JP3855412B2 - Billing recording device, information reproducing device, billing calculation device, billing management device, and rental system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a charge management system for reproducing information on a recording medium, and more specifically to a charge method for using information contained in a medium.
[0002]
[Background art and problems to be solved by the invention]
In rental systems such as video software, for example, information usage such as billing is managed by reading a medium on which a movie or the like is recorded and a barcode attached to the user's membership card. As a rental fee system, the usage fee increases with the rental time, usually how much per day. In addition, the usage fee differs depending on whether it is a new / old work or a category such as a movie or music. The rental fee is set based on the initial purchase amount of the software medium and the rental period.
[0003]
This fee system is a charging method peculiar to a package system in which a fee is charged for one rental. Therefore, if borrowed once, even if the number of times of reproduction is zero or plural times, it is charged at a uniform fee. As described above, in the current rental system, the actual number of times of reproduction is not grasped.
[0004]
As another charging method, there is also a method of charging for each viewing of a program such as a recent pay digital broadcast. For example, in the copyrighted product reproduction apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-292458, the number of copies is recorded on a storage medium separate from the medium on which the software to be used is recorded, and information is used according to the number of copies. Will be charged. If such a billing method is also applied to rental of a video or the like, the user only has to pay a fee according to the number of playbacks, which is very reasonable.
[0005]
However, when software is played, how to count the number of playbacks is a very difficult problem. In the above publication, since the entire work is copied, it is only necessary to count once with one copy. However, if this method is applied to video rental as it is, even if the borrowed software is interesting and you can appreciate it all, or if it is boring and you stop viewing immediately, you will be charged once. From this point of view, it can be considered that the entire playback time of the software is set as the specified playback time, and that charging is charged as one playback when the playback is completed. However, if you stop just before the end of the software, you will not be charged for the majority of the viewing, there is a possibility that the rental system itself can not be established.
[0006]
Conversely, when software is played even for a moment, it may be counted as one playback. However, with this method, if the viewing is interrupted many times in the middle, it will be charged each time, and the fee will increase, which is unreasonable for the user. The conventional problem of being charged even if you stop watching in about 10 minutes cannot be solved. From this point of view,
(1) There is no charge for stopping playback immediately because the software is boring.
(2) If the cumulative appreciation time exceeds a certain time range, the player will be charged for one playback as if the appreciation was complete.
Such a system is reasonable.
[0007]
The present invention focuses on the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a reproduction management system capable of performing a reasonable charge according to the reproduction status.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the billing recording apparatus of the present invention comprises a first reading means for reading first management information for identifying the recording medium from the recording medium ; main information of the recording medium for each recording medium having the same content as the first management information read from the recording medium by said first reading means; watch time and the first management information storage means for storing at least comprising a second management information and second reading means for reading the second management information including first management information from said storage means; based on the total playback time of the main information contained in the prior SL second management information, the recording Calculation means for calculating count information of the number of times of reproduction, which is a reference time for determining that one reproduction has been performed on the main information of the medium ; reproduction management of the second management information and the count information of the number of times of reproduction Writing means for writing to the medium Characterized by comprising a.
[0009]
The information reproducing apparatus of the present invention is an information reproducing apparatus that reproduces main information of the recording medium using the reproduction management medium in which the second management information and the reproduction count information are written by the accounting recording apparatus. there are, said reproduction means for reproducing the main information of the recording medium; a first reading means from the recording medium reading out the first management information; from the playback management medium, counting the second management information and play times Second reading means for reading information; first management information read from the first reading means and first management included in the second management information read from the second reading means If the information is determined to be identical, reproduction judgment unit permits the reproduction of the main information by the reproducing means; said main reproducing time counting counted by accumulating the playback time of reproduction of information by the reproducing means means; before Writing means for writing the reproduced number of times calculated by the play count calculating means to the reproduction management medium; Views calculating means for utilizing the count information of the reproduction times as the counting result by the playback time count means for calculating the number of plays It is characterized by comprising;
[0010]
Charge calculation device of the present invention, the provided billing recorder second, the management information is written by, and, from the reproduction management media views is written by the information reproducing apparatus, the second management information and the characterized by comprising a; calculation means for calculating a billing amount based on the second management information and the reproduction count read by the reading means; reading means for reading the number of plays.
[0011]
The billing management apparatus of the present invention includes the billing recording device and the billing calculation device. The rental system according to the present invention includes the information reproducing apparatus and the charge management apparatus.
[0012]
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 1 shows an outline of a system in one embodiment. This system assumes a case where a movie or the like is recorded on a disk medium such as a DVD and the disk is rented.
[0014]
In this embodiment, the total playback time of the movie recorded on the disc is divided into n equal parts, and if it is played for more than that time, it is charged as one playback. This is further divided into categories such as movies and music. For example, n = 4 for a movie with a long playback time, and n = 2 for a short music. As a specific example, in the case of a two-hour movie, if it is played for 30 minutes or more divided into four equal parts, it is charged that the user has watched it once. If it is boring, you will not be charged if you stop playback before that.
[0015]
Referring to FIG. 1, the user goes to the rental store 40. Then, the disk 44 storing the software information to be viewed is selected from the large number of disk groups 42. In the disk group 42, management information unique to each disk is recorded. As a specific recording method, a method of recording a radial barcode on the inner peripheral side of the disc (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-203212), and a method of forming pits with a high output laser after manufacturing the disc (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8- 124219). Both are characterized in that different data can be recorded for each disc and can be read out by a player. The management information is, for example, a catalog number or serial number of the disk. These can be used as disk management information. Normally, a paper on which the barcodes of those numbers are printed is also attached to the disc package.
[0016]
The membership card 46 is handed over to the user as a user management medium at the same time as the disk 44. For example, an IC card can be used as the user management medium. If a membership card indicating membership of the rental store is issued as an IC card, the disc management information, characteristic information, and usage information can be rewritten and used each time the card is used. The usage information includes, for example, a specified playback time, the number of playbacks (set to “0” when the disc is rented), and the like. When the disk 44 is rented, there is no charge for the lending of software information, and it is basically free except for a deposit when the disk is lost.
[0017]
The user takes home the disc 44 and the IC card 46 and reproduces the disc 44 by the player 48 according to the present embodiment. The player 48 is rented to a user in advance from a rental store 40, for example. The player 48 checks whether or not the serial number of the disc 44 matches the serial number in the IC card 46, and then reads the specified reproduction time in the IC card 46. Then, when the disk 44 is reproduced for that time, it is determined that the disk 44 is reproduced once, and the number of times is recorded in the IC card 46.
[0018]
Next, returning the rented disc 44 will be described. The user goes to the rental store 40 with the disk 44 and the IC card 46. In the rental store 40, data such as a serial number, software category, and number of reproductions recorded on the IC card 46 returned from the user is read out by a billing computer (not shown). Then, the billing amount is calculated from the information. The user may pay a fee proportional to the number of times the software is played.
[0019]
Next, the billing management apparatus 41 used in the rental store will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the charge management device 41 that reads / writes usage information from / to the IC card 46. In the figure, an optical bar code data input device (bar code reader) 18, a keyboard input device 26, and a display device 28 are connected to a microcomputer 22 via respective interfaces 34, 36 and 38. A database memory 20 and an IC card reading / writing device (hereinafter referred to as “reading device”) 24 are also connected to the microcomputer 22.
[0020]
The optical barcode data input device 18 is a device for reading a barcode printed on the package of the disk 44 and a barcode printed on the IC card 46. As a result, information such as the serial number of the disk 44, the catalog number, and the membership number of the IC card 46 is read. The database memory 20 stores characteristic information related to the disk 44, such as catalog number, category, new / old work, total playback time, and the like. The microcomputer 22 accesses the database 20 using the catalog number of the disc 44 as a search key, and searches for a category, new / old work, total playback time, and the like. Also, the specified playback time of the software is calculated.
[0021]
Next, a method for calculating the specified playback time will be described with reference to FIG. Here, it is assumed that there are only two types of software categories: simple movies and music. FIG. 3A shows a relatively long reproduction time such as a movie, and the total reproduction time Lm is about 2 hours, for example. In this case, the specified reproduction time is 30 minutes, which is equal to 2 hours and n = 4. That is, when playback is stopped because it is boring within 30 minutes after starting to watch a movie, no charge is charged. However, when playback is performed for 30 minutes or more, it is counted as one playback.
[0022]
In addition, as shown in FIG. 3A, when playback is repeated at oa, ab, bc,... (Oa-L <Lm / 4), Each playback time is accumulated. If the accumulated total time exceeds 30 minutes, which is Lm / 4, it is counted as one reproduction. In addition, since it is considered that at least about 20 minutes are necessary to judge whether the software that has begun to be viewed is interesting or not, in the case of a movie, n = 2 to 4 is appropriate.
[0023]
In FIG. 3B, the total playback time Lv is about 30 minutes for a music CD having a relatively short playback time. In this case, 15 minutes equally divided by n = 2 is set as the specified reproduction time. That is, when playback is stopped because it is boring within 15 minutes from the start of listening, no charge is charged. However, if it is played back for 15 minutes or more, it is counted as one playback. Since short things like music are usually considered to be played to the end, n = 1 or 2 is sufficient. Also in this case, when the reproduction is repeated with o−d, df... (Od <Lv / 2) and the frames are cut off, the respective reproduction times are accumulated. If the accumulated total time exceeds 15 minutes which is Lv / 2, it is counted as one reproduction.
[0024]
In the microcomputer 22 of FIG. 2, based on the above calculation method, the value of an equal fraction n is obtained from the total reproduction time and category of the disc 44, the total reproduction time is divided by n, and the calculated specified reproduction time is calculated as IC. Record on card 46. FIG. 4 shows a typical data table per title recorded on the IC card 46. As shown in the figure, the catalog number of the disk 44, the serial number, the new / old work, the number of playbacks (0 at the time of lending), the specified playback time calculated by the above calculation method (here 30 minutes), the total number of software Includes playback time.
[0025]
Next, the overall operation of the microcomputer 22 in the charge management apparatus 41 of FIG. 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the catalog number and serial number of the disk 44 are read out by the bar code data input device 18 (steps S10 and S12). Next, using the catalog number as a search key, the database memory 20 is searched for information on categories and total playback time such as movies and music (step S14). If the category is music, n = 2, and if it is a movie, n = 4 (steps S16, S18, S20). Next, based on the information, the prescribed reproduction time = total reproduction time / n is calculated (step S22), the initial value of the number of reproductions is set to “0” (step S24), and the catalog number and the like are put together with the IC card. 46 is written (step S26).
[0026]
Next, the player 48 in the system of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The player 48 is a user side device as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the player 48 includes a disc signal playback system 72, an MPEG decoding system 74, a key input system 76, a playback time timer 70, an IC card interface 66, a disk control microprocessor 68, and the like. .
[0027]
In the disk signal reproduction system 72, the data read by the pickup 62 is deinterleaved, error corrected, and decoded. The disc signal reproduction system 72 can also read the serial number recorded for each disc on the inner circumference of the disc. In the MPEG decoding system 74, the decoded main information is decoded in accordance with a standard such as MPEG, whereby an image signal and an audio signal are obtained. The image signal is reproduced and displayed on the display device 78.
[0028]
The key input device 76 is for performing control such as playback and stop of the player 48 from the outside. The reproduction time timer 70 is for counting the reproduction time. The IC card interface 66 is for accessing the IC card 46 and reading and writing information. The microprocessor 68 performs the same disk control as a general disk player, verifies whether the serial number or catalog number of the disk 44 read from the IC card 46 as the main CPU matches the disk 44, and the playback time. And the like, and the number of times of reproduction, the calculation of the number of reproductions, and the writing of data to the IC card 46 are also provided.
[0029]
Next, a method for calculating the number of reproductions will be described. If the number of playbacks is N, the measured cumulative playback time is Σt, the specified playback time is tp, and the total playback time of the disc is Lm,
(1) When mod (Σt / Lm) <tp: N = int (Σt / Lm)
(2) When mod (Σt / Lm) ≧ tp: N = int (Σt / Lm) +1
here,
(1) int (Σt / Lm) takes the integer part of the result of dividing Σt by Lm;
(2) mod (Σt / Lm) takes the remainder of the result of dividing Σt by Lm;
It means that.
[0030]
That is, when the measured reproduction time Σt is shorter than the specified reproduction time tp, N = 0 from the equation (1). However, if the measured playback time Σt is equal to or longer than the specified playback time tp, N = 1 is counted from equation (2), and if the cumulative playback time exceeds the total playback time of the disc, the number of times exceeding the cumulative playback time is accumulated. Is counted. Even if playback is interrupted and played from the middle, it is not immediately counted as the second playback.
[0031]
Next, the overall operation of the player 48 of FIG. 6 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the microprocessor 68 shown in FIG. First, the rented user sets both the disc 44 and the IC card 46 in the player 48 (steps S30 and S32). After checking the presence of the disk 44 and the IC card 46, the microprocessor 68 reads the management information specific to the set disk 44 and various information in the IC card 46 (steps S34 and S36). Then, the read serial number is collated, and it is determined whether or not reproduction is permitted (step S38).
[0032]
If reproduction is permitted as a result of the collation (Y in step S38), the reproduction counter 69 is reset to “0” (step S40). Then, the microprocessor 68 is ready to accept key input (step S42). Here, when a reproduction key (not shown) is pressed (reproduction in step S44), the reproduction counter 69 is updated (step S48), and the software is reproduced (step S50). Thus, simultaneously with the reproduction, the microprocessor 68 operates the reproduction counter 69 to count the reproduction time.
[0033]
When a stop key (not shown) is pressed (stop of step S44), the playback operation is stopped and the count of the playback counter 69 is also stopped (step S46). However, the value of the playback counter 69 is saved, and the count time is updated when playback is started next time. When a takeout key (not shown) is pressed (takeout at step S44), the microprocessor 68 calculates the number of times of reproduction from the measured reproduction time (step S52) and writes the calculated number of times of reproduction to the IC card 46 (step S52). Step S54). Then, the disk 44 is ejected (step S56). As described above, the number of reproductions is recorded on the IC card 46. After use, the user goes to the rental store 44 with the disk 44 and the IC card 46 (see FIG. 1).
[0034]
Next, billing calculation in the rental store 40 will be described. The billing calculation is performed by the billing management apparatus 41 shown in FIG. FIG. 8 shows the operation of the microcomputer 22 during billing calculation. The serial number of the returned disk 44 and the information in the IC card 46 are read (steps S60 and S62). Then, the read serial numbers are collated, and if the collation results match (step S66), the fee is calculated based on the new / old work in the information of the IC card 46 (step S66). For example, the coefficient K = Pn (step S68) for the new work, K = Po (step S70) for the old work, and the charge amount is calculated as charge amount = coefficient K × reproduction count (step S72). The billing amount is displayed on the display device 28. The user pays this fee to the rental store 40.
[0035]
Thus, according to this embodiment, the following effects are obtained.
(1) The usage amount does not depend on the rental days, and is calculated according to the number of playbacks. For this reason, it is possible to charge reasonably according to the reproduction status.
(2) Since the disk and the IC card are associated with each other by a serial number, unauthorized use of the disk can be prevented.
[0036]
There are many embodiments of the present invention, and various modifications can be made based on the above disclosure. For example, the following are included.
(1) The above embodiment is an application example of a disk medium such as a DVD, but can be applied to various media such as a magnetic tape.
(2) In the above embodiment, an IC card is used as a medium for use management. However, any medium can be used as long as management information and software use information can be rewritten and recorded by an appropriate method such as magnetic and electrical. It may be used.
[0037]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, there is an effect that it is possible to charge a user rationally according to the use status of information.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an entire system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a rental-side charging management apparatus.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a coefficient method of the number of reproductions.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing stored contents of an IC card.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation at the time of lending in the charge management apparatus.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a user-side player.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the player.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation at the time of return in the billing management apparatus.
[Explanation of symbols]
12, 13 ... Serial number, catalog number 16 ... Member number 18 ... Bar code data input device 20 ... Database memory 22 ... Microcomputer 24 ... IC card reading device 26 ... Keyboard input device 28, 78 ... Display device 34 ... Bar code reader Interface 36 ... Keyboard input interface 38 ... Display interface 40 ... Rental store 42, 44 ... Disk 46 ... Membership card / IC card 48 ... Playback device 62 ... Pickup 66 ... IC card I / F
68 ... Disc control microprocessor 69 ... Time counter 70 ... Playback time timer 72 ... Disc signal playback system 74 ... MPEG decoding system 76 ... Key input device

Claims (5)

First reading means for reading first management information for identifying the recording medium from the recording medium ;
Storage means for storing, for each recording medium, second management information including at least the total reproduction time of the main information of the recording medium and the first management information ;
Second reading means for reading the second management information including the first management information having the same content as the first management information read from the recording medium by the first reading means from the storage means;
Based on the total playback time of the main information contained in the prior SL second management information, views a reference time for determining that one of the reproducing the main information is performed in said recording medium Calculating means for calculating the counting information of;
Writing means for writing the second management information and the count information of the number of times of reproduction into a reproduction management medium;
An accounting recording apparatus comprising: An information reproducing apparatus for reproducing main information of the recording medium using the reproduction management medium in which the second management information and the reproduction count information are written by the billing recording apparatus according to claim 1,
Reproducing means for reproducing the main information of the recording medium;
First reading means for reading the first management information from said recording medium;
Second reading means for reading out the second management information and the count information of the number of times of reproduction from the reproduction management medium ;
It is determined that the first management information read from the first reading means is the same as the first management information included in the second management information read from the second reading means. If, reproduction judgment means for permitting reproduction of said main information by said reproducing means;
Playback time counting means for counting cumulatively the reproduction of the reproduction time of said main information by the reproducing means;
A reproduction number calculating means for calculating the number of reproductions using the counting result of the reproduction time counting means and the count information of the number of reproductions;
Writing means for writing the number of times of reproduction calculated by the number of times of reproduction calculating means into the reproduction management medium;
An information reproducing apparatus comprising: Second management information by the billing recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein has been written, and, from the reproduction management media views is written by the information reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second management information and the Reading means for reading the number of reproductions;
Calculating means for calculating a billing amount based on the second management information and the reproduction count read by the reading means;
A billing calculation apparatus comprising: A charge management apparatus comprising the charge recording apparatus according to claim 1 and the charge calculation apparatus according to claim 3 . A rental system comprising the information reproducing apparatus according to claim 2 and the charge management apparatus according to claim 4 .

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