1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods for controlling deletion of content stored in terminal devices, and in particular, relates to a terminal device that can connect to and communicate with an information processing device that includes a relatively large capacity recording medium and a limited-capacity recording medium that stores data (content), for example, a music file, obtained from the information processing device, a system that performs control operations related to deletion and transfer of content between the terminal device and the information processing device, and a method for controlling content deletion.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, broadcast services have been digitized, and new types of service, for example, interactive services and storage-type services, have been started. Moreover, audio-visual (AV) devices, for example, compact disk (CD) players and digital versatile disk (DVD) players, have been connected to networks in, for example, a situation in which broadband networks are available, and home personal computers (PCs) have had AV functions. In such situations, the next-generation data platform needs to, for example, enable high-speed access, handle various types of data, and be capable of being shared by AV devices and PCs. Hard disk drives (HDDs) are typical information recording media that satisfy these requirements. Recently, HDDs (removable HDDs) that can be removed and are portable have been proposed.
HDDs are also used as in-vehicle recording media. For example, music files in, for example, the MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3 (MP3) format can be copied from an in-vehicle CD player to a typical in-vehicle HDD. A typical removable HDD that stores music files can be removed from a vehicle and connected to a home PC with a cable such as a universal serial bus (USB) cable to transfer music files. Moreover, recently, a system that uses a wireless local area network (LAN) to copy music files stored in a home PC to an in-vehicle HDD has been studied.
In the conventional art, when content such as music files is transferred from a PC to an in-vehicle terminal device, the PC checks the contents in the PC and the in-vehicle terminal device, and only the difference between the contents is transferred. This facilitates lowering the communication costs in a case where these devices are connected to each other through wireless communication and the time required for transferring data needs to be reduced. In this case, the difference between the contents corresponds to additional content, i.e., new content that has been added in the PC in a situation in which the content, for example, music files, stored in the PC is the same as that stored in the in-vehicle terminal device, and a part of the content in the in-vehicle terminal device that has been deleted is not treated as the difference to be transferred.
An in-vehicle HDD is also used as a medium for storing data such as map data for navigation other than data such as music files. In this situation, the capacity of an in-vehicle HDD is limited compared with that of an HDD of a home PC. Thus, in view of an efficient operation, it is preferable that the volume of data that is constantly stored in an in-vehicle HDD be minimized. That is to say, since vehicles constantly need data for navigation, it is preferable that the volume of data such as music files that is temporarily required for entertainment be minimized. Thus, an in-vehicle terminal device provided with a known HDD has a function related to deleting data such as music files that is externally obtained from, for example, a home PC.
A typical method for deleting data in this manner is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-178611, which, in an electronic camera, distinguishes first image files stored in a first storage area from second image files stored in the first storage area that can be deleted because the second image files have been transferred to a second storage area so that the first and second image files can be deleted through different displays and by different operations. Moreover, another method is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-062957, which, in a recording and reproducing apparatus that uses recording media, determines whether the backup data of data recorded in one recording medium exists in another recording medium so that data that has not been backed up is prevented from being erroneously deleted by sending a warning to a user when the user tries to delete such data.
In an in-vehicle terminal device provided with a known HDD, the capacity of the HDD is limited as described above. Thus, in view of an efficient operation, data (content) such as music files that is copied from an external information processing device such as a home PC is deleted as necessary.
Accordingly, a problem exists, such that a user cannot play back with an in-vehicle terminal device music recorded in a music file that has been deleted from the in-vehicle terminal device because the data of the music file has been deleted from the HDD. In this case, the problem does not occur when the same content as the music file can be externally obtained in any way in a case where the music file has been deleted from the in-vehicle terminal device. However, in the conventional art, only additional content in a PC (the difference between the contents in the PC and an in-vehicle terminal device) is transferred from the PC to the in-vehicle terminal device, and a part of the content in the in-vehicle terminal device that has been deleted is not to be transferred, as described above.
Moreover, no problem occurs when a user correctly specifies content to be deleted and deletes the specified content. However, a user may still erroneously delete content that the user needs to keep. An in-vehicle terminal device provided with a known HDD does not sufficiently protect against such misoperation by a user. The above-described problems may also occur in a case where the content to be transferred is video data other than audio data, such as music files.
In view of the problems in the conventional art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a terminal device, a content deletion and transfer control system, and a method for controlling content deletion, in which deleted content can be externally obtained as necessary and an efficient operation of a limited-capacity recording medium can be achieved.
In view of the aforementioned problems in the conventional art, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a terminal device that is virtually connected to an external information processing device that includes a recording medium that stores content so that the terminal device can communicate with the external processing device includes an input unit operable to receive a user's instruction, a display unit operable to present information, a storage unit operable to store content, and a control unit connected to the input unit, the display, and the storage unit. The control unit creates a deletion history when a piece of content stored in the storage unit is deleted, and displays the deletion history on the display and requests the external processing device to transfer a deleted piece of content that has been selected from the deletion history via the user's instruction.
Thus, a piece of content that was deleted from the terminal device can be obtained from the outside of the terminal device as necessary. Moreover, even when the capacity of the information storage unit, for example, an in-vehicle HDD, that stores content is limited, the stored content can be deleted as necessary. Thus, an efficient operation of the recording medium (information storage unit) can be achieved.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a terminal device that is connected to an external information processing device that includes a recording medium that stores content so that the terminal device can communicate with the information processing device includes an input unit operable to receive a user's instruction, a storage unit operable to store content, and a control unit that is connected to the input unit and the storage unit. The control unit does not immediately delete a piece of content stored in the storage unit when deletion of the piece of content is requested but rather places the piece of content into a deletion-pending queue and only actually deletes the piece of content after the control unit has determined that the piece of content exists in the recording medium of the external processing device.
Thus, a piece of content that was deleted from the terminal device can be obtained from the external information processing device as necessary like the terminal device according to the first aspect of the present invention. Accordingly, an efficient operation of the recording medium (information storage unit) can be achieved.
Moreover, according to a third aspect of the present invention, a content deletion and transfer system is provided for each of the terminal devices according to the foregoing aspects of the present invention. Moreover, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a method for controlling content deletion is provided for each of the terminal devices according to the foregoing aspects of the present invention. The details of the content deletion and transfer system and the method for controlling content deletion will be described below in embodiments of the present invention.
Embodiments according to the present invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings.
The content deletion and transfer control system 50 according to the embodiments includes an in-vehicle terminal device (in-vehicle audio device) 20 and a home PC 10 serving as an information processing device that includes a recording medium. The PC 10 is connected to the in-vehicle terminal device 20 via a wireless LAN. In the embodiments, the ad hoc mode is adopted as the communication mode, in which the PC 10 and the in-vehicle terminal device 20 directly communicate with each other, as shown in
The PC 10 includes a control unit 11, a wireless LAN communication controller 12, an HDD 13, an operation unit 14, and a display unit 15. The components of the PC 10 are connected to the control unit 11.
The control unit 11 includes a central processing unit (CPU), a random access memory (RAM), and a read only memory (ROM) that are not shown. In the present invention, the control unit 11 controls deletion and acquisition (transfer) of content and deletion control that are performed by the in-vehicle terminal device 20 cooperating with the PC 10, as described below. The wireless LAN communication controller 12 includes, for example, an expansion card (what is called a wireless LAN card) that has a function of connecting to a wireless LAN. The wireless LAN communication controller 12 functions as an interface that controls transfer of data (in this case, content of music files) between the PC 10 and the in-vehicle terminal device 20 through the air. That is to say, the data of music files that is transferred from the in-vehicle terminal device 20 is sent to the PC 10 via the wireless LAN communication controller 12 and stored in the HDD 13 under the control of the control unit 11, and the data of music files that is stored in the HDD 13 is read by the control unit 11 as necessary and transmitted to the outside (in this case, to the in-vehicle terminal device 20) via the wireless LAN communication controller 12.
The HDD 13 stores the data of music files that is compressed (encoded) by an audio signal compression method such as MP3 in the embodiments. Music files include the information (for example, the names of tunes, the names of artists, and the names of albums) on the content of the music files in addition to music data (data body). The operation unit 14 is a keyboard that includes various types of operation key for receiving the user's operation instructions. In the embodiments, at least, the operation unit 14 includes operation keys for playing back music files stored in the HDD 13, transferring music files to the in-vehicle terminal device 20, and checking the existence of music files stored in the HDD 13. The display unit 15 includes, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel or a cathode ray tube (CRT). The screen of the display unit 15 displays under the control of the control unit 11 the information related to various types of operation instruction that are received via the operation unit 14. In the embodiments, the screen displays the result of checking the existence of music files stored in the HDD 13 and the information (for example, the names of tunes, the names of artists, and the names of albums) on the content of music files if any exists.
The in-vehicle terminal device 20 includes a control unit 21, a wireless LAN communication controller 22, an HDD 23, an operation unit 24, a display unit 25, a deletion-history storage unit 26, an audio processing unit 27, a power amplifier 28, and a speaker 29. The components of the in-vehicle terminal device 20 are connected to the control unit 21.
The control unit 21 includes a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM that are not shown, like the control unit 11 of the PC 10. In the present invention, the control unit 21 controls storage and deletion of music files (content) stored in the HDD 23, as described below. The following cases are subjected to deletion control: a case where the stored content is deleted in response to a user's instruction from the operation unit 24 and a case where the stored content is not deleted immediately but is put into a deletion-pending state when a user has submitted an instruction to delete the content. Thus, in the latter case, the content to be deleted remains in a storage area of the HDD 23 and is deleted from the storage area subsequently when deletion of the content is actually performed. The wireless LAN communication controller 22 includes a wireless LAN card, like the wireless LAN communication controller 12 of the PC 10. The wireless LAN communication controller 22 functions as an interface that controls transfer of data (in this case, content of music files) between the PC 10 and the in-vehicle terminal device 20 through the air. That is to say, the data of music files that is transferred from the PC 10 is sent to the in-vehicle terminal device 20 via the wireless LAN communication controller 22 and stored in the HDD 23 under the control of the control unit 21, and the data of music files that is stored in the HDD 23 is read by the control unit 21 as necessary and transmitted to the audio processing unit 27 or the outside (in this case, to the PC 10) via the wireless LAN communication controller 22.
The HDD 23 stores the data of music files, like the HDD 13 of the PC 10. The operation unit 24 is, for example, provided together with the display unit 25 in a console panel (operation panel) that is located in front of a front seat in a vehicle cabin. The operation unit 24 includes various types of operation keys for receiving a user's operation instructions. In the embodiments, at least, the operation unit 24 includes operation keys for instructing playing back of music files stored in the HDD 23, transferring music files to the PC 10, and performing deletion and acquisition of content and deletion control in the in-vehicle terminal device 20 as described below. Other than the above-described case where the operation unit 24 is provided in the operation panel, the operation unit 24 may include a remote control receiver and a remote control transmitter that supplies operation instruction signals in the form of, for example, infrared signals to the remote control receiver.
The display unit 25 includes, for example, an LCD panel or an organic electroluminescence (EL) panel. The screen of the display unit 25 displays under the control of the control unit 21 the information related to various types of operation instruction that are entered via the operation unit 24. In the embodiments, the screen displays the information (for example, the names of tunes, the names of artists, and the names of albums) on the content of music files stored in the HDD 23, the deletion history of file deletion or issue of instructions for deleting files, and a warning message stating the status upon attempted deletion of a file subjected to deletion from the storage area of the HDD 23 when the corresponding file does not exist in the HDD 13 of the PC 10.
The deletion-history storage unit 26 includes a memory, such as a RAM, and stores information related to the deletion history of deleted files (content). The deletion history includes the information (the information stating that the relevant files have not been deleted) on files that were not deleted immediately but were put into a deletion-pending state when a user submitted an instruction to delete the files in addition to the information (the information for identifying files, for example, the names of albums and the names of tunes) on files that have been actually deleted among files stored in the HDD 23. In the embodiments, the deletion-history storage unit 26 is provided separate from the HDD 23. When the HDD 23 has sufficient capacity, the information related to the deletion history may be stored in a part of the storage area of the HDD 23.
The audio processing unit 27, under the control of the control unit 21, decompresses (decodes) the digital data of music files that is read from the HDD 23, performs digital-to-analog conversion on the decompressed data, and generates analog audio signals. The audio signals produced from the audio processing unit 27 are amplified through the power amplifier 28 and sent to the speaker 29.
The process of deletion and transfer of content that is performed by the in-vehicle terminal device 20 in the content deletion and transfer control system 50 shown in
First Embodiment
It is assumed that the same content of, for example, music files is stored in the HDD 23 of the in-vehicle terminal device 20 and the HDD 13 of the PC 10.
In this state, referring to the process flow shown in
In step S2, the control unit 21 creates deletion history to which the information (the information for identifying files, for example, the names of albums and the names of tunes) on the deleted files is written and temporarily stores the created deletion history in the deletion-history storage unit 26.
In step S3, the control unit 21 displays the deletion history stored in the deletion-history storage unit 26 on the screen of the display unit 25 in response to the user's instruction received from the operation unit 24.
In step S4, the control unit 21 determines whether the user has selected any deleted file that the user needs to obtain from the deletion history displayed on the screen of the display unit 25, for example, the deleted-file list 36 displayed on the display screen 30b shown in
In step S5, the information, for example, the names of albums and the names of tunes, for identifying the deleted file that has been selected is transmitted to the PC 10 via the wireless LAN communication controller 22 under the control of the control unit 21. That is to say, the PC 10 is requested to transfer the music file that was deleted from the in-vehicle terminal device 20 (the file C in the case shown in
In step S6, the requested file (the deleted file C) that has been transferred from the PC 10 in response to the file transfer request is received via the wireless LAN communication controller 22.
The file obtained in this process is stored in a predetermined storage area of the HDD 23 via the control unit 21. This file is processed as necessary through the control unit 21, the audio processing unit 27, and the power amplifier 28, in response to the user's instruction entered via the operation unit 24, generates sound from the speaker 29. Then, the process is completed.
In the process shown in
Accordingly, the file deleted from the in-vehicle terminal device 20 can be obtained from the PC 10, and the data of the file can be reproduced as necessary. Moreover, even when the capacity of the HDD 23 is limited, stored files (content) can be deleted as necessary. Thus, an efficient operation of the HDD 23 can be achieved.
In the aforementioned embodiment, although a music file (content) that was deleted from the in-vehicle terminal device 20 is obtained from the PC 10, a device that obtains content is not limited to an in-vehicle device. That is to say, the present invention is applicable to a terminal device that can connect to and communicate with an information processing device, such as a PC, that includes a recording medium, such as an HDD, and that includes a limited-capacity recording medium that stores content obtained from the information processing device.
Moreover, in the aforementioned embodiment, the PC 10 transfers a piece of content to the in-vehicle terminal device 20 in response to a transfer request that is manually entered by the user from the operation unit 24 of the in-vehicle terminal device 20. However, the PC 10 does not necessarily need to transfer a piece of content to the in-vehicle terminal device 20 in response to a transfer request from the in-vehicle terminal device 20 and may automatically transfer a piece of content to the in-vehicle terminal device 20. In this case, in the PC 10, the control unit 11 compares the content in the HDD 13 of the PC 10 with the content in the HDD 23 of the in-vehicle terminal device 20 at predetermined intervals, extracts only the difference between the contents, and transfers the difference to the in-vehicle terminal device 20. In this case, the difference between the contents includes content that has been added to the content in the HDD 13 of the PC 10 in a situation in which the content stored in the HDD 13 is the same as that stored in the HDD 23 of the in-vehicle terminal device 20, and a part of the content in the HDD 23 of the in-vehicle terminal device 20 that has been deleted.
In the process shown in
Second Embodiment
It is assumed that the same content (the four files A to D shown in
In this state, referring to the process flow shown in
In step S12, the control unit 21 creates deletion history to which the information (the information indicating that the requested files have not been deleted) on the requested files is written and temporarily stores the created deletion history in the deletion-history storage unit 26, as in the process in step S2 in the first embodiment.
In step S13, the control unit 21 displays the deletion history stored in the deletion-history storage unit 26 on the screen of the display unit 25 in response to the user's instruction received from the operation unit 24, as in the process in step S3 in the first embodiment.
In step S14, the control unit 21 determines whether the user has requested deletion of any file in a deletion-pending state in the deletion history displayed on the screen of the display unit 25, for example, the deleted-file list 36 displayed on the display screen 30c shown in
In step S15, the control unit 21 determines in cooperation with the control unit 11 and the wireless LAN communication controller 12 of the PC 10 via the wireless LAN communication controller 22 whether the file in a deletion-pending state requested to be deleted exists in the HDD 13 of the PC 10. When the control unit 21 determines that the file in a deletion-pending state requested to be deleted exists in the HDD 13 of the PC 10, the process proceeds to step S16. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S17.
In step S16, the control unit 21 deletes the file in a deletion-pending state requested to be deleted from the music files stored in the HDD 23 in response to the user's instruction received from the operation unit 24. In step S16, the data of the file requested to be deleted is deleted from the storage area of the HDD 23. Then, the process is completed.
On the other hand, in step S17, a warning message stating that the file in a deletion-pending state requested to be deleted does not exist in the PC 10 is displayed on the screen of the display unit 25 under the control of the control unit 21. For example, a message saying “The file requested to be deleted exists only in the in-vehicle terminal. Do you continue the operation to delete the file?” is displayed.
In step S18, the control unit 21 determines whether the user has confirmed deletion of the file in a deletion-pending state in response to the user's instruction entered via the operation unit 24. When the control unit 21 determines that the user has confirmed deletion of the file in a deletion-pending state, the process proceeds to step S16 where the aforementioned process is performed. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S19.
In step S19, the control unit 21 transfers the file in a deletion-pending state requested to be deleted to the PC 10 in response to the user's instruction entered via the operation unit 24. Thus, the user can obtain the file subsequently when the user needs the file. Then, the process is completed.
In the second embodiment shown in
Thus, in the second embodiment, an efficient operation of the HDD 23 can be achieved, as in the first embodiment shown in
Moreover, in the in-vehicle terminal device 20, a file is not deleted and remains in the storage area of the HDD 23 and the deletion history of the file in a delete-pending state is created and stored when deletion of the file has been requested. Thus, the deletion history of the file can be displayed on the screen of the display unit 25 as necessary so that the user can confirm deletion of the file requested to be deleted. That is to say, the user can check whether the user has correctly specified the file to be deleted when the deletion history of the file is displayed. Thus, the user's misoperation can be suppressed.
In the aforementioned embodiments, the in-vehicle terminal device 20 is connected to the PC 10 via a wireless LAN. Alternatively, the in-vehicle terminal device 20 may be connected to the PC 10 by wire communication using a cable such as a USB cable.
While there has been illustrated and described what is at present contemplated to be preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made, and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the true scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation to the teachings of the invention without departing from the central scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that this invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2005-116165 | Apr 2005 | JP | national |