Information processing apparatus, information delivery system, information processing method, and recording medium

• US 6,993,536 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2001
• Issued: 01/31/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Yamanaka, Yasuhiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Padmanabhan, Mano
• Assistant Examiner(s): Baker, Paul A.
• Application Number:
  US09/815,648
• Publication Number:
  US 20020083433A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,775 Days
• Field of Search: 707/104.1, 709/236
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00086 Circuits for prevention of unauthorised reproduction or copying, e.g. piracy indicating unauthorised use of record carriers in general G11B23/28; scrambling for television signal recording H04N5/913; network architectures or network protocols for network security H04L63/00; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/10 Digital recording or reproducing
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/1217 on discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/1221 cluster, i.e. a data structure which consists of a fixed number of sectors or ECC blocks
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/1277 for managing gaps between two recordings, e.g. control data in linking areas, run-in or run-out fields, guard or buffer zones
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2529 Mini-discs
• 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 27/329 on a disc [VTOC]
• 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 7/00 Recording or reproducing by optical means, e.g. recording using a thermal beam of optical radiation by modifying optical properties or the physical structure, reproducing using an optical beam at lower power by sensing optical properties; Record carriers therefor G11B11/00, G11B13/00 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation
• 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 multimedia file has a format in which actual data is embedded in a file structure. The multimedia information is assembled in blocks, each composed of a header area and a data area, and has a hierarchical structure in which a block is embedded in another block. Header area information may include a file name identification information (block name), a number of child blocks information and data length identification information. This arrangement facilitates the creation and editing of a multimedia file, permitting high-speed data searching.

Claims

1. An apparatus for processing information, comprising:

an information acquisition means for acquiring multimedia information having a structure of block data including a header area and a data area holding data;

a data extractor means for extracting desired data from the multimedia information acquired by the information acquisition means, through searching, based on the content described in the header area of the multimedia information; and

a reproducing means for reproducing the data extracted by the data extractor means,

wherein said desired data includes data without any links,

wherein the data area of one piece of block data stores at least one piece of block data while the header area of one piece of block data has a structure in which block name identification information describing a name identifying the content of at least current block data, child block data count identification information indicating the number of pieces of child block data stored in the data area of the current block data, and data length identification information indicating the data length are arranged in a predetermined order, and

wherein the data extractor means searches for data to be extracted, based on the block name identification information, the child block data count identification information, and the data length identification information.

2. A method for process multimedia information, comprising the steps of:

acquiring, from outside, multimedia information, having a structure of block data, including a header area and a data area holding data;

extracting, through searching, desired data from the multimedia information acquired through the acquiring step, based on the content described in the header area of the multimedia information; and

reproducing the data extracted by the data extracting step,

wherein said desired data includes data without any links,

wherein the data area of one piece of block data stores at least one piece of block data while the header area of one piece of block data has a structure in which block name identification information describing a name identifying the content of at least current block data, child block data count identification information indicating the number of pieces of child block data stored in the data area of the current block data, and data length identification information indicating the data length are arranged in a predetermined order, and

wherein the data extracting step searches for data to be extracted, based on the block name identification information, the child block data count identification information, and the data length identification information.

3. A recording medium for recording desired data extracted from multimedia information, having a structure of block data, including a header area and a data area holding data,

wherein said desired data includes data without any links, and

wherein the data area of one piece of block data stores at least one piece of block data while the header area of one piece of block data has a structure in which block name identification information describing a name identifying the content of at least current block data, child block data count identification information indicating the number of pieces of child block data stored in the data area, and data length identification information indicating the data length of the current block data are arranged in a predetermined order.