Abstract:
The present invention makes it possible to provide a reproduction resource even in an HDD recorder in which a plurality of storage processes is performed and no resource for providing the reproduction service exists. In order for realizing the above advantage, when the shortage of the reproduction resource occurs in a picture recording process, the picture recording process of the HDD recorder to which a content reproduction request is issued is switched to another HDD recorder, thereby providing the resource for content reproduction. Further, the content data stored in a dispersed manner by distributing the picture recording process is managed uniformly by recording the recording locations of the contents, which is divided and recorded, for every content data. Thus, it becomes possible to provide the content to the equipment issuing the reproduction request as a single content.

Description:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY 
       [0001]    The present application claims priority from Japanese application serial no. P2007-090192, filed on Mar. 30, 2007, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Technical Field 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to a technology in a system composed of a plurality of information processing devices communicating data via a communication network and for performing recording and reproducing of picture information among the plurality of devices. 
         [0004]    2. Related Art 
         [0005]    In recent years, AV household electrical appliances such as HDD recorders or TV equipped with a local area network (LAN) interface have grown popular. Although such appliances, in the past, have had a principal purpose of application of data broadcasting via a network, since the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) has been established and network delivery of broadcast programs is now under review, a function of transmitting/receiving motion picture data via a LAN interface is expected in the future. 
         [0006]    According to the DLNA described above, interoperability is assured even between appliances produced by different companies providing the appliances are compliant thereto. Specifically, streaming reproduction of the motion picture data stored in a Digital Media Server (DMS) of the DLNA by a Digital Media Player (DMP) of the DLNA is possible. Further, the DLNA Expanded has a specification capable of performing transfer of the motion picture data. 
         [0007]    For example, in JP-A-2004-158969, there is proposed a system which uses the appliance cooperation technology described above and is arranged to allow resources (e.g., a tuner, capacity of the HDD, or processing capacity of the CPU) provided to an HDD recorder and so on to be independently used by, for example, other appliances via the network. Thus, even in the case in which the capacity of the local HDD provided to one HDD recorder is too small to provide an enough area for picture recording, the picture can be stored in another HDD recorder via the network. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    In the related art described in JP-A-2004-158969, there might occur a condition that a plurality of processing requests is concentrated in one appliance, the resources of the appliance accommodating the requests become lacking, and therefore some of the processing requests need to be rejected. As an example, there can be cited the case in which a TV and an HDD recorder both equipped with the DLNA exist on the network, and the HDD recorder receives a reproduction request to the motion picture data stored therein from the TV while the HDD recorder executing a picture recording process. On this occasion, the HDD in the HDD recorder is occupied by the picture recording processing, and therefore the response to the reproduction request from the outside is not possible. 
         [0009]    Further, although in the case in which the capacity of the HDD has been overflowing while performing picture recording in one HDD recorder, which is a local HDD recorder A, it is possible to transmit the motion picture data of the program to another HDD recorder B on the network to store it in the HDD of the HDD recorder B, there arises a problem that the motion picture data of the program divided and stored in the separate HDD recorders are treated as separate motion picture data of the program, and the user needs to present a reproduction request explicitly selecting the divided motion picture data of the program when viewing the motion picture data. 
         [0010]    The invention is for solving the problem described above and providing a picture recording/reproducing system capable of performing picture reproduction and picture recording while consolidating the resources without limitations in reproducing pictures. 
         [0011]    In order for solving the problem described above, a picture system according to an embodiment of the invention for performing recording and reproduction of motion picture data via a network includes a first picture recording device for performing one of reception and recording of motion picture data, a second picture recording device for performing one of reception and recording of motion picture data, a reproduction device for performing reproduction of the motion picture data recorded in one of the first and second picture recording devices, a network for connecting the first picture recording device, the second picture recording device, and the reproduction device, and performing communication of the motion picture data, a motion picture data information recording section for storing a motion picture data information management table for recording a recording location of picture recording data for each of the picture recording data, and a motion picture data storage control section, in response to a reproduction request of the motion picture data stored in the first picture recording device from the reproduction device while the first picture recording device is receiving the motion picture data and performing recording, for transferring the motion picture data, which the first picture recording device receives on and after the reproduction request, to the second picture recording device, recording the motion picture data in the second picture recording device, and updating the recording location of the picture recording data in the motion picture data information management table. 
         [0012]    Further, in the picture system according to the embodiment of the invention, the first picture recording device includes motion picture data reproduction control means for, when the reproduction device requests the motion picture data to the first picture recording device in order for performing reproduction of the motion picture data recorded in the first picture recording device, obtaining access information representing the recording location of the motion picture data to be reproduced with reference to the motion picture data information management table and notifying the reproduction device of the access information, and the reproduction device obtains the motion picture data based on the access information notified from the motion picture data reproduction control means, and reproduces the motion picture data. 
         [0013]    Further, in the picture system according to the embodiment of the invention, the first picture recording device includes motion picture data reproduction control means for, when the reproduction device requests the motion picture data to the first picture recording device in order for performing reproduction of the motion picture data recorded in the first picture recording device, obtaining access information representing the recording location of the motion picture data to be reproduced with reference to the motion picture data information management table, obtaining the motion picture data based on the obtained access information, and reproducing the motion picture data, and the reproduction device obtains the motion picture data notified from the motion picture data reproduction control means, and reproduces the motion picture data. 
         [0014]    Still further, in the picture system according to the embodiment of the invention, the first picture recording device includes motion picture data reproduction control means for, prior to the reproduction device requests the motion picture data to the first picture recording device in order for performing reproduction of the motion picture data recorded in the first picture recording device, obtaining access information representing the recording location of the motion picture data to be reproduced with reference to the motion picture data information management table, obtaining the motion picture data from two or more of the recording locations based on the access information, and linking the obtained motion picture data to perform correction of the motion picture data. 
         [0015]    According to the embodiment of the invention, even in the case in which the reproduction request is issued from the reproduction device to the motion picture data stored in the picture recording device unable to provide the resource for delivering the motion picture data busy with the picture recording process and so on in the network including two or more of the picture recording devices, it becomes possible to process the reproduction request, thus the picture recording and reproduction system without limitation in recording and reproducing pictures can be provided. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0016]      FIG. 1  is a picture recording system configuration diagram according to the present embodiment. 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is a hardware configuration diagram of a reproduction device according to the present embodiment. 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is a hardware configuration diagram of a picture recording device and a recording device according to the present embodiment. 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is a diagram showing an example of a structure of a motion picture data information management table according to the present embodiment. 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart showing an example of an operation of the picture recording system when recording pictures in the present embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0021]    An embodiment of the invention will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same signs and reference numerals will hereinafter be treated as having the same functions. 
         [0022]      FIG. 1  is a diagram showing an example of the system configuration of a picture recording system  1  of the embodiment. In  FIG. 1 , the reference numeral  2  denotes a home network for connecting in-house appliances with a network, the reference numeral  10  denotes a reproduction device, the reference numeral  20  denotes a picture recording device, and the reference numeral  40  denotes a recording device. 
         [0023]    The home network  2  connects the in-house processing devices such as a PC, an AV appliance, and a home electric appliance, which are connected to a router (not shown), using a wireless local area network (LAN), a wired LAN, bluetooth, or Ultra Wide Band (UWB) to enable the devices to perform data communication among each other. 
         [0000]    It is assumed that each of the processing devices has an Internet Protocol (IP) address, uses the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) and so on for each other&#39;s appliance control, and is capable of transmitting motion picture data or a part of the motion picture data using a protocol such as HTTP, RTP, or RTSP. 
         [0024]    The reproduction device  10  is a device capable of controlling another device using, for example, the UPnP to obtain the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) as the access destination of the motion picture data via the network, and allowing streaming viewing using the HTTP, RTP, or the like, and is realized by information-processing equipment such as a personal computer (PC), a hard disk drive (HDD) recorder, or a TV. 
         [0025]    Here, the reproduction device  10  can have not only the function of the picture reproduction device as described above but also a function equivalent to that of the picture recording device  20  described later. 
         [0026]    The picture recording device  20  is information-processing equipment such as a personal computer (PC), a hard disk drive (HDD) recorder, or a TV capable of controlling another device using, for example, the UPnP to obtain the URI as the access destination of the motion picture data using the network, and transmitting and receiving motion picture data using the HTTP, RTP, or the like. It can record broadcasted pictures received via an antenna on the own HDD, a tape medium, or the like. Further, it has a database, described in detail later, for managing positional information of the recorded motion picture data and divided motion picture data. The recorded motion picture data can be transmitted to another picture recording device, the recording device, and the reproduction device via the network. 
         [0027]    A motion picture data information management table  60 , details of which are described in  FIG. 4 , is a table for recording correspondence between recorded programs and locations where the recorded programs are stored, and in the case in which a program is divided and stored in two or more of the picture recording devices  20  and the recording devices  40  in a dispersed manner, it forms a table for managing the URI for accessing each of the motion picture data  62  thus stored in a dispersed manner and the reproduction order thereof. 
         [0028]    Here, the motion picture data  62  denotes motion image-motion picture data obtained from a broadcast wave received via the antenna and compressed into MPEG2, for example. Further, the motion picture data  62  includes the data obtained by dividing one program and stored in the picture recording devices  20  and the recording devices  40  on the network in a dispersed manner. 
         [0029]    The recording device  40  is information-processing equipment such as a personal computer (PC), a hard disk drive (HDD) recorder, a TV, or a Network Attached Storage (NAS) capable of controlling another device using, for example, the UPnP to obtain the URI as the access destination of the motion picture data using the network, and transmitting and receiving motion picture data using the HTTP, RTP, or the like. It can be provided with only a function of storing the motion picture data transmitted thereto via the network in the local HDD or the like and delivering it in response to an acquisition request, or with a function equivalent to that of the picture recording device  20 . 
         [0030]    In the picture recording system explained in the present embodiment, when a reproduction request of the motion picture data stored in the picture recording device is received from another TV while recording is in progress in the picture recording device, and the picture recording device cannot provide the resource for newly transmitting the motion picture data, the resource for the picture recording device for delivering the motion picture data can be provided by asking the storing processing to the recording device or other picture recording devices. In the case in which there are two or more of recording devices capable of accommodating the storing processing on the network, the recording device to be asked to is selected based on the remaining capacity of the HDD and recording reservation information. A specific example will hereinafter be described in detail. 
         [0031]      FIG. 4  shows a configuration example of the motion picture data information management table  60  according to the present embodiment. The motion picture data information management table  60  is mainly composed of program ID  65 , program information  66 , and access information  67 . The program ID  65  is an identifier for uniquely specifying the program information of the recorded motion picture data in the picture recording device  20 . The program information  66  is program information obtained from an Electronic Program Guide (EPG), and is used as explanatory information of the program to the user viewing the motion picture data. 
         [0032]    The access information  67  is the URI of the divided motion picture data. It is enough to obtain the motion picture data uniquely specified by the recorded URI, and the description format of the URI is not particularly limited. The access information  67  is arranged in the order of generating the divided motion picture data, and by reproducing the data along the order of the access information, it is confirmed that the divided motion picture data can be reproduced as one motion picture data. 
         [0033]    The configuration of the motion picture data information management table  60  is not limited to what is described above, but can be a configuration including recorded picture data information such as recording time or the number of frames of the divided motion picture data. By referring to such recorded picture data information, it becomes possible to easily perform trick reproduction such as skip reproduction. 
         [0034]      FIG. 2  is a hardware configuration diagram of the reproduction device  10  to which the present embodiment can be applied. 
         [0035]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , the reproduction device  10  is composed at least of a CPU  11 , a main memory  12 , a program storage section  13 , motion picture data reproduction means  14 , motion picture data receiving means  15 , and a bus  16 . The constituents are connected to each other by the bus  15  so as to be able to communicate necessary information among the constituents. 
         [0036]    The CPU  11  performs a predetermined operation in accordance with the program previously stored in the main memory  12  and the program storage section  13 . The main memory  12  functions as a work area, and is means for storing the necessary program, at the same time, and can be realized by a random access memory (RAM) as the former case or a read only memory (ROM) as the latter case, for example. 
         [0037]    The program storage section  13  is means for storing a program for providing the user with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and so on of the reproduction device  10 , and can be realized by, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), an optical disk, or a flash memory. 
         [0038]    The motion picture data reproduction means  14  has a function of decoding the motion picture data obtained by the motion picture data receiving means  15  and displaying it on a display device  17  such as a liquid crystal display, a cathode-ray tube (CRT) display, or a plasma display. 
         [0039]    The motion picture data receiving means  15  is capable of receiving the motion picture data, which exists in the picture recording device or a recording device existing on the network, using the URI obtained from the picture recording device and so on via the network, and transmitting the motion picture data to the motion picture data reproduction means  14 . As a more specific example of the present means, an HTTP client can be cited. 
         [0040]    Although the motion picture data reproduction means  14  and the motion picture data receiving means  15  are assumed to be installed as hardware, they can be installed as software if possible. 
         [0041]    The display device  17  is capable of displaying a picture transmitted from the motion picture data reproduction means  14 . As a specific device used as the display device  17 , a liquid crystal display, a CRT display, and a plasma display can be cited. 
         [0042]      FIG. 3  is a hardware configuration diagram of the picture recording device  20  to which the present embodiment can be applied. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the picture recording device  20  is mainly composed of a CPU  21 , a main memory  22 , a program storage section  23 , motion picture data recording means  24 , motion picture data information recording means  25 , recording destination switching means  26 , motion picture data transmitting/receiving means  27 , broadcast receiving means  28 , and a bus  32 . The constituents are connected to each other by the bus  32  so as to be able to communicate necessary information among the constituents. 
         [0043]    The CPU  21  performs a predetermined operation in accordance with the program previously stored in the main memory  22  and the program storage section  23 . The main memory  22  functions as a work area, and is means for storing the necessary program, at the same time, and can be realized by a random access memory (RAM) as the former case or a read only memory (ROM) as the latter case, for example. 
         [0044]    The program storage section  23  is means for storing a program for providing the user with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and so on of the picture recording device  20  and a program for searching the recording device  40  and the picture recording device  20  capable of executing the storing process and further obtaining the recording reservation information obtained from each of the devices and a free space of the HDD and so on to prioritize the devices, thereby selecting the device to which the storing process is asked, and can be realized by, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), an optical disk, or a flash memory. 
         [0045]    The motion picture data recording means  24  is means for obtaining picture and audio information by the broadcast receiving means  28  of the picture recording device  20 , and storing the motion picture data  62  obtained by encoding the motion image of, for example, MPEG2, and can be realized by, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), an optical disk, or a flash memory. 
         [0046]    The motion picture data information recording means  25  is means for managing the program information such as so-called an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) obtained by the broadcast receiving means  28  of the picture recording device  20  and the list of the access destination information of the divided motion picture data  62  for every recorded program, and can be realized by, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), an optical disk, or a flash memory. 
         [0047]    The recording destination switching means  26  operates in response to a switching instruction by a program stored in the program storage section  23 , and by sending the rest of the motion picture data  62 , which has been transmitted to the motion picture data recording means  24  from the broadcast receiving means  28  via the recording destination switching means  26  and stored therein, to the motion picture data transmitting/receiving means  27 , the rest of the motion picture data  62  on and after the switching timing can be transmitted to other picture recording device  20  or the recording device  40  via the network. 
         [0048]    The motion picture data transmitting/receiving means  27  is capable of transmitting and receiving the motion picture to and from the picture recording device and the recording device on the network via the local area network (LAN) interface. The broadcast receiving means  28  has a function of receiving the broadcast, and is capable of encoding the received picture and audio information to form the motion picture data  62  of, for example, MPEG2. The generated motion picture data  62  is transmitted to the recording destination switching means  26  via the bus to determine the storage destination. 
         [0049]    Equipment selection processing means  29  obtains the capacity of the HDD of the recording device and the recording reservation information of the picture recording device in order for selecting the recording device to which the storing process is asked, thus it becomes possible to select the recording device or the picture recording device which does not have recording reservation overlapping the program the storing process of which is to be asked and has the largest free area in the HDD. 
         [0050]    Device information transmitting means  30  makes it possible to transmit the free area of the HDD capacity and the recording reservation information of the picture recording device or the recording device to the picture recording device as an information request source. 
         [0051]    Further, the picture recording device is provided with motion picture data reproduction control means for controlling transfer of the motion picture data stored therein to the reproduction device issuing the transfer request. More specifically, in response to receiving the transmission request of the motion picture data to be reproduced for a unit corresponding to the program ID  65  in the picture recording data information management table  60  from the reproduction device  10 , the motion picture data reproduction control means obtains the storage location of the URI of the motion picture data corresponding to the program ID  65  with reference to the access information  67 , and transmits the motion picture data stored in this storage location to the reproduction device  10 . The motion picture data reproduction control means, in the case in which the motion picture data is divided and stored, and two or more of the storage locations corresponding to the program ID  65  are set, controls reproduction of the motion picture data by either one of the reproduction methods described later in detail. 
         [0052]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart to which the present embodiment can be applied. After the user asks picture recording reservation to the picture recording device  20 , when the starting time of the picture recording reservation has been reached, the program information of the recording program is obtained from the EPG, the program ID corresponding to the recording program and the access destination information  67  of the destination on which the program is to be recorded for managing the motion picture data are generated, the motion picture data information management table  60  is generated, the table is registered to the motion picture data information management database (DB), thus starting the picture recording process (S 300 ). On this occasion, it is assumed that the recording program is recorded on the motion picture data recording means  24  of the picture recording device  20 , and the access destination information  67  is generated from the network address of the picture recording device  20  and a content ID for specifying the file of the recording program. 
         [0053]    If a motion picture data delivery request is issued (S 310 ) by the reproduction device  10  to the picture recording device  20  in the recording process, and the picture recording device  20  receives the content delivery request, whether or not the resource for delivery of the motion picture data can be prepared in the picture recording device  20  is judged (S 330 ). Specifically, it is confirmed that the input/output load or the input/output rate of the HDD of the picture recording device  20  have not yet exceeded a predetermined value. Regarding the threshold value, it is possible to previously embed a value obtained by subtracting an amount of resources for delivering at least one piece of motion picture data from the resource capacity of the HDD as a fixed value before shipment of the picture recording device  20 , or make the user set the threshold value providing a GUI for setting the threshold. 
         [0054]    Since the delivery resource can be prepared in the case in which no picture recording reservation process or no motion picture data delivery process is executed, after transmitting the requested motion picture data, the flowchart is terminated (S 340 ). Further, in the case in which the motion picture data delivery process has already been started and the delivery resource is lacking although the picture recording process is not in progress, an error code is transmitted to the reproduction device  10 , and the flowchart is terminated. 
         [0055]    In the case in which the picture recording reservation has already been registered in S 330 , the storing destination of the motion picture data is changed while continuing the broadcast receiving process in order for reducing the load on the disk drive. A detailed explanation will hereinafter be presented. Firstly, the picture recording devices  20  and the recording devices  40  capable of accommodating the storing process of the motion picture data are searched via the network. Although the searching method is not particularly limited, in the case of executing in the UPnP, the devices capable of moving the motion picture data are searched in the phase of the device description (S 350 ). 
         [0056]    In the case in which no device capable of accommodating the storing process exists as a result of searching the picture recording devices and the recording devices, the reproduction device  10  is notified of the fact that the resource for the motion picture data delivery has been failed to be provided, and then the process is terminated (S 360 ). 
         [0057]    In the case in which one or more of such picture recording devices  20  or such recording devices  40  exist on the network as a result of the search, the free area in the capacity of the HDD which can be used for storing the data is obtained from each of the devices obtained as the search result (S 370 ). 
         [0058]    The picture recording reservation information is further obtained from each of the picture recording devices picked up in the search. Further, if possible, the picture recording devices can transmit only the reservation information of the program around the recording program, which is presently recorded in the picture recording device  20 , to the picture recording device  20 . 
         [0059]    The picture recording device  20  confirms the capacity of the HDD of each of the recording devices and the picture recording devices thus obtained, obtains an approximate value of the necessary capacity of the HDD from the bit rate of the motion picture data presently recorded and the rest of the period of the program, and performs comparison with the necessary capacity of the HDD. The picture recording device  20  then checks off the devices with shorter capacity of HDD, and arranges the devices capable of providing the necessary HDD capacity in the descending order of the HDD capacity in which the picture recording is possible to form a transmission destination candidate list. Further, in the case in which the device including the target device includes the picture recording device, the picture recording reservation information overlapping the presently recorded program in the recording period is searched, and the picture recording devices satisfying this condition are checked off, thus the transmission destination candidate list is formed. Through the process described above, the recording device or the picture recording device with the largest HDD capacity is determined as the transmission destination (S 380 ). 
         [0060]    When the motion picture data transmission destination is determined, the picture recording process to the HDD of the picture recording device  20  is terminated, and it is arranged to transmit the received motion picture data to the recording device or the picture recording device thus determined based on the search result to store the data therein (S 390 ). When the broadcast period of the program presently recorded has elapsed, the picture recording device  20  terminates the transmission of the motion picture data, and obtains the access destination information of the transmitted motion picture data from the transmission destination (S 400 ). The picture recording device  20  registers the access destination information of the divided motion picture data thus obtained to the motion picture data information management table formed in S 300 , and the flowchart is terminated (S 410 ). 
         [0061]    On this occasion, in the case in which the resource condition of the recording device or the picture recording device to which the motion picture data has been transmitted has changed to disable the transmission and recording of the motion picture data, the picture recording device  20  of the transmission source is notified of stop of transmission, and is also notified of the access destination information of the picture recording data already stored therein. 
         [0062]    The picture recording device  20 , when receiving the notification of the stop of transmission from the recording device or the picture recording device of the transmission destination, registers the access destination information of the already stored picture recording data to the motion picture data information management table, and at the same time, selects the recording device or the picture recording device to which the transmission is subsequently performed, and then continues transmission of the motion picture data. 
         [0063]    The recording device or the picture recording device to which the transmission is subsequently performed is assumed to be the recording device or the picture recording device listed in the second position of the transmission destination candidate list formed by searching before starting the transmission. Further, it is also possible to execute the process in S 380  described above once again to search the recording device or the picture recording device of the transmission destination. 
         [0064]    Although in the process of S 330  an example of making the judgment based on the resource value of the HDD is explained, in the case in which the delivery of the motion picture data is performed after executing recoding or the case in which the delivery of the motion picture data is performed after executing encryption, a lot of resource of the CPU  21  is also required, and therefore it is possible to make the judgment based on the overall system resources of the picture recording device  20 . 
         [0065]    Further, the resource value for each kind of motion picture data is set previously, the delivery resource value to be the delivery target is added to the present resource value of the picture recording device  20  in response to a delivery request, and the judgment can be made based on whether or not the obtained value exceeds the maximum resource value of the picture recording device  20 , instead of the judgment by the comparison with the threshold value. 
         [0066]    A method of reproducing the divided motion picture data with the reproduction device  10  based on the motion picture data information management table  60  will hereinafter be described. Firstly, a method of providing a play list to the reproduction device  10  by the picture recording device  20  will be explained. 
         [0067]    In order for selecting the motion picture data stored in the picture recording device  20  from the reproduction device  10 , the reproduction device  10  obtains a list of the motion picture data information. The motion picture data information is added with the URI for accessing the motion picture data, and when the motion picture data is elected from the list of the motion picture data information, reproduction of the motion picture data is started using the URI. On this occasion, by adding two or more of the URI provided as the motion picture data information, the reproduction device  10  can obtain all of the access destinations of the divided motion picture data. The reproduction device  10  reproduces the data sequentially along the list of the URI thus added thereto, thereby making it possible to reproduce all of the motion picture data. 
         [0068]    Subsequently, a method of reproducing the data by the reproduction device after the data is redirected by the picture recording device  20  will be explained. When the reproduction device  10  reproduces the motion picture data divided and stored in two or more of the devices, by obtaining the motion picture data in the order of the access destination of the motion picture data information on the picture recording device  20  for managing the motion picture data information, and transmitting the motion picture data to the reproduction device  10  in real time, it becomes possible for the reproduction device  10  to reproduce the motion picture data as single motion picture data. In this case, the URI of the motion picture data added to the list of the motion picture data information obtained by the reproduction device  10  is unique. 
         [0069]    Subsequently, a method of reproducing the data by the reproduction device after the picture recording device  20  links the motion picture data will be explained. Prior to the reproduction device  10  accessing the motion picture data, the motion picture data divided and stored in two or more of the devices is moved to the HDD of the picture recording device  20 , and linked to generate single motion picture data. It is assumed that regarding obtaining and linking of the motion picture data, the linking operation is performed when the recording device or the picture recording device, which records the last one of the divided motion picture data, notifies, at the time point when the picture recording is finished, the picture recording device  20  of the fact that the picture recording is finished, or the linking operation is performed in a time zone when the user does not use the device.