JPH10208392A - Recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording and reproducing device that can use the memory effectively and record information over a substantially long time. SOLUTION: The left region S1 sandwiched by a write pointer W and a readout pointer R is the data region where recording has been finished but reproducing is unfinished and overwrite of data is inhibited. On the other hand, the region S2 excluding the region S1 is the data region where reproduction has been finished and overwrite of new data is allowed. For example, when the reproduction of the program A is over, the readout pointer R is shifted to the head address of the program B and the program A is released as an overwritable region and comes to belong to the region S2. And, when the program C is first reproduced with the programs A, B skipped, the program C already reproduced is excluded from the region S1 and released as an overwritable region S2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording / reproducing apparatus suitable for use in, for example, recording / reproducing a television program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a video tape recorder is used for recording / reproducing a television program or the like. When the reproduction is performed, the video tape is rewound after recording the desired program, and the reproduction is performed from the recording start point. By the way, even during recording, there are cases where it is desired to play back a portion recorded a little before. However, in the video tape recorder, since the reproduction cannot be performed during the recording, the recording has to be stopped in order to view a portion immediately before. on the other hand,
While recording a television program or the like, it is often not desired to stop recording, and in such a case, it is impossible to reproduce a desired portion only after the end of the program. Also, the video tape recorder has the disadvantage that it takes time to rewind the video because it takes time to rewind the video tape recorder. From such a background, conventionally, a randomly accessible storage device such as a magnetic disk device is provided with a write head and a read head that can be independently driven, and the recorded data is recorded retroactively for a predetermined time in parallel with the recording of the program. A recording / reproducing apparatus capable of reproducing a part has been proposed.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional recording / reproducing apparatus, the so-called endless recording is realized by configuring the storage area as a ring buffer, so that the recording time corresponds to the storage capacity. If the time is exceeded, new data is overwritten on the previously recorded area. For this reason, even if the information has already been recorded, if the time corresponding to the recording capacity has elapsed, the old data has been erased by overwriting the data, and it was not possible to reproduce the data any longer.

The present invention has been made under such a background, and provides a recording / reproducing apparatus capable of efficiently using a storage area and recording information for a substantially long time. It is an object.

[0005]

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a receiving means for receiving program data supplied by broadcasting, and circulating through a finite storage area which can be randomly accessed. Storage means logically configured as a ring buffer for storing data, and writing means for writing program data received by the reception means together with identification information of the program into a predetermined area of the storage means. Reading means for searching the program data of the program from the storage means based on the identification information and reading the corresponding program data, and overwriting the storage area of the program data which has been read out by the reading means in the storage area of the storage means Storage area management means for logically reconfiguring the ring buffer so as to release the area as a possible area. To have.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the storage area management unit may be configured to execute the recording while the recording unit performs the recording.
The system is characterized in that it monitors the remaining amount of the overwritable area in the ring buffer and includes a display means for displaying the remaining amount.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the storage area management means is configured to execute the recording while the writing means performs the recording.
The remaining amount of the overwritable area in the ring buffer is monitored, and when the remaining amount is equal to or less than a predetermined amount, the ring is released according to a predetermined rule so as to release the unreproduced area as an overwritable area. The buffer is reconfigured.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the storage area management means is configured to execute the recording while the recording means performs the recording.
The writing unit monitors the remaining amount of the overwritable area in the ring buffer, and when the remaining amount becomes equal to or less than a predetermined amount, selectively writes program data according to a predetermined rule. Features.

Further, according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the storage area management means monitors the remaining amount of an unreproduced area in the ring buffer while the reading is performed by the reading means. Is characterized in that when the remaining amount becomes equal to or less than a predetermined amount, the reading operation is stopped.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the receiving means receives a plurality of program data supplied via different channels in parallel, and the writing means receives the program data by the receiving means. Writing a plurality of program data to different areas of the storage means, the storage area management means logically connects a plurality of program data stored in different areas of the storage means to form a ring buffer,
It is characterized by:

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A: Configuration of Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a recording and reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a tuner which receives a signal (hereinafter, referred to as a video / audio signal) obtained by compressing and encoding video and audio transmitted via a communication satellite (CS) or a broadcast satellite (BS). Reference numeral 2 denotes a randomly accessible storage device (comprising a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, a rewritable DVD (digital video disk), or the like), which stores a video / audio signal received from the tuner 1. The storage device 2 has a write head and a read head that can be driven independently of each other, and can perform a recording operation and a reproducing operation in parallel.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), which controls each unit connected via a bus BUS. This CP
When U3 executes a predetermined control program stored in a ROM (read only memory) 4, an operation described later is realized. Reference numeral 5 denotes a RAM (readable / writable memory), which is used as a work area when the CPU 3 executes a control program.

Reference numeral 6 denotes an operation unit, which comprises operators for performing various instruction operations and setting operations such as setting of a reception frequency, start and end of recording / reproduction, and the like. The operation unit 6 generates a signal corresponding to an instruction operation or a setting state for each operation element. Reference numeral 7 denotes a display unit composed of a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) or a liquid crystal panel. The display unit 7 displays an image corresponding to an image signal received from the tuner 1 or reproduced from the storage device 2, and also stores storage area management information generated by the CPU 3. indicate. Reference numeral 8 denotes a sound system, which emits a sound corresponding to an audio signal received from the tuner 1 or reproduced from the storage device 2 from a speaker.

B: Operation of Embodiment Next, the operation of the recording / reproducing apparatus having the above configuration will be described. (1) Reception When a reception frequency is set to a desired broadcast channel in the operation unit 6, the tuner 1 tunes to the frequency of the set channel and receives a video / audio signal flowing through the channel. This video / audio signal is, for example, MPEG
2 is supplied in a state of being compressed and encoded. Then, the reception data of the video / audio signal is temporarily stored in the reception work area of the RAM 5 after passing through the tuner 1.

(2) Recording There are two recording modes for recording received data: normal recording for recording all the contents of a received program and selective recording for selectively recording a received program. Hereinafter, these will be described separately.

Normal Recording Mode In the normal recording mode, when a predetermined amount of received data is accumulated in the receiving work area of the RAM 5, the CPU 1 transfers all the received data to the storage device 2 and records the data. Here, the storage area of the storage device 2 is configured as a ring buffer that logically connects the start address and the end address, and the CPU 1 uses this ring buffer as if it were an endless tape to circulate the received data. I write it.

That is, in the normal recording mode, the contents are always recorded in the storage device 2 while receiving the broadcast, and the position indicated by the write head of the storage device 2 (ie, the write pointer) is stored in the ring buffer. Is repeated, new data is overwritten on the previously recorded data.

A tag signal for identifying the program is added to the beginning of the broadcasted video / audio signal for each program. The tag signal is written at the beginning of the.
When the content to be broadcast is a CM (commercial message), a tag signal indicating that the content is a CM is added, and in this case, the tag signal is similarly written at the head of the received data. These tag signals are used at the time of reproduction and management of a recording area described later.

Selective Recording Mode On the other hand, in the selective recording mode, only the program specified by the operator through the operation unit 6 is recorded. That is, when the program to be recorded is specified by the number code or the like, the CPU 3 transfers only the reception data to which the tag signal corresponding to the code is added from the reception work area of the RAM 5 to the storage device 2, and Record This makes it possible to selectively record only desired programs.

Here, the program may be specified by inputting and specifying a program code each time the broadcast is received, if necessary. Alternatively, the input information may be stored in the RAM 5 and the program to be recorded may be automatically selected by comparing the tag signal of the program with the program code when recording. The program code may use the same code information as the tag signal, but may use other code information as long as the information is associated with the tag signal. In this case, it is necessary to store a table that associates the tag signal with the program code.

A selective recording mode for recording a program excluding only CMs is specially provided, and when this mode is designated, all received data to which a tag signal indicating CM is added is excluded. Only the other received data may be transferred to the storage device 2 and recorded.

(3) Reproduction As described above, while the broadcast is being received, the received data is recorded. The program can be reproduced in parallel with the recording operation. Here, there are two reproduction modes for reproducing the program: real-time reproduction for reproducing a program currently being broadcast in real time, and recording and reproduction for reading data of a previously recorded program from the storage device 2 and reproducing it. Hereinafter, these will be described separately.

Real-time reproduction mode When the operator adjusts the reception frequency to a desired broadcast channel from the operation unit 6, the video /
The audio signal is received and recorded as described above. In the real-time reproduction mode, the received data is directly reproduced. In this case, since the received data is compressed for both video and audio, the CPU 3 decompresses them, and supplies the video signal to the display unit 7 and the audio signal to the sound system 8. As a result, the video and audio of the received program are reproduced in real time.

Recording / reproducing mode On the other hand, the recording / reproducing mode is a mode in which a program already recorded in the storage device 2 is reproduced by designating a program code from the operation unit 6. That is, when a program code is designated by the operation unit 6, the CPU 3 searches the storage device 2 for a tag signal corresponding to the designated program code, and the tag signal indicates the position indicated by the read head (ie, the read pointer). Jump to the start address of the added program data.
Then, reading of the program data is started from that position. The CPU 3 expands the read video and audio data of the program, and supplies the video signal to the display unit 7 and the audio signal to the sound system 8. This makes it possible to reproduce the specified desired program based on the recorded data not only during the broadcast of the program but also after a predetermined time has elapsed since the broadcast. As described above, since the write head and the read head can be driven independently of each other, even during recording of a program, already recorded data can be reproduced in parallel with the recording operation. .

(4) Storage Area Management FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of the ring buffer formed in the storage device 2. In the figure, W is a write pointer, and in the example of the figure, program D is being recorded. On the other hand, R is a read pointer, and in the example of the figure, the program A is being reproduced. The write pointer W and the read pointer R are advanced counterclockwise in the figure as writing or reading progresses, respectively. In the figure, a left area S1 sandwiched between a write pointer W and a read pointer R is a data area that has been recorded but not yet reproduced, and is a portion where overwriting of data is prohibited. . On the other hand, the area S2 excluding the area S1 is a data area that has already been reproduced, and is a part where overwriting of new data is permitted. For example, when the reproduction of the program A is completed, the read pointer R moves to the head address of the program B, the program A is released as an overwritable area, and the area S is released.
2 will belong.

Tag signals TA, TB, TC, and TD are recorded at the head of the data of each of the programs A, B, C, and D, whereby the program can be arbitrarily selected and reproduced. It has become. For example, when the program C is reproduced first by skipping the programs A and B, as shown in FIG. 3, the reproduced program C is excluded from the area S1 and released as an overwritable area S2. Managing these storage areas
This is made possible by changing the pointer that defines the linked list of program data (pointer indicating the start address of the following program data). That is, each program data is a pointer (not shown) for designating the next following program data.
In the above example, the pointer of the program B specifies the tag signal of the program D instead of the program C, and the program C is specified by the pointer of the other program data belonging to the area S2. The order is rearranged. Thus, the data area of the program whose reproduction has been completed is released as an area S2 for overwriting new program data.

However, when the recording is progressing and the reproduction is not performed, the overwriteable area S2 gradually decreases, and only the unreproduced area S1 where the overwrite is prohibited is enlarged. Therefore, the CPU 3 constantly monitors the remaining amount of the overwritable area S2, and displays the remaining amount graphically in a partial display area of the display unit 7 so that the operator can easily grasp the remaining amount visually. For example, since the sum of the capacities of the areas S1 and S2 is constant as the storage capacity of the storage device 2, S1 and S2
The capacity ratio of 2 is displayed as a pie chart or a columnar graph.

When the state in which reproduction is not performed continues, the area S1 expands, and when the area S2 finally disappears (or becomes smaller than a predetermined amount), the CPU 3 sets the area S1 in accordance with a predetermined rule. A part is released to newly secure an overwritable area S2. In this case, various rules can be adopted. For example, it is conceivable to release the data area of the CM preferentially or to release the data area of the old program in order.

On the other hand, from the viewpoint of suppressing the expansion of the area S1 by reducing the amount of data to be recorded, for example, it is conceivable to selectively record only program data excluding CM data. .

When the progress of recording is faster than the progress of reproduction, the above-mentioned storage capacity management may be performed. However, when selective recording such as cutting CM is performed, the reproduction proceeds. On the other hand, there is a time when the recording does not progress, so that the read pointer R may overtake the write pointer W. In order to avoid such a situation, CPU
Reference numeral 3 also monitors the remaining amount of the area S1, and performs control such as forcibly stopping the reproduction operation when the remaining amount of the area S1 becomes equal to or less than a predetermined amount. For example, the reproduction is paused, and the reason is displayed on the display unit 7 as a message.

C: Modifications The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications as described below are possible. (1) For example, by providing a plurality of tuners, a configuration can be provided in which programs of a plurality of channels broadcast in overlapping time zones can be simultaneously stored. In this case, the received data of a plurality of programs fetched from each tuner is temporarily stored in the RA.
M5 are stored in different areas, and the received data is transferred to the storage device 2 at a predetermined timing and written in different areas. Then, the program data in each area is logically connected by a pointer, and the ring buffer is logically connected. What is necessary is just to configure it.

(2) In the embodiment, the information supplied by broadcasting is a video / audio signal. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, only the video signal or only the audio signal may be used. Further, the present invention is not limited to information compressed as in the embodiment.

(3) In the embodiment, satellite broadcasting is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to wired broadcasting such as terrestrial broadcasting and CATV.

(4) In the embodiment, the received data is directly reproduced in the real-time reproduction mode. However, in order to unify the reproduction route, the storage device is also used in the real-time reproduction mode in the same manner as the recording and reproduction. 2 may be accessed to reproduce the once recorded data.

[0035]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a storage area can be efficiently used, and information for a substantially long time can be recorded.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the operator further comprises:
During recording of program data, it is possible to know the remaining amount of the storage area, and it is easy to determine whether or not to reproduce.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, further, even if the remaining storage area becomes insufficient during recording of program data, a recordable area becomes larger. It is automatically secured and recording can continue.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, if the remaining storage area becomes insufficient during recording of the program data, the program data is selectively selected. By recording, the amount of recording data is suppressed, and a decrease in the storage area can be suppressed.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, when the remaining amount of unreproduced recording data becomes insufficient during the reproduction of the program data, the reproducing operation is performed. It is possible to avoid a situation in which the recording is stopped and the reproduction overtakes the recording.

According to the invention of claim 6, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 1, a plurality of program data supplied in an overlapping time zone such as a counter program are recorded in parallel. Each of these program data can be reproduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing contents of a ring buffer in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining storage area management in the ring buffer.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Tuner (receiving means), 2. Storage device (storage means,
Reading means, writing means), 3 CPU (read means, writing means, storage area management means), 4 ROM, 5 RAM, 6
... Operation unit, 7 ... Display unit (display means), 8 ... Sound system, BUS ... Bus.

Claims (6)

[Claims] A receiving means for receiving program data supplied by broadcasting; a memory means logically configured as a ring buffer for storing data in a finite storage area which can be accessed randomly; Writing means for writing the program data received by the means into a predetermined area of the storage means together with the identification information of the program; and searching the storage means for the program data of the designated program from the storage means based on the identification information. And a storage area management unit that logically reconfigures the ring buffer so as to release a storage area of the program data, which has been read out by the reading unit, out of the storage area of the storage unit as an overwritable area. Recording / reproducing apparatus characterized by comprising: 2. The storage area management means monitors the remaining amount of an overwritable area in the ring buffer while recording is performed by the writing means, and comprises a display means for displaying the remaining amount. 2. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The storage area management means monitors the remaining amount of the overwritable area in the ring buffer while recording by the writing means is performed, and when the remaining amount becomes equal to or less than a predetermined amount. 2. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ring buffer is reconfigured according to a predetermined rule to release an unreproduced area as an overwritable area. 4. The storage area management means monitors the remaining amount of an overwritable area in the ring buffer while recording by the writing means is performed, and the writing means checks whether the remaining amount is sufficient. 2. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program data is selectively recorded in accordance with a predetermined rule when the amount becomes equal to or less than a predetermined amount. 5. The storage area management means monitors the remaining amount of an unreproduced area in the ring buffer while reading by the reading means is performed, and the reading means determines that the remaining amount is a predetermined amount. 2. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the read operation is stopped when the following occurs. 6. The receiving means receives a plurality of program data supplied via different channels in parallel, and the writing means stores the plurality of program data received by the receiving means in the storage means. 2. The storage area management unit logically connects a plurality of pieces of program data stored in different areas of the storage unit to form a ring buffer. 3. Recording and playback device.