WO2012056699A1

WO2012056699A1 - Data reproduction device

Info

Publication number: WO2012056699A1
Application number: PCT/JP2011/005989
Authority: WO
Inventors: 山本　章裕
Original assignee: パナソニック株式会社
Priority date: 2010-10-28
Filing date: 2011-10-26
Publication date: 2012-05-03
Also published as: JP2014016656A

Abstract

The objective is to provide a data reproduction device capable of immediately reproducing internet radio even when the device is used in an environment where a sufficient communication band cannot be ensured, and a sufficient buffer amount cannot be ensured. A data reproduction device (101) is constituted by: a communication unit (102) for performing internet communication; an internet control unit (103) for controlling internet communication; a reproduction control unit (108) for controlling reproduction; a buffer (110) for storing received digital data; and a reception data control unit (109) for controlling data to be requested to an internet server: wherein, the reception data control unit (109) determines the data to be requested to the internet server in accordance with whether an application for reproducing digital data received from the internet server is being executed or not.

Description

Data playback device

The present invention relates to a device that executes an application using digital data acquired from a server on the Internet, and more particularly to a data playback device that receives and plays back music data of Internet radio.

Since the available communication bandwidth varies depending on the number of users, the distance to the destination server, and the number of routers between the Internet, the desired communication bandwidth cannot always be secured. Therefore, in an application that realizes streaming playback, a predetermined amount of data is pre-read and stored in the buffer so that the content playback is not interrupted even if the communication bandwidth is temporarily insufficient. Hereinafter, this process is referred to as buffering.

The amount of data to be buffered varies depending on the application, but most of the data is stored for several seconds to several tens of seconds before starting playback. In other words, even if the user starts the application and starts playback, it actually plays back. There is a problem of waiting for several seconds to several tens of seconds until the operation starts. For example, when listening to music data of a certain site on the Internet radio and switching the connection destination to another site, the user is also kept waiting until the reproduction is started.

For this reason, in a conventional content output apparatus, when receiving (reproducing) a broadcast of a certain channel, a broadcast of another channel is also received in a buffer (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this way, even when the user selects another channel, the content data is already buffered, so that playback can be started immediately.

By the way, mobile phones and in-vehicle terminals are usually used without turning off the power. When the power of the mobile phone is turned off, it becomes impossible to receive an incoming call, and the convenience is lowered. Further, the in-vehicle terminal holds information set by the user with a certain amount of power consumption by battery driving. When an application for listening to Internet radio music data is started on these devices, it generally holds information about the site that the user was listening to last time, and automatically starts playing the music data on that site. To do.

Also, mobile phones and in-vehicle terminals are compatible with various applications other than Internet radio, just like PCs.

If it is a mobile phone, music data recorded on a memory card can be played, and there are devices that support dedicated applications such as schedule management and games.

The in-vehicle terminal can play CD / DVD, and can play music recorded in a memory like a mobile phone. Some devices have an external input terminal and can be connected to a music playback device brought in by the user.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-44149

It is assumed that the technology described in Patent Document 1 is applied so that when a mobile phone or an in-vehicle terminal tries to play the Internet radio while another application is being played, it can be played immediately. Compared to devices such as PCs installed in homes such as PCs, mobile phones and in-vehicle terminals generally cannot secure a sufficient communication band because they are connected to the Internet while moving. That is, for example, when the application being executed uses Internet communication, there is a problem in that the communication band is insufficient and affects the operation of the application being executed, or data buffering of the Internet radio cannot be sufficiently performed. ing.

In general, mobile phones and in-vehicle terminals are easily limited by hardware resources, and there are cases where sufficient buffer capacity cannot be secured. That is, when music data is buffered while another application is being executed, there is a problem that the buffer capacity is not sufficient to buffer music data from a plurality of sites because the buffer capacity is small.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and is a mobile phone or an in-vehicle terminal used in an environment where a sufficient communication band cannot be secured and a buffer amount cannot be secured sufficiently. Another object of the present invention is to provide a data reproduction apparatus capable of immediately executing reproduction of Internet radio.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a data reproducing apparatus for reproducing digital data received from an Internet server, and controls a communication unit that performs Internet communication, an Internet control unit that controls Internet communication, and reproduction. A playback control unit, a buffer for storing digital data received from the Internet server, and a reception data control unit for controlling data requested from the Internet server are provided. The reception data control unit plays back the digital data received from the Internet server. The data to be requested to the Internet server is determined depending on whether or not an application for executing is being executed.

According to the present invention, when music data is received when the Internet radio application is not executed, the usage of the communication band is controlled by controlling whether or not another application uses the Internet communication. There is an effect that the communication band can be efficiently used without affecting the application.

1 is a block diagram of a data reproducing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Flow chart for explaining the operation of the Internet radio reproduction start processing in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Flow chart for explaining the operation of Internet radio data reception processing in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Flow chart for explaining operation of request data determination processing in Embodiment 1 of the present invention

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, a data reproducing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a data reproducing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Assume that the data reproducing apparatus according to the first embodiment is an apparatus for reproducing music data, and in particular, an operation for reproducing music data of Internet radio will be described.

In FIG. 1, a data reproduction apparatus 101 is an apparatus that is connected to the Internet server 121 and capable of Internet communication.

The data reproduction apparatus 101 also records a communication unit 102 that communicates with the Internet server 121, an Internet control unit 103 that controls Internet communication, a radio tuner 104 that receives analog radio broadcasts and digital radio broadcasts, and music data. Data recording unit 105, CD driver 106 that reads data from CD (Compact Disc), USB driver 107 that can connect USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory devices and portable audio devices, playback control unit 108 that controls playback operation, playback control A reception data control unit 109 that controls data received from the Internet server 121 according to the operating state of the unit 108, a buffer 110 for pre-reading and storing data during music data reproduction, The music reproduction unit 111 for reproducing effortless data, and a.

Furthermore, the data reproducing apparatus 101 is connected to an audio output unit 112 that outputs audio and an input unit 113 that receives user operations.

The communication unit 102 communicates with the Internet server 121. In the first embodiment, it is assumed that the data reproducing apparatus 101 is used while moving, and the communication unit 102 performs communication using wireless communication, for example, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network).

Note that the wireless LAN may be any of IEEE 802.11a, b, g, and n. Further, the wireless communication is not limited to the wireless LAN, and the same configuration can be made with other wireless communication methods.

Further, when using the data reproducing apparatus 101 in a specific place, communication may be performed using wired communication.

The Internet control unit 103 performs processing for Internet communication. Specifically, it designates a connection destination address and controls transmission / reception of packet data necessary for Internet communication.

Further, in the data reproducing apparatus 101 of the first embodiment, when the internet radio application is activated, it is possible to connect to the internet server 121 and listen to music data of the internet radio.

At this time, the Internet control unit 103 designates the address of the site that provides the Internet radio service, and performs connection and communication.

The radio tuner 104 receives analog radio broadcasts and digital radio broadcasts and demodulates them into music signals.

In the data reproduction apparatus 101, it is assumed that the voice received by the radio tuner 104 can be heard by starting a radio application. Digital radio broadcasts have different systems depending on the region, but any system can be configured in the same manner.

The data recording unit 105 is a recording medium for recording digital data,
For example, HDD (Hard Disk Drive).
In the first embodiment, it is assumed that digital music data is stored, and digital music data can be reproduced by starting an HDD audio application.

The data recording unit 105 is not limited to the HDD, and may be a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory.

CD driver 106 reads data from CD. The CD driver 106 according to the first embodiment can read CD-DA (Compact Disc Digital Audio), CD-R (Compact Disc Recordable) in which digital music data is recorded by the user, and CD-RW (Compact Disc Rewritable). The digital music data recorded on the CD can be reproduced by starting the CD application.

It should be noted that the CD driver 106 can be similarly configured even if it is a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) driver or a BD (Ble-ray Disc) driver.

The USB driver 107 can connect a USB memory device or a portable audio device, and can read music data recorded in the USB memory device or the portable audio device.

Suppose that music data recorded in a USB memory device or portable audio device connected to the USB driver 107 can be reproduced by activating the USB audio application.

In the first embodiment, USB communication is performed using the USB driver 107, but the same configuration is possible even in a configuration in which communication is performed using another bus standard or interface standard. In that case, a driver corresponding to the standard may be prepared.

The reproduction control unit 108 determines an application to be activated, that is, music data to be reproduced based on an input from the input unit 113.

Then, music data is read from any of the Internet control unit 103, the radio tuner 104, the data recording unit 105, the CD driver 106, and the USB driver 107 and output to the music playback unit 111 via the buffer 110.

The reception data control unit 109 controls the bit rate of data acquired from the Internet server 121 according to the operation state of the reproduction control unit 108, specifically according to the application being operated. The detailed operation of the reception data control unit 109 will be described later.

The buffer 110 is a memory for pre-reading and storing music data to be reproduced. Since the data stored in the buffer 110 does not need to be stored for a long time, a volatile memory is used as the buffer 110.

The music playback unit 111 decompresses the music data acquired by the playback control unit 108 according to the execution of each application, and generates an audio signal.

Suppose that the music playback unit 111 in the first embodiment is compatible with the MP3 (MPEG1 Audio Layer-3) format.

Note that the corresponding format is not limited to MP3, and other compression methods such as AAC (Advanced Audio Coding), and further, a non-compression method may be supported.

The audio output unit 112 is, for example, a speaker that outputs an audio signal output from the music playback unit 111.

In the first embodiment, the audio output unit 112 is connected to the data reproduction device 101, but may be provided in the data reproduction device 101.

The input unit 113 is, for example, a remote controller that receives a user operation and notifies the reproduction control unit 108. It is assumed that the user can activate a desired application from the input unit 113.

In the first embodiment, the input unit 113 is connected to the data reproducing device 101. However, the input unit 113 may be built in the data reproducing device 101. In this case, for example, it can be realized as a key operation button arranged on the data reproducing apparatus 101, or as a touch panel if the data reproducing apparatus 101 includes a display (not shown).

Here, the operation for starting the reproduction of the music data of the Internet radio and the Internet radio reproduction start processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the data reproducing apparatus 101 is turned on and activated (step S201). The power is turned on by turning on the power switch. For example, when the data reproducing apparatus 101 is installed in a vehicle, the data reproducing apparatus 101 may be turned on in conjunction with the ignition switch.

Next, the Internet radio application is activated (step S202). However, if the last application when the power of the data reproducing apparatus 101 was turned off was Internet radio last time, the information on the final application is held and the application is automatically activated after the data reproducing apparatus 101 is activated (step S201). Shall start.

That is, in the Internet radio reproduction start process described in FIG. 2, it is assumed that the last application when the data reproduction apparatus 101 was last turned off was the Internet radio.

Note that it is also possible to instruct the data reproduction apparatus 101 to activate the application from the input unit 113 after the data reproduction apparatus 101 is activated (step S201) by a user operation.

When the application to be activated is determined, the playback control unit 108 issues an instruction to each block according to the type of application. In step S202, the playback control unit 108 instructs the Internet control unit 103 to acquire Internet radio music data in order to start the Internet radio application.

In step S202, the Internet radio application is activated, and the Internet control unit 103 that has received an instruction to acquire music data from the playback control unit 108 then connects to the Internet server 121 via the communication unit 102 (step S203).

Suppose here that the connection destination is the site that provides the Internet radio service that was connected when the Internet radio application was started last time. It is assumed that the reproduction control unit 108 holds this information in a nonvolatile memory (not shown) or the like.

Also, it is possible to connect to a predetermined site, for example, a portal site that provides links to a plurality of Internet radio sites, whenever an Internet radio application is started.

In Internet communication, it is almost always necessary to perform two-way communication on a regular basis. Since the Internet communication processing itself is not directly related to the present invention, a detailed operation description is omitted.

When connected to the Internet server 121, the received data control unit 109 performs a request data determination process (step S204). By this processing, the type of music data requested from the Internet server 121 is determined. The request data determination process will be described later.

Next, the music data determined by the request data determination process is requested to the Internet server 121 (step S205).

This processing is processing in which the Internet control unit 103 that has received the result of the request data determination processing from the reception data control unit 109 requests the Internet server 121.

Thereafter, the playback control unit 108 starts receiving music data from the Internet server 121 via the communication unit 102 and the Internet control unit 103. The received music data is stored in the buffer 110.

When the data reception is started, the reproduction control unit 108 performs buffer threshold determination (step S206). Here, the buffer threshold value is, for example, a data amount for a certain period of time according to the bit rate of the music data being acquired. Alternatively, a certain amount of data may be used as the threshold value.

Note that after the buffer threshold value is determined once, the determination process may be omitted unless the bit rate of the application or the music data to be acquired is changed.

When the buffer threshold is determined, it is determined whether or not the amount of data stored in the buffer 110 has reached the buffer threshold (step S207). If the amount of data has reached the threshold value, it means that enough data has been stored to start playback, and playback is started (step S208).

If the amount of data has not reached the threshold value, it means that sufficient data has not been stored to start playback, so the process returns to step S205 and data reception is continued.

At the start of reproduction in step S208, the reproduction control unit 108 reads out music data from the buffer 110, converts the read music data into an audio signal at the music reproduction unit 111, and outputs audio from the audio output unit 112.

The Internet radio playback start processing has been described above with reference to FIG. Note that the music data stored in the buffer 110 may be below the threshold due to a shortage of communication band, but data is lost due to a temporary shortage of communication band (sound cut) by continuing playback after the start of playback. Can be prevented.

Next, the Internet radio data reception process when an application other than the Internet radio application is executed after startup will be described using the flowchart of FIG. Here, it is assumed that the CD application is activated. First, the data reproducing apparatus 101 is turned on and activated (step S301). This process is the same as step S201 in FIG.

Next, the CD application is activated (step S302). If the last application when the power of the data reproducing apparatus 101 was previously turned off is a CD, information on the final application is held and the application is automatically activated after the data reproducing apparatus 101 is activated (step S301). And

Note that it is also possible to instruct the data reproduction apparatus 101 to activate the application from the input unit 113 after the data reproduction apparatus 101 is activated (step S301) by a user operation.

In step S302, the playback control unit 108 instructs the CD driver 106 to read data from the disc in order to start the CD application. Furthermore, the playback control unit 108 instructs the Internet control unit 103 to acquire music data of the Internet radio.

In step S302, the internet control unit 103 that has received the music data acquisition instruction from the playback control unit 108 connects to the internet server 121 via the communication unit 102 (step S303). This process is the same as step S203 in FIG.

When connected to the Internet server 121, the received data control unit 109 performs a request data determination process (step S304). This process is the same as that in step S204 in FIG. 2, but the determination result differs when the Internet radio application is started and when the CD application is started. The request data determination process will be described later.

Next, the music data determined by the request data determination process is requested to the Internet server 121 (step S205). This process is also the same as step S206 in FIG. Although the Internet radio application is not activated, the playback control unit 108 starts receiving music data from the Internet server 121 via the communication unit 102 and the Internet control unit 103, and the received music data is stored in the buffer 110.

When data reception is started, the playback control unit 108 performs buffer threshold determination (step S306).

This process is the same as step S206 in FIG. 2, but if the Internet radio application is not being executed, the buffer 110 area that can be used by other applications if the buffer amount threshold is set lower than that during execution. Can be increased.

However, if the buffer threshold is lowered, there may be cases where the amount of data that can be played back when starting the Internet radio application cannot be secured.

In this case, the playback start time after starting the Internet radio application is delayed, but the buffer threshold value may be determined in consideration of the feasibility of the entire system.

2, when the buffer threshold value is determined, it is determined whether or not the amount of data stored in the buffer 110 has reached the buffer threshold value (step S307).

If the amount of data has reached the threshold, it means that enough data has been stored, but since the radio application is not running, the old music data is discarded and the data is updated by overwriting with new data. This is performed (step S308).

If the amount of data has not reached the threshold value, it means that sufficient data has not been stored, so the process returns to step S305 and data reception is continued.

As described above, the Internet radio data reception process while executing an application other than the Internet radio has been described with reference to FIG.

As described above, even when other applications are activated, the music data of the internet radio is stored in the buffer 110 in advance, so that the music data can be reproduced immediately when the user activates the internet radio application.

Details of the request data determination processing in step S204 in FIG. 2 and step S304 in FIG. 3 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. The request data determination process is performed by the reception data control unit 109.

First, it connects to the Internet server 121 and confirms music data types that can be played from a site that provides a desired Internet radio service (step S401). The reception data control unit 109 acquires music data type information from the Internet server 121 via the Internet control unit 103 and the communication unit 102.

Suppose that the music data type is, for example, music data with different bit rates. In the first embodiment, two types of music data of high bit rate (high quality) and music data of low bit rate (standard quality) are prepared for the Internet radio service, and the user can select them. To do.

In an environment where the communication bandwidth is sufficient, high-quality music can be listened to by selecting high bit rate music data.

If a high bit rate music data is selected in an environment where the communication band is not sufficient, the sound may be cut off due to missing data, and the user cannot comfortably listen to the music. At this time, if music data with a low bit rate is selected, the sound quality is slightly deteriorated, but the music can be listened to without interruption.

Next, the running application is confirmed (step S402). Although only an application related to music playback is described in the first embodiment, the actual data playback apparatus 101 may support other applications such as navigation and Web browsers.

In step S402, applications that are not related to music playback in the data playback apparatus 101 are also confirmed.

The reception data control unit 109 that has confirmed the application being executed in step S402 determines whether or not the Internet radio application is being executed (step S403).

Here, if it is determined that the Internet radio application is being executed, that is, the Internet radio music data must be reproduced, the process proceeds to step S404.

Conversely, if it is determined that the Internet radio application is not being executed, that is, it is not necessary to reproduce the music data of the Internet radio, the process proceeds to step S405.

If it is determined in step S403 that the Internet radio application is being executed, the request data is determined to be high bit rate data (step S404), and the process ends.

If it is determined in step S403 that the Internet radio application is not being executed, it is determined whether another application is using Internet communication (step S405).

If another application is using Internet communication, the request data is determined to be low bit rate data (step S406), and the process is terminated. Conversely, if Internet communication is not used, the request data is determined to be high bit rate data (step S404), and the process ends.

As described above, the request data determination process is performed. Since the user listens to Internet radio music data while the Internet radio application is being executed, high bit rate data, that is, high quality data is required.

If an Internet radio application is not running and another application is using Internet communication, requesting high bit rate data will occupy the communication band for Internet radio data reception, affecting other Internet communication. It will affect. Therefore, in this case, control is performed so as to require a low bit rate.

If the Internet radio application is not running and the other application is not using Internet communication, it is not necessary to play the music data of the Internet radio. Therefore, there is no problem even if high bit rate data is requested.

As described above, the data reproducing apparatus 101 shown in the first embodiment receives the music data of the Internet radio even when the Internet radio application is not being executed, so that the user starts the Internet radio application at a desired timing. However, it is possible to immediately start playing the music data without waiting for the data buffering time.

In addition, when music data is received when the Internet radio application is not running, other applications can be controlled by controlling the amount of communication bandwidth used depending on whether other applications use Internet communication. The communication band can be used efficiently so as not to affect the communication band.

Also, the buffer 110 can be used efficiently by controlling the buffer threshold.

In the first embodiment, the music data reproduction of the internet radio is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the same effect can be obtained with video data.

In addition to the radio application, the data playback apparatus 101 is compatible with a CD application, an HDD audio application, and a USB audio application, but is not limited thereto. Other applications may be supported, and conversely, these applications may not be supported.

In addition, although the reception of music data of Internet radio has been described as one, it is not limited to this. Music data of a plurality of sites (channels) may be received. In this case, when the Internet radio application is executed, the type of music data to be received may be determined according to which site music data is played.

Further, although the music data type is controlled according to whether or not the Internet radio application is being executed and the use of Internet communication by another application, it is not limited to this. For example, the same effect can be obtained even if the music data type is controlled according to the communication state.

In addition, although there are two types of music data, one with a high bit rate and one with a low bit rate, it is not limited to this. It may be a case according to a plurality of bit rate patterns.

In this case, the music data type of the optimum bit rate may be selected in consideration of the Internet communication usage status and communication status of the application.

Although the present invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

This application is based on a Japanese patent application filed on October 28, 2010 (Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-241635), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention is a data reproducing apparatus that performs streaming reproduction on the Internet connection, and is particularly useful as a data reproducing apparatus that is used in an environment where the communication band is unstable or when hardware resources are limited.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Data reproduction apparatus 102 Communication part 103 Internet control part 104 Radio tuner 105 Data recording part 106 CD driver 107 USB driver 108 Playback control part 109 Reception data control part 110 Buffer 111 Music reproduction part 112 Audio | voice output part 113 Input part 121 Internet server

Claims

A data reproduction device for reproducing digital data received from an Internet server,
The data reproduction device includes:
A communication unit that performs Internet communication;
An Internet control unit for controlling Internet communication;
A playback control unit for controlling playback;
A buffer for storing digital data received from the Internet server;
A reception data control unit for controlling data requested to the Internet server,
The data reproduction apparatus, wherein the reception data control unit determines data to be requested to the Internet server according to whether an application for reproducing digital data received from the Internet server is being executed.
The received data control unit is configured such that an application for reproducing digital data received from the Internet server is not being executed, and an application other than an application for reproducing digital data received from the server on the Internet Requesting the Internet server for digital data having a lower bit rate than when executing an application for playing back the digital data received from the Internet server when at least one of the following is satisfied: The data reproducing apparatus according to claim 1.
The data reproduction device can simultaneously receive digital data from a plurality of Internet servers,
The received data control unit requests the digital data 2 to digital data N other than the digital data 1 being played back to the Internet server at a lower bit rate than when the digital data 2 to digital data N are played back. The data reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data reproducing apparatus is determined.
4. The data reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the digital data is digital music data provided by an Internet radio service.
The data playback device or the installation location of the data playback device is movable,
5. The data according to claim 1, wherein the reception data control unit determines data to be requested to the Internet server based on communication band information obtained from the communication unit. Playback device.