Patent Publication Number: US-6700049-B2

Title: Music data providing apparatus, music data receiving apparatus, music data reproducing apparatus, and music data providing method

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-289523, filed Sep. 22, 2000, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a music data providing apparatus, a music data receiving apparatus, a music data reproducing apparatus, and a music data providing method. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In recent years, audio equipment of the type compatible with music providing service that provides music data via a network has been put on the market as new audio equipment differing from such audio equipment dealing with CDs or MDS. In a server, a large number of music data files have been stored. A user accesses the server from a cellular phone terminal or a unit with a reception function, such as a personal computer, and chooses the desired music (or number) in accordance with the guidance on the operating screen provided by the server, thereby downloading the chosen music data file from the server and storing it in the built-in memory or the like temporarily, which enables the user to reproduce the music freely later. 
     The music providing service has suddenly been popularized because of various merits, including the merits that users can receive the desired music whenever they want to, that they can get only the necessary piece of music, that they have only to pay the charge for each piece of music, and that they can enjoy listening to the desired pieces of music after editing them in a play list. 
     Although users can enjoy the various merits of music providing services as described above, there is room for improvement, when it comes to the ease of use. For instance, music data files cannot be reproduced unless the reception of all of the music data files has been completed. Therefore, there is a probability that the user will find only after the reproduction of the music following the reception that the music is not the desired one. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a music data providing apparatus, a music data receiving apparatus, a music data reproducing apparatus, and a music data providing method which enable a part of music data to be provided or reproduced. 
     According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a music data providing apparatus for providing a music data receiving apparatus with music data, comprising: a storage unit configured to store a plurality of files to which music data for a piece of music has been distributed; and a transmitting unit configured to transmit the music data in units of files in accordance with a request from the music data receiving apparatus. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a music data providing apparatus for providing a music data receiving apparatus with music data, comprising: a storage unit configured to store a file having music data for a piece of music; and a transmitting unit configured to cut out a part of music data for a piece of music and transmit the part in accordance with a request from the music data receiving apparatus. 
     According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a music data providing apparatus for providing a music data receiving apparatus with music data, comprising: a storage unit configured to store a file having music data for a piece of music, together with another file having a part of the music data for the piece of music; and a transmitting unit configured to selectively transmit at least one of the another file and the music data file in accordance with a request from the music data receiving apparatus. 
     According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a music data receiving apparatus for receiving music data from a music data providing apparatus, comprising: a requesting unit configured to request the music data providing apparatus to transmit a part of music data for a piece of music; and a reproducing unit configured to reproduce the part of the music data for the piece of music transmitted from the music data providing apparatus. 
     According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a music data reproducing apparatus comprising: a storage unit configured to store music data for a piece of music; and a reproducing unit configured to reproduce a part of the music data for the piece of music stored in the storage unit. 
     According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a music data reproducing apparatus comprising: a storage unit configured to store a plurality of section data files constituting music data for a piece of music; and a reproducing unit configured to separately reproduce the plurality of section data files stored in the storage unit. 
     According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a music data providing method for providing a music data receiving apparatus with music data from a music data providing apparatus, the method comprising: requesting a part of music data from the music data receiving apparatus to the music data providing apparatus; and transmitting the part of the music data from the music data providing apparatus to the music data receiving apparatus in accordance with a request from the music data receiving apparatus. 
     Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
     The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
     FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a music data providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the music data providing apparatus and music data receiving apparatus of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a section data file stored in the data storage unit of the music data providing apparatus of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a diagram used to explain a communication operation between the music data providing apparatus and music data receiving apparatus of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 shows an example of an operating screen for selecting a section in FIG. 4; and 
     FIG. 6 is a diagram used to explain another communication operation between the music data providing apparatus and music data receiving apparatus of FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Hereinafter, referring to the accompanying drawings, an embodiment of the present invention will be explained. 
     FIG. 1 is an overall view of a music data providing system to which the present invention has been applied. A music data receiving apparatus  3  is connected via a network  2  to a music data providing apparatus  1 . The network  2  may be an ISDN public telecommunication network, a private telecommunication network, a satellite communication network, or a cellular phone wireless communication network and is not limited to a specific communication network. In addition, the music data receiving apparatus  3  is not restricted to a specific apparatus, as long as it can be connected via the network  2  to the music data providing apparatus  1 . For instance, it may be a cellular phone terminal, a mobile terminal, or a computer terminal, such as a personal computer. 
     FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the music data providing apparatus  1  and music data receiving apparatus  3  of FIG.  1 . The music data providing apparatus  1 , which functions as a music data server, includes a CPU  11  and, around the CPU  11 , further includes a data storage unit  12  in which music data and data about CD jacket images necessary to construct an operating screen explained later have been stored, a coding unit  13  for coding music data into a compressed data form, such as MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer-III), and a communication control unit  14  for performing data transmission and reception in accordance with a determined protocol. 
     The music data receiving apparatus  3 , which functions as a client that receives the providing of music data, includes a CPU  31  and, around the CPU  31 , further includes a display  32  for displaying a number select screen or a section select screen (explained later in detail) downloaded from the music data providing apparatus  1 , an input device  33 , such as a keyboard, a mouse, or a cellular phone&#39;s key set, for enabling the user to enter a number select instruction or a section select instruction in accordance with the guidance on the select screen, a flash memory  34 , e.g., nonvolatile, for storing the music data downloaded from the music data providing apparatus  1 , a decompressing unit  35  for decompressing the downloaded compressed music data, a headphone or speaker  36  for outputting the decompressed music data, and a communication control unit  37 . The music data reproducing apparatus is composed of the component parts, excluding the communication control unit  37 , which are related to the reproduction of music data in the music data receiving apparatus  1 . 
     FIG. 3 shows a data file stored in the data storage unit  12  of the music data providing apparatus  1 . In the data storage unit  12 , a large number of music data items have been stored in the state where each data item has been divided into a plurality of data files (section data files). A single section data file contains the data in a single section on the time axis of the music data. That is, the music data for a piece of music is completed with a plurality of section data files corresponding to a plurality of sections divided so as not to overlap with each other. In the example of FIG. 3, a piece of music is divided into five sections, # 1  to # 5 . 
     The method of dividing into sections is not limited to a specific one. For instance, a piece of music may be divided at regular intervals of time or at different intervals of time so that the amount of data in each file may be constant. A code representing in what number of order of all the data items the present one lies is added to the header area of each data file. According the codes, a plurality of data files are combined to form music data for a piece of music. In addition, a flag indicating that the section is a highlight is added to the header area of the section data file for the section including the highlight part. The flag enables the section data file for the highlight section to be selectively transmitted in accordance with the request of the music data providing apparatus  1 . 
     FIG. 4 shows the procedure for communication between the music data providing apparatus  1  and music data receiving apparatus  3 . When being accessed by the music data receiving apparatus  3  (step S 1 ), the music data providing apparatus  1  transmits screen data for selecting a piece of music, including, e.g., a number list to the music data receiving apparatus  3  (step S 2 ). When the user has selected the desired number from the number select screen, the code data for the selected piece is sent to the music data providing apparatus  1  (step S 3 ). Then, the music data providing apparatus  1  transmits the data for a section select operating screen, as shown in FIG. 5, to the music data receiving apparatus  3  (step S 4 ). 
     The operating screen is made up of a CD jacket image  41 , a highlight download request button  42 , and section select buttons  43  using, e.g., HTML. Each of the section select buttons  43  is especially provided with, e.g., an image of a frequency spectrum of the music data in the corresponding section serving as judging material to help the user select the section to be downloaded. 
     When the user clicks a section select button  43  on the section select screen and then clicks the desired section or the highlight download request button  42  to select the highlight section, the code data for that section is sent to the music data providing apparatus  1  (step S 5 ). In response to this, the CPU  11  of the music data providing apparatus  1  reads the section data file for the corresponding piece of the music and the corresponding section from the storage unit  12  and transmits the file via the communication control unit  14  to the music data receiving apparatus  3  (step S 6 ). 
     In the music data receiving apparatus  3 , the section data file downloaded from the music data providing apparatus  1  is stored in the memory  34  temporarily. Then, according to a reproducing instruction, the file is sent to the decompressing unit  35 , which decodes it. The result is sent via a D/A converter (not shown) to the speaker  36 , which reproduces it. 
     When listening to the piece of music in the section and finding that it is the desired one, the user transmits an all file request to the music data providing apparatus  1  (step S 7 ). When trying to listen to another piece of music, the user goes back to step S 3  and executes the same operation. Moreover, when wanting to listen to a piece of music in another section, the user returns to step S 6  and selects another section. 
     There may a case where the user does not want to download all the files. For instance, it may be a case where only one section (e.g., the highlight section) is used as a call incoming tone or a case where the user wants to reproduce only one section (e.g., the highlight section) of each of a plurality of pieces of music consecutively in the form of thumbnails. In such a case, the communication is disconnected at the time when the downloading of the data file in the desired section has been completed. 
     When receiving the all file request from the music data receiving apparatus  3 , the CPU  11  of the music data providing apparatus  1  reads the ones of all the section data files constituting the piece of music excluding the already downloaded ones from the storage unit  12  and transmits them one after another via the communication control unit  14  to the music data receiving apparatus  3  (step S 8 ). 
     The music data receiving apparatus  3  stores the section data files downloaded from the music data providing apparatus  1  into the memory  34  temporarily. Then, according to the reproducing instruction, the files are read into the decompressing unit  35 , which decodes them. According to the order codes in the header areas, the decoded data items are combined to form the data for a piece of music. The resulting data is sent via a D/A converter (not shown) to the speaker  36 , which reproduces it. 
     As described above, with the embodiment, before downloading all the piece of music to be downloaded, the user can receive the data in one section of the piece of music, try listening to only the one section, and check to see if it is the desired piece of music. This alleviates the burden on the user in terms of time and charge. Since one piece of music is divided into a plurality of section data files, even if the communication is disconnected suddenly in the course of downloading a file, only the file must be downloaded again. 
     In the explanation, a data file has been created for each section and stored in the data storage unit  12 . Then, the data has been transmitted in units of files in accordance with the user&#39;s request. Instead, music data for a piece of music may be stored as a single file in the data storage unit  12 . Then, when the user requests section data, the data in the corresponding section may be cut out from the file and transmitted. FIG. 6 shows the procedure for communication between the music data providing apparatus  1  and music data receiving apparatus  3  in this case. When being accessed by the music data receiving apparatus  3  (step S 11 ), the music data providing apparatus  1  transmits screen data for selecting a piece of music, including, e.g., a number list (step S 12 ). When the user has selected the desired number from the number select screen, the code data for the selected piece is sent to the music data providing apparatus  1  (step S 13 ). Then, the music data providing apparatus  1  transmits the data for a section select operating screen, as shown in FIG. 5, to the music data receiving apparatus  3  (step S 14 ). 
     Then, when the user chooses the desired section (or highlight section) on the section select screen, the code data in the section is sent to the music data providing apparatus  1  (step S 15 ). In response to this, the CPU  11  of the music data providing apparatus  1  cuts out the data in the specified section from the music data file having the relevant piece of music and loads only that part. The section data is compressed (or coded) at the coding unit  13 . The coded data is transmitted via the communication control unit  14  (step S 16 ). 
     The section data may be given beforehand to the header area of the music data file and the highlight section be recognized in accordance with the section data. Alternatively, the CPU  11  may recognize automatically the high part of the sound volume, interval, or output level, or further the large part of the change in each of them as the highlight section. 
     The music data receiving apparatus  3  stores the section data file downloaded form the music data providing apparatus  1  into the memory  34  temporarily. According to a reproducing instruction, the section data file is sent to the decompressing unit  35 , which decodes it. The decoded data is sent via a D/A converter (not shown) to the speaker  36 , which reproduces it. The user listens to the music in the corresponding section. If judging that it is the desired one, the user transmits a one-piece data request to the music data providing apparatus  1  (step S 17 ). Receiving the one-piece data request from the music data providing apparatus  3 , the CPU  11  of the music data providing apparatus  1  reads the data file having the music data for the corresponding piece from the storage unit  13  and transmits it in a lump via the communication control unit  14  to the music data receiving apparatus  3  (step S 18 ). The music data receiving apparatus  3  stores the data file having a piece of music downloaded from the music data providing apparatus  1  into the memory  34  temporarily. Then, according to the reproducing instruction, the data file is decoded at the decompressing unit  35 . The result is sent via a D/A converter (not shown) to the speaker  36 , which reproduces it. 
     Instead of dividing the music data into a plurality of section data files and storing them in the data storage unit  12 , the music data for a piece of music may be stored in a single file and the data in the corresponding section be cut out from the file and transmitted when the user requests the section data. This approach may produce the same effect as described above. That is, the user can try listening to one section of the desired piece of music and then downloads all the data for that piece. 
     When the user uses only one section (e.g., the highlight section) as a call incoming tone or reproduces only one section (e.g., the highlight section) of each of a plurality of pieces of music consecutively in the form of thumbnails, the music data receiving apparatus  3  may carry out the necessary processes. In this case, all the music data for one piece of music is first stored in the storage section of the memory  34  of the music data receiving apparatus  3 . Then, the CPU  31  divides the music data for one piece into a plurality of section data files and stores them in another storage area of the memory  34 . A highlight flag is added to the header area of the section data file corresponding to the highlight section. In this method, the user may try listening to the relevant piece of music and manually add a highlight flag to that section data file. Alternatively, the CPU  31  may recognize automatically the high part of the sound volume, interval, or output level, or further the large part of the change in each of them as the highlight section as described above. 
     In this way, dividing the music data for one piece of music into a plurality of section data files enables a part of the music data to be handled in units of section data files. Therefore, for instance, the user clicks the section select button  43  on the operating screen as shown in FIG. 5 or clicks the highlight download request button  42 , thereby making it possible to reproduce only the music data in the desired section freely. This enables the user to use only the desired section (e.g. the highlight section) as a call incoming tone or do settings so as to reproduce only one section (e.g., the highlight section) of each of a plurality of pieces of music consecutively in the form of thumbnails and listen to them. 
     The present invention is not limited to the embodiment and may be practiced or embodied in still other ways without departing from the spirit or essential character thereof. 
     As described above in detail, with the present invention, since the music data is divided into a plurality of files and then the files are stored, the music data can be provided in units of files in accordance with the request of the music data receiving apparatus. 
     Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.