JP2002023771A - Audio player - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve such problem that it is impossible to designate and reproduce the music of the same artist or the music of the same genre or the like, since music is reproduced in the order of music found by an audio player which reproduces music recorded in an MPEG(Motion Picture Expert Group)3 format. SOLUTION: When reproducing a disk 1 on which music is recorded in an MPEG3 format, ID3 data 7 are separated by an MPEG3 system decoder 6, and retrieved by an ID3 data retrieving part 12, and memorized like a list in a retrieved information list memory 13. Then, rearrangement is performed by a rearrangement list preparing part 14 according to the items of an artist or a genre designated by an item rearrangement designating part 17 by a user, and the rearrangement list is recorded in a rearrangement list memory 15. The user selects a specific group designated by a reproduction group designating part 18 in the list, and for example, when the list is prepared according to the item of artists, the user designates the group of the specific artist. Thus, it is possible for the user to select and reproduce only that designated group.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an audio player for reproducing audio data compressed in the MPEG3 format, and more particularly, to a method in which a large number of songs are stored on a single
The present invention relates to an audio player capable of selecting and reproducing a desired artist or a desired genre of music from audio data compressed and stored in the G3 format.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In personal computers, video devices such as DVDs, and various audio devices, a large amount of video data and audio data are stored in a small recording medium.
Further, in order to transmit a large amount of such data in a short time, the data is compressed and used by various data compression techniques. MPEG is widely used as an international standard for such data compression, and in particular, MPEG3 [M
oving Picture Experts Gro
up (MPEG) Audio Layer-3] has been used. In addition, MPEG Audio
o Layer-3 contains MPEG-1.0 Audio
o Layer-3, MPEG-2.0 Audio L
aer-3, MPEG-2.5 Audio Lay
er-3, etc., and these are collectively referred to below as MPE
Abbreviated as G3.

[0003] In this MPEG3, audio data can be compressed to about 1/11 of a CD while maintaining the same quality as a CD, so that about 11 times as much audio data as a CD that can store 650 MB can be recorded. For this reason, it is possible to record about 150 songs on a single CD in the case of a normal song.
In addition, each individual collects a large number of CD songs into one CD using a CD-RW or a CD-RW, and reproduces the music on an MPEG3-compatible CD player. Also, without using a disk such as a CD, a memory composed of a semiconductor chip, which has rapidly become large-capacity and inexpensive in recent years, is used.
By compressing and recording audio data in the G3 format, one chip can record all the songs on one CD, and some players can handle very small and large-capacity audio data. Is being developed.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Such MPEG3
In an audio player that can reproduce audio data compressed in a format, for example, when a CD-size disc is used, when one song is about 4 minutes, this can be recorded at about 4 MB, so as described above, Song 1
About 50 songs can be recorded. CD-R and CD-
When each individual records a large number of songs on a disc using the RW and plays the disc on an MPEG3-compatible CD player, the audio player plays the songs found by the player in order from the song found by the player.
In a normal case, the music pieces are reproduced in the order in which the music pieces are recorded on the CD. Also, since it is tired to always play music in the same order, there is an MPEG3-compliant audio player that can play at random.

[0005] However, when each individual records a large number of songs on one CD as described above, songs of many artists are recorded in the CD, and songs of various genres are recorded. It may be done. In addition, when each individual records a large number of songs as described above on a CD, it is often impossible to systematically record on a CD by artist or genre. It is difficult to collect and record only songs of the same genre. Therefore, when playing back in the order of recording, it is often not possible to always play back only songs of the same artist or only songs of the same genre. In addition, a reproduction method in which music of the same artist is listened intensively according to the situation at that time, and only music of the same genre is listened intensively at another time is impossible, which is inconvenient.

Accordingly, the present invention provides an audio player that reproduces an audio recording medium containing a large number of songs by compressing in the MPEG3 format, for example, selecting only songs of the same artist, and sometimes only songs of the same genre. The main object of the present invention is to provide an MPEG3-compatible audio player which can be selectively listened to.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a recording method for retrieving a data portion in which information of music recorded on an audio recording medium recorded in MPEG3 format is recorded. A song information search unit, a search information list memory that lists and stores searched song information, and a sort list creation unit that sorts and stores the search information list for each specified item, An audio player, comprising: a playback group designation unit that designates a specific playback group from the data of the changed list; and a playback unit that selects and plays back songs in the group designated by the playback group designation unit. It is what it was.

In another aspect, the memory is recorded in the search information list memory until an audio recording medium to be reproduced by a player is exchanged, and when the audio recording medium is reproduced for the second time and thereafter, the recorded information is recorded in the memory. It uses a search information list.

In another aspect, the item is at least one of an artist, a genre, an album, and an age.

In another aspect, the audio recording medium is a portable disk or a memory card,
Alternatively, it is a hard disk of the player.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a functional part of an audio player for reproducing a recording medium on which a large number of songs are recorded in the MPEG3 format according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram mainly showing the functional blocks shown and showing the interrelationship between the functional blocks.

In FIG. 1, a CD-R and a C-R
The CD 1 created by recording audio data in the MPEG3 format by the D-RW or the like is applied to the player 2, rotated by the motor 3, and the RF data is read by the optical pickup 4 that moves on the axis in the radial direction of the disk. The motor 3 and the optical pickup 4 are controlled by a servo driver 20 that inputs a signal of a system controller 10 for controlling the entire audio disk player, and start, stop, and C of reproduction.
Data reading of an arbitrary portion of D1 can be performed.

A signal from the optical pickup 4 is amplified by an RF amplifier 5 and data 7 of an ID3 tag portion, which records information such as an artist name, an album name, and a genre number of a recorded song from among the MPEG3 data, is described below. , And the audio data 8 are input to an MPEG3 system decoder 6 which can decode the data. This MPE
The operation of the G3 system decoder 6 is controlled by a system controller 10, and the decoded audio data 8 is output from an audio signal output unit 11 in the same manner as in a conventional device, subjected to signal processing in the same manner as in the related art, and output from a speaker. Output.

In MPEG3 data, an ID3 tag is recorded in the last 128 bytes of each file, and its data format is configured as shown in FIG. That is, in the first three bytes of the tag portion, a character “TAG” indicating that this portion is a tag is fixedly recorded. The next 30 bytes are TRACK NAM
E, that is, a portion for recording a track name, in which a title name as the name of the music is recorded. The next 30 bytes are used as an AIRTIST NAME, that is, a part for recording the artist name, and the next 30 bytes are used for A
LUBM NAME, that is, a part for recording the album name.

The next 4 bytes are YEAR, that is, a portion for recording the year when this song was released, and the next 30 bytes are COMMENT, a portion for recording an arbitrary comment. GENRE in which the correspondence between the number and the genre name is clear, that is, a part where the genre number can be recorded. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the genre number and the genre are predetermined, and among the genre numbers 250 to 255, names unique to Japan are assigned.

By using the ID3 tag information as described above, in the apparatus of the present invention, the system controller 10 issues a command to the ID3 data search unit 12, performs a search at the time of starting the reproduction of the disc 1, and performs a search information list memory. A squirrel as shown as 13 is created. Note that the ID3 tag corresponds to recorded music information in the present invention, and the ID3 data search unit 12 for searching the ID3 tag corresponds to a recorded music information search unit in the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows an example of this list. In this example, among the various data of the ID3 tag, in particular, items of a title name, an artist name, an album name, and a genre name are searched in the search order. A list is formed from the number one. In the example shown in FIG. As 1, the title name is Fxxxxxxx
XXX, the artist name is UXXXXX, the album name is FXXXXXXXXXXX, and the genre name is J-POP. Similarly, the second and subsequent lists are listed, indicating that the music shown in the figure has been searched. The genre name may be recorded as a genre number in the search file list memory, but the genre number and the genre name are stored in a separate memory which can be accessed by the system controller 10 or the ID3 data search unit 12 in advance. It is also possible to record the correspondence table and record the genre name at the stage of the list memory.

After the creation of this list, or in advance, the system controller 10 receives an instruction from a user to sort this list for each artist, or receives an instruction to sort this list for each genre. When the item-specific rearrangement designation unit 17 has specified the item-specific rearrangement in such a case, the instruction is output to the sort list creation unit 14 to perform the sort as specified by the user. Then, this is stored in the sorting list memory 15. At the stage of the rearrangement list memory 15, the genre number is converted into a genre name.
The list recorded in the list memory can be displayed on the display 16 as needed to assist the user in selecting a particular artist or genre.

As described above, when there is a designation to perform the sorting by the artist name from the item-by-item sorting specifying section 17, the sorting is performed as shown in the list of FIG.
When an instruction to rearrange by genre name is given, the rearrangement is performed as shown in the list of FIG. 7, and such a list is stored in the rearrangement list memory 15,
The information is displayed on the display 16 as necessary.

The user refers to the display as described above, and, for example, when sorting is performed by artist name as shown in the list of FIG. 6, the reproduction group designating section 18 reproduces a reproduction such as "Hikaru Utada". When the group is designated, in the example of FIG. No. 1 to No. The three songs are successively reproduced. When the playback group is specified, the song number of the desired group in the itemized sorting list, for example, if the song is sorted by artist item as shown in FIG.
When reproduction of a group of XX is desired, by specifying one of the numbers 1 to 3 which are the numbers of the songs belonging to the group, the reproduction is performed assuming that the group is specified. Can be. Alternatively, by setting a group list in which a number is assigned to each group, the group to be reproduced may be determined by specifying the number of the group to be reproduced. When specifying a reproduction group as described above, it is also possible to specify by directly inputting a word indicating the group, such as “Uxx”. Further, by forming the display 16 as a touch panel, a desired group can be designated by touching the display of a desired group in the displayed list which is appropriately scrolled.

On the other hand, in the case where sorting is performed by genre name as shown in the list of FIG. 7 and a playback group such as “J-POP” is designated by the playback group designating section 18, FIG. In the example, No. No. 1 to No. 4
Will be played back in succession. At the time of specifying a predetermined reproduction group at this time, by specifying the number shown at the beginning of the songs belonging to the group, the reproduction of the group can be performed assuming that the reproduction group is specified. A specific group can be designated by the same method as described above.

The function of selecting a song in the group designated by the playback group designation section 17 and instructing playback is performed by the system controller 10 in the illustrated embodiment, and the playback instruction is output to the servo driver 20. In particular, predetermined tracks can be sequentially reproduced by the tracking of the optical pickup 4. The audio player shown in FIG. 1 is further provided with a music selection designating section 19 so that a specific music can be designated and reproduced in order, or random reproduction can be performed.

The audio player constituted by the functional blocks as described above can be operated in order according to an operation flow as shown in FIG. 2, for example. Hereinafter, this operation flow will be described with reference to the functional block diagram of FIG. 1 and an example of the search information list. In the MPEG3 data reproduction process, after the reproduction of the disc is started (step S
1) The disc currently played on the audio player has been reproduced by the player before, and it is determined whether or not the ID3 data has already been searched and exists in the search file list memory 13 in FIG. 1 (step). S
2). This determination is based on whether or not data is recorded in the search information list memory 13 and the disc ID number separately recorded in the data corresponds to the ID number of the disc currently loaded in the player. It can be performed by detecting whether or not there is.

As a result of this determination, when it is determined that the ID3 data of this disk does not exist in the memory because this disk is reproduced for the first time by this audio player, an ID3 tag is searched (step S3). . This search is performed by the ID3 data search unit 1 in FIG.
In step 2, the ID3 data 7 separated by the MPEG3 system decoder 6 is retrieved and output. In this embodiment, an example in which the ID3 tag is always searched first is shown. However, when the search takes a long time, the search is performed before the reproduction or immediately without the reproduction. A means for allowing the user to select whether to perform the operation may be provided.

The data of the ID3 tag searched as described above is formed into a list as shown in FIG. 5, and is recorded in the search information list memory 13 of FIG. 1 (step S4). Next, it is determined whether or not the user has designated the sorting by item (step S5). In the normal case, the user specifies that the items should be rearranged in order to make effective use of the player's functions. However, when the user wants to play at random, for example, the items must be rearranged. When thinking that there is no
Alternatively, if there is no time for performing such designation, the process proceeds to step S9 described later.

In step S5, when the user specifies the sorting by item, according to the specification,
For example, sorting is performed for each designated item such as artist or genre (step S6). Next, for example, the user designates a group such as “Uxxxxxx” when the images are sorted by artist, or specifies a reproduction group such as “J-POP” when the images are sorted by genre. It is determined whether or not there is (step S7). When the above designation is made, the music of the designated group is reproduced (step S8).

When no rearrangement by item is specified in step S5, or when a group to be selected does not exist as a result of rearrangement by specified item in step S6, a reproduction group is specified. Is not performed, the process proceeds to step S9, and it is determined whether or not a music selection is specified by the music selection specifying unit 19 in FIG. 1 (step S9).

Here, for example, when the random reproduction is specified or the number of the music is specified by another means, the music selected in this way is reproduced in order (step S10). If there is no music selection designation in step S9, the reproduction is performed in the order searched by the ID3 data search unit 12 in FIG. 1, that is, in the order stored in the search file list memory 13, as in the prior art.

In the above embodiment, an example is shown in which a disc such as a CD is used as an audio recording medium recorded in the MPEG3 format. In addition, various recording media such as a memory card format recording medium may be used. Can be. Further, when the audio player has a hard disk, the hard disk can be used as an audio recording medium. When the audio data is recorded on such various recording media in the MPEG3 format and is reproduced, the reproducing means according to the present invention as described above can be used.

[0030]

The present invention is configured as described above.
2. Description of the Related Art In an audio player that reproduces an audio recording medium containing many songs compressed in the MPEG3 format, for example, only songs of the same artist can be selected, and in some cases, only songs of the same genre can be selected and heard. Thus, it is possible to provide an audio player compatible with MPEG3 which is easy to use.

In the search information list memory, the memory is recorded until the audio recording medium to be reproduced by the player is replaced, and the recorded search information list is used for the second and subsequent reproductions of the audio recording medium. When reproducing the same audio recording medium with one audio player, once a search information list has been created, this list can be used. Therefore, in the second and subsequent reproductions, any sort can be performed quickly.
You can specify the playback genre and perform the playback operation,
An audio player with good responsiveness can be provided.

In the case where the item is at least one of an artist, a genre, an album, and an age, many users recorded in the tag data can sort the desired item. Since an appropriate group can be selected, an audio player which is easy to use can be provided.

Further, in the case where the audio recording medium is a portable disk, a memory card, or a hard disk of a player, various audio players for reproducing these audio recording media are used.
The functions of the present invention can be used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram mainly showing a functional portion using an ID3 tag in an embodiment of an audio player of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a table showing data recorded in an ID3 tag portion of MPEG3.

FIG. 4 is a correspondence table of genre numbers recorded in an ID3 tag portion and names corresponding to the numbers.

FIG. 5 is a table showing an example of a file list searched by an ID3 search unit and arranged in search order in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a table showing an example of sorting by file list name.

FIG. 7 is a table showing an example of sorting by genre name;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 disc 2 disc player 6 MPEG3 system decoder 10 system controller 12 ID3 data search unit 13 search information list memory 14 sort list creation unit 15 sort list memory 16 display 17 sort order designation unit 18 playback group designation unit 19 music selection designation Department

Claims (4)

[Claims] An audio recording medium recorded in an MPEG3 format for retrieving a data portion in which information of music recorded on the recording medium is recorded, and a retrieved music information retrieved from the audio recording medium. A search information list memory for storing, a rearrangement list creating unit for rearranging and storing the search information list for each specified item, and a reproduction for designating a specific reproduction group from data of the rearranged list An audio player, comprising: a group designation unit; and a reproduction means for selecting and playing back a song in a group designated by the reproduction group designation unit. 2. The search information list memory stores the memory until an audio recording medium to be reproduced by a player is exchanged, and uses the recorded search information list when reproducing the audio recording medium for the second time and thereafter. 2. The audio player according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The audio player according to claim 1, wherein the item is at least one of an artist, a genre, an album, and an age. 4. The audio player according to claim 1, wherein the audio recording medium is a portable disk, a memory card, or a hard disk of a player.