The present invention generally relates to a content reproduction system in which content including moving images and sounds is delivered from a server to a reproducing device for viewing, and more particularly to a system that controls the content reproduction system using a remote control device.
Conventionally, for use in a system where plural devices connected via a network work together, a system is proposed that allows a user to specify the devices, which will work together, not via the operation screen but intuitively (see Patent Document 1). More specifically, an example is shown in which the user uses an infrared remote control to forward videos, generated on a television set, to a projector.
Another technique is proposed that allows a user, who has been viewing content on a television set and is going to leave home with a mobile phone terminal, to pause the reproduction of the content on the television set and to send the content from the television set to the mobile phone terminal so that the user can view the rest of the content on the mobile phone terminal according to a user's instruction. (see Patent Document 2).
In addition, a standard specification is being developed recently by an organization called DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) for interconnecting digital audio-video devices and personal computers (PCs) on a home network to allow those devices to access data, such as moving images, music, still images, etc. for shared use.
In this specification, the existing standards and the general-purpose protocols are combined.
Meanwhile, a user who is viewing content sometimes wants to move to another place before the content is not yet finished. For example, while viewing content on a first television set at a place in the home (for example, in the living room on the first floor), the user sometimes wants to pause the reproduction and wants to view the rest of the content on a second television set in another place (for example, in the bedroom on the second floor).
To meet this need, a portable video receiver is provided to allow the user to carry one for viewing content in any desired place. However, the inconvenience of such a portable device is that the screen size is small.
It is considered that interconnecting a reproducing device in the home and a server, located away from the reproducing device, that provides content via a home network, such as the one described above, allows the user, who has been viewing content at a first place, to continue viewing the rest of the content at a second place. In this case, however, the user is required to memorize the content viewed at the first place and the position in the content where the reproduction is paused and to select the same content at the second place and fast-forward to the reproduction pause position. This operation is not only complex but also time-consuming and unreliable.
The technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 given above is that content being viewed on a television set in the home is paused and the rest of the content is viewed on a mobile phone terminal. However, this technique is not applicable directly to the case described above in which the viewing of content is paused and is restarted among the reproducing devices located in plural places. In addition, the suspension of content reproduction on a reproducing device is to simply pause the reproduction and so, if the reproduction of the paused content is stopped to view another content or if the power of the reproducing device is once turned off, it becomes difficult to restart the reproduction from the interrupted position.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a content reproduction system, a remote control device, and a computer program that allow a user to pause the reproduction of content on a reproducing device and to restart the reproduction on another reproducing device from the paused position easily and quickly using the remote control device.
A content reproduction system of the present invention comprises a content server in which contents are stored deliverably; a plurality of reproducing devices each of which reproduces content; and a remote control device that controls the content server and the reproducing devices. In this system, the content server starts delivering a specified content to a specified reproducing device according to a delivery instruction from the remote control device and, if a pause instruction is received from the remote control device during the delivery, stops the delivery of the content. The remote control device receives reproduction restart information from the content server in response to the pause instruction to pause the delivery of the content and stores the received reproduction restart information therein, wherein the reproduction restart information includes identification information on a delivery-paused content and information on a pause position. When the reproduction restart information as well as a restart instruction are received from the remote control device, the content server delivers the content to a specified reproducing device beginning at the pause position.
Another content reproduction system of the present invention comprises a content server in which contents are stored deliverably; a plurality of reproducing devices each of which reproduces content; and a remote control device that controls the content server and the reproducing devices. The content server delivers a specified content to a specified reproducing device according to a delivery instruction from the remote control device, the reproducing device starts reproducing the delivered content and, if a pause instruction is received from the remote control device during the reproduction, stops the reproduction. The remote control device receives reproduction restart information from the reproducing device in response to the pause instruction to pause the reproduction of the content and stores the reproduction restart information therein, wherein the reproduction restart information includes identification information on the reproduction-paused content and information on a pause position. When the reproduction restart information as well as a restart instruction are received from the remote control device, any of the reproducing devices acquires the content from the content server and reproduces the content beginning at the pause position.
The configurations described above allow the user, with the use of the remote control device, to specify which content is to be reproduced on which reproducing device and to store the reproduction restart information, which includes content identification information and pause position information, in the remote control device when the reproduction of the content is paused on one reproducing device, thus allowing the user to quickly and reliably reproduction the same content on another reproducing device beginning at the pause position.
A remote control device of the present invention, which selectively controls a plurality of reproducing devices each of which reproduces content delivered from a content server, comprises reproducing device specification means that specifies a reproducing device for reproducing content; content specification means that specifies content to be reproduced; delivery start instruction means that instructs the content server to start a delivery of the specified content on the specified reproducing device; delivery pause instruction means that instructs the content server to pause the delivery of the content to the reproducing device that is reproducing the content reproduction restart information storage means that acquires and stores reproduction restart information including identification information on a delivery-paused content and information on a pause position; restart reproducing device specification means that specifies a reproducing device on which the reproduction of the reproduction-paused content is to be restarted; and delivery restart instruction means that instructs the reproducing device, on which the reproduction is to be restarted, to restart the delivery, beginning at the pause position of the delivery-paused content, based on the stored reproduction restart information.
Another remote control device of the present invention, which selectively controls a plurality of reproducing devices each of which reproduces content delivered from a content server, comprises reproducing device specification means that specifies a reproducing device for reproducing content; content specification means that specifies content to be reproduced; reproduction start instruction means that instructs the specified reproducing device to start a reproduction of the specified content reproduction pause instruction means that instructs the reproducing device, which is reproducing content, to pause the reproduction of the content; reproduction restart information storage means that acquires and stores reproduction restart information including identification information on a delivery-paused content and information on a pause position; restart reproducing device specification means that specifies a reproducing device on which a reproduction of the reproduction-paused content is to be restarted; and reproduction restart instruction means that instructs the reproducing device, on which the reproduction is to be restarted, to restart the reproduction, beginning at the pause position of the reproduction-paused content, based on the stored reproduction restart information.
The present invention is implemented also as a computer program, which is executed on a remote control device selectively controlling a plurality of reproducing devices each of which reproduces content, or as a recording medium storing the computer program therein.
According to the present invention, the user can use a remote control device to easily and quickly perform the operation in which the reproduction of content on one reproducing device is paused and the reproduction is restarted on another reproducing device beginning at the pause position. This improves the ease of use of the remote control device in a content reproduction system.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.
Although composed primarily of moving images (or motion pictures) and sounds, the content used in this embodiment is not limited to this type of data but may be any time-varying data.
The DMC (Digital Media Controller) 10 is a device having the function of a remote controller (or remote control device) for controlling the DMS 20 and the DMR 30 (i.e. generic numeral of 30a and 30b). A mobile phone terminal may also have this function.
The DMS (Digital Media Server) 20 is a server device (hereinafter simply called a server) in which contents are stored for delivery to any DMR 30.
The DMRs (Digital Media Renderer) 30a and 30b are devices for reproducing content, for example, monitor devices each including a display device. Information may be sent and received between the DMR 30 and the DMS 20 via the communication network 15 or via the interface that directly connects the both. Unlike a DMP (Digital Media Player) not shown, the DMR (Digital Media Renderer) is a reproducing device having no user interface for content selection or reproduction. The DMR is controlled by the DMC. In
The communication network 15 is a network, such as a LAN via which the devices in the home are interconnected, and is implemented by the short distance wireless communication technology (for example, a wireless LAN, Bluetooth™). The network may include a wired connection part.
The operation of the system shown in
In the case of a mobile phone terminal, the DMC 10 may further comprise a wireless network interface, not shown, for communicating sounds and data wirelessly with a base station via the antenna.
The following describes the general operation of the system in this embodiment by referring again to
For example, assume that the user is going to view a particular content, which is provided by the DMS 20, on the DMR 30a in the living room (Room#1) on the first floor. In this case, the user first specifies a DMR 30a (1). Although the infrared interface is used in the example in the figure, the user can use one of various methods for specifying the DMR as will be described below.
Next, the user specifies the content to be reproduced (2). In the example in the figure, the user accesses the DMS 20 from the DMC 10 via the communication network 15 and selects a desired content from the display of the content list (not shown). The specification order of the contents and the DMR 30 may be reversed. If the DMR 30 is specified first, the content may also be selected from the DMS 20 via the DMR.
After the content and the DMR 30 are specified, the DMC 10 issues a content delivery instruction to the DMS 20 according to the instruction from the user (3). This delivery instruction may also be issued from the DMC 10 via the DMR 30.
DMS 20 delivers the specified content to the specified DMR 30 (DMR 30a in this example) according to the delivery instruction (4). Upon receipt of this delivery, the DMR 30a reproduces the content (5).
At this time, assume that the user wants to pause the viewing of the content in the living room and to continue to view the rest of the content in the bedroom (Room #2) on the second floor. To do so, the user operates the DMC 10 to issue an instruction to the DMR 30a via the infrared interface or the communication network 15 to pause the reproduction of the content being reproduced. In response to this instruction, the DMR 30a stops the reproduction of the content (7) and instructs the DMS 20 to pause the delivery of the content (8).
The DMS 20, which receives the delivery pause instruction, stops the content delivery operation (9) and, at the same time, sends the reproduction restart information, including at least the content identification information (ID) and the pause position information, to the DMC 10 via the communication network 15 (10). If there are plural DMSs, the restart reproduction information includes the DMS identification information (server ID). The pause position information is information for identifying the content pause position at which the reproduction is paused, for example, the frame number of the pause point or the reproduction time relative to the start of the content.
Then, the user moves to the bedroom on the second floor with the DMC 10 and operates the DMC 10 to specify the DMR 30b (11). Next, in response to the instruction from the user, the DMC 10 sends the internally-stored reproduction restart information, as well as a reproduction restart instruction, to the DMS 20 via the communication network 15 (12). This reproduction restart instruction may also be sent via the DMR 30b through the infrared interface or the communication network 15. In response to the reproduction restart instruction, the DMS 20 delivers the content beginning at the pause position specified by the pause position information (13). The DMR 30b reproduces the delivered content (14).
Although the DMR 30a and the DMR 30b are located in separate rooms in the above example, they may be located at separate positions in the same room. They may also be located in separate rooms on the same floor.
b) shows an example of another type of reproduction restart information 400b. The reproduction restart information 400a stores only one record while reproduction restart information 400b can store plural records. This configuration allows the reproduction of plural contents to be paused at the same time. In this case, however, the user is required to select which content to restart when the reproduction is restarted.
This embodiment gives the following effects.
First, because the content ID and the pause position information are stored as the reproduction restart information when the viewing of content is paused, the user can issue a reproduction restart instruction without concerning about the content ID of the content and the pause position. There is no need for the DMS 20 to pause the delivery of the content.
In addition, the reproduction restart information, which is stored in the DMC 10, makes the control simple. It is also possible to store the reproduction restart information not in the DMC 10 but in the DMS 20. In this case, however, if there are plural DMSs 20, the user must select one of the DMSs 20 when the restart instruction is issued. The problem in this case is that the user has no way to know which DMS 20 stores the information on the content paused by the user. In addition, if one of the DMSs 20 is turned off, the menu for selecting the content to be restarted cannot be displayed until all DMSs 20 become turned on. Storing the reproduction restart information in the DMC 10 will avoid this problem.
In addition, when the DMC 10 is configured by a mobile phone terminal, the user can use his or her own mobile phone terminal to issue an instruction to reproduction, pause, or restart the content. In this case, too, storing the reproduction restart information in the DMC 10 means that the reproduction restart information is stored individually in the mobile phone of each user, making it easy to manage the reproduction restart information on a user basis.
Next, by referring to
In the first method, each DMR outputs a directional wireless signal, for example, an infrared light, to send its identification information (ID) in the forward direction periodically. The DMC placed in front of, and oriented toward, the desired DMR receives the identification information to identify the DMR.
In the second method, the DMC sends an infrared light to a desired DMR to request the DMR to return the ID and, upon receiving the ID from the DMR, identifies the DMR.
In the third method, the DMC sends an infrared light to a desired DMR to request the DMR to return the ID and, upon receiving the ID from the DMR via the communication network 15, identifies the DMR.
In the fourth method, the DMC requests the DMS to return the menu including a list of DMRs via the communication network 15 and selects a desired DMR from the menu returned from the DMS via the communication network 15.
In the first to third methods, the user performs the operation with the specification unit of the DMC oriented toward a desired DMR and, so, those methods have the advantage that the user can specify a DMR intuitively and simply. The fourth method has the advantage that the user can specify a desired DMR even at a place distant from the DMR (at a place where DMR cannot be seen).
Note that those DMR specification methods are exemplary only and the present invention is not limited to one of them.
Although it is assumed in this processing example that the delivery pause instruction is issued from the DMR to the DMS, the pause instruction may be issued from the DMC directly to the DMS.
As in the example described above, assume that the user is going to view a particular content, which is provided by the DMS 20, in the living room (Room#1) on the first floor via a DMR 30a. In this case, the user first specifies the DMR 30a (1). Next, the user specifies content to be reproduced (2).
After the content and the DMR are specified, a DMC 10 issues a content reproduction instruction to the DMR 30a according to an instruction from the user (3).
In response to this reproduction instruction, the DMR 30a issues a request to deliver the specified content (4). The DMS 20, which receives this delivery request, delivers the content to the DMR 30a (5). The DMR 30a, which receives this delivery, starts reproducing the content after receiving all content data (6).
At this time, assume that the user wants to pause the viewing of the content in the living room and to continue to view the rest of the content in the bedroom (Room #2) on the second floor. To do so, the user operates the DMC 10 to issue an instruction to the DMR 30a via the infrared interface or a communication network 15 to pause the reproduction of the content being reproduced (7). In response to this instruction, the DMR 30a stops the reproduction of the content (8).
The DMR 30a, which receives the reproduction pause instruction, sends reproduction restart information, which includes at least identification information (ID) on the content and the pause position information, to the DMC 10 via the infrared interface or the communication network 15 (9).
After that, the user moves to the bedroom on the second floor with the DMC 10 and operates the DMC 10 to specify a DMR 30b (10). Next, in response to the instruction from the user, the DMC 10 sends the internally-stored reproduction restart information, as well as a reproduction restart instruction, to the DMR 30b via the infrared interface or the communication network 15 (11). The DMR may be specified after the reproduction instruction is issued. In response to this reproduction restart instruction, the DMR 30b requests the DMS 20 to deliver the content (12). In response to this request, the DMS 20 delivers the content to the DMR 30b (13). The DMR 30b once internally stores the delivered content and restarts reproducing the content beginning at the pause position specified by the reproduction restart information (14).
In this embodiment, whether the content once downloaded to the DMR 30 is automatically erased or saved after the reproduction is not important to the present invention; that is, the content may be erased or saved.
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to those described above but changes and variations may be made.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2006-252735 | Sep 2007 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/JP2007/067797 | 9/13/2007 | WO | 00 | 3/18/2009 |