Information processing apparatus and method and information system

• US 8,095,555 B2
• Filed: 07/31/2008
• Issued: 01/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Wakasa, Shigeki, Soma, Isao, Ishikawa, Yasuharu, Nakayama, Hiroshi
• Primary Examiner(s): LIE, ANGELA M
• Application Number:
  US12/183,496
• Publication Number:
  US 20090043783A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,258 Days
• Field of Search: 707/705, 707/758, 707/769, 707/770
• US Class Current: 707/770
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/68 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/683 using metadata automatically derived from the content
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/686 using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, title or artist information, time, location or usage information, user ratings

Abstract

Disclosed herein is an information processing apparatus as a terminal apparatus with respect to a server which provides content data, including: a management data acquisition section; a display control section; a selection operation acceptance section; a requesting section; and a content data acquisition section.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus, comprising:

management data acquisition means for controlling a first communication section, which carries out a first proximity radio communication by a first communication method by which said information processing apparatus transmits and receives information to and from a different terminal apparatus positioned in the proximity of said information processing apparatus, to acquire management data to be utilized for a management of content data from the different terminal apparatus by the first communication method, the management data including at least identification information of the content data and a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of a server, the first communication method having a first communication distance, which is shorter than a second communication distance of a second communication method;

selection operation acceptance means for accepting a selection operation for selecting the content data by selecting the management data;

decision means for deciding whether or not a second proximity radio communication by the second communication method with the different terminal apparatus is possible;

requesting means for controlling a second communication section, which communicates with the server, to issue, in response to said decision means deciding that the second proximity radio communication is not possible, a request for the content data selected by the selection operation accepted by said selection operation acceptance means to the server; and

content data acquisition means for controlling the second communication section to acquire the content data when supplied in response to the request by said requesting means, wherein the requesting means controls a third communication section to issue, in response to said decision means deciding that the second proximity radio communication is possible and the selection operation for selecting the content data by selecting the management data being accepted, a content request to the different terminal apparatus by carrying out the second proximity radio communication by the second communication method, and the content data acquisition means controls said third communication section to acquire the content data when supplied in response to the content request.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

storage means for storing the management data in advance; and

management data supplying means for reading out the management data stored in said storage means and for controlling the first communication section to supply the read out management data by the first proximity radio communication to the different terminal apparatus positioned in the proximity of said information processing apparatus.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the content data supplied in response to the request are music data which are sound data of a musical composition, and the management data include musical composition information which is information relating to the musical composition.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

notification means for issuing a notification that the content data corresponding to the management data acquired by said management data acquisition means have been acquired from the server by said content data acquisition means to the different terminal apparatus which is a providing source of the management data.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the management data include information of the different terminal apparatus which is a providing source of the management data, and said requesting means provides the information of the different terminal apparatus which is the providing source of the management data to the server.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

the third communication section, the decision means deciding whether or not the different terminal apparatus exists in the second communication distance of the second communication method, said requesting means issuing, when said decision means decides that the different terminal apparatus does not exist in the second communication distance of the second communication method and the selection operation is accepted by said selection operation acceptance means, the request.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

display control means for controlling a display section to display the management data acquired by said management data acquisition means as image information.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information received from the different terminal apparatus includes an information disclosure level of the different terminal apparatus.

9. An information processing method for an information processing apparatus, the method comprising:

controlling a first communication section, which carries out a first proximity radio communication by a first communication method by which the information processing apparatus transmits and receives information to and from a different terminal apparatus positioned in the proximity of the information processing apparatus, to acquire management data to be utilized for a management of content data from the different terminal apparatus by the first communication method, the management data including at least identification information of the content data and a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of a server, the first communication method having a first communication distance, which is shorter than a second communication distance of a second communication method;

accepting a selection operation for selecting the content data by selecting the management data;

deciding whether or not a second proximity radio communication by the second communication method with the different terminal apparatus is possible;

controlling a second communication section, which communicates with the server, to issue a request for the content data selected by the selection operation to the server, if the deciding decides that the second proximity radio communication is not possible;

controlling the second communication section to acquire the content data when supplied in response to the request, if the deciding decides that the second proximity radio communication is not possible;

controlling a third communication section to issue a content request to the different terminal apparatus by carrying out the second proximity radio communication by the second communication method, if the deciding decides that the second proximity radio communication is possible and the selection operation for selecting the content data by selecting the management data is accepted; and

controlling the third communication section to acquire the content data when supplied in response to the content request, if the deciding decides that the second proximity radio communication is possible.

10. An information processing system, comprising:

a server; and

first and second terminal apparatuses to which content data can be provided from said server;

said first terminal apparatus including

management data acquisition means for controlling a first communication section, which carries out a first proximity radio communication by a first communication method by which said first terminal apparatus transmits and receives information to and from said second terminal apparatus which is a different terminal apparatus positioned in the proximity of said first terminal apparatus, to acquire management data to be utilized for a management of the content data from the second terminal apparatus by the first communication method, the management data including at least identification information of the content data and a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the server, the first communication method having a first communication distance, which is shorter than a second communication distance of a second communication method,

selection operation acceptance means for accepting a selection operation for selecting the content data by selecting the management data,

decision means for deciding whether or not a second proximity radio communication by the second communication method with the second terminal apparatus is possible;

requesting means for controlling a second communication section, which communicates with the server, to issue, in response to said decision means deciding that the second proximity radio communication is not possible, a request for the content data selected by the selection operation accepted by said selection operation acceptance means to the server, and

content data acquisition means for controlling the second communication section to acquire the content data when supplied in response to the request by said requesting means;

said second terminal apparatus including

management data storage means for storing the management data, and

management data supplying means for reading out the management data stored in said management data storage means and for controlling a third communication section, which carries out the first proximity radio communication by which said second terminal apparatus transmits and receives the information to and from said first terminal apparatus which is positioned in the proximity of said second terminal apparatus, to supply the read out management data by the first proximity radio communication to said first terminal apparatus; and

said server including

content data storage means for storing the content data,

request acceptance means for controlling a fourth communication section, which communicates with said first terminal apparatus, to accept the request for the content data from said first terminal apparatus, and

content data supplying means for reading out the requested content data from said content data storage means based on the request accepted by said request acceptance means and for controlling said fourth communication section to supply the read out content data to said first terminal apparatus which is a requesting source of the request, wherein

the requesting means controls a fifth communication section to issue, in response to said decision means deciding that the second proximity radio communication is possible and the selection operation for selecting the content data by selecting the management data being accepted, a content request to the second terminal apparatus by carrying out the second proximity radio communication by a second communication method having a communication distance longer than a communication distance of the first communication method, and the content data acquisition means controls the fifth communication section to acquire the content data when supplied in response to the content request.

11. An information processing apparatus, comprising:

a management data acquisition section configured to control a first communication section, which carries out a first proximity radio communication by a first communication method by which said information processing apparatus transmits and receives information to and from a different terminal apparatus positioned in the proximity of said information processing apparatus, to acquire management data to be utilized for a management of content data from the different terminal apparatus by the first communication method, the management data including at least identification information of the content data and a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of a server, the first communication method having a first communication distance, which is shorter than a second communication distance of a second communication method;

a selection operation acceptance section configured to accept a selection operation for selecting the content data by selecting the management data;

a decision section configured to decide whether or not a second proximity radio communication by the second communication method with the different terminal apparatus is possible;

a requesting section configured to control a second communication section, which communicates with the server, to issue, in response to said decision section deciding that the second proximity radio communication is not possible, a request for the content data selected by the selection operation accepted by said selection operation acceptance section to the server;

a content data acquisition section configured to control the second communication section to acquire the content data when supplied in response to the request by said requesting section; and

a processing unit configured to control a third communication section to issue, in response to said decision section deciding that the second proximity radio communication is possible and the selection operation for selecting the content data by selecting the management data being accepted, a content request to the different terminal apparatus by carrying out the second proximity radio communication by the second communication method, wherein the content data acquisition section is further configured to control said third communication section to acquire the content data when supplied in response to the content request.