Telecom karaoke system

• US 6,516,323 B1
• Filed: 12/19/1997
• Issued: 02/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Kamba, Tomonari
• Primary Examiner(s): Von Buhr, Maria N.
• Application Number:
  US08/995,168
• Time in Patent Office: 1,873 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1-3, 707/10, 707/104.1, 709/201-203, 709/217-219, 434/307.R, 434/307.A
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/00 Teaching not covered by other main groups of this subclass teaching or practice apparatus for gun-aiming or gun-laying F41G3/26
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

A telecom karaoke system is configured by linking a musical data receiving terminal for receiving from a host base station necessary data for musical performance and a WWW page access terminal for accessing a page or a document on WWW via a WWW server. In this configuration, the musical data receiving terminal sequentially transmits to the WWW page access terminal the addresses of pages on WWW, superposed on the musical data. Further, the WWW page access terminal, when a musical number is selected, notifies the information on music selection to the data receiving terminal and, at the same time, updates data related to the musical number (a list of the number of accesses and the like) on the WWW server.

Claims

1. A karaoke system coupled to a world wide web (WWW) server that stores WWW documents of a menu for selecting a musical number to be played, and records information regarding a selection result of said menu, comprising:

a WWW server access terminal, which is connected to said WWW server, and which retrieves WWW documents of said menu from said WWW server, and outputs selected information of said menu for renewing said information regarding selection results recorded in said WWW server;

a host base station which stores necessary data for performance of music; and

a terminal apparatus, which is connected to said WWW server access terminal and said host base station respectively, and which receives said selected information output from said WWW server access terminal, requests musical data corresponding to said information from said WWW server access terminal to said host base station, and performs the musical number in accordance with received musical data from said host base station.

2. A karaoke system coupled to a world wide web (WWW) server that stores WWW documents including a menu for selecting a musical number to be played, and storing information regarding selection of the musical number, comprising:

a WWW server access terminal, which is connected to said WWW server, which retrieves WWW documents from said WWW server in accordance with address information received, displays contents of said WWW document including said menu, and outputs related information selected in conjunction with said displayed WWW document including said menu for renewing management data stored in said WWW server,

a host base station which stores musical data including data necessary for the performance of a musical number and address information of the WWW document to be retrieved related to said musical number; and

a terminal apparatus, which is connected to said WWW server access terminal and said host base station respectively, and which receives information output from said WWW server access terminal, requests musical data corresponding to said information from said WWW server access terminal to said host base station when said information relates to contents of said menu, performs the musical number in accordance with received musical data from said host base station, and transfers said address information separated from received musical data from said host base station to said WWW server access terminal.

3. A karaoke system, as claimed in claim 2, wherein said management data is renewed in said WWW server based on the information regarding the selection of the musical number, and wherein said management data includes a ranking of musical numbers based on selections of the musical numbers as made by users accessing said WWW server within a particular time period, and wherein the ranking is provided to the users accessing said WWW server for assistance in making a music selection from said menu.

4. A karaoke system coupled to a world wide web (WWW) server that stores WWW documents including a menu for selecting a musical number to be played, and storing information regarding selection of the musical number, comprising:

a WWW server access terminal, which is connected to said WWW server, and which retrieves WWW documents from said WWW server in accordance with address information received, displays contents of said WWW document including said menu, and outputs related information selected in conjunction with said displayed WWW document including said menu for renewing management data stored in said WWW server,

a host base station which stores musical data including data necessary for the performance of a musical number and address information of the WWW document to be retrieved related to said musical number;

a musical data receiving terminal, which is connected to said WWW server access terminal and said host base station respectively, and which receives information output from said WWW server access terminal, requests musical data corresponding to said information from said WWW server access terminal to said host base station when said information relates to contents of said menu;

a signal separator, which is connected to said WWW server access terminal and said musical data receiving terminal respectively, and which separates said musical data received by said musical data receiving terminal into said data necessary for the performance of the musical number and said address information, and outputs them separately, wherein said address information is supplied to said WWW server access terminal; and

a music playback device, which is connected to said signal separator, and which receives said data necessary for the performance of the musical number, and plays the musical number in accordance with said data output from said signal separator.

5. A karaoke system, as claimed in claim 4, further comprising:

a video display unit, which is connected to said signal separator and to said WWW server, and which provides said address information that corresponds to a WWW page, to said WWW server, and which receives data corresponding to the WWW page from said WWW server for displaying on said video display unit at a same time said musical number is being played by said music playback device.

6. A method used in a telecom karaoke system that is coupled to a world wide web (WWW) server that stores WWW documents of a menu for selecting a musical number to be played, and which records information regarding a selection result of said menu, the system including a host base station for storing necessary data for the performance of music and a terminal apparatus for performing said musical number in accordance with the data, the method comprising:

displaying the menu for selecting a musical number at said terminal apparatus, the menu being obtained from the WWW server;

transferring, when the musical number is selected in accordance with the menu displayed at said terminal apparatus, necessary data for the performance of the selected number from said host base station to said terminal apparatus;

performing the musical number at said terminal apparatus in accordance with said transferred data; and

renewing the information regarding selection results of said menu recorded in said WWW server.

7. A method used in a telecom karaoke system that is coupled to a world wide web (WWW) server that stores WWW documents including a menu for selecting a musical number to be played, and which records information regarding selection results of said menu, the method comprising:

storing, at said host base station, musical data that includes data necessary for the performance of said musical number and address information of the WWW document to be retrieved related to said musical number;

transferring said musical data from said host base station to said terminal apparatus;

displaying the menu for selecting a musical number at said terminal apparatus;

transferring, when the musical number is selected in accordance with the menu displayed at said terminal apparatus, musical data on the selected musical number from said host base station to said terminal apparatus;

playing back at said terminal apparatus, in accordance with the data necessary for the performance of said musical number, contained in the transferred musical data;

displaying images indicated by said address information in the transferred musical data in parallel with the performance of the number at said terminal apparatus, the images being obtained from said WWW server in accordance with said address information; and

renewing the information regarding selection results of said menu recorded in said WWW server.

8. A computer-readable medium that is used in a system coupled to a world wide web (WWW) server that stores WWW documents of a menu for selecting a musical number to be played, and the WWW server records information regarding selection results of said menu, the computer-readable medium comprising:

a computer-readable data storage device;

a program stored on said device, said program causing a computer;

to display the menu for selecting a musical number, the menu being obtained from the WWW server;

to receive, when the musical number is selected in accordance with the menu, necessary data for the performance of said selected number from a host base station storing necessary data for the performance of musical numbers;

to perform the musical number in accordance with the received data; and

to renew the information regarding selection results of said menu recorded in said WWW server.

9. A computer-readable medium that is used in a system coupled to a world wide web (WWW) server that stores WWW documents including a menu for selecting a musical number to be played, and the WWW server records information regarding selection results of said menu, the computer-readable medium comprising:

a computer-readable data storage device;

a program stored on said device, said program causing a computer;

to display, at a musical data receiving terminal, the menu for selecting a musical number is described, the menu being obtained from the WWW server;

to renew the information regarding selection results of said menu recorded in said WWW server;

to receive, when the musical number is selected in accordance with the a selection made from the menu, from a host base station storing said musical data including data necessary for the performance of a musical number and address information of pictorial images to be displayed in parallel with the performance of said musical number, the address information superposed on the necessary data for the performance, the address information indicating where in said WWW server the corresponding pictorial images are located;

to perform the musical number in accordance with the necessary data for the performance of said number contained in the received musical data; and

to display images indicated by said storage address information contained in the received musical data in parallel with the performance of the musical number.

10. A karaoke system coupled to a world wide web (WWW) server that stores WWW documents of a menu for selecting a musical number to be played, and accumulates data regarding the selection of the musical number from a plurality of musical numbers, comprising:

a WWW server access terminal, which is connected to said WWW server, and which retrieves WWW documents of said menu from said WWW server, and outputs selection data regarding the selection of the musical number to said WWW server;

a host base station which stores necessary data for performance of music; and

a terminal apparatus, which is connected to said WWW server access terminal and said host base station respectively, and which receives the selection data output from said WWW server access terminal, requests musical data corresponding to the selection data from said WWW server access terminal to said host base station, and performs the musical number in accordance with received music data from said host base station.

11. A karaoke system coupled to a world wide web (WWW) server that stores WWW documents of a menu for selecting a musical number to be played, and accumulates data regarding the selection of the musical number of each user from a plurality of musical numbers, comprising:

a WWW server access terminal, which is connected to said WWW server, and which retrieves WWW documents of said menu from said WWW server, and outputs selection data regarding the selection of the musical number and including the user'"'"'s information to said WWW server;

a host base station which stores necessary data for performance of a music; and

a terminal apparatus, which is connected to said WWW server access terminal and said host base station respectively, and which receives the selection data output from said WWW server access terminal, requests musical data corresponding to the selection data from said WWW server access terminal to said host base station, and performs the musical number in accordance with received music data from said host base station.