System for managing multimedia discs, tracks and files on a standalone computer

• US 6,356,971 B1
• Filed: 03/04/1999
• Issued: 03/12/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Corporation Of America (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Nakamura, Junichi, Shinkai, Hiroyuki, Katz, Norman P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Etienne, Ario
• Application Number:
  US09/262,943
• Time in Patent Office: 1,104 Days
• Field of Search: 710/102, 710/103, 710/301, 710/302, 707/102, 707/103, 707/104, 707/100, 707/10, 707/1, 707/3, 707/7, 369/30, 369/34, 369/36, 369/41, 369/178, 369/190, 369/196, 369/1, 369/37, 369/33
• US Class Current: 710/301
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/20 Disc-shaped record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/213 Read-only discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2545 CDs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2583 wherein two standards are used on a single disc, e.g. one DVD section and one CD section
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/65 wherein solid state memory is used for storing indexing information or metadata
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/002 Programmed access in sequence to a plurality of record carriers or indexed parts, e.g. tracks, thereof, e.g. for editing; transfer of record carriers from magazine G11B15/68, G11B17/10; G11B17/22
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/11 by using information not detectable on the record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/36 Monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing for digital recording G11B20/00 and s.gr.; for monitoring, testing or measuring of TV recorders of the type covered by H04N5/76 and subgroups, see H04N17/06

Abstract

A computer system is provided that allows the content of a user'"'"'s collection of fixed and removable media to be managed without regard to a specific type of media. The computer system performs equally well with files on floppy discs, removable hard-disks such as Iomega Zip, CDDA discs, CD-ROM discs, DVD-ROM discs and recordable or re-writeable variants of CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs. The computer system of the present invention includes a computer program that allows a user to: insert his/her own collection of discs into a changer device and automatically inventory the changer to create a database or “cache” of the titles, directories and file names on all discs in the changer, describe and categorize both audio and CD-ROM discs, sort the discs based on different criteria, load a specific disc into the changer'"'"'s drive to access files or play audio or video tracks, display discs and the multimedia files on the changer either textually or graphically, create playlists and collections of specific files or tracks as a reference for locating them later or incorporating them into presentations, use a built-in player to play a sequence of multimedia clips or tracks, while automatically loading CDs containing these clips and tracks as needed, view certain multimedia discs such as CD-Extra discs as both a set of audio tracks and a directory tree of files, maintain information associated with CDs in a database after the CDs are removed from the disc changer device, and allow the user to browse through his/her CD collection even after the discs have been removed from the disc changer device.

Claims

1. A computer system comprising:

a stand-alone computer;

a disc changer device connected to the stand-alone computer; and

a user'"'"'s collection of discs including both audio and CD-ROM discs, at least a portion of which is loaded in the disc changer device; and

a computer program executed by the stand-alone computer, the computer program comprising instructions for;

detecting insertion of one or more discs in the user'"'"'s collection into the disc changer device;

automatically inventorying the detected discs device to create a database of information identifying each disc inserted in the disc changer device;

describing and categorizing each disc in the user'"'"'s collection;

loading one or more discs in a drive of the disc changer device; and

accessing files or playing audio or video tracks stored on the loaded discs.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the information identifying each disc includes a title, a directory name and a file name.

3. The computer system claim 1, wherein the computer program further comprises instructions for:

detecting a user'"'"'s selection of one of a predefined set of sorting criteria; and

sorting the loaded discs based on the selected criterion.

4. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the computer program further comprises instructions for displaying a set of discs and one or more multimedia files on the disc changer device either textually or graphically.

5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the computer program further comprises instructions for viewing multimedia discs as both a set of audio tracks and a directory tree of files.

6. The computer system of claim 5, wherein the multimedia discs are CD-Extra discs.

7. A computer system comprising:

a stand-alone computer;

a disc changer device connected to the stand-alone computer; and

a user'"'"'s collection of discs including both audio and CD-ROM discs, at least a portion of which is loaded in the disc changer device; and

a computer program executed by the stand-alone computer, the computer program comprising instructions for;

detecting insertion of one or more discs in the user'"'"'s collection into the disc changer device;

automatically inventorying the detected discs to create a database of information identifying each disc in the user'"'"'s collection;

describing and categorizing each disc in the user'"'"'s collection;

arranging one or more files into a file collection; and

batch copying the files in the file collection using the file collection as a reference for locating files on one or more discs and automatically loading the discs on which the files are located into the disc changer device.

8. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the computer program further comprises instructions for using the file collection as a reference to incorporate files into a multimedia presentation.

9. A computer system comprising:

a stand-alone computer;

a disc changer device connected to the stand-alone computer; and

a user'"'"'s collection of discs including both audio and CD-ROM discs, at least a portion of which is loaded in the disc changer device; and

a computer program executed by the stand-alone computer, the computer program comprising instructions for;

detecting insertion of one or more discs in the user'"'"'s collection into the disc changer device;

automatically inventorying the discs inserted into the disc changer device to create a database of information identifying each disc in the user'"'"'s collection;

describing and categorizing each disc in the user'"'"'s collection;

arranging one or more tracks or multimedia files stored in the user'"'"'s collection into a playlist; and

playing the tracks or multimedia files in the playlist while automatically loading the discs on which the tracks or multimedia files are located into the disc changer device.

10. A computer system comprising:

a stand-alone computer;

a disc changer device connected to the stand-alone computer; and

a user'"'"'s collection of discs including both audio and CD-ROM discs, at least a portion of which is loaded in the disc changer device; and

a computer program executed by the stand-alone computer, the computer program comprising instructions for;

detecting insertion of one or more discs in the user'"'"'s collection into the disc changer device;

automatically inventorying the discs inserted into the disc changer device to create a database of the titles, directories and file names on all discs inserted in the disc changer device;

detecting that one or more discs are removed from the disc changer device; and

retrieving information about at least one of the discs removed from the disc changer device from the database.

11. A method for managing a user'"'"'s collection of discs using a stand-alone computer system, the method comprising:

inserting the user'"'"'s collection of discs into a disc changer device, wherein the user'"'"'s collection of discs includes both audio and CD-ROM discs;

automatically inventorying the discs inserted in the disc changer device to create a database of information identifying each disc inserted in the disc changer device;

describing and categorizing each disc in the user'"'"'s collection;

loading one or more of the discs in a drive of the disc changer device; and

accessing files or playing audio or video tracks stored on the loaded discs.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the information identifying each disc includes a title, a directory name and a file name.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

selecting one of a predefined set of sorting criteria; and

sorting the loaded discs based on the selected sorting criterion.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising displaying a set of discs and one or more multimedia files on the disc changer device either textually or graphically.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising viewing multimedia discs as both a set of audio tracks and a directory tree of files.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the multimedia discs are CD-Extra discs.

17. A method for managing a user'"'"'s collection of discs using a stand-alone computer system, the method comprising:

inserting the user'"'"'s collection of discs into a disc changer device, wherein the user'"'"'s collection of discs includes both audio and CD-ROM discs;

automatically inventorying the detected discs to create a database of information identifying each disc in the user'"'"'s collection;

describing and categorizing each disc in the user'"'"'s collection;

arranging one or more files into a file collection; and

batch copying the files in the file collection using the file collection as a reference for locating files on one or more discs and automatically loading the discs on which the files are located into the disc changer device.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising using the collection of files as a reference to incorporate files into a multimedia presentation.

19. A method for managing a user'"'"'s collection of discs using a stand-alone computer system, the method comprising:

inserting the user'"'"'s collection of discs into a disc changer device, wherein the user'"'"'s collection of discs includes both audio and CD-ROM discs;

automatically inventorying the discs inserted into the disc changer device to create a database of information identifying each disc in the user'"'"'s collection;

describing and categorizing each disc in the user'"'"'s collection;

arranging one or more tracks or multimedia files stored in the user'"'"'s collection into a playlist; and

playing the tracks or multimedia files in the playlist while automatically loading the discs on which the tracks or multimedia files are located into the disc changer device.

20. A method for managing a user'"'"'s collection of discs using a stand-alone computer system, the method comprising:

inserting the user'"'"'s collection of discs into a disc changer device;

automatically inventorying the discs inserted into the disc changer device to create a database of the titles, directories and file names on all discs inserted in the disc changer device;

removing one or more discs from the disc changer device; and

the user retrieving information about at least one of the discs removed from the disc changer device from the database.

21. A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer instructions for:

detecting insertion of one or more discs of a user'"'"'s collection of discs, the user'"'"'s collection of discs including both audio and CD-ROM discs, into a disc changer device;

automatically inventorying a plurality of discs inserted in the disc changer device connected to a stand-alone computer to create a database of information identifying each disc inserted in the discs changer device;

describing and categorizing each disc in the user'"'"'s collection;

loading one or more of the plurality of discs in a drive of the disc changer device; and

accessing files or playing audio or video tracks stored on the loaded discs.

22. A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer instructions for:

detecting insertion of one or more discs of a user'"'"'s collection of discs, the user'"'"'s collection of discs including both audio and CD-ROM discs, into a disc changer device;

automatically inventorying a plurality of discs inserted in the disc changer device connected to a stand-alone computer to create a database of information identifying each disc inserted in the disc changer device;

describing and categorizing each disc in the user'"'"'s collection;

arranging one or more files into a file collection; and

batch copying the files in the file collection using the file collection as a reference for locating files on one or more discs and automatically loading the discs on which the files are located into the disc changer device.

23. A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer instructions for:

detecting insertion of one or more discs of a user'"'"'s collection of discs, the user'"'"'s collection of discs including both audio and CD-ROM discs, into a disc changer device;

automatically inventorying a plurality of discs inserted in the disc changer device connected to a stand-alone computer to create a database of information identifying each disc inserted in the disc changer device;

describing and categorizing each disc in the user'"'"'s collection;

arranging one or more tracks or multimedia files stored in the user'"'"'s collection into a playlist; and

playing the tracks or multimedia files in the playlist while automatically loading the corresponding discs into the disc changer device.

24. A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer instructions for:

detecting insertion of one or more discs of a user'"'"'s collection of discs, the user'"'"'s collection of discs including both audio and CD-ROM discs, into a disc changer device;

automatically inventorying a plurality of discs inserted in the disc changer device connected to a stand-alone computer to create a database of information identifying each disc inserted in the disc changer device;

detecting that one or more discs are removed from the disc changer device; and

retrieving information about at least one of the discs removed from the disc changer device from the database.