Title of Invention

"SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY CARD, PLAYBACK APPARATUS, RECORDING APPARATUS, PLAYBACK METHOD AND RECORDING METHOD"

Abstract

A plurality of audio object (AOB) files and a plurality of picture object (POB) files are stored. Default Play list Information and sets of Play list Information each show an order in which AOBs stored in the plurality of AOB files are to be reproduced. The DPLGI includes DPLI_POB_SRPs that specify at least one POB to be displayed during the playback period of AOBs indicated by the playback order given in the Default Playlist Information. The TKGI includes TKI_POB_SRPs that specify at least one POB to be displayed only during the playback period of a particular AOB out of the AOBs indicated by the playback order given in the Default Playlist Information.

Full Text

DESCRIPTION SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY CARD, PLAYBACK APPARATUS, RECORDING APPARATUS, PLAYBACK METHOD, RECORDING METHOD, AND A COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM Technical Field The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory card that stores audio data, still image data and control data, and to a playback apparatus, recording apparatus, playback method, recording method, and computer-readable recording medium relating to such a semiconductor memory card. In particular, the present: invention relates to improved storage of audio data, image data and control data distributed as contents by a content distribution service, such as an electronic music distribution service. Background Art Electronic music distribution enables users to purchase and receive music contents (e.g., songs and albums) via the Internet. Such technology has the potential to greatly change the market for recorded music and is gradually becoming possible as the necessary infrastructure is introduced. One way to store music contents that are obtained from an electronic music distribution service is on semiconductor memory cards whose portability makes them ideal. Accordingly,, a great increase is expected in the demand for such cards. Music contents are not restricted to merely containing audio data. As one example, "mixed-media" audio contents can include related images that are to be displayed when music is played back. Such mixed-media audio contents can be used for "karaoke software" that is composed of a backing audio track and images for the lyrics of a song and a background. It is believed such mixed-media audio contents will also be subject to electronic music distribution, so that it is necessary to consider how such contents should be stored in a semiconductor memory card. The following describes howmixed-mediamusic contents are stored on a recording medium, such as a CD (Compact Disc) , which is to say, how audio data and image da~a are conventionally stored on a recording medium. To enable a player to play backmusic and display images, a conventional mixed-media music content is recorded onto a recording medium as multiplexed data produced by multiplexing audio data for the music with image data for the lyrics and/or background images. When the multiplexed data is reproduced, the image data can be displayed while the audio data is being played back. A CD-Graphics disc is one example of a medium that enables image data to be displayed while audio data is being played backed by having such data multiplexed together. When producing a CD-Graphics disc, data is multiplexed in units composed of 16-bit main codes and subcodes. Audio data is assigned to the 16-bit main codes, while image data for lyrics, background images and the like is assigned to the subcodes. When playback commences for any of the music contents recorded on a CD-Graphics disc, the audio data assigned to the 16-bit main codes is successively played back while the image data assigned to the subcodes is successively displayed. When audio data and image data are multiplexed together in this way, it becomes necessary to provide separate images to each music content in a music album. This means that in this conventional multiplexing method, a disc producer has had to go to the trouble of producing at least one image for each music content. It is believed that fans of major recording artists will appreciate having a different image for each song (music content) on an album. Since such artists can expect to sell many copies of their albums, the cost of providing such extra material should be covered by sales. However, minor artists cannot expect high sales for their work even if different images are provided for each song, so that the cost of providing such material may not be offset by sales. In this way, the commercial effect that results from the money and effort expended in the production of images will greatly differ depending on whether the artist is popular. With conventional discs, however, it is necessary to assign at least one image to each music content, regardless of how popular the recording artist is or of how many sales can be expected. As a result, producers are dissatisfied with conventional media. Disclosure of the Invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor memory card that can reduce the effort required when providing images for a plurality of audio contents that compose an album. When images are displayed during the playback of audio contents, images that represent, the lyrics of a song should only be displayed during the playback of the corresponding song. Background images, however, may be commonly used during the playback of any number of songs . As one example, when the songwriter or artist is the same, the same picture of the songwriter or artist can be used as a background image for a number of songs. It is believed that this will make it easy for disc producers to store music data (audio objects) and image data (picture objects) together. The sharing of image data (still image objects) between a plurality of audio objects can be preferably achieved by c. semiconductor memory card storing: an audio sequence including a plurality 01 audio objects; a plurality of still image objects; at least one piece of playback route information showing an order in which audio objects, out of the plurality of audio objects in the audio sequence, are to be played back; at least one piece of first pointer information, each of which corresponds to a piece of playback route information and specifies at least one still image object that should be displayed when the audio objects in the order indicated by the corresponding piece of playback route information are played back; and at least one piece of second pointer information, each of which corresponds to an audio object in the audio sequence and specifies at least one still image object that should be displayed only during playback of the corresponding audio object. A plurality of audio objects in an audio sequence are played back in accordance with a playback order given in a piece of playback route information. Still image objects that are to be displayed as background images during the playback of the audio objects are indicated by the first pointer information corresponding to the playback route information. As a result, shared still image objects can be displayed during the playback period of the plurality of audio objects included in the audio sequence. Since the same images can be used for a plurality of tracks, the same image or images can be displayed during the playback of a plurality of audio objects in an audio sequence that corresponds to an album by a minor recording artist. This reduces the cost and effort of producing images for such an album. Conversely, a plurality of different images can be provided for display during the playback of each audio object in an audio sequence that corresponds to an album by a major recording artist. Displaying a number of different images for each track makes the album more appealing to customers, and so can improve sales. When there are still image objects, such as for song lyrics, that are to be displayed separately to the background images only during the playback of a particular track, such still image objects can be specified using second pointer information to assign the still image objects to only the particular track. Here, the semiconductor memory card may further store a plurality of symbolic counters, each of which corresponds to a still image object and shows whether the still image object is specified by any of the at least one piece of first pointer information and the at least one piece of second pointer information and, if so, how many pieces of first pointer information and second pointer information specify the still image object. When deleting audio objects and audio sequences, the recording apparatus for a semiconductor memory card specifies the second pointer information for the deleted audio objects and audio sequences and the first pointer information for any deleted audio sequence . The recording apparatus then decrements the numbers assigned to still image objects to show how many pieces of first pointer information and second pointer information specify each object. When the number assigned to any still image object reaches zero, the recording apparatus assumes that no piece of first pointer information or second pointer information specifies the still image object and so deletes the still image object. By deleting unused still image objects in this way, the storage capacity of a semiconductor memory card can be used more efficiently. Brief Description Of The Drawings These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a specific embodiment of the invention. In the Drawings: FIG. 1 shows the appearance of a flash memory card 31 when viewed from above; FIG. 2 shows the construction of the flash memory card 31 when viewed from below; FIG. 3 shows the hierarchical composition of the flash memory card 31 in the embodiments; FIG. 4A shows the special region, the authentication region and the user region provided in the physical layer of the flash memory card 31; FIG. 4B shows the composition of the authentication region and the user region in the file system layer; FIG. 5 shows the detailed composition of the file system layer; FIG. 6 is a representation of when the AOB file "AOBOOl.SAl" is divided into five parts that are stored in clusters 003, 004, 005, 00A, and 00C; FIG. 7 shows one example of the settings of the directory entries and file allocation table when the AOB file "AOBOOl.SAl" is recorded in a plurality of clusters; FIGs. 8A and 8B show what directories are provided in the user region and the authentication region in the file system layer when the above two types of data are recorded in the application layer, as well as what kind of files are recorded in which directories; FIG. 9 shows the correspondence between the file "A0BSA1.KEY" and the AOB files in the SD_Audio directories; FIG. 10 shows the hierarchical composition of the data in an AOB file; FIG. 11A shows the parameters stipulated by ISO/IEC 13818-7 standard in tabular form; FIG. 11B shows the parameters that should be used when encoding a file in MPEG-Layer 3 (MP3) format in tabular form; FIG. 11C shows the parameters that should be used when encoding a file in Windows Media Audio (WMA) format in tabular form; FIG. 12 shows the detailed construction of an AOB_FRAME; FIG. 13 shows how the byte length of the audio data in each of three AOB_FRAMEs is set; FIG. 14 shows the correspondence between the sampling_frequency and the number of AOB_FRAMEs included in an AOB_ELEMENT; FIG. 15 shows examples of the playback periods of AOB_ELEMENTs and the playback periods of AOB_FRAMEs; FIG. 16 shows what is reproduced when the AOBs and AOB_BLOCKs recorded in an AOB file are consecutively played back; FIG. 17 shows the hierarchical composition of the PlaylistManager and TrackManager used in the embodiments in detail; FIG. 18 shows the sizes of the PlaylistManager and the TrackManager; FIG. 19 shows the correspondence between the TKIs shown in FIG. 17 and the AOBs and AOB files shown in FIG. 16; FIG. 20 shows the detailed data composition of the TKTMSRT shown in FIG. 17; FIG. 21 shows one example of the TKTMSRT; FIG. 22 shows the detailed composition of the TKGI; FIGs. 23A and 23B show the composition of the BIT; FIG. 23C shows the Time_Length field; FIG. 24 shows cluster 007 to 00E into which the AOB composed of AOB_ELEMENT#l to AOB_ELEMENT#4 are stored; FIG. 25 shows how the next AOB_FRAME#x+l to be played back is set when forward search is performed starting from the AOB_FRAME#x in an arbitrary AOB_ELEMENT#y in an AOB; FIGs. 26A and 26B shows how an AOB, an AOB_ELEMENT, and an AOB_FRAME that correspond to an arbitrary playback time code are specified; FIGS. 27A and 27B show the deletion of a track; FIG. 28A shows the TrackManager after the deletion of a track has been performed several times; FIG. 28B shows how a new TKI and AOB file are written when "Unused" TKIs are present in the TrackManager; FIGS . 29A and 29B show the TKIs are set when two tracks are combined to produce a new track; FIG. 30A shows a Typel AOB; FIG. 30B shows Type2 AOBs; FIG. 31A shows the combining of a plurality of tracks into a single track for a combination of a Typel+ Type2+ Type2+ Typel AOB; FIG. 31B shows the combining of a plurality of tracks into a single track for a combination of a Typel+ Type2+ Type2+ Type2+ Typel AOB; FIG. 32A shows a pattern where a Typel AOB is present at the end of a preceding track and a Typel AOB is present at the start of a next track; FIG. 32B shows a pattern where a Typel AOB is present at the end of a first track and a Type2 AOB is present at the start of a next track; FIG. 32C shows a pattern where a Typel and Type2 AOB are present at the end of a first track and a Typel AOB is present at the start of a next track; FIG. 32D shows a pattern where a Typel and Type2 AOB are present at the end of a first track and a Type2 and a Typel AOB is present at the start of a next track; FIG. 32E shows a pattern where two Type2 AOBs are present at the end of a first track and a Typel is present at the start of a next track; FIGS . 33Aand 33B show the division of a track to produce two tracks; FIGS. 34A and 34B show the content of the SD_Audio directory entries in the SD__Audio directory including the AOB file "AOB003.SA1" before and after the division of the track; FIG. 35A shows the division of an AOB midway through A0B_ELEMENT#2; FIG. 35B shows the two AOBs, A0B#1 and A0B#2, obtained by dividing an AOB midway through A0B_ELEMENT#2; FIG. 36 shows how the BIT is set when an AOB is divided as shown in FIG. 35; FIG. 37 shows a specific example of changes in the BIT before and after division; FIG. 38 shows a specific example of changes in the TKTMSRT before and after division; FIG. 39A shows the format of a DPL_TK_SRP; FIG. 39B shows the format of a PL_TK_SRP; FIG. 40 shows the interrelation between the Default_Playlist_Information, theTKIs, and the AOB files; FIG. 41 shows example settings for the Default_Playlist and several PLIs; FIG. 42 shows how the DPL_TK_SRPs correspond to TKIs using the same notation as FIG. 40; FIGS. 43A and 43B show how the order of tracks is rearranged; FIGS. 44A and 44B show how the Default_Playlist, TrackManager, and AOB files will be updated when DPL_TK_SRP#2andTKI#2aredeletedfromtheDefault_Playlist shown in FIG. 40; FIGS. 45A and 45B show how a new TKI and DPL_TK_SRP are written when an "Unused" TKI and DPL_TK_SRP are present; FIGS. 4 6A and 4 6B show how tracks are combined; FIGS. 47A and 47B shows how a track is divided; FIG. 48 shows the appearance of a portable playback apparatus for the flash memory card 31 of the present embodiments; FIG. 4 9 shows one example of the display on the LCD panel when a playlist is selected; FIGS. 50A to 50E show examples of the display on the LCD panel when a track is selected; FIGS. 51A to 51C show example operations of the jog dial; FIG. 52 shows the internal construction of the reproduction apparatus; FIG. 53 shows how data is transferred in and out of the double buffer 15; FIG. 54A and 54B shows how areas in the double buffer 15 are cyclically allocated using ring pointers; FIG. 55 is a flowchart showing the AOB file read procedure; FIG. 56 is a flowchart showing the AOB file output procedure; FIG. 57 is a flowchart showing the AOB file output procedure; FIG. 58 is a flowchart showing the AOB file output procedure; FIGS. 59A to 59D show how the playback time code displayed in the playback time code frame on the LCD panel 5 is updated in accordance with the updating of the variable Play_time; FIG. 60 is a flowchart shows the processing of the CPU 10 when the forward search function is used; FIGS. 61A to 61D show how the playback time code is incremented when the forward search function is used; FIGS. 62A and 62B show specific examples of how the time search function is used; FIG. 63 is a flowchart showing the processing in the editing control program; FIG. 64 is a flowchart showing the processing in the We Claim:- 1. A semiconductor memory card, storing: • an audio sequence comprising a plurality of audio objects; • a plurality of still image objects; • at least one piece of playback route information showing an order in which audio objects, out of the plurality of audio objects in the audio sequence, are to be played back; • at least one piece of first pointer information, each of which corresponds to a piece of playback route information and specifies at least one still image object that should be displayed when the audio objects in the order indicated by the corresponding piece of playback route information are played back; and • at least one piece of second pointer information, each of which corresponds to an audio object in the audio sequence and specifies at least one still image object that should be displayed only during playback of the corresponding audio object. 2. A semiconductor memory card as claimed in Claim 1, wherein at least one audio object is music data, • the plurality of still image objects comprises at least one still image object showing lyrics for a song represented by music data in an audio object, and • at least one piece of second pointer information specifies each still image object showing lyrics for a song represented by music data in the audio object corresponding to the piece of second pointer information. 3. A semiconductor memory card as claimed in Claim 1, wherein it stores • a plurality of symbolic counters, each of which corresponds to a still image object and shows whether the still image object is specified by any of the at least one piece of first pointer information and the at least one piece of second pointer information and, if so, how many pieces of first pointer information and second pointer information specify the still image object. 4. A semiconductor memory card as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the plurality of still image objects comprises at least one still image object that has been encrypted, and • the semiconductor memory card stores: • management information comprising identification information for each still image object, additional information showing whether each still image object has been encrypted, and a storage position of each still image object; and • at least one decryption key for use when decrypting the at least one encrypted still image object, the at least one decryption key being accessible to a device connected to the semiconductor memory card only if the device has been found to be authentic, • the pieces of first pointer information and second pointer information specifying still image objects using the identification information given in the management information. 5. A semiconductor memory card as claimed in Claim 4, comprising: • a protected area that stores the at least one decryption key and is accessible to a device connected to the semiconductor memory card only if the device has been found to be authentic; and • an unprotected area that is accessible to any device connected to the semiconductor memory card, • the audio sequence, the plurality of still image objects, each piece of playback route information, each piece of first pointer information, each piece of second pointer information, and the management information being stored in the unprotected area, and • the at least one encrypted still image object having been encrypted using the at least one decryption key stored in the protected area. 6. A semiconductor memory card as claimed in Claim 5, wherein at least two still image objects, out of the plurality of still image objects, have been encrypted, • at least two decryption keys are stored in a predetermined order in the protected area as a decryption key sequence, and • the identification information for each encrypted still image object includes a key number showing a position in the decryption key sequence of the decryption key corresponding to the encrypted still image object. 7. A playback apparatus for a semiconductor memory card, • the semiconductor memory card storing (1) an audio sequence including a plurality of audio objects, (2) a plurality of still image objects, (3) first pointer information specifying at least one still image object that should be displayed when the plurality of audio objects in the audio sequence are played back, and (4) at least one piece of second pointer information, each of which specifies at least one still image object that should be displayed only when a particular audio object in the audio sequence is played back, • the playback apparatus comprising: • playback means for playing back audio objects in the audio sequence one at a time in order; • display means for displaying the at least one still image object specified by the first pointer information throughout playback of the audio objects in the audio sequence; and • control means for having the display means display the at least one still image object specified by a piece of second pointer information throughout playback of a particular audio object corresponding to the piece of second pointer information. 8. A playback apparatus as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the control means has the display means display a combined image produced by combining the at least one still image object specified by the piece of second pointer information with the at least one still image object specified by the first pointer information. 9. A recording apparatus for a semiconductor memory card that stores a plurality of still image objects and an audio sequence including a plurality of audio objects, • the recording apparatus comprising: • assigning means for assigning to the audio sequence at least one still image object that is to be displayed throughout playback of the plurality of audio objects, and assigning at least one still image object that is to be displayed throughout playback of a particular audio object to the particular audio object; and • recording means for recording o (1) first pointer information showing the at least one still image object assigned to the audio sequence, and o (2) second pointer information showing the at least one still image object assigned to the particular audio object • onto the semiconductor memory card. • y card. 10. A playback method for playing back data from a semiconductor memory card as claimed in claim 1, the semiconductor memory card storing (1) an audio sequence including a plurality of audio objects, (2) a plurality of still image objects, (3) first pointer information specifying at least one still image object that should be displayed when the plurality of audio objects in the audio sequence are played back, and (4) at least one piece of second pointer information, each of which specifies at least one still image object that should be displayed only when a particular audio object in the audio sequence is played back, • the playback method comprising: • a playback step for playing back audio objects in the audio sequence one at a time in order; • a display step for displaying the at least one still image object specified by the first pointer information throughout playback of the audio objects in the audio sequence; and • a control step for having the display step display the at least one still image object specified by a piece of second pointer information throughout playback of a particular audio object corresponding to the piece of second pointer information. 11. A playback method as claimed in Claim 13, wherein the control step has the display step display a combined image produced by combining the at least one still image object specified by the piece of second pointer information with the at least one still image object specified by the first pointer information. 12. A recording method for a semiconductor memory card as claimed in claim 1, that stores a plurality of still image objects and an audio sequence including a plurality of audio objects, • the recording method comprising: • an assigning step for assigning to the audio sequence at least one still image object that is to be displayed throughout playback of the plurality of audio objects, and assigning at least one still image object that is to be displayed throughout playback of a particular audio object to the particular audio object; and • a recording step for recording o (1) first pointer information showing the at least one still image object assigned to the audio sequence, and o (2) second pointer information showing the at least one still image object assigned to the particular audio object • onto the semiconductor memory card.

Documents:

in-pct-2001-00036-del-abstract.pdf

in-pct-2001-00036-del-assignment.pdf

in-pct-2001-00036-del-claims.pdf

in-pct-2001-00036-del-complete specification (granted.pdf

IN-PCT-2001-00036-DEL-Correspondence-Others-(06-02-2009).pdf

in-pct-2001-00036-del-correspondence-others.pdf

in-pct-2001-00036-del-correspondence-po.pdf

in-pct-2001-00036-del-description (complete).pdf

in-pct-2001-00036-del-drawings.pdf

IN-PCT-2001-00036-DEL-Form-1-(06-02-2009).pdf

in-pct-2001-00036-del-form-1.pdf

in-pct-2001-00036-del-form-19.pdf

IN-PCT-2001-00036-DEL-Form-2-(06-02-2009).pdf

in-pct-2001-00036-del-form-2.pdf

in-pct-2001-00036-del-form-3.pdf

in-pct-2001-00036-del-form-5.pdf

IN-PCT-2001-00036-DEL-GPA-(06-02-2009).pdf

IN-PCT-2001-00036-DEL-Others-Document-(06-02-2009).pdf

in-pct-2001-00036-del-pct-101.pdf

in-pct-2001-00036-del-pct-210.pdf

in-pct-2001-00036-del-pct-220.pdf

in-pct-2001-36-del-Correspondence Others-(22-01-2014).pdf

in-pct-2001-36-del-Form-3-(22-01-2014).pdf