Networked media station

• US 10,349,261 B2
• Filed: 02/08/2018
• Issued: 07/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Kearney, III, Philip F., Newberry, Jr., Robert Dale, Robbin, Jeffrey L., Heller, David, Wysocki, Christopher R., Davis, Stephen Anderson
• Primary Examiner(s): Weidner, Timothy J
• Application Number:
  US15/892,136
• Publication Number:
  US 20180167799A1
• Time in Patent Office: 516 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/604 Hybrid IP/Ethernet switches
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/613 for the control of the source by the destination control signals issued by the client directed to the server or network components specially adapted for selective content distribution H04N21/637
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/752 adapting media to network capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/765 intermediate
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/105 PBS [Private Base Station] network H04W84/12 - H04W84/16 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a networked media station providing a variety of features including a wireless network interface, a wired network interface, a peripheral interface, and a multimedia interface. The wireless network interface(s) allows the device to communicate to serve as a wireless base station or repeater and/or a bridge between a wireless and a wired network. The peripheral interface allows the device to communicate with a variety of peripherals, and, in conjunction with the network interface(s), allows sharing of a peripheral among multiple networked computers. The multimedia interface allows the device to be used with entertainment devices for streaming of multimedia information from a network connected computer to the entertainment device. Control of various aspects of the device is preferably controlled from a network connected computer.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

in a first computing device, performing operations for;

receiving, through a wireless network, an indication of a second computing device on the wireless network and including connection information for the second computing device;

establishing, using the connection information, a connection with the second computing device through the wireless network;

identifying two or more second computing devices that are communicatively coupled to the first computing device, the two or more second computing devices comprising the second computing device;

presenting, in a user interface displayed by the first computing device, selectable options associated with the two or more second computing devices;

receiving, via the user interface, a selection of a particular selectable option of the selectable options, wherein the particular selectable option is associated with a particular second computing device of the two or more second computing devices; and

facilitating provision of multimedia content to the particular second computing device via the wireless network, the multimedia content being configured to, when processed by the particular second computing device, cause the particular second computing device to output corresponding multimedia.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in the first computing device, performing operations for;

acquiring, from the second computing device, information describing one or more multimedia capabilities of the second computing device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in the first computing device, performing operations for;

verifying that the particular second computing device is authorized to receive the multimedia content.

4. The method of claim 1,

wherein the indication of the second computing device is indicative of:

an availability of the second computing device;

one or more multimedia capabilities of the second computing device;

or

both the availability of the second computing device and the one or more multimedia capabilities of the second computing device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless network is provided by the second computing device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in the first computing device, performing operations for;

receiving, from the particular second computing device, data relating to processing of the multimedia content by the particular second computing device; and

presenting, in the user interface, information based on the data relating to the processing of the multimedia content.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein facilitating provision of the multimedia content to the particular second computing device comprises:

causing multimedia data from the multimedia content to be decoded to generate decoded multimedia data;

causing the decoded multimedia data to be re-encoded to generate re-encoded multimedia data; and

causing the re-encoded multimedia data to be sent to the particular second computing device.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

in the first computing device, performing operations for;

encrypting at least one of the decoded multimedia data and the re-encoded multimedia data.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the operations of causing the multimedia data from the multimedia content to be decoded to generate the decoded multimedia data and causing the decoded multimedia data to be re-encoded to generate the re-encoded multimedia data are performed during a transcoding of the multimedia data from a first format to a second format, wherein:

the first format is different than the second format;

the second format is supported by the particular second computing device; and

the first format is not supported by the particular second computing device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein facilitating provision of the multimedia content to the particular second computing device comprises causing the multimedia content to be provided to the particular second computing device from an electronic device other than the first computing device.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in the first computing device, performing operations for;

determining whether the particular second computing device is authorized to receive the multimedia content.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein wireless network comprises a local area network.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a first computing device,

cause the first computing device to perform a method comprising:

receiving, through a wireless network, an indication of a second computing device on the wireless network and including connection information for the second computing device;

establishing, using the connection information, a connection with the second computing device through the wireless network;

identifying two or more second computing devices that are communicatively coupled to the first computing device, the two or more second computing devices comprising the second computing device;

presenting, in a user interface displayed by the first computing device, selectable options associated with the two or more second computing devices;

receiving, via the user interface, a selection of a particular selectable option of the selectable options, wherein the particular selectable option is associated with a particular second computing device of the two or more second computing devices; and

facilitating provision of multimedia content to the particular second computing device via the wireless network, the multimedia content being configured to, when processed by the particular second computing device, cause the particular second computing device to output corresponding multimedia.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

detecting the second computing device using one or more discovery protocols by detecting, in with the discovery protocols, the indication of the second computing device, wherein the indication of the second computing device is indicative of;

an availability of the second computing device;

one or more multimedia capabilities of the second computing device;

or

both the availability of the second computing device and the one or more multimedia capabilities of the second computing device.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, from the particular second computing device, data relating to the processing of the multimedia content by the particular second computing device; and

presenting, in the user interface, information based on the data relating to the processing of the multimedia content.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein facilitating provision of the multimedia content to the particular second computing device comprises:

causing multimedia data from the multimedia content to be decoded to generate decoded multimedia data;

causing the decoded multimedia data to be re-encoded to generate re-encoded multimedia data; and

causing the re-encoded multimedia data to be sent to the particular second computing device.

17. A computer, comprising:

a processing system;

a network interface; and

wherein the processing system and the network interface perform operations for;

receiving, through a wireless network, an indication of a computing device on the wireless network and including connection information for the computing device;

establishing, using the connection information, a connection with the computing device through the wireless network;

identifying two or more computing devices that are communicatively coupled to the computer, the two or more computing devices comprising the computing device;

presenting, in a user interface displayed by the computer, selectable options associated with the two or more computing devices;

receiving, via the user interface, a selection of a particular selectable option of the selectable options, wherein the particular selectable option is associated with a particular computing device of the two or more computing devices; and

facilitating provision of multimedia content to the particular computing device via the wireless network, the multimedia content being configured to, when processed by the particular computing device, cause the particular computing device to output corresponding multimedia.

18. The computer of claim 17, wherein the indication of the computing device is indicative of:

an availability of the computing device; and

one or more multimedia capabilities of the computing device.

19. The computer of claim 17, wherein the processing system and the network interface further perform operations for:

receiving, from the particular computing device, data relating to the processing of the multimedia content by the particular computing device; and

presenting, in the user interface, information based on the data relating to the processing of the multimedia content.

20. The computer of claim 17, wherein the processing system and the network interface are configured to perform the operation for facilitating provision of multimedia content to the particular computing device by causing the multimedia content to be provided to the particular computing device from an electronic device other than the computer.