each item constituting the playlist structure (see FIG. 7)) is performed (step S12). Thereby, the reproduction target is determined (step S13).

Subsequently, an object information file 130 relating to the TS object to be reproduced is obtained. In this embodiment, in particular, AU (associate unit) information 1321 and PU (presentation unit) information 3021 (described later) are described later. The details shown in FIG. 34) are also obtained as information stored in the object information file 130 (step S14). Based on the acquired information, the above-described logical hierarchy is associated with the object hierarchy (see FIG. 7).

Subsequently, based on the information obtained in step S14, the object to be reproduced and the reproduction address are determined (step S15), and then the processing of the object hierarchy is started, that is, the reproduction is actually performed. Start (step S16).

During playback, whether or not a “scene switch” command input corresponding to the switching of PU 302 in AU 132 based on AU information 1321 and PU information 3021, as described later, is performed. Is monitored (step S17). Here, if there is a command input of “scene change” (step S 17: Y e s), the process returns to step S 15, and the processes in steps S 15 to S 17 are repeatedly executed. On the other hand, if there is no command input of “scene switching” (step S17: No), it is determined whether there is a command input to end the reproduction process (step S18). Here, if there is no command input for terminating (Step S18: No), the process returns to Step SI1, and the processes in Steps S11 to S18 are repeatedly executed. On the other hand, if there is a command input for terminating (step S18: Yes;), a series of reproduction processing ends. In this embodiment, in particular, in step S16 of FIGS. 8 and 13, the sub-picture data decoded by the sub-picture decoder 513 is temporarily stored in the memory 540 functioning as a buffer. It is memorized. Thereafter, as described below, at least one of the SP data (still image data) and the SP control information (still image control data) included in the temporarily stored sub-picture data is stored in the system controller 52. It is read under the control of the control signal S c5 from 0. Then, by applying the SP control information to the SP data, a still image is displayed as part or all of the video output.

Note that the SP control information may be configured to be temporarily stored in a dedicated area of the memory 530 (that is, only the SP data is temporarily stored in the memory 540). . Alternatively, it is also possible to construct such a memory 540 using a part of the memory 530.

(How to get SP data and SP control information) Next, a method for acquiring SP data and SP control information in the present embodiment will be described. This acquisition method is executed mainly by the information recording / reproducing device 500 (see FIG. 8) based on the ES address information in the object information and the SP data and SP control information in the sub-picture structure. Things. With reference to FIG. 14 to FIG. 20, a method for acquiring SP data and SP control information and a control for reproducing a still image associated therewith will be described. Here, FIG. 14 is a table showing an example of a data structure in the ES address information relating to the video stream constructed in the ES map table in the object information, and FIG. Fig. 3 schematically shows an example of the position of the TS packet registered in the ES address information of the video stream in the time axis (horizontal direction in the figure). Fig. 16 shows the contents of SP data, SP control information, and structure information according to this acquisition method in a table. Fig. 17 shows the three types of subpicture structures composed of these three data or information. It is shown in a typical manner. Fig. 18 schematically shows the arrangement condition of the first bucket of I-picture, SP data, and SP control information used in this acquisition method on the time axis of the TS object. Fig. 20 schematically shows the acquisition procedure in the acquisition method. Fig. 20 shows the data of the ES address information relating to the sub-picture stream in the TS object shown in Fig. 19, which is constructed in the ES map table. The structure is shown in a table.

The ES (elementary stream) address information of the video stream shown in Fig. 14 is based on the ES address information 1 34 d (see Fig. 7) in the ES map table 13 4 shown in Fig. 3. Described as part. The video stream here is an elementary stream of index # 14 shown in the ES map table of FIG. 34 described in detail later.

As shown in FIG. 14, as the contents of the ES address information, only packets that satisfy a predetermined condition on the video stream are packet numbers q, r, s, t, u, The serial number of the packet in the TS object (hereinafter referred to as "packet number" as appropriate) and the corresponding display start time T14-0, T14-1, T14-2, T 1 4—3,… are described.

As shown in FIG. 15, in the present embodiment, a packet satisfying a predetermined condition is It is defined as the first packet of an I-picture based on the two standards, and their packet numbers and the corresponding display start times are described as ES address information shown in Fig. 14. This is because MPEG decoding can be started if the recording position of the I picture can be specified by the address information.

Then, as shown in FIG. 15, in the present embodiment, in the arrangement of only the buckets whose recording positions are specified by the ES address information, each of the packets on the TS object specified by two adjacent buckets is specified. The section is defined as "one entry section". For example, a section in which ES address information is specified by adjacent packets q and r is an entry section # 0, and a section specified by the bucket r and packet s is an entry section # 1. The SP data and SP control information on the sub-picture stream corresponding to the video stream (that is, displayed at the same time or in parallel with the video stream) and related to the still image are defined as follows. -It describes their existence depending on whether they exist within the range of the section. Here, the subpicture stream is an index # 16 elementary stream shown in the ES map table of FIG. 25 described in detail later. Therefore, the index number 16 of the elementary lease stream used as the entry section is described in the index # 16 of the ES map table 13 4 e (“index number = 14” according to the present embodiment). Have been.

As shown in FIG. 16, in the present embodiment, data or information relating to a still image recorded on a sub-picture stream includes (i) SP data 71 1 constituting an example of still image information. 3. (ii) SP control information 712, which constitutes an example of still image control information for display control of SP data 713, and (iii) a single sub-picture structure together with both or one of them And the structure information (header) 711 regarding the sub-picture structure.

Then, as a combination of these three data or information, a sub-picture structure 70 0 including all the structural elements 71 1, SP control information 7 12 and SP data 7 13 shown in FIG. 1, the sub-picture structure 70 2 composed of the structural information 71 1 and SP control information 71 2 shown in Fig. 17 (b), and the structural information 71 1 1 shown in Fig. 17 (c) And sub data consisting of SP data 7 13 There is a picture structure 703. In the case of DVD, only the type shown in Fig. 17 (a) is defined.

As described above, in the present embodiment, various examples of the “still image information set” according to the present invention are respectively configured from the sub-picture structures shown in FIGS. 17 (a) to 17 (c). As shown in FIGS. 17 (a) to 17 (c), in this embodiment, the SP control information 712 and the SP data 711 are usually stored in a plurality of TS packets 146. You will be divided. Then, the structure information 711 is stored in the first note in the sub-picture structure 701 to 703, and the SP control information 712 (FIGS. 17 (a) and (b)) following this is stored in the first note. The head part or the head part of the SP data 713 is also stored in the head packet where the structure information 711 is stored.

In this embodiment, the TS bucket 146 in which the head of the SP control information 712 in the sub-picture structure 720 is stored is referred to as “SCP”. The TS packet 146 in which the head of the SP data 713 in the sub-picture structure 703 is stored is called “SPD”. Further, the first packet of the subpicture structure 701, including both, is called "SCP + SPD" in a form corresponding to these. In the present application, “the sub-picture structure is arranged or belongs in the entry section” as shown in FIG. 15 means that the sub-picture structure 70 1 and the sub-picture structure 70 1 in FIGS. 702 means that the header containing the SCP (ie, the packet that stores the structure information) is recorded in the entry section, and the sub-picture structure shown in Fig. 17 (c) 703 means that the header including the SPD is recorded in the entry section.

As shown in FIG. 16, the structure information 7 11 1 has “SP data identifier”. The SP data identifier identifies the SP data 713 included in the sub-picture structure in the sub-picture structures 71 and 703. On the other hand, in the sub-picture structure 702, the SP data identifier identifies the SP data 7 13 included in another sub-picture structure to which the SP control information 7 12 included in the sub-picture structure operates. Is what you do.

The structure information 711 further includes information indicating “data length of SP control information” and “data length of SP data”. Based on these, at the time of playback, The bucket from which the structure 7 0 1 continues from the top of the structure information 7 1 1 is specified. In addition, based on the data length of the SP control information, at the time of reproduction, it is specified to which bucket the sub-picture structure 702 continues from the head of the structure information 7111. Furthermore, based on the data length of the SP data, at the time of reproduction, it is specified to which bucket the sub-picture structure 703 continues from the beginning of the structure information 7111.

In the sub-picture structure 720 having no SP data 713, the SP data is set by setting the “data length of SP data” in the structure information 711 to “0”. Similarly, it may indicate that the sub-picture data does not have the SP control information 7 13. Similarly, in the sub-picture structure 7 03 without the SP control information 7 12, the “SP control information data” in the structure information 7 11 1 By setting “length” to “0”, it may be indicated that the SP control information 7 12 is not provided.

The structure information 711 further has "SP data position information". At the time of reproduction, SP data 713 on which the SP control information 712 operates is specified based on this. As the position information of such SP data, the approximate position is described using the entry section shown in FIG. As a result, if the SPD is searched in the entry section, the SP data 713 can be specified. Therefore, even if the SP data 711 does not have the SP data 711 as in the sub-picture structure 720, the SP controller 710 has The portal information 7 1 2 can be applied to the planned SP data. However, the bucket number of the SPD may be directly described as the position information of the SP data.

Therefore, in the case of the sub-picture structure 701 or 703 including the SP data 713, it is preferable to set “SP data position information” included in the structure information 711 to an invalid value. However, in these cases, it is not necessary to specify the recording position of the SP data (specifying the entry section) because the sub-picture structure of the sub-picture has SP data. All the constituent packets are specified based on the data length of the SP data as described above).

The SP control information 712 has information indicating the display start time of the applied SP data and the display time of the SP data. At the time of playback, the SP data on which the SP control information 7 12 acts thereby is played back for a predetermined time on the playback time axis, and a still image is displayed. The SP data 713 includes, for example, run-length encoded bitmap data format or JPEG format image data. For example, each pixel (pixel) has 8-bit color information data and 8-bit transparency information data. Also, SP data representing one still image is packetized and multiplexed into a plurality of TS packets 146 (see FIG. 4).

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the entry ^ section is represented by using the display start time of the packet number of the first bucket constituting the section. For example, the entry section # 0 of the elementary stream at index # 14 is represented by "T14-0". In this way, if the display start time is used, even if the serial number of the packet shifts due to the lack of the packet due to editing or the like after recording, the display start time does not shift. It is not necessary to update ES address information as shown in 4.

In this embodiment, in particular, in order to obtain SCP and SPD easily and quickly, the packet arrangement for one section of the entry defined in this manner is under the following conditions (hereinafter referred to as “first arrangement”). Condition ").

That is, as compared with the “display start time” and “bucket number” of the entry point #i, the sub-control including the SP control information 7 12 (which holds the display start time “TT”) The headers of the picture structures 70 1 to 70 3 are physically arranged as follows. Note that an entry point refers to a bucket whose position is specified by address information.

"Display start time of entry point #i"

<= T T <"Display start time of entry point # i + l"

When

"Bucket number of entry point #i"

<“Packet number of header of sub-picture structure including SP control information”

<`` Packet number of entry point # i + l ''

According to such a first arrangement condition, during the playback of the entry section, the sub-picture structure 70 2 including the SP control information 7 12 necessary for the SP data 7 13 to be displayed starts the entry section. You can find it by searching. For example, in FIGS. 14 and 15, when the display start time is equal to or more than T14_1 and smaller than T14_2, the sub-picture structure including the SP control information 7 1 2 in one entry section # 1 The bucket number of the header of 702 is recorded. On the other hand, SP data can be found from the “SP data recording position” (see 囡 16) of the structural information 711 constituting the header as described above.

In addition to the first arrangement condition, as shown in Fig. 18, in the acquisition method, the SCP (as described above, the first packet of the SP control information 712) also satisfies the following conditions (hereinafter, " The second arrangement condition is called).

"Bucket number of SCP acting on i-th SP data"

「I + the packet number of the SCP that affects the first SP data

That is, as shown in FIG. 18, a bucket arrangement that controls the SP data beyond the SCP of other SP control information is not allowed.

Note that, in FIG. 18, a dotted arrow coming out of the SCP indicates a relationship in which the SP control information starting from the SCP acts on the SP data to be controlled.

In the acquisition method according to the present embodiment, the acquisition of SP data and SP control information as illustrated in FIG. 19 under the first and second arrangement conditions is performed as illustrated in FIG. This is executed using the address information.

In FIG. 19, at the time of playback, first, the display start PTS is given as the (0) th process, then the SCP is searched for and read as the (1) th process, and the SP data is then read as the (2) th process. Go to reading, then read the SP data as the (3) th process, then read the SP data as the (4) th process, and finally start the playback as the (5) th process. (The axis extends from left to right in the figure.) This is shown schematically at the corresponding location on the upper part.

In order to obtain such a series of SP data and SP control information and to control the playback of still images, this acquisition method is especially designed to correspond to one entry section defined by the video stream shown in Fig. 14. The ES address information for the supplementary stream as shown in FIG. 20 is described in the ES map table in the format shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 20, the ES address information for the sub-picture stream is composed of SPDs for each elementary stream entry section indicated by index number information 13 4 e (FIG. 25). It contains two bits of information consisting of a 1-bit SP data identification flag that indicates whether or not an SCP is present and a 1-bit SCP identification flag that indicates whether an SCP is recorded. It should be noted that in FIG. 20, “1” is set when it exists, and “0” when it does not exist. Then, in this acquisition method, as described below, when the SCP does not exist at the display start time due to the SCP identification flag, it is checked whether or not it exists ahead (left side in FIG. 19) on the reproduction time axis. Clicked.

In FIG. 19, at the time of playback, first, when the display start PTS in the entry section # 3 is obtained (processing (0)), the SCP identification flag of the ES address information included in the object information file (see FIG. 20) ) Is checked to see if an SCP exists in this entry # 3. In this example, since it is determined that the SCP does not exist, the SCP identification flag is further referred to, and a search for an SCP existing in another entry section located ahead on the reproduction time axis is performed. Thus, in this example, it is clear that the SCP to be read first exists in the entry section # 1. Therefore, in FIG. 19, SCP data is searched for in the object data file in this entry section # 1 (process (1) in FIG. 19). More specifically, first, the first packet of the entry section # 1 (in this example, "r") is obtained by referring to the ES address information in FIG. 14, and then, in the object data file. Then, the access to the first packet is executed. After that, the header (structure information 711) of the packet on the same sub-picture stream following this first packet is sequentially checked, and within the entry section # 1, the sub-picture structure 702 including the SCP is checked. Will be found.

After that, the “SP data position” (see Fig. 16) recorded in the SP control information in the sub-picture structure containing the acquired SCP is referred to, and the SP data that is the control target of this SP control information is referred to. The position (entry section) is specified. Then, access to the SP data whose position is specified is executed (the (2) -th processing in FIG. 19). For example, display as SP data position (entry section) 03

52

Assuming that the start time T14-0 is described, first, the ES address information shown in FIG. 14 is referred to in the object information file to obtain the packet number "q". That is, in this example, it is found that the SPD to be read exists in the entry section # 0. Then, access to this first packet (bucket number "q") is performed in the object data file. Subsequently, the header (structure information 711) of the packet on the same sub-picture stream following the first packet is sequentially checked, and in the entry section # 0, the sub-picture structure 70 including the SPD is checked. 1 or 7 0 3 (in FIG. 19, the sub-picture structure 70 1 indicated by “SCP + SPD # 1”) will be found.

After that, the SP data in the sub-picture structure including the acquired SPD (SCP + SPD) is read (process (3) in Fig. 19).

Thereafter, the SP data identification flag shown in FIG. 20 is referred again, and the entry including the display start time from the entry section (here, entry section # 0) including the SPD obtained in the (3) th processing is referred to. Up to one section (here, entry section # 3), the existence of the section containing SPD with the SP data identification flag set to "1" is checked. If such an SPD exists, it means that there is SP data that may be displayed after the display start time. In this example, since such an SPD exists in entry section # 2, a subpicture structure including the SPD is accessed and acquired (see (4) in FIG. 19). ) Processing).

In the present application, even if the SP data does not need to be displayed at an arbitrary display start time for an arbitrary display start time, even if the SP data does not need to be displayed at the arbitrary display start time after the arbitrary display start time on the reproduction time axis, SP data recorded before the arbitrary display start time, which needs to be read in advance in order to perform image display accurately and without interruption, is called "look-ahead SP data". In other words, if the prefetched SP data must be read prior to the start of playback, there is a possibility that the still image display will be interrupted after the display starts. However, it is not necessary that the pre-read SP data is actually used for still image display after pre-reading. That is, here, if there is a possibility that it will be used for the subsequent display depending on the playback conditions, it is treated as pre-read SP data, Pre-read processing is performed.

After that, the display control based on the obtained SP control information is performed by the above processing, and the reproduction of the still image corresponding to the SP data is started (processing (5) in FIG. 19). Here, for example, based on the display start time and the display time indicated by the SP control information (see FIG. 16), the still picture display by the sub-picture corresponding to the SP data is performed for a fixed period! : It is done.

Through the series of processing shown in Fig. 19, even when the display is started from an arbitrary display start time in special playback such as time search, chapter search, fast forward, and rewind, the display start time The still image that should be displayed is displayed faithfully, and the still image that should be originally displayed cannot be displayed or the still image is not interrupted.

As described above with reference to FIGS. 14 to 20, according to the method of acquiring the SP data and the SP control information, the two flags have a very small total of 2 bits (see FIG. 20). By using the ES address information of the data amount, it is possible to efficiently specify the recording position of the SP data and the SP control information. For example, if the ES address information relating to the video stream as shown in FIG. 14 is 32 bits for each section of the entry, the ES address information relating to the sub-picture stream as shown in FIG. A small data amount of / 16 is enough.

According to the acquisition method in the present embodiment described above with reference to FIGS. 14 to 20, as shown in FIG. 17, by adopting three types of sub-picture structures 70 1 to 70 3 It is not necessary to read the sub-picture structure including the SP data 713 to be controlled every time display control is performed by the SP control information 712 during playback. Conversely, display control can be performed for one piece of SP data 711 by using SP control information recorded separately from the SP data, and in particular, a plurality of pieces of SP control information can be applied to the same SP data. Alternatively, it is also possible to control the display of a plurality of SP data 711 by the same SP control information recorded separately from them.

The sub-picture structure 70 1 or 70 3 including such SP data 7 11 and the sub-picture structure 7 02 including the SP control information 7 12 acting on the sub-picture structure 7 It may be recorded on the same sub-picture stream, but may be recorded separately on multiple sub-picture streams.

(Access flow during playback).

Next, referring to FIG. 21, an information recording / reproducing apparatus 5 using AU (associate unit) information 132 and PU (presentation unit) information 302, which is one of the features of the present embodiment. The access flow at the time of reproduction in 00 will be described together with the logical structure of the optical disk 100. Here, FIG. 21 conceptually shows the entire access flow at the time of reproduction in relation to the logical structure of the optical disc 100.

In FIG. 21, the logical structure of the optical disc 100 has three layers: a logical layer 401, an object layer 400, and a logical-object association layer 402 that associates these two layers with each other. Are roughly divided into

Among them, the logical layer 401 is a layer that logically specifies various kinds of logical information for reproducing a desired title at the time of reproduction, a playlist to be reproduced (P list), and its configuration contents. is there. In the logical layer 410, disk information 110d indicating all titles 200 on the optical disk 100 is described in the disk information file 110 (see FIG. 3). Further, reproduction sequence information 120d of all contents on the optical disc 100 is described in a playlist information file 120 (see FIG. 3). More specifically, the configuration of one or more playlists 126 is described in each title 200 as the reproduction sequence information 120 d, and each playlist 1206 includes Alternatively, the configuration of a plurality of items 204 (see FIG. 7) is described. Then, at the time of access at the time of reproduction, the title 200 to be reproduced is specified by such a logical hierarchy 401, and the playlist 126 corresponding to this is specified. Identify the corresponding item 204.

Subsequently, based on the information specified in the logical layer 401 as described above, the logical-object association layer 4002 specifies the combination and configuration of the TS object data 144d that is the entity data. In addition, it is a layer that specifies the attribute of the TS object data 140 d to be reproduced and its physical storage address so that the address conversion from the logical layer 401 to the object layer 400 is performed. . More specific In the logical object association hierarchy 402, the block of contents constituting each item 204 is classified into units of AU132, and each AU132 is divided into units of PU302. The object information data 130d to be classified is described in the object information file 130 (see FIG. 3).

Here, “PU (presentation unit) 302 J is a unit in which a plurality of elementary streams are associated with each other for each playback switching unit. If a book exists, the user can freely switch between the three audios (for example, language-specific audio) while playing this vision.

On the other hand, “AU (associate unit) 1 32” is a unit in which a plurality of elementary lease streams such as video streams in a TS object used in one title are collected. Or, it consists of a set of a plurality of PU302. More specifically, it is a unit in which the elementary stream bucket ID (ES-PID) is indirectly arranged via the PU302 for each TS object. The AU1332 corresponds to a set of a plurality of programs or a plurality of programs having a specific relationship with each other in consideration of content, such as a plurality of mutually switchable programs or a plurality of programs in multi-source broadcasting. I have. The PU 302 belonging to the same AU 132 corresponds to a set of one or more elementary streams respectively constituting a plurality of programs or a plurality of programs which can be switched mutually by a user operation during reproduction. are doing.

Therefore, if AU132 to be reproduced is specified, and PU302 belonging to it is specified, the elementary stream to be reproduced is specified. That is, a desired elementary stream can be reproduced from multiplexed recording from the optical disc 100 without using the PAT or PMT shown in FIG.

Incidentally, for a more specific data structure of the AU information 1321 and the PU information 302I defining the AU132 and the PU302, respectively, refer to Fig. 30 later. Will be explained.

The elementary stream actually reproduced here is obtained from the PU information 302 by the ESPID which is the packet ID of the elementary stream (see Fig. 6). Are specified or specified. At the same time, the information indicating the start time and end time of the reproduction is converted into the address information of the elementary stream, so that the content in the specific area (or the specific time range) of the specific element stream is reproduced. Will be.

In this way, in the logical-object association hierarchy 402, the address conversion from the logical address of each item 204 to the physical address of each PU 302 is executed.

Subsequently, the object layer 4003 is a physical layer for reproducing the actual TS object data 140d. The object hierarchy 4003 is described in the TS object data 140d and the object data file 140 (see FIG. 3). More specifically, TS buckets 146 constituting a plurality of elementary streams (ES) are multiplexed for each time, and these are arranged along a time axis, so that a plurality of TS buckets are arranged. An elementary lease stream is configured (see Fig. 5). Then, the plurality of TS packets multiplexed at each time are associated with the PU 302 specified by the logical-object association hierarchy 402 for each elementary stream. In addition, associating a plurality of PUs 302 with one elementary stream (for example, an elementary stream related to the same audio data between a plurality of switchable programs or a plurality of programs). Common use, or common use of elementary streams related to the same sub-picture data) is also possible.

As described above, in the object layer 403, the actual reproduction of the object data is performed using the physical address obtained by the conversion in the logical-object association layer 402.

As described above, access to the optical disc 100 at the time of playback is executed by the three layers shown in FIG.

(Structure of each information file)

Next, with reference to FIGS. 22 to 25, various information files constructed on the optical disc 100 of the present embodiment, that is, (1) the disc information file 110 described with reference to FIG. (2) Play list information file 120 and (3) Object information file The data structure of the file 130 will be described with specific examples.

(1) Disk information file:

First, with reference to FIGS. 22 and 23, the disc information file 110 will be described in detail using a specific example. Here, FIG. 22 schematically shows a specific example of the data configuration of the disk information file 110. FIG. 23 shows the title information table (table) 114 included in the disk information file 110. Fig. 3 schematically shows a specific example of a data configuration.

As shown in FIG. 22, in this specific example, the disk information file 110 stores disk general information 112, a title information template 114, and other information 118. .

Among them, the disc comprehensive information 112 is comprehensive disc information such as disc volume information indicating a serial number of a series composed of a plurality of optical discs 100 and total title number information.

The title information table 114 stores all playlists that constitute each title, and other information such as, for example, chapter information in the title as information for each title. Title # 1 information, Title # 2 information,…. Here, “Title pointer information j” is the storage address information of the title #n information, that is, the title # in the title information table 1 14 as shown by the correspondence in the arrow in FIG. This is storage address information indicating the storage position of n information, and is described by a relative logical address, and the number of titles in the optical disc 100 is arranged in the order of the title as a relative logical address. Note that the data amount of each of the stored address information may be a fixed byte or a variable byte.

The other information 118 is information on each title, such as the type of title, such as a sequential type or a branch type, and the total number of playlists.

For example, if the title is simply composed of one playlist, the title information table 1 14 stored in the disc information file 110 shown in FIG. 22 (see FIG. 3) Is described as having relatively simple contents as shown in FIG. (2) Playlist information file:

Next, with reference to FIG. 24, the playlist information file 120 will be described in detail using a specific example. Here, FIG. 24 schematically shows a specific example of the data configuration in the playlist information table (table) 121 constructed in the playlist information file 120. -In this specific example, as shown in FIG. 24, in the playlist information file 120, the playlist total information 122, the playlist list pointer table 124, and the playlist The # 1 information table and the playlist # 2 information table 126 are stored as a playlist information table 122 (see FIG. 3).

Each field may have a structure in which a required number of tables can be added. For example, if there are four playlists, the structure may be such that the number of applicable folds is increased to four, and this is the same for the item information table 129.

Of these, playlist total information (P-list comprehensive information) 122 describes the size of the playlist table, the number of other playlists, and the like. In the playlist pointer table (P list pointer tab 1 e) 124, the address of each playlist description position is indicated by an arrow in FIG. Stored as a relative logical address within 1.

The play list # 1 information table (P list # 1 information tab I e) 1 26 contains general information about play list # 1 and the item information table of play list # 1 (P list Item information T ab 1 e) Contains 1 2 9 and other information. The playlist # 2 information table 12.6 also describes the same type of information related to playlist # 2.

The “item information table (Item information tab 1 e) 1 29” stores the item information for all the items that make up one program list. Here, the AU number in the AU (associate unit) table described in “Item # 1 (Item # 1 information)” or “Item # 2 (1tem # 2 information)” is the relevant AU number. The address of the TS object used for item playback and the item used for item playback This is the number of the AU that stores information for identifying each elementary stream (ie, video stream, audio stream or sub-picture stream) in the TS object.

(3) Object information file:

Next, with reference to FIG. 25, the object information file 130 will be described in detail using a specific example. Here, Fig. 25 shows the AU (associate unit) table 13 1 (see Fig. 3) constructed in the object information file 130 and the ES (elementary stream) associated therewith. FIG. 3 schematically shows a specific example of the data configuration of the map table 134 (see FIG. 3).

As shown in FIG. 25, in this specific example, the object information file 130 stores an object information table (object information table). The object information table is composed of an AU table 1331 shown in the upper part of the figure and an ES map table 134 shown in the lower part.

In the upper part of FIG. 25, the AU table 13 1 may have a structure that can add as many tables as necessary for each field (Fie 1 d). For example, if there are four AUs, the structure may be such that the number of folds increases to four.

The AU table 13 1 stores “AU table general information” in which the number of AUs, a pointer to each AU, and the like are described, and “other information” in another field (Fie 1 d). I have.

The AU information 1 3 2 includes an AU information 1 3 2 indicating an ES tape table index #m (ES—table Index #m) in each PU #m corresponding to each AU #n. As I, the index number of the corresponding ES map table 1 34 (Index _x number 2 ...) is described. Here, “AU” means a unit corresponding to a “program” in a television broadcast as described above (in particular, in the case of a “multi-vision” broadcast, a plurality of switchable “visions” is referred to as a “vision”). It is a unit of one), and contains one or more PUs as playback units. Also, “PUj is a set of mutually switchable elementary streams included in each AU as described above, and the ES table index # corresponding to each PU is specified by PU information 302 I. For example, multiview content with AU When configuring, the AU stores multiple PUs, and each PU stores pointers to multiple elementary stream packet IDs that indicate the buckets that make up the content of each view. ing. This indicates an index number in an ES map tape 134 described later.

In the present embodiment, the AU table 1331 stores the packet number in the case where a packet is lost due to the editing process in the serial number (serial number) of the packet in the TS object 142 described above. Discontinuous information indicating a discontinuous state may be added. If such discontinuity information is used, when a packet loss occurs, the discontinuity state indicated by the discontinuity information can be taken into consideration without the need to newly assign a packet number (for the elementary stream). By counting the number of packets (starting from the specified packet), the address of the packet to be accessed can be specified. Such discontinuity information includes, for example, information indicating a start point of the discontinuity and the number of missing packets. As described above, only one piece of discontinuous information is described in common for a plurality of AUs, which is very excellent from the viewpoint of saving recording capacity. Such discontinuity information can be described inside and outside the object information file other than the AU table 13 1.

In the lower part of Fig. 25, the ES map table 1 34 includes, for each field (Fie 1 d), ES map table general information (ES—maptab 1 e general information) and a plurality of indexes #m (m = 1 , 2, · ■ ·) and “other information”.

The “ES map table general information” describes the size of the ES map table, the total number of indexes, and the like.

The “index #m” is the elementary stream packet ID (ES-PID) of all elementary streams used for playback, the corresponding index number and the address information of the elementary stream. It is comprised including.

In the present embodiment, in particular, when the elementary stream is an MPEG-2 video stream as described above, the TS packet number at the head of the I picture is used as the address information, that is, the ES address information 134d. And only the corresponding display time This is described in the ES map table 134, and the amount of data is reduced (see Fig. 14). On the other hand, with regard to the ES address information 134d of the sub-picture stream, the index number information 134e of the elementary stream used as the entry section is described, so that the SCP identification flag and the SP data identification Flags are described for each entry section to further reduce the amount of data (see Fig. 20).

With this configuration, the elementary stream packet ID (ES—PID) of the actual elementary stream can be obtained from the index number of the ES map 1334 specified from the AU table 131. Becomes In addition, since the address information of the elementary stream corresponding to the elementary stream packet ID can be obtained at the same time, object data can be reproduced based on the information.

According to the data structure of the optical disc 100 described above, even if a new title is added to the optical disc 100, it is useful because necessary information can be easily added. Conversely, even if certain information becomes unnecessary as a result of, for example, editing, it is only necessary to refer to that information, and there is no need to actually delete that information from the table. It is useful.

In FIG. 25, the ES—PID that is not referenced from the upper AU table 13 1 is also described for each index in the lower ES map table 134, but the ES_PID that is not referenced is Need not be described this way. However, if the ES-PID that is not referred to in this way is also described to create a more versatile ES map table 13 4, for example, when the content is re-edited, such as when authoring is performed again, This has the advantage that there is no need to rebuild the ES map table.

As described above in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 25, according to the present embodiment, still image data such as bit map data having a relatively large data amount is converted into video data and audio data as sub-picture data. In addition, multiplex recording can be performed efficiently.

In addition, 1-bit flag information such as SCP identification flag and SP data identification flag By utilizing the information, it is possible to efficiently perform SP control information and SP data acquisition processing and still image playback control processing. In particular, since the amount of data required for this is small, the recording capacity on the optical disc 100 can be saved.

In the above embodiment, the optical disk 100 as an example of the information recording medium and the recorder or player according to the optical disk 100 as an example of the information reproducing / recording apparatus have been described. The present invention is not limited to a recorder or a player, but can be applied to other various information recording media compatible with high-density recording or a high transfer rate, and its recorder or player.

As described above, according to the present invention, still image information having a relatively large data amount can be multiplex-recorded together with moving image information, audio information, and the like. Can be reproduced. In particular, by employing the control information identification flag (for example, sCP identification flag) and the still image information identification flag (for example, SP data identification flag) according to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently obtain still image information and reproduce control processing. The amount of data required for these processes can be reduced, and the overall recording capacity can be saved.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be appropriately modified within the scope not contrary to the gist or idea of the invention, which can be read from the claims and the entire specification, and information accompanying such changes A recording medium, an information recording device and method, an information reproducing device and method, an information recording and reproducing device and method, a computer program for controlling recording or reproduction, and a data structure including a control signal are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. That is. Industrial applicability

The information recording medium, the information recording apparatus and method, the information reproducing apparatus and method, the information recording / reproducing apparatus and method, the recording or reproducing control computer program, and the data structure including the control signal according to the present invention include, for example, It can be used for high-density optical discs such as DVDs that can record various information such as main video, audio, and sub-video for business or business use at high density, and can also be used for DVD players, DVD recorders, etc. is there. In addition, for example, it is installed in various consumer or commercial computer equipment or various cores. It can also be used for information recording media, information recording / reproducing devices, etc. that can be connected to computer equipment.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. Information recording in which an entire stream including a plurality of partial streams each composed of content information forming a series of contents is multiplex-recorded in a packet unit which is a physically accessible unit. A medium,

An object data file that stores object data that is a logically accessible unit and includes a plurality of packets including buckets that respectively store the pieces of the content information;

A playback sequence information file that stores playback sequence information that defines a playback sequence of the object data;

An object information file storing correspondence definition information defining correspondence between the plurality of multiplexed buckets and the plurality of partial streams as reproduction control information for controlling reproduction of the object data;

With

At least one of the plurality of partial streams includes still image information, which is one of the content information, and a fragment of still image control information for controlling display of the still image information. The correspondence definition information includes, for each of the plurality of partial streams, address information on a bucket that satisfies a predetermined condition among the plurality of packets, Further, with respect to the at least one partial stream, (i) adjacent to each other in an arrangement of only the packets whose positions are specified by the address information among a plurality of packets constituting the at least one partial stream. Indicates whether the first bucket of a group of packets storing the still image information exists in the entry section specified by the two buckets And (ii) a control information identification flag indicating whether or not a head bucket of a group of buckets including the still image control information is present in the entry section. recoding media.

2.The address of the first bucket of a group of packets storing still image control information for controlling the i-th still image information is the static address for controlling the i + 1st still image information. The buckets storing the still image information and the still image control information are arranged so as to be smaller than the address of the first bucket of the group of buckets storing the still image control information. An information recording medium according to paragraph 1 of the scope.

3. If the content information includes video information based on the Moving Picture Experts Group 2 (MPEG2) standard, the address information includes a serial number of a packet related to an I picture and 2. The information recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the information recording medium comprises a display start time corresponding to the information.

4. The still image control information according to claim 1, wherein the still image control information includes information indicating a display start time of a still image displayed based on the still image information and a display time of the still image. Information recording medium as described.

5. The plurality of packets constituting the at least one partial stream is a still image information set including at least one of the still image information and the still image control information, and has a structure. 2. The information recording medium according to claim 1, further comprising buckets for respectively storing fragments of the still image information set further including structural information indicating the following.

6. The still image information set includes: (i) a first still image information set including the still image information, the still image control information, and the structure information, and (ii) the still image control information and A second still image information set including the two pieces of structural information and not including the still image information; and (iii) the second still image information set includes the two pieces of still image information and the structural information and further includes the still image control information. A third still image information set that does not include at least one of the first and third still image information sets and the second still image information set. The information recording medium according to claim 5.

7. The packet storing the structure information includes a plurality of packets related to the still image information set. 6. The information recording medium according to claim 5, wherein the information recording medium is arranged at the top of a packet.

8. The structure information includes at least the identifier of the still image information identifier, the data length of the still image control information, the data length of the still image information, and position information indicating the recording position of the still image information. The information recording medium according to claim 5, characterized in that:

9. Multiple recording of an entire stream including a plurality of partial streams each composed of a series of content information on an information recording medium in packet units, which are physically accessible units An information recording device,

First recording means for recording an object data file that stores object data that is a logically accessible unit and that stores a plurality of buckets including buckets that respectively store fragments of the content information,

Second recording means for recording a reproduction sequence information file storing reproduction sequence information defining a reproduction sequence of the object data;

As reproduction control information for controlling reproduction of the object data, an object information file storing correspondence definition information defining correspondence between the plurality of multiplexed buckets and the plurality of partial streams is provided. And a third recording means for recording.

At least one of the plurality of partial streams includes still image information, which is one of the content information, and a fragment of still image control information for controlling display of the still image information. The correspondence definition information includes, for each of the plurality of partial streams, address information relating to a bucket that satisfies a predetermined condition among the plurality of packets, Further, for the at least one partial stream, (i) among a plurality of buckets constituting the at least one partial stream, only the packets whose positions are specified by the address information are arranged. Indicates whether or not the first bucket of a group of buckets storing the still image information exists in the entry section specified by two adjacent buckets. And (ii) a control information identification flag indicating whether or not a leading packet of a group of packets including the still image control information is present in the entry section. Recording device.

10. Multiple recording of an entire stream including a plurality of partial streams each composed of a series of content information on an information recording medium in packet units that are physically accessible units Information recording method,

A first recording step of recording an object data file that stores object data that is a logically accessible unit and that stores a plurality of buckets including packets that respectively store fragments of the content information;

A second recording step of recording a reproduction sequence information file storing reproduction sequence information defining a reproduction sequence of the object data;

As reproduction control information for controlling reproduction of the object data, an object information file storing correspondence definition information defining correspondence between the plurality of multiplexed packets and the plurality of partial streams is provided. And a third recording process for recording.

At least one partial stream of the plurality of partial streams includes still image information, which is one of the content information, and a fragment of still image control information for controlling display of the still image information. The correspondence definition information includes, for each of the plurality of partial streams, address information relating to a packet that satisfies a predetermined condition among the plurality of packets. Further, with respect to the at least one partial stream, (i) an average of only a bucket whose position is specified by the address information among a plurality of buckets forming the at least one partial stream. Indicates whether or not the first bucket of a group of buckets storing the still image information exists in the entry section specified by the two adjacent buckets. And (ii) a control information identification flag indicating whether or not a leading packet of a group of packets including the still image control information is present in the entry section. Recording method.

11. An information reproducing apparatus for reproducing the recorded content information from the information recording medium according to claim 1.

Reading means for physically reading information from the information recording medium;

Reproducing means for reproducing the object data included in the information read by the reading means, based on the reproduction control information and the reproduction sequence information included in the information read by the reading means; and

An information reproducing apparatus comprising:

1 2. Given a display start time, the playback unit refers to the control information identification flag to determine that there is one still image control information corresponding to the display start time in the still image control information. A means for identifying a section of the

The reading means includes means for accessing and reading the one still image control information within one section of the specified entry in the object data.

The information reproducing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein

13. The reading means is a pair or a pair with the one still image control information of the still image information, and records the one still image information to which the one still image control information is to act. 13. The information reproducing apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising means for accessing and reading the one piece of still image information to be operated based on position information indicating a recording position.

14. The reproduction means refers to the still image identification flag, and thereby, an entry section including the still image information to be operated and an entry section including the one still image control information. Means for specifying an entry section in which other still image information is present among the still image information,

The method according to claim 13, wherein the reading means includes means for accessing and reading the other still image information within one section of the specified entry in the object data. The information reproducing apparatus according to the above. 15: An information reproducing method for reproducing the recorded content information from the information recording medium according to claim 1.

A reading step of physically reading information from the information recording medium,

A reproducing step of reproducing, based on the reproduction control information and the reproduction sequence information included in the information read by the reading unit, the object data included in the information read by the reading unit;

An information reproducing method, comprising:

16. An information recording / reproducing apparatus that records the content information on the information recording medium according to claim 1 and reproduces the recorded content information.

First recording means for recording the object data file;

Second recording means for recording the reproduction sequence information file,

Third recording means for recording the object information file;

A reproducing unit for reproducing the object data included in the information read by the reading unit based on the reproduction control information and the reproduction sequence information included in the information read by the reading unit;

An information recording / reproducing apparatus comprising: 17. An information recording / reproducing method for recording the content information on the information recording medium according to claim 1 and reproducing the recorded content information,

A first recording step of recording the object data file;

A second recording step of recording the reproduction sequence information file,

A third recording step of recording the object information file;

A reproducing step of reproducing the object data included in the information read by the reading unit, based on the reproduction control information and the raw sequence information included in the information read by the reading unit;

An information recording / reproducing method, comprising:

18. A recording control computer program for controlling a computer provided in the information recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the computer comprises: the first recording unit, the second recording unit, and the computer. A computer program for recording control characterized by functioning as at least a part of the third recording means.

19. A computer program for reproduction control for controlling a computer provided in the information reproducing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the computer functions as at least a part of the reproducing means. A computer program for playback control, characterized in that:

20. A computer program for recording / reproducing control for controlling a computer provided in the information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the computer is the first recording unit, the second recording Means, functioning as at least a part of the third recording means and the reproducing means.

2 1. The entire stream, which includes a plurality of partial streams each composed of a series of content information, is multiplex-recorded in units of packets that are physically accessible units.

An object data file for storing object data comprising a plurality of buckets including buckets each of which is a logically accessible unit and stores a fragment of the content information,

With At least one of the plurality of partial streams stores still image information, which is one of the content information, and a fragment of still image control information for controlling the display of the still image information. The correspondence definition information includes, for each of the plurality of partial streams, address information relating to a bucket that satisfies a predetermined condition among the plurality of buckets. For at least one partial stream, (i) adjacent to each other in a row of only buckets whose positions are specified by the address information among a plurality of buckets constituting the at least one partial stream. Indicates whether the first bucket of a group of buckets storing the still image information exists in one section of the entry specified by the two buckets. A control signal comprising: a still image information identification flag; and (ii) a control information identification flag indicating whether or not a leading packet of a group of packets including the still image control information exists in the entry section. Data structure containing.