Sony Corporation

Tadao Yoshida

Tadao Suzuki

Ryo Ando

Kazuhiko Fujiie

Katsuaki Tsurushima

Hirotoshi Fujisawa

Yasuaki Maeda

Chiaki Nonaka

Keiji Kanota

Shigeaki A Wachi

Hideki Nagashima

Hajime Yano

Hideo Obata

Toyomi Fujino

Hiroaki Oishi

Hiroshi Mukawa

Katsuya Hori

Junichi Yokota

Kenzo Akagiri

Kyoya Tsutsui

Miki Abe

Takashi Ohmori

Naoya Haneda

Teruaki Higashihara

Hideo Kawachi

Kazuhiko Kamimura

Yoshiaki Haneda

Akira Suzuki

Tadashi Okamoto

Eiichiro Morinaga

Yuji Arataki

Norio Ohga

Wataru Yamatani

Yoshihiko Hitotsui

Yuichiro Hamada

Chisato Kitsukawa

Masanori Ohtawa

Alan Wong

A broadcasting systemprovides a digital content to be broadcast with an attribute vector A thereof. A filteris assigned with a selection vector S indicating user's taste. The filterperforms a standardized inner product operation between the selection vector S and the attribute vector A for selecting and recording broadcast programs. 

Broadcasting system and reception apparatus

The broadcast stationprovides the digital contents to be put on the air with the attributive information of the digital contents thereof. The selective information showing the user's taste is set out in the filter unit. The filter unitfilters the attributive information on the basis of the selective information to select the digital contents which suits the user's taste among the digital contents which were put on the air. According to the broadcast station, the user may listen and view the selected digital contents after recording the digital contents in the recording medium, or the user may listen and view the digital contents which suits the user's taste among the digital contents which were put on the air.

Broadcasting system and receiving apparatus

A broadcasting systemprovides a digital content to be broadcast with an attribute vector A thereof. A filteris assigned with a selection vector S indicating user's taste. The filterperforms a standardized inner product operation between the selection vector S and the attribute vector A for selecting and recording broadcast programs.()() 

An extracting circuit for extracting meta information from information forming contents is provided. The meta information extracted by the extracting circuit is recorded in a recording medium together with the contents and is used as management information. With this configuration, an object can be searched for based on the contents of the object in a recording device for recording contents, such as moving and still pictures, voices, graphics, and text, in a recording medium.

Recording device, playback device, and contents transmission method

A SDMI-compliant portable medium and a non-SDMI-compliant portable medium can be selectively connected to a licensed compliant module. When transferring copyright-protected encrypted content data from the licensed compliant module, whether the destination of transfer is the SDMI-compliant portable medium or the non-SDMI-compliant medium is determined. When the destination is found to be the SDMI-compliant portable medium, the number of times the encrypted content data can be transferred is restricted. When the destination is found to be the non-SDMI-compliant portable medium, the return (or check-in) of the encrypted content data from the non-SDMI-compliant portable medium to the licensed compliant module is disabled.

Data transfer system, data transfer apparatus, data recording apparatus, data transfer method, and recording medium

When content data are distributed from an information center via a predetermined communication line to a terminal apparatus loaded with a recording medium recorded with its identifier and prepaid information, the information center manages the usable remaining amount of money in the recording medium loaded in the terminal apparatus and updates this usable remaining amount of money every time content data are distributed. Further, if the usable remaining amount of money is smaller than the price of the content data distributed from the information center, the information center instructs the terminal apparatus to load another recording medium having a usable remaining amount of money sufficient to cover the content data to be distributed. Still further, a remaining recordable capacity of a recording medium loaded in the terminal apparatus is transmitted to the information center, and the information center compares the remaining recordable capacity with the size of the data content to be distributed. If the remaining recordable capacity is smaller than the size of the content data, the information center instructs the terminal apparatus to load a new recording medium having a recordable capacity enough for the content data to be distributed.

Information distribution system, terminal apparatus, information center, recording medium, and information distribution method

A signal () of a first code string made through replacing a part of a code string of a predetermined format with dummy data is sent to code string rewriting means () via code string resolution means (). A signal () of a second code string for complementing the dummy data part in the signal () is sent to the code string rewriting means () via control means () and the dummy data in the first code string is rewritten to the second code string. At the time of trial viewing/listening, a signal () from the code string resolution means () is selected by a switch (), and when the second code string () is acquired through content purchase, a signal () from the code string rewriting means () is selected by the switch (). Thus, trial viewing/listening of a content such as music is made possible while the possibility of decryption is eliminated. By acquiring a relatively small quantity of data, reproduction of a high-quality content is made possible.

Signal reproducing apparatus and method, signal recording apparatus and method, signal receiver, and information processing method

A center (content supply center) ( ) for storing and managing contents, and user terminals ( to ) used by respective users are connected via networks ( to ). The center ( ) sends signals of contents for trial viewing/listening to the user terminals for free or at a low price. The user terminals ( to ) can receive the signals of the contents for trial viewing/listening and select and purchase only the content that the user likes from the received contents so as to reproduce the content with high quality. This enables trial viewing/listening. It is not necessary to download a large quantity of data with high quality from the content supply center or the like and there will be more opportunities of content purchase.

Content supply system and information processing method

There is provided a recording medium exchanging-type recording and reproducing apparatus in which its small-sized forming can be realized, either reproducing or recording operation can be carried out within a short period of time, and it is advantageous in view of light weight forming or cost. The first and second magazines for storing the tape cartridge in such a way that the tape cartridge can be inserted into or taken out are spaced apart in a lateral direction in the casing so as to cause their longitudinal directions to become in parallel to each other, and there is provided a transferring space extending along a longitudinal direction of these first and second magazines. The moving mechanism holds the tape cartridge and moves up and down in the transferring space. The delivering mechanism delivers the tape cartridge between the first and second magazines and the moving mechanism. The moving mechanism performs installing of the tape cartridge against the recording and reproducing mechanism arranged at a location near the lower part of the transferring space.

Recording medium exchanging-type recording and reproducing apparatus

A high speed dubbing is to be realized with two recording and/or reproducing units for compressed data. To this end, a magneto-optical disc,is read by an optical head,and compressed data produced via a decoder,are delivered to a memory,via a switch,. The data are then delivered to a magnetic head driving circuit,via an encoder,for direct writing on a magneto-optical disc,. In this manner, compressed data are directly dubbed without expansion to realize high speed dubbing.

Recording/reproducing apparatus for compressed data

An apparatus for receiving broadcasting signals, which includes a tuner for receiving a digital audio broadcasting signal, a data demodulating portion for obtaining time interleaved information data based on the digital audio broadcasting signal received by the tuner, a time de-interleaving portion for causing the time interleaved information data to be subjected to a time de-interleaving arrangement, an audio signal reproducing portion for obtaining a reproduced audio signal based on time de-interleaved information data obtained from said time de-interleaving portion, a RAM for storing unit data constituting the time interleaved information data therein and reading stored unit data therefrom when the time interleaved information data are subjected to the time de-interleaving arrangement, and a memory control portion for controlling storage of the unit data in the RAM and for reading the stored unit data from the RAM and operative to utilize a part of the RAM which is not used for storing and reading the unit data for storing data other than the unit data therein and reading stored data therefrom.

Apparatus for receiving broadcasting signals

A high speed dubbing is to be realized with two recording and/or reproducing units for compressed data. To this end, a magneto-optical disc 32 is read by an optical head 33 and compressed data produced via a decoder 41 are delivered to a memory 14 via a switch 37. The data are then delivered to a magnetic head driving circuit 16 via an encoder 15 for direct writing on a magneto-optical disc 2. In this manner, compressed data are directly dubbed without expansion to realize high speed dubbing.

Recording and/or reproducing method and apparatus with dubbing mode

An optical disc includes a disc base plate of a light-transmitting synthetic material having a recess for mounting a magnetic plate, and a holding part, integral with the disc base plate, for loosely holding the magnetic plate mounted in the recess with respect to the disc base plate. It is possible with the present optical disc to prevent distortion of the disc base plate otherwise caused by the difference in thermal expansion coefficients of the two components to inhibit double refraction of the disc base plate otherwise caused by such distortion to maintain good recording/reproducing characteristics.

Optical disc with magnetic member in a recessed portion thereof and

Edges on both sides of each groove on a disk 11 are wobbled to indicate the addresses of recording locations. A laser beam for detection of data is radiated to a land for recording data, forming a spot 51-1. Two laser beams for detection of a tracking error are radiated to edges on both sides of a groove in such a way that the middle between the two laser beams coincides with the center of the groove, forming spots 51-2 and 51-3. By using such a tracking-error detecting laser beam to read out address information, the laser beam can be radiated to only the edge on a predetermined side of a groove. As a result, an address can be read out with a reduced amount of crosstalk from another groove even if the track pitch is small. Address information is thus read out with a highly accurate degree even in the case of a small track pitch.

Recording medium, address recording method and apparatus, and

To make possible interactive control operations in a device such as a minidisc system which uses a recording medium on which character information can be recorded. There is provided a recording medium on which sound information and management information for managing recording and playback operations is recorded, and on which predetermined character string information is recorded as commands in a region of the management information in which character information can be recorded. And, a recording and playback device 30 is provided with command read-in means (3.about.10, 12, 21), which reads in commands from the disc 1, control means 11, which, according to the commands read in, executes control of operations as specified by those commands, and input-output means (16, 17, 19, 20), controlled by the control means 11, required to execute the operations indicated by the read in commands.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Tadao Yoshida